TEPS FOR REMOVING REAR ASHTRAY & CUP HOLDER, CENTER ARMREST, E-BRAKE CONSOLE, FRONT ASHTRAY, LOWER CENTER CONSOLE AND GLOVE BOX
The following outlines the procedure for removing the above items on a MKIV Jetta and Golf/GTI. The procedure was based on a 99.5 Jetta GLS VR6 with a manual transmission - it may be sl ightly different on later-models later-models cars (those with no rear cup holder) and all models with automatic automatic transmission. Please do these procedures at your own risk and be ready to make small adjustments while doing them. Also, please be observant while removing parts so that they go back together correctly. - To remove the rear ashtray and cupholder, follow steps 1 through 7. - To remove the center armrest, follow steps 8 through 10. - To remove the e-brake console, follow steps 1 through 17. - To remove the front ashtray, follow steps 18 through 24. - To remove the lower center console, follow steps 1 through 35. - To remove the glove box, follow steps 1 through 42. ___________________________________________________ ____________________ ________________________________________________ _________________ STEPS:
1. Slide the driver's and front passenger's seats completely forward. 2. Open rear ashtray and remove red insert as shown in picture below.
3. Remove the two sides to the rear ashtray as shown in the picture below. Pry the top of the ashtray side off of the ashtray housing (1). Once this is done, pull upwards on the ashtray side (may have to pull hard) to remove it (2).
4. The picture below illustrates how the top and bottom of the ashtray sides are connected to the ashtray.
5. Remove the rear ashtray housing by carefull y prying up the two tabs on each side with a screwdriver, as shown in the pi cture below. Be careful not to break the tabs while doing this - they are somewhat difficult to get off.
6. To remove the rear cup holder (i f applicable), push down the two retaining tabs indicated by the arrows in the pi cture below.
4. The picture below illustrates how the top and bottom of the ashtray sides are connected to the ashtray.
5. Remove the rear ashtray housing by carefull y prying up the two tabs on each side with a screwdriver, as shown in the pi cture below. Be careful not to break the tabs while doing this - they are somewhat difficult to get off.
6. To remove the rear cup holder (i f applicable), push down the two retaining tabs indicated by the arrows in the pi cture below.
7. Slide the rear cupholder out of the e-brake console as shown in the picture below.
8. Remove the driver's side of the armrest t rim as shown in the picture below. First pull the top of the trim towards the dri ver's side (1) and then pull upwards at an angle to remove (2).
9. Be careful doing the above. The trim pi ece is held in by 6 tabs as shown in the picture below (arrows). I've removed this piece enough times that I've partially broken one of the tabs (red arrow). You can use a thin screwdriver protected by a thin rag to help ease the tabs out.
10. Remove the 13mm bolt in the picture below to remove the armrest. Once the bol t is out, you may need to wi ggle the armrest back and forth to get it free - then move it up to remove.
11. Remove the two T20 Torx screws indicated by the arrows in the picture below.
12. Slide the driver's and front passenger's seats completely backward. Pry out the trim tab on both si des of the e-brake console indicated by the arrow in the picture below.
13. This is easil y done with a screwdriver, as shown below.
14. Remove the T20 Torx screws behind the tabs, as shown below.
15. Pull up the emergency brake handle as high as it will go - the higher it is, the easier the next step will be. Remove the e-brake console by (1) raising the rear of the console relatively high (see picture below for approximate position) position) and then (2) slidi ng the front of the console out from under the lower c enter console (where the shifter is). When the front of the e- brake console is free, sli de the console up and over the e-brake handle. This may take a few attempts - it's somewhat difficult to free the front of the e-brake console from under the lower center console.
16. The image below shows the 4 tabs (yellow arrows) and two posts (red arrows) that make i t difficult to rel ease the front of the e-brake console from under the lower center console.
17. The picture below shows the position of the e-brake microswitch. It just cli ps onto the e-brake support and can be easily removed.
