from 12k to 32k will give me enough space for MOVX commands.
No!!!!....
YES

mov a,direct         2 bytes

mov ri,#indirect     2
mov a,@Rn            1
                     3 bytes

mov dptr,#xdata      3
movx a,dptr          1
                     4 bytes

so, as a matter of fact, changing all variable access to xdata may very well push him over the 12k limit.

Erik