avonside,

Yes, I removed the trim piece (mine came off easily), and the torx screw behind it. Every other aspect of the panel removal went very smoothly, including pulling the plastic clips out of the holes in the door that they press into. The "only" problem I ran into was trying to pull the panel off along the top.

Bulk,

Axe, saw, blow torch, and dynamite are on my list of things to try next...

But for now, I have more pressing issues I need to address, including building a smoke machine to track down a possible vacuum leak in my daughter's E46, and finishing up a few things on my Porsche 968 track car conversion project.

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2003 X5 4.4i
1992 Porsche 968
2007 328i
2014 Subaru Forester XT