18. Slide open the front ashtray lid and remove the red insert seen in the picture below. (I apologize for the detritus - I should have done some detailing before I took the pics.)
19. Remove the small trim piece just below the A/C controls (or Cli matronic if that's what you have) by pulling it towards the rear of the car, as shown below. While this step is not absolutely necessary, it makes the removal of the front ashtray significantly easier.
20. Remove the T20 Torx screw at the bottom of the front ashtray indicated by the arrow in the pi cture below.
21. Using two screwdrivers (only one is shown), pull the two tabs indi cated by the arrows in the picture below up simultaneously (1) and sli de the ashtray toward the front of the car (into the center console) approximately 1/2" (2). Be careful to only pry the tabs up sl ightly as they break very easily - I managed to break the left one in the picture. They only need to come up enough to clear the metal bracket underneath that the ashtray attaches to.
22. Raise the rear edge of the ashtray upwards, as shown below, making sure the two tabs on the edge of the ashtray clear t he center console (1). Once they're clear, slide the ashtray towards the rear of the car and out of the center console (2).
23. Disconnect the power wire for the 12v outlet f rom the ashtray by removing the wire retaining clip (red arrow) from the hol e in the bottom of the ashtray (yellow arrow), as shown below.
24. Disconnect the power wire from the 12v outlet by pressing in the white tab (1) and pulling the harness connector out (2), as shown below.
25. Remove the T20 Torx screw from each side of the front of the lower center console in the footwell, as shown below.
26. Disconnect shifter boot from lower center console by pulling up on the rear edge of the boot support, as shown below.
27. Slide the boot all the way up a nd out of the way and remove the foam piece that surrounds the shifter mechanism inside the l ower center console, as shown below.
28. At this point, attempt to slide the lower center console backward, disconnecting it from the main (vertical) center console. If you are able to remove the lower center console without any difficulty, goto step 34 (ignore steps 29 through 33 - they are not applicable to your model year). 29. If you can't sli de the lower center console backward easily, there is a good chance that there is a small metal bracket in the way, indicated by the yellow arrow in the image below. From what I can gather, this bracket only interferes with the lower center console removal on early-model MKIV cars. To remove the lower center console, the bracket must be removed - this i s by far the most difficult step of the entire DIY.
30. Begin by removing the 10mm nut (right) which holds the bracket down, as shown below.
31. The lower center console sits directly above the nut, so a flex-joint socket or something similar is needed to remove the nut. I put a 10mm socket onto the nut and then used a socket driver which was not fully inserted into the socket and at an angle to remove the nut (see picture below).
32. Do the same for the l eft bracket nut, which is shown below.
33. When both 10mm nuts are off, raise the front of the bracket over the posts that the n uts were on and then sl ide the bracket backward and out from underneath the lower center console (yellow arrows in picture below). This is difficul t to do due to the li mited amount of space under the c onsole. Once the bracket is out, you should be able to sli de the lower center console backward (red arrow in picture below) and few inches and then up and over the shifter.
34. The lower center console has two plastic fingers approx. 1.5" l ong which protrude from the front edge (red arrows in picture below points to driver's side finger).
35. These fingers insert into corresponding holes in the bottom of the main center console (yellow arrows), as shown below. The fingers (above) are normally bare plastic, but I covered them with felt to prevent the fi ngers from rubbing in the holes - this caused a loud creaking when side pressure from my knee was applied to the lower center console while driving. This cured the problem. I recommend that you do this if you have the lower center console removed.
36. The hidden/mystery 8th screw that holds the glove box in can also be seen in the above picture (indic ated by the red arrow). Remove this screw if you plan on removing the glove box. 37. Open the front passenger door, open the glove box and pull the rear edge of the side dashboard panel out and then towards the rear of the car, as shown below. It's easier if you use two hands, but I needed one to hold the camera.
