Difficulty removing palm-rest assembly in XPS 15

Hi, I am unable to remove the palm-rest assembly after many tries even when following the instructions from the dell website.( Documentation) More specifically, I can't seem to get the palm-rest assembly tabs off the base cover. Any help is appreciated.

 

OK, I have done this about 5 times with my xps now.

first remove the "K" screw under the battery to release the palmrest.
Now open the screen fully.
Release the two tabs in the battery well and push them in, this raises the palm rest surround.
Now place the laptop on a table and from the top centre of the raised surround, carefully pull up and work left then right. now slowly pop up the left side, now the right side.
The whole assembly should just pop off, you will need to apply a bit of force but do it slowly, you dont want to break any tabs

Edit - Becareful not to damage the touchpad cables under the palm rest when you pop it up

 

The palm rest surround is too close to the main body of the laptop to be pulled up. Also, there is a lot of resistance when i try to pull up the palm rest. Any solutions for that?

 

I've done all this but the palmrest absolutely does NOT pop off. I can push the tabs in a little, the palmrest raises up at the powerbutton when I do so but only there in the middle. The rest of the palmrest remains very tightly in place, as if it is glued down or screwed down from below at approx. the hight of the screen hinges. There's no way I can lift it up. I've contacted Dell support and all they can tell me is that is should come off, just like I read everywhere on the web. I do have the entry level XPS 15 with the Core i3, maybe that has something to do with it, but it's still the same model (L501X). Any tips would be appreciated. It's quite frustrating having this brand new laptop and SSD laying around with nothing I can do with it.

 

I've done it only once to swap my hdd, but it was a pain. Like stated before, push up the tabs in the battery compartment, then use a very small flat head screwdriver to pry inbetween the keyboard and panel. (Be carefull not to scrach anything!) Just take your time and slowly work the screwdriver untill you start popping up the other panel tabs. This prob. took me 15 min. my first time so don't go rushing. Stop, take a look at what it's hung on, and work that area next. Start in the center between the battery tabs and work your way both sides, then back towards the touch pad. Once you get those first two or three panel tabs unlatched, you should have the whole panel off in another minute. Don't use the screwdriver except to get the first two or three unlatched. You should be able to use just your hands from then on.

 

Maybe someone could make a video showing how to do it, that would really help.
I've looked around but I haven't been able to find a disassembly video for the XPS 15.

 

Just finished pulling the palm rest off of my l502x and it was more than a bit nerve racking

1. Push the tabs up until you hear them both *click*
2. Slide a plastic scribe / small flathead along the edges of the palm rest assembly
3. You will hear a LOT of not-so-good sounding *clicks*
4. Lift the assembly off -gently- and disconnect two cables connecting it to the laptop

Just be CAREFUL and go SLOW on step #2. If you don't want to mess up the finish on your palm rest get the plastic scribe type tool dell recommends.

 

I used a credit card to get the palm rest raised a bit right above where the power button is. Once that's done, you can slowly and carefully start to pull while you move the credit card towards the sides. It will feel like it's about to break but the tabs will start to pop. I have no idea why dell chose to built it this way instead of using the SXPS method of screwing everything to a chassis.

 

Isn't there some hidden screws to be aware of? I vaguely remember something mentioning that there was a step missing from the dell instructions.

 

Instead of a flat head screwdriver, take an old credit card, cut it in half lengthwise, then file one end down on the side walk to create a wedge shape.

 

I just took it apart and I don't believe so, at least not for the palm rest/touchpad assembly.

 

I got some help from here. So I give it back...
If there is someone who is still searching for a way to disassemble palm-rest of Dell XPS15, following photo will give you some idea.
You will already know that the battery and a screw should be removed before work.

1. As lamer01 wrote push two tabs until you hear *click* and see the palm-rest slightly being detached from the body. Bottom right tab should be pushed to the end.
2. Turn over the body, put some plastic like a used credit card into gap between palm-rest and body. Move it to the left edge. As you can see in below picture left edge is easier to work as the notch is close to the edge.
3. If left edge has been detached you can use hand to detach bottom and right side edge. Right side notch is slightly far from the edge so hard pulling of palm-rest could break the notch. Be careful.
4. If you still don't understand how to do it, just see below picture to find out positions of all notches below the palm-rest.

file:///D:/HOME/%EC%9E%91%EC%97%85%EC%9A%A9%20%EC%9E%84%EC%8B%9C/%EC%9D%B8%ED%99%94%EC%9A%A9/DSC_1522.jpg[/IMG]

 

I got some help from here. So I give it back...

If there is someone who is still searching for a way to disassemble palm-rest of Dell XPS15, following photo will give you some idea.
You will already know that the battery and a screw should be removed before work.

1. As lamer01 wrote push two tabs until you hear *click* and see the palm-rest slightly being detached from the body. Bottom right tab should be pushed to the end.
2. Turn over the body, put some plastic like a used credit card into gap between palm-rest and body. Move it to the left edge. As you can see in below picture left edge is easier to work as the notch is close to the edge.
3. If left edge has been detached you can use hand to detach bottom and right side edge. Right side notch is slightly far from the edge so hard pulling of palm-rest could break the notch. Be careful.
4. If you still don't understand how to do it, just see below picture to find out positions of all notches below the palm-rest. No screws there..

 

Just signed in to say, THANK YOU!!!!

 

Regarding shinji257 comment, I make it 15 screws (not 14 as stated by Dell) underneath the laptop (plus the 2 on top) to remove the palm rest