I upgraded my cupholders to the 02.5-03.5 cupholders recently because I got sick of the bad flip lid one that makes drinks tip over... here are detailed pics showing that you CANNOT just swap the cupholders over to your older 01-02 console! You have to swap the entire console to make this look right!
When I took out my stock center console, I placed it next to the 02.5 console and was able to finally see the subtle differences between them
the 02.5 console is about 10mm taller to accommodate the deeper open top cup holders
You can also see that the top side wall trim pieces that meet up to the lower dashboard are shaped differently... the older 01-02 ones are curved and contoured to the same profile as the lower dashboard's ashtray and cigarette lighter... the 02.5 one is just straight
When upgrading to the better cupholders, you sacrifice some storage space in the front storage cubby which is about 30mm deeper in the 01-02 console... oh well, who cares?!
But here's what's most really important... you can see that you simply can't put the newer cupholders into the older console
Someone here said a couple of years ago that you can just cut the support ribs on the console beneath the cupholders and the open top cupholders will fit... it will not work properly... those support ribs are necessary to support the weight of the drinks and of course keep the entire trim panel from falling in! There's 6 slots for 6 locking clips from the trim panel and cupholders... if you are to cut something, you will need to cut the front 4 slots and support ribs to even get the entire panel from fitting... it will not work and it is stupid to even think about cutting it!
So if those few of you who advocate cutting the console and made the swap work, I would really like to be proven wrong as those pics I took show clearly it isn't going to work even if you cut s*** out... if you made yours work by cutting, please take your cup holders off and show to me how you made it work!
When I took out my stock center console, I placed it next to the 02.5 console and was able to finally see the subtle differences between them
the 02.5 console is about 10mm taller to accommodate the deeper open top cup holders
You can also see that the top side wall trim pieces that meet up to the lower dashboard are shaped differently... the older 01-02 ones are curved and contoured to the same profile as the lower dashboard's ashtray and cigarette lighter... the 02.5 one is just straight
When upgrading to the better cupholders, you sacrifice some storage space in the front storage cubby which is about 30mm deeper in the 01-02 console... oh well, who cares?!
But here's what's most really important... you can see that you simply can't put the newer cupholders into the older console
Someone here said a couple of years ago that you can just cut the support ribs on the console beneath the cupholders and the open top cupholders will fit... it will not work properly... those support ribs are necessary to support the weight of the drinks and of course keep the entire trim panel from falling in! There's 6 slots for 6 locking clips from the trim panel and cupholders... if you are to cut something, you will need to cut the front 4 slots and support ribs to even get the entire panel from fitting... it will not work and it is stupid to even think about cutting it!
So if those few of you who advocate cutting the console and made the swap work, I would really like to be proven wrong as those pics I took show clearly it isn't going to work even if you cut s*** out... if you made yours work by cutting, please take your cup holders off and show to me how you made it work!