38. Remove the T25 Torx screw indicated by the yell ow arrow in the picture below.
39. Use a screwdriver to carefull y pry out the rear of the l ight in the glove box(1) and then sli de it towards the rear of the car to get it out (2), as shown below.
40. Disconnect the harness connector from the light by pulling the two tabs apart si multaneously, as shown below. Once disconnected, push the wire back into the hole that the light occupies.
41. Remove the three T20 Torx screws on the bottom of the glove box, as shown below.
42. Remove the three T20 Torx screws on the top of the glove box, as shown below. Pull the glove box o ut and disconnect the microswitch for the glove box light from near the driver's side hinge. The gl ove box can now be removed from the car.
N O T E: D u e t o l e n g t h r e s t r i c t i o n s , t h i s D I Y i s co n t i n u e d i n a n o t h e r t h r e a d - P A R T I I .. .
REASSEMBLY TIPS
A. When reinstalling the lower center console, make sure the front sides of the console slide into the brackets indicated by the yel low arrow in the picture below. It may take a few attempts to get both sides to catch. You'll see if/when you try it.
B. When reinstalling the rear cupholder, make sure to pry up the retaining tabs with a screwdriver, as shown below, or the c upholder may slide back out.
C. The rest of the reinstallation should be the exact opposite of the above - follow steps 1 through 40 in reverse.
Here's a pic of everything put back together, i.e., the above directions do work!
Let me know if you have any questions. A s a lw a y s , do t h i s p r o c ed u r e a t y o u r o w n r i s k . I a m n o t r e s p o n s ib l e fo r a n y m i s t ak e s i n t h e p r o c e du r e o r t h o s e t h a t y o u m a k e w h i l e p e r f o rm i n g i t .
Modified by VgRt6 at 8:37 PM 5-11-2004
II: STEPS FOR REMOVING DRIVER'S SIDE DASH TRIM, BRAKE-LIGHT SWITCH, RADIO/CUBBY HOLE, FRONT CUPHOLDER AND RADIO/HVAC TRIM CAGE
The following outlines the procedure for removing the above items on a MKIV Jetta and Golf/GTI. This DIY (PART II) is a continuation of PART I - I had to break the DIY up into two threads since the si ngle-thread version far exceeded the 20000 character limit for a si ngle post. It also helps make the DIY more searchable, since the parts covered in PART II will be listed in the thread title. The procedure below was based on a 99.5 Jetta GLS VR6 wi th manual HVAC controls - it may be sl ightly different on later-models cars and on those with CLIMATRONIC. Please do these procedures at your own risk and be ready to make small adjustments while doing them. Also, please be observant while removing parts so that they go back together correctly. Some of the pictures in PART II of the DIY were taken without performing all of the steps i n PART I (I h ad reassembled the items in PART I and did not want to disassemble them again), so items that should have already been removed may appear in some of the pictures. Please disregard the discrepancies in continuity. If you follow the steps as written and only focus on the piece(s) of interest in the photos below, you should have no problems completing all of the disassembly steps. Thanks to nimhrat for providing the photos associated with the removal of the OEM radio (I have an aftermarket headunit) and the flap on the new style front cupholder - they were taken from the following thread - http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=961773). Also, thanks to
[email protected] for the i mage of the si ngle-DIN support tray in step 54. - To remove the driver's side trim, foll ow steps 43 through 47. - To remove the brake li ght switch, follow steps 43 through 50. - To remove the radio and cubby hole (if applicable), follow steps 51 and 52. - To remove the front cupholder, follow steps 57 through 58. - If you are doing a trim swap and need to remove the radio/HVAC trim cage and swap the cupholder flap, complete PART I of this DIY and then foll ow steps 43 through 61. ____________________________________________________________________
STEPS:
Before beginning PART II, perform the necessary steps from PART I, as outli ned above. 43. Remove the driver's side dash trim by opening the fuse panel ac cess door on the driver's side of the dashboard. The switchblade key is useful for this step, as shown below.
