wiring harness routing near fuse box

[gotvach 10]

Whilst I have the dashboard out I am replacing all the crumbly foam with tesa tape but the fuse box area looks like a dog's dinner and as a result the relays above 99 are less accessible.

Despite having extra cabling (wrapped in black) it doesn't look right to me, although one of few pictures I've found look in a similar state. I see the black flat plastic bar is not refitted properly and looks to slide into the two slots. However, I cannot imagine the harness going above that and risking chafing against the threads (it also doesn't feel strong enough to hold up that wiring either). Is this routing normal or should it go round the back?

[easypops 8]

I had my fuse box all the way down to allow removal of all the old security stuff, OBD2 conversion, Teves20 conversion and to wire in my heated/moving seats. When I tried to put it back it was a horrible job, I’m still crossing my fingers that everything stayed in place as it was very tight

[fendervg 29]

Is most of that not loom for the steering column switches and ignition as well as dash switches? These are usually cable tied up high and to the column, and inside the dash plastics. It is a mess in there even when it's tidy, but you should be able to access at least one row of relays easily. The fusebox sits in two hook mountings either side, and there is a white clip which stops it from moving or coming loose.

The problems usually start when you have alarm and immobiliser control boxes vying for the same space.

[gotvach 10]

Yes, the 3 foamed and black loom are cable tied to both sides of the column. There is an alarm so someone has already been in there in the past and I couldn't really trust what I saw.

At least knowing it's normally tight in there on both sides helps a lot. I was contemplating removing it all to make more sense of it but I think that will lead to frustration.

Thanks guys. 👍