Mercedes-Benz C-Class W203 Center Console Removal: Shifter Knob, Ashtray, Cup Holder and Armrest (2001 to 2007)

Last updated: October 27, 2026

Are you trying to remove the center console, ashtray, and cup holder on your Mercedes-Benz C-Class W203? Need to replace the light bulb of the ashtray. At the end of this post, we have provided a list of these parts and corresponding part numbers. These instructions go as far as replacing the center console, but you can just follow them until you remove the part that you are trying to replace. In this article we will show you how to accomplish the following:

• How to remove Cigarette Lighter
• How to Remove Center Console
• How to replace damaged armrest
• How to remove the center console shifter wood trim
• How to replace cup holder cover / sliding cover
• How to replace ashtray burnt-out light bulb

This applies to the 2001-2007 Mercedes-Benz C-Class W203. More specifically models such as the C320, C230, C32 AMG, C280, C240, C350 and C55 AMG.

Tools Required

• Trim Panel Molding Removal Tool
• Combination Wrench, 10 mm
• Torx Socket Set

Instructions: How to remove the ashtray, shifter knob, boot, and wood trim on a 2001-2007 Mercedes-Benz C-Class W203

1. Disconnect the car battery first. You will be unplugging live connectors at the selector lever and the ashtray light, and a connector that touches the console frame can blow a fuse or set a fault in the selector module. Use a 10 mm wrench to loosen the bolt on the negative terminal. After you reconnect the battery the windows and sunroof may need to be normalized; see how to synchronize the windows and sunroof.
2. Remove the shifter boot/bezel. This can be lifted up vertically. It is held in place with tabs. At the bottom, it will have a couple of electrical cables connected to it. Disconnect both of them. Disconnect the two electrical wires. These two connections are for the PRND light and for the S/W switch.
   
3. Next, you need to remove the gear selector knob. If you lift up the leather boot, you will notice that the bottom piece of the shifter knob can be twisted. Turn that piece to unlock the shift knob and lift up the knob. The shifter knob can be removed straight up once you twist the bottom piece to unlock it.
4. VIDEO: How to remove shifter knob, boot, and wood trim.
   
5. Open the cigarette lighter lid/ashtray. Use the interior trim removal tools to remove the wooden center console trim. It will simply lift up; there are no screws that need to be removed.
6. Push the two tabs that hold the ashtray in place and lift the ashtray up. On the back, there is a light bulb for the ashtray that you need to disconnect. This is the bulb the title promised: if it has burnt out, pull the old bulb from its holder, fit the new one, reconnect it and check that it lights before you put the console back together. If you need help you can watch this video which shows you how to remove the ashtray/cigarette tray.
   
7. Remove the cup holder. To remove it you need to open it first. Then twist the bottom part clockwise.
8. You should be able to see two screws right behind the ashtray location. They are black and pointing forward. Remove both of them.
9. Remove the bolts that hold the center console in place using a Torx socket. Two bolts are near the shifter module. Two other bolts are under the central armrest. To access these two bolts you need to open the storage area under the central armrest. Some models may have a motor here that needs to be removed in order to get to the two bolts. Here is a picture of the two holes where these two bolts go. They are captured from underneath.
10. There are two bolts towards the front, near the ashtray that need to be twisted to unlock the armrest from the front dash. You will need to use your torx bits to loosen these bolts. They just need to be rotated once to unlock the center console.
11. You should be able to lift up the center console. Before you remove the center console, disconnect any cables that may still be connected.
12. Reinstall the center console, ashtray, and cup holder in reverse order.

Replacement Parts

Picture	Name (click the link to check prices)	Part Number
	Mercedes-Benz C-Class W203 Cup Holder	203 689 08 79 2036800879
	Mercedes-Benz C-Class W203 Ashtray and Cigarette Lighter	A2036800852 A 203 6805250
	Mercedes-Benz C-Class W203 Center Console	A2036830408
	Mercedes-Benz C-Class W203 Cup Holder Cover (roller blind cover)	2036800123 A2036800123
	w203 center console wood trim	2036805439 A 2036806482 OEM

What Can Go Wrong Electrically, and How to Tell

Nothing in this job needs a scanner while the console is apart; it is trim, screws and connectors. The problems show up after reassembly, and they are electrical: a cigarette lighter or ashtray light that stays dead, a gear display that is wrong or a car that will not start because it does not see Park, or windows that no longer respond to one touch. The first two usually mean a connector was not pushed home or a fuse went when a plug touched metal, so start with the W203 fuse chart and the two plugs you disconnected at the shifter. The window problem is the battery disconnect, not the console, and the normalization link in step one covers it. If the gear display is still wrong with every connector seated, the selector lever module has logged a fault, and that module is not one a basic OBD2 code reader can see. A full system scanner that reads the Mercedes body and transmission modules, such as the YOUCANIC UCAN-II Pro, shows whether the module is reading the lever position and clears the fault once the plug is fixed. Check the connectors first, read the module second, and only then look at the parts list.