44. Once the fuse panel access door is open pull off the trim piece w hich contains the door using both hands, as shown below (only one hand is shown since I needed the other one to take the picture).
45. The picture below shows why the fuse panel trim piece c an be difficult to remove - i t is held on by 3 clips (yellow arrows) and 1 tab (red arrow).
46. Remove the dash trim piece to the l ower left of the steering wheel by removing the two T20 Torx s crews at the bottom of the piece (indicated by the arrows in the picture below) and pulling the trim piece off of the dash.
47. Remove the dash trim piece to the lower ri ght of the steering wheel in the same manner. Remove the two T20 Torx screws (indicated by the arrows in the picture below) and pull the trim piece off of the dash.
48. If you want to access the b rake light switch or anything else up under the d ash, remove the panel above the driver's side footwell by uncliping the front of the panel (pull the area indicated by the yellow arrow in the picture below toward the rear of the car) and then sli ding the panel out from under the dash. Note that the edge of the panel closest to the f ront of the car is secured by two horizontal slots (white plastic), indicated the red arrows in the picture below. This step is not necessary for the further disassembly of the center console/radio/HVAC area. If you are not accessing the brake li ght switch or anything else up under the dash, goto step 51 (ignore steps 49 and 50).
49. The picture below shows the location of the brake l ight switch, which is i ndicated by the arrow. This swi tch often malfunctions and need to be adjusted or replaced. To remove the switch from it's bracket, rotate the switch CCW (35-45° or 90°, depending on which version you have) and slide it towards the r ear of the car. DO NOT PRESS DOWN THE BRAKE PEDAL WHILE DOING THIS OR THE INTERNAL MECHANISM OF THE SWITCH (on the most recent versions) WILL BREAK!!! To install a new brake light switch (without destroying it as many people have), follow the directions I posted in the following DIY - Installing a new brake l ight switch (without destroying it!).
50. To disconnect the brake light switch from it's harness connector, push the two tabs (indicated by arrows in the picture below) toward each other and pull the harness connector off of the switch.
51. The next step is the removal of the radio - the di rections for this depend on what type of radio you have. If you have a stock VW radio, i nsert the radio removal keys into the vertical slots at the edge of t he radio face (indicated by the arrows i n the picture below), press the keys in all the way while at the same time pulling back on the radio to sli de it out of it's DIN slot. Once it's out, disconnect the power, speaker and antenna connections behind the radio.
52. If you have a double-DIN radio, remove the double-DIN unit as described above and goto step 55. I f you have separate single-DIN radio and CD units, remove both units as described above and continue on with step 53. If you have a single-DIN radio and a cubby hol e, remove the radio as described above. Next pull the cubby hole unit toward the rear of the car to remove it - it's secured by a single tab at the back (edge closest to front of car) - and then continue on with step 53. If you have an aftermarket head unit, remove the headunit per the manufacturer's instructions and also remove the DIN cage that the headunit slides into. 53. Remove the support tray between the two single-DIN slots, shown in the picture below.
54. The DIN support tray is secured wi th a clip on ei ther side (yellow arrows in picture below) and a tab at the rear (red arrow in pi cture below). Undo the clip on both sides of the tray (may need to use a screwdriver or other tool - I can't remember) and then pull the tray out to disconnect the tab at the rear.
55. Remove the trim from around the HVAC controls using a screwdriver or other suitable tool, as shown below.
56. Remove the four T20 Torx screws at the corners of the HVAC controls, as indicated by the arrows in the picture below.
57. Open the front cupholder flap while keeping the actual cupholder tucked away in i t's slot. To do this, push on the flap to release the cupholder, push the cuphloder back in but don't fold the flap down, as shown below. The cupholder unit is secured to the cage surrounding the cupholder/radio/HVAC controls by two tabs, indicated by the arrows in the picture below. Move the tabs toward each other simultaneously using a screw driver and then slide the cupholder unit out. This is actually much easier then it sounds - move one cl ip to the side and then pull that side of the cupholder unit out a li ttle to keep the clip from springing back. Carefull y move the clip on the other side and then pull the unit out.
