old question deleted, and I updated this into proper DIY.
THe main point of this DIY is to help people with the connectors which can be tricky at first glance but in good light and with sharp eye, you will see its not big deal. If you are retrimming the console it will help you I hope. Sorry for cell phone pics and thanks to "MTL Bimmer" who kindly answered my questions before I did this and it went as smooth as butter!
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Tools requred:
- pliers with pointy end.
OK, so it's pretty easy. The key is to separate the black plastic plate that holds the gator in place from the actual trim piece.
So once you pulled the shifter out (just pull it out with force and dont knock yourself on head), remove the shift gator and wiggle out the plastic plate with PRND letters on it.
Dont pull out hard, because 2 wires are attached to it (#1 and #2). Once the plate is free, use pliers to wiggle out the connectors slowly of their sockets, no force, just left right motion to set it free. I could not do this with fingers. Disclaimer: Do NOT squeeze connectors with pliers HARD on each side - if the slip, you can snap the wires by mistake and then good luck with guessing if you damaged something. Ask me how i know...
It will look like this when 2 pieces are disconnected.
Once both are out, you can proceed to remove the console. First open the armrest! Next, start at the back and lift it up using the cubby hole as a grip (non idrive car here). Just wiggle it out slowly upwards.
Once its free, slowly start pulling it up step by step, going towards front of the car. You gotta make sure the sunglass holder or ashtray are empty of stuff of course.
Once you reach the end, you will see another connector (to the lighter) that you just pinch on sides and it will be set free.
Take the console out. You're done. What's left is gonna look like this.
Good luck with the rest of dissasembly using other DIYs (on how to take apart the ashtray, etc).
Hope it helps a person or two.