replacing the inlays?

[fab1975]

Hi there,

I might be seen as old fashioned, but I really miss the walnut inlays that I had on my old B6 and now I would like to replace the cold and pale aluminum on my new B8 with something warmer like the fine grain birch wood or the fine grain ash almond beige, both of which is are £ 325 option when configuring a new car. Has anyone ever managed to replace the inlays or get an idea of how much it would cost to do it? The reason for I am asking is that I have been quoted a fortune by my local Audi dealer: about £ 900 for the parts (!!!) and over £ 1,200 to the whole job, which, with all the due respect, is as close to extortion as you can legally get.

Many thanks in advance for your replies

Fab

[spellsinger]

Hi there,

I might be seen as old fashioned, but I really miss the walnut inlays that I had on my old B6 and now I would like to replace the cold and pale aluminum on my new B8 with something warmer like the fine grain birch wood or the fine grain ash almond beige, both of which is are £ 325 option when configuring a new car. Has anyone ever managed to replace the inlays or get an idea of how much it would cost to do it? The reason for I am asking is that I have been quoted a fortune by my local Audi dealer: about £ 900 for the parts (!!!) and over £ 1,200 to the whole job, which, with all the due respect, is as close to extortion as you can legally get.

Many thanks in advance for your replies

Fab

I have to say if it is £325 then £900 doesn't sound that bad for parts (it is a German marque and they ain't cheap, 3 hours-ish labour also not bad, assuming you consider the labour rate reasonable.

A couple of points to consider:

The £325 option is on top of the standard fit parts, in other words the trim isn't just £325 it's £325 plus the standard trim.

Getting Audi to fit should remove any problems with ancillary damage.

You are correct though - taken as a whole, it is expensive - it always is when trying to retro fit OEM parts.

Mike

[Bratty]

Thre are loads of tips on the tinternet as to how to replace trim on an A4 B8. Buy the trim and do it yourself !! (self-developement.)

Dunk

[B8 TDI]

You can get the bits on eBay for relatively cheap, and since most of them just clip on and off, it should be easy enough to do yourself.

[MFGF]

You can get the bits on eBay for relatively cheap, and since most of them just clip on and off, it should be easy enough to do yourself.

You can probably recoup some of the cost by selling on your aluminium inlays too once you have removed them.

[fab1975]

Thre are loads of tips on the tinternet as to how to replace trim on an A4 B8. Buy the trim and do it yourself !! (self-developement.)

Dunk

Hi Dunk, DIY was precisely my idea :-) In fact I did exactly the same thing on my old B6 a few years ago. The only difference is that in 2006 I managed to find all the parts I needed on eBay for £ 125. Now, I do appreciate that German parts are expensive, but paying £ 900 for 6 pieces of (fake) wood still seems unreasonable to me. I know that £ 325 asked by Audi when you spec a new car are just an upgrade option and not the full price, but that figure should still give us some sense of proportion.
I have been looking on eBay for quite a long time, but so far I did not find anything apart from adhesive "wood" stickers that would be more suitable for a N reg. Almera with "golden" alloys :-)
If anyone knows where I can buy those inlays at a decent price , either on eBay or anywhere else, please let me know.
Cheers
Fab

[spellsinger]

.....
If anyone knows where I can buy those inlays at a decent price , either on eBay or anywhere else, please let me know.
Cheers
Fab

Any local car breakers - I would have thought the inlays would remain intact?

[Bratty]

Once you find the bits, this link looks useful,

"Not useful link deleted!"

Look how long they reckon it takes.

Dunk

[bez101]

Once you find the bits, this link looks useful,

http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...hortcut-Method

Look how long they reckon it takes.

Dunk

thats not gona help him that link is from a b5 far from a b8

[Bratty]

oops!! linked the wrong one, I should have tried harder at school.

Dunk