58. The picture below shows one of the cli ps that secures the cupholder in place.
59. Finally, remove the four T20 Torx screws that attach the radio/HVAC trim cage to the dashboard. There are two screws on each side of the cage. The screws on the driver's side are shown in the picture below - the screws on the passenger's side are i n the identical spots. You should now be able to remove the trim cage from the dashboard.
60. If you need to swap the cupholder flap, foll ow the procedure corresponding to the type of cupholder that you have. If you have the older-style cupholder (the one with out the spring-loaded arms), remove the flap by pushing out the hinge pins on the flap, i ndicated by the arrows in the pi cture below.
61. If you have the newer-style cupholder (the one with the spring-loaded arms, remove the flap by usi ng a screwdriver to pop off the metal tabs that secure it to the main cupholder unit, as shown below.
REASSEMBLY TIPS
D. If you remove the panel about the driver's side footwell, remember to correctly slide the rear of the p anel into the two white plastic retaining slots, one of which is shown in the picture below.
E. The rest of the r einstallation should be the exact opposite of the above - foll ow steps 43 through 61 in reverse.
STEPS FOR REMOVING REAR DOOR PANELS, DOOR UNLOCK HANDLE ASSEMBLY AND TRIANGULAR INSERT ON QUARTER WINDOW DIVIDER
The following outlines the procedure for removing the above items on a MKIV Jetta (some steps may al so apply to a MKIV Golf/GTI as well). The procedure was based on a 99.5 Jetta GLS VR6 wi th power windows - it will be slightly different on models with manual windows. Please do these procedures at your own risk and be ready to make small adjustments while doing them. Also, please be observant while removing parts so that they go back together correctly. - To remove the rear door panel, follow steps 1 through 14. - To remove the rear door unlock handle, follow steps 1 through 16. - To remove the triangular insert on the quarter window divider, follow steps 1 through 14 and then s teps 17 through 24. ____________________________________________________________________ REAR DOOR PANEL
1. Lower the rear window all the way and open the rear door. 2. Begin by prying off the outer handle piece, as s hown below. To do this, insert a screwdriver or o ther strong, thin tool into the crack between the inner and outer pieces at one end and carefully spread them apart. Be careful not to harm the soft-touch coating on the handle pi eces - you may want to protect the tool with a thin rag. Although a screwdriver is s hown in the picture, I actually prefer a tool with a wider blade, such as a putty or spackling knife - i t has always been easier for me to get the handles off with one of these.
3. Once one end of the outer handle pi ece is pried off sli ghtly, move to the other end and pry that out sl ightly, as shown below. Go back and forth between ends until the handle has been pried out approx. 1/8". Once it i s this far out, you shoul d be able to pull i t off the rest of the way with your hands.
4. The picture below illustrates how the outer handle piece is connected to the inner handle piece by two posts (yellow arrows) and 3 cl ips (red arrows). Now you know why it is so hard to get off.
5. The picture below shows the inner handle piece still attached to the door panel. The handle piece is attached to the door panel with three medium Phillips screws (red arrows) and the door panel is secured to the door with 2 large Phillips screws (yellow arrows). If you want to remove the inner handle piece from the door panel, remove all five screws. If you are just taking the door panel off, onl y remove the two large screws indicated by the yell ow arrows.
6. Remove the two T20 Torx screws at the bottom of the door.
7. Starting at the bottom of the door, pull the door panel away from the door, as shown below. There are fi ve snaps securing the panel to the door, two near the front edge of the panel and three near the rear edge of the panel. The approximate location of the two lowermost snaps on the rear edge are indicated by the red spots. After unsnapping the five snaps, the door panel should still be attached to the top of the door near the bottom of the window.
