I saw some videos on YouTube for removing the pillars in R53. Search headliner removal.

But in the videos they didn't seem to have the nylon strapping still attached to the pillars. Probably cut off previously.

On the A's, I was able to get a torx in there after popping it off with plastic tool and unscrew the Nylon straps. Reused them too.

B's were pretty easy.

C's had 1 Nylon strap each and I had to cut it. Ideally if you can unclip the metal clip from the car that's the best.

If you reuse the Nylon straps, screw the loop to the pillar and then press the metal clip to the pillar. Then you can simply press the entire pillar back onto the car.

 

 

I don't think I did for that. There are some airbags all over the place, so it couldn't hurt.

 

I'm trying to drop the headliner to get access to the antenna, I have tried to remove the c pillar covers and made a mess of it. They are still not off the car, but I think all the tabs are now broken (I don't think the 0°F temps have helped.) I think the nylon strips are the only thing keeping them on now, I think everything else has snapped off. I hope JD Weld will help me out there.

Does anyone know what the nylon straps are for and is it a problem if you cut them? If cutting them isn't the answer, how do you get them off?

 

I think the nylon straps are tethers to contain the panels when the airbags deploy.

You might be able to drop the back of the headliner enough to access the antenna connections, mounting screws, and rear sunroof drain tubes, without completely removing the C panels from the car. The front sunroof drain tubes should also be accessible with the A pillar trim loose/tethered and the headliner partially dropped.

 

For what it's worth - I was able to remove my entire headliner without removing any of the pillars and without/avoiding creasing the headliner panel itself.
I removed/detached the sunroof molding, inclination sensor cover and gently pulled the tops of pillars forward while gently bowing/pulling down on the center and ends of the headliner panel.
Of course removing the entire headliner also involved removing; rear view, grab handles, light etc. In your case it may be less.
Even though it was a warm Spring day.....Care and patience were key for me. Perhaps...even "lucky".

 

The nylon tethers are to keep the panel from flying if the airbag goes off. I used a cutter pin tool and some force to unhook them and pull them off the frame. They are clips, so you have to get underneath the clip and bend them some.

 

I removed the pillar cover, a bit of a mess really.

I took a couple of pics of the nylon strap and how it is connected to the clip. I hope these help someone.