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I'm attempting to acquire the Bamford Rose glass switches that fill out the OEM Aston glass switch set for my 2007 Vantage. With regard to the group of switches below the radio console and above the center console (the ones across the base), do these come out for the swap from underneath when the center console panel is removed or is it necessary to take the waterfall trim panel out and remove the entirety of the center stack? It looks like I can get to them from underneath, but I wanted to see if anyone else had done this before and if there's a trick to the process? The rest seem straightforward.
Not an expert, but I have recently completed work on my car and have some insight. I believe you would need to remove the entire center stack including the center console and ski slope. This is not as hard as it sounds if you search up some instructions and proceed carefully (one of the perks of our era of Astons). You can get at the ones below the radio without completely disconnecting your radio and HVAC since you are just replacing those. Once you have the ski slope removed, the switches pop right out. and are pretty easily swapped I would imagine.
Here's a picture from my 2006 DB9, so should be the same as your 2007 Vantage. Note the tabs at the top & bottom where the infotainment unit bolts in. The top tabs are hidden under the ski slope, so it has to come off. The bottom ones require you to remove the center console to access them.
The wiring to the bottom buttons is really short. Be prepared to lose some skin off your knuckles.
More extreme than what you need to do, but this is what it looks like under there...
Ok, that is very useful...I'm concerned about the ski slope removal, it's the piano black and they're notorious for cracking. I know there is a detent point to remove it, but I have never successfully located it in the vent. How are the switches retained in the stack? friction? I don't see a spring clip but I imagine the short harness would keep them well in place though.
The switches have flat metal "prongs" that are anchored at the connector end, and spread behind the fascia. Squeeze close to the fascia and push from the back to pull it through the front side. You'll be lucky if one or two don't break off. I was able to superglue the prongs back on.
I'll have to dig out the ones I already have to take a look. Presumably, as it's part of the switch, and I'm replacing the switches it shouldn't be an issue, I think.
I understood that Bamford Rose had stopped doing the customised glass switches (As Aston Martin only did the Glass Switches on th emuch later cars a lot of them are not available, such as AirCon, heated window etc.) which is why I did my own - much cheaper, details below
If they have, that's unfortunate. They are not responsive to emails. Your project is interesting, but I am not sure how comfortable I would be doing that myself!
I’m just creating bespoke glass switches for my DBS. Most of the templates Paul provided don’t work for DBS, so - inspired by his results - I’ve got a local sign writer to make some up for me (took him 15mins) and I’m just waiting on the vinyl prints now. I’ve also found that the glass switches from the DB11 are almost the same as the VH cars - they come apart the same way and then the crystal bits fit into the original VH switch bodies. As the VH car glass switches are all very expensive, I am saving myself about £50 a button.