8. The picture below of the inside of t he door panel shows the location of the five snaps. (T his picture is for reference onl y and was taken later in the DIY. The door panel should not be off yet).
9. Starting with the top, rear corner, pull the door panel u p and out of the window seal, as shown below.
10. Do the same with the top, front corner of the door panel, as shown below. The door panel should now be di sconnected from the door except for the electrical and door lock cable connections in between the panel and the door. You can rest the door panel back i nto the window seal if you want to take a break or reach for a tool.
11. Next you need to disconnect the door lock cable from the door unl ock handle. This is by far the most difficult step of the DIY. I find i t easiest to do if you stand on the inside of the door with the door panel in front of you an d stick your head through the open window to get a better view. To remove the lock cable, you need to pull out on front edge of the cable retaining clip (red area i n picture below) and then slide the cl ip toward the rear of the ca r (away from the unlock handle assembly).
12. Once the clip is unhooked, remove the cable from the groove i n the unlock handle assembly and then detach the hook f rom the unlock handle, as shown below.
13. The picture below is a side view of the cable retaining cli p to help illustrate how to detach it. You need to pull outwards on the front of the cli p (1) to clear the tabs and then sli de it to the rear (2).
14. After the lock cable i s disconnected from the unlock handle, unclip the electrical connections for the window switch and the speakers. You should now be able to remove the door panel from the car.
DOOR UNLOCK HANDLE ASSEMBLY
15. The door unlock handle assembly is secured to the insi de of the door panel with four cli ps (yellow arrows) and 1 small Phillips screw (red arrow), as shown below. To remove the assembly, remove the screw, undo the four clips and push out on the f ront edge of the assembly (by the tweeter).
16. Once the front edge of the h andle assembly is pushed out (1), slide the assembly toward the front of the car to remove (2).
TRIANGULAR INSERT ON QUARTER WINDOW DIVIDER
17. The triangular inserts on the rear quarter window divider commonly rust, as shown in the pictures below. It is very easy to replace these pieces once the door panels are off. They are also very cheap. The driver's side i nsert is part# 1J4-839-415-A-03C and the passenger's side insert is part# 1J4-839-416A-03C . The cheapest I could find them for was $7.46 each at http://www.1stvwparts.com .
18. To remove the inserts, begin by removing the rubber grommet on the door just below the insert and then r emoving the 10mm bolt behind it, as indicated below.
19. Pull the rubber window seal away from the i nsert, as shown below.
19. Pull out the seal from nearly top to bottom, as shown below, but don't remove the seal completely. Leave it attached at the top of the window and also to the bottom of the triangular insert. This will help insure that it goes back in correctly.
20. On the inside of the triangular i nsert, you should see a white tab, as i ndicated in the picture below. This tab holds the insert in place.
21. Using a screwdriver, pull the tab outward and simultaneously slide the insert up and out of the door, as shown below.
22. The picture below shows the entire insert still attached to the rubber window seal.
23. Take note of the position of the bottom of the rubber seal (yellow arrow) relative to that of the bottom of the insert (red a rrow), as shown below. Make sure to attach the seal to the new insert in the same position so that the seal reinstalls into the quarter panel window divider correctly.
24. Installation of the new insert is t he reverse of the above. The tab on the new insert should cli ck into place if i nstalled into the door correctly.
STEPS FOR REMOVING FRONT DOOR PANEL, DOOR UNLOCK HANDLE ASSEMBLY AND SIDEVIEW MIRROR ASSEMBLY
The following outlines the procedure for removing the above items on a MKIV Jetta (some steps may al so apply to a MKIV Golf/GTI as well). The procedure was based on a 99.5 Jetta GLS VR6 with power windows and mirrors - it will be slightly different on models with manual windows and mirrors. Please do these procedures at your own risk and be ready to make small adjustments while doing them. Also, please be observant while removing parts so that they go back together correctly. - To remove the front driver's door panel, follow steps 1 through 8 and 14 through 23. - To remove the front passenger's door panel, follow steps 9 through 23. - To remove the front door unlock handle, follow the appropriate steps for the gi ven door panel (above) and then follow steps 24 and 25. - To remove the sideview mirror assembly, follow the appropriate steps for the given door panel (above) and then fol low steps 26 through 29.
