Are you shure it is too big? I remember I had just the same problem and was on the verge of giving up. Then, all of a sudden the lever went through the hole, and off it came. So it boiled down down to fiddling about long enough and finding the exact angle. If the lever went in, it should come out. My car is from 2004, so I guess the design of the shroud is equal or at last similar. As for the airbag, sorry can't help. My reason for taiking the shroud off was to change the indicator/light stalk. While off, I sprayed the quite ugly plastic shroud dark brown, to blend in with the wooden dash and tan leather. Turned out rather nice. Of course to cover in leather is more elegant, but my solution wasn't bad either, cheap and simple.
