LakIM

Getting the foam out of the spare wheel well is the biggest challenge. Remember that most things go together or come apart surprisingly easily, if you are tempted to lever things with a screwdriver or a hammer you are doing it wrong! There a little tabs locks, whene released things come apart sweetly. First the boot floor comes out. It just lifts out. The two rails left and right of the floor need to be removed to lift out the foam liner. First thing to do is remove the left side rear wheel cover panel. Remove the rear passenger side seatbelt cover. It just pops off. Then you need to pop off the left rear wheel interior panel. To do this, lift off the rear door sealer rubber. Remove the left rear fuse access panel. Then the liner pulls out. Careful as the seat release cable and ambient lighting need disconnecting before the panel comes away completely. The rear bottom of the panel needs to be gently persuaded past a metal bracket on the chassis. Remove the boot bottom rear protective panel silver panel across the rear of the boot. Easily done, insert your fingers into the hinged panel over the latch and give it a sharp pull straight upwards. Disconnect and lift out the sub woofer. ( a little red tab pulls out a few mm and then the release tab can be depressed and the connector pulled out ) You should be about here now. to get that foam liner out the two rails laft and right need to come out. They are held on place by the load tiedown eyes. Lift the eye and the plastic bolt cover can be flipped up. A torqs driver removes the bolt. 2 each side. The rail is then loose and can be lifted straight up with a prise upward. Remember it will come apart, if its hard you have missed something! Remove left and right rails and then you can work the liner out to the left by tilting it upward on that side. The wiring to the trailer connector is going down through the hole in the bottom left of the photo above. It will need to go into a recessin the heat shield directly below the hole and then backward to the rear of the back heatshield. If you run between the heatshield and the rear silencer the cable will soon be destroyed! The ECS kit I used came with the harness all preasswmbled with grommets in place to take the place of the one you push out of the hole. The inner end of the harness can follow the route of the sub woofer wires ( along the back of the rear tub and into the left rear quarter above the fuses) in the left rear corner. Ill add a few more pics and text later.

Anyone interested in Towbar retro fitting DIY? I am snapping photos as I go and can publish here if anyone is interested.

Wow, that little blighter causes a lot of problems! Check engine, A/C, even drive faults! Found mine was down to 0 Ohm. Replaced and the car is a lot happier! Now TPMS fault, Front midrange speakers 'open circuit' and a few little niggles. Electric towbar to fit next week. Missing cover off the pass footwell fuse panel and a cracked front grill --- black one to replace I think!

Ex Merc man. Several ML's and 5 55 AMG SLK's ( Well still got one atm ) Just about to decide on an SQ5 - post 2016/17. Need a decent tow vehicle with a bit of poke as I'm still a bit of a hooligan at 64! Saw the Q5's and liked the size, saw the SQ5 and decided that was the one. Fly sailplanes for relaxation. If you are ever in North Wales come and visit Denbigh Gliding club! That's me in the foreground. My LAK 17AT hence the handle 'LakIM' Also managed to get the vanity plate 'AT17 LAK'. My excuse is it's good to identify my tow vehicle and trailer ............... my wife won't believe a word!