Removing seats, door cards and other interior trim

[nebw]

Anyone done it on a Mk6 yet ? I've added extra soundproofing materials to most previous cars, and may do this one as well, even though it's pretty good to start with. Certainly there's still room for improvement in the boot and over the rear arches.

Do I need a friendly VW tech to get me printouts from the workshop manuals showing where all the fasteners, wiring plugs etc are, or is it al on the web at reasonable cost somewhere (like Ford's ETIS system is) ?

Many thanks,

Nick

[onzarob]

Erwin is an online version

https://erwin.volkswagen.de/erwin/showHome.do;jsessionid=526455BF68244619223787B0CD3 85EC2.ASTPVWE1

HTH

Rob:D

[the_crofter]

How much does it cost though?

[nebw]

Rob - thanks. Paid 4 euros for a quick nose around. Will buy a day's access, for about £20 IIRC, when I'm ready to start work on the car.

The info on the Mk6 seems pretty comprehensive.

[onzarob]

How much does it cost though?

see above, Its up to date and can save you allot of time and effort ;)

[maisbitt]

Nebw - are you trying to turn your Golf into a Phaeton?

It's a bit risky pulling a new car apart while still under warranty, they'll do anything to avoid a payout if your car develops difficulties after a bit of a tinker.

Most trim clips aren't really designed for reuse - you'll probably end up buying replacements - my VW dealer have snapped countless trim clips in the past when fixing electrical faults that have required trim removal - normally they try to bodge it back and say nothing, hoping you won't notice the huge gap in the trip to body fit taht wasn't there before.

[onzarob]

Most trim clips aren't really designed for reuse - you'll probably end up buying replacements - my VW dealer have snapped countless trim clips in the past

That not true, I had all the carpet centre console, both from door trims off and not broken any (I did find one that was squashed from new!!!). THere is a knack to them, that all, maybe they are careless in the dealership as they have a big pot in the spares dept ;)

To aviod problems you need to tak it steady and take thing off in the correct order. The scarest one for when fixing my car was removing theouter door skin to change the loom....thankfully I didn't scracth the paint:fing02:

[maisbitt]

Onzarob: Unfortunately the dealerships probably wouldn't allow the technicians the time to take the care that you do (although if they do this stuff on a regular basis, their experience should allow them to do a good job quickly).

My experience is that the VW technicians at 2 different local dealers are hopeless when it comes to trim removal. I'm sure that if they bust a clip, and if it's out of stock or they think you wont notice they'll not bother their arses.

Last time they had the engine cover off, and knacked 3 out of the 5 rubber gromits that the plastic cover's pegs clip into - I had an annoying rattle at 1200 - 1500 revs.

[nebw]

Nebw - are you trying to turn your Golf into a Phaeton?

It's a bit risky pulling a new car apart while still under warranty, they'll do anything to avoid a payout if your car develops difficulties after a bit of a tinker.

Most trim clips aren't really designed for reuse - you'll probably end up buying replacements - my VW dealer have snapped countless trim clips in the past when fixing electrical faults that have required trim removal - normally they try to bodge it back and say nothing, hoping you won't notice the huge gap in the trip to body fit taht wasn't there before.

I suppose it will be a bit of a mini-Phaeton, one that you can park in a normal car park and that can do more than 20mpg round town. When I'm done I'll nip over to the Glaserne Manufaktur in Dresden and take their top bods out for a spin to see what they think !

I've done the same to other sub-1 year old cars and will be properly prepared, with full instructions off erwin, trim removal tools and a store of spare clips (door trim ones especially). I'm sure I will bust a few bits and I'm voiding the warranty on trim, but apart from upgrading the sound system I'll be leaving the wiring and all the oily bits alone.

I could let a good ICE shop do it, but I enjoy taking things apart and thinking the problem through for myself.