____________________________________________________________________ FRONT DRIVER'S DOOR PANEL
1. Lower the front driver's window all the way and open the front driver's door. 2. Begin by prying out the inner handle piece, i ndicated by the arrow in the picture below.
3. Insert a screwdriver or other strong, thin tool i nto the crack between the inner and outer pieces, as s hown below, and carefully spread them apart. Be careful not to harm the soft-touch coating on the handle pieces - you may want to protect the tool with a thin rag. Al though a screwdriver is shown in the picture, I actually prefer a tool with a wider blade, such as a p utty or spackling knife - i t has always been easier for me to get the handles off with one of these.
4. Once the inner handle piece has been pried out approx. 1/8", as shown below, you should be able to pul l it out the rest of the way with your hands.
5. To take the main handle piece off of the driver's door panel, pull the rear of the handle upwards to uncli p it, as shown below. Do the same at the front edge of the handle.
6. Disconnect the electrical harness connector for the main window and door controls in the main handle piece, as shown below.
7. If your main door and wi ndow controls unit is not working properly (like mine), you can replace it by removing the three medium Phillips screws (yellow arrow in picture below) that attach it to the main h andle piece. If your unit i s working properly and/or you do not want to replace it, i gnore this step.
8. Remove the three large Phillips screws indicated by the yellow arrows in the photo below.
FRONT PASSENGER'S DOOR PANEL
9. Lower the front passenger's window all the way and open the front passenger's door. 10. Begin by prying off the outer handle piece, as shown below. To do this, insert a screwdriver or other strong, thin tool into the crack between the inner and outer pieces at one end and carefull y spread them apart. (NOTE: The next four pictures are actually of the rear driver's side door panel and handle. The front passenger's handle is identical to those of the rear doors and I already had the pics for the rear door version of this DIY, so I used them instead of taking new ones - view the pictures in a mirror if i t bothers you - J/K.)
11. Once one end of the outer handle piece i s pried out slightly, move to the other end and p ry that out slightly, as shown below. Go back and forth between ends until the handle has been pried out approx. 1/8". Once it i s this far out, you shoul d be able to pull i t off the rest of the way with your hands.
12. The picture below illustrates how the outer handle piece is connected to the i nner handle piece by two posts (yellow arrows) and 3 clips (red arrows). Now you know why it is so hard to get off.
13. The picture below shows the inner handle piece still attached to the door panel. The handle piece is a ttached to the door panel with three medium Phillips screws (red arrows) and the door panel is secured to the door with 2 large Phillips screws (yell ow arrows). If you want to remove the inner handle piece from the door panel, remove all five screws. If you are just taking the door panel off, onl y remove the two large screws indicated by the yell ow arrows.
BOTH DOOR PANELS
14. Remove the three T20 Torx screws at the bottom of the door.
15. Remove the small Phillips screw on the top front edge of the door panel, indicated by the arrow in the picture below. This screw secures the door panel to the speaker grille.
16. Starting at the bottom of the door, pull the door panel away from the door, as shown below. There are six s naps securing the panel to the door, three near the front edge of the panel and three near the rear edge of the panel. The approximate location of the two lowermost snaps on the rear edge are indicated by the red spots. After unsnapping the six snaps, the door panel should still be attached to the top of the door near the bottom of the window.
17. The picture below of the inside of the door panel shows the location of the six snaps. (This picture is for r eference only and was taken l ater in the DIY. The door panel should not be off yet).
