Dash vent removal on a 987 Boxster - how?????

The dash vents in my Boxster 987 are all messed up. 3 out of 4 of them have no link between the individual vanes. the pieces linking them together are disconnected and long gone. I have to replace them, and there's lots of them on eBay cheap. The problem is getting the old ones out. I've searched a lot, and I have learned that this is a very common problem, however I see no answer on how to get the round 987 vents out. I see lots of the same question being asked, but only a couple of answers with illustration, but they are all for a different generation or type Porsche . Does anyone have an answer on how to do this for the round vents in the dash of a 987? Thanks.

There are 3 "locking tabs" that must be released to remove each vent. There are two on the bottom inside of the vent, at about 5 and 7 o'clock, just below the vanes. Use a small flat-blade screwdriver to lever them up. There's also one at the top, much further in, at 12 o'clock. Again use a screwdriver, inserting and rotating to the left, to lever it down. Start with the bottom ones. Apply gentle outward pressure on the vent while you lever the tabs. If you don't apply pressure to get the vent past the tab holes, they'll just spring back down. Then put pressure on the top of the vent fascia while you lever the top tab. The whole thing should then come out. There's an electrical connector to disconnect to completely remove the vent. To reinstall, reconnect the electrical and insert the connector into its clip. Then just push the vent in, the tabs should spring back into their holes. Good luck, let us know how it goes!

I would like to add that this is a serious PITA. Mine were in same state and I purchased spare set from ebay just for parts. It is not complicated but takes time and patience. Repairing the vanes was also not very pleasant. Bad not durable design.

A Little off topic but not too much, should I continue my assumption that the cell phone holders that clip onto a car's air vent are a bad idea for us? They look real convenient BUT, I've not bought one for fear of breaking the air vent with the weight and/or moving the phone around while it's connected.

The inside vanes are real shaky and easy to disconnect from the slider or break. I don't know what phone holder design you have in mind - there are several that attach to the vents, but after the pain of fixing mine I do not attach anything to them.

Great info, thanks so much!

Thank you to those who offered this help. I bought a used 987.2 that was in great condition except for the broken vent adjusters. I've been trying to do most of the upkeep and repairs myself. I've saved this one for last because of how tedious this sounds. I appreciate you took the time to help us out!

I too will be tackling this job soon. Laughable how flimsy these tabs are on a not so cheap sportscar! Parts supplied by Lada. I will surely make a video for my YouTube channel when I do the job. Thanks Racergreg and Johan for the heads up! Shameless plug : subscribe to my channel for notifications! the Porsche as seen by NewArt

Update: if you lift the bottom two locking tabs with a flat metal tool that’s long enough, you can slide it through and lift both the tab and the metal lip in one go. I brought my Boxster to a shop to have the multimedia set replaced. Guess what?! The guy needed to take one vent out because there was an old cable stuck behind aaaerghh. I warned him, he took the right tool and got him out in a jiffy... that’s why I like professionals

I just had one of these break recently, any idea of cost of the part.