18. Starting with the top, rear corner, pull the door panel up and out of the window seal, as shown below.
19. Do the same with the top, front corner of the door panel, as shown below. The door panel should now be di sconnected from the door except for the electrical and door lock cable connections in between the panel and the door. You can rest the door panel back into the wi ndow seal if you want to take a break or reach for a tool.
20. Next you need to disconnect the door lock cable from the door unl ock handle. This is by far the most difficult step of the DIY. I find i t easiest to do if you stand on the inside of the door with the door panel in front of you and stick your head through the open window to get a better view. To r emove the lock cable, you need to pull out on front edge of the cable retaining clip (red area i n picture below) and then slide the cl ip toward the rear of the car (away from the unlock handle assembly).
21. Once the clip is unhooked, remove the cable from the groove i n the unlock handle assembly and then detach the hook from the unlock handle, as shown below.
22. The picture below is a side view of the cable retaining cli p to help illustrate how to detach it. You need to pull outwards on the front of the cli p (1) to clear the tabs and then sli de it to the rear (2).
23. After the lock cable i s disconnected from the unlock handle, unclip the electrical connections for the front driver's door (mirror swi tch, alarm LED, door light, trunk release, gas door release and the speakers) or the front passenger's door (door locks, door light and speakers). You should now be able to remove the door panel from the car.
DOOR UNLOCK HANDLE ASSEMBLY
24. The door unlock handle assembly is secured to the insi de of the door panel with four cli ps (yellow arrows) and 1 small Phillips screw (red arrow), as shown below. To remove the assembly, remove the screw, undo the four clips and push out on the f ront edge of the assembly (by the mirror switch on driver's door and door lock switch on passenger's door). (NOTE: The next two pictures are actually of the rear driver's side door panel and handle assembly, and were used for the reasons given in Step 10. The door unlock handle assembly on the front doors is attached to the door panel in the same way as the rear doors.)
25. Once the front edge of the h andle assembly is pushed out (1), slide the assembly toward the front of t he car to remove (2).
SIDEVIEW MIRROR ASSEMBLY
26. Remove the small Phillips screw that attaches the tweeter speaker grille to the door, as indicated by the arrow in the picture below.
27. Pull the speaker grille off of the door. The inside of the grill e is also attached to the door by three tabs which are indicated by the arrows i n the picture below.
28. Pull the foam speaker insert, shown below, off of the door.
29. The sideview mirror assembly is attached to the door with a single T45 Torx screw (thanks bluetoyota for the size). Remove this scre w and pull the mirror assembly off of the door - be c areful not to harm the wires for the mirror glass heater element and the mirror motor.
EXTRAS
Once the door panels are off, you can also do the foll owing:30. To remove the driver's door alarm LED, press in on the tabs indicated by the arrows in the picture below and slide the LED unit out of the top of the door panel.
31. To remove the door light, push in on the two tabs indicated by the arrows in the picture below and slide the light out of the door panel.
32. To view your window regulator clips, remove the two rubber plugs (one shown in picture below) with a screwdriver and raise the window until you can see the clips at the bottom of the window glass through the holes (this will require you to temporarily reconnect the main driver's window and door lock controls).
DIFFICULTLY: Not very difficult at all. If you can change your car’s oil, I believe you can do this fairly easil y. PLEASE make sure you read through this entire DIY before attempting. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a PM and I’d be happy to help out. TOOLS: REQUIRED: 10 MM socket, 13 MM socket, ratchet, 8 MM all en wrench, Philips head screw driver, large flathead screwdriver, small flathead screwdriver, mallet or hammer. RECOMMENDED: solder, soldering iron/gun, electrical tape (Note: These are onl y recommended if you ha ve to swap airbag connectors). TIME: Took me 2 hours from start to fi nish. Mind you this was my fir st time doing this and was also taking l ots of pictures as I know DIYs are much easier to follow with pictures! NOTE (1 of 2): The slider on the leather seats had studs with a 13mm nut. The cloth seats needed to have a bolt threaded, so if this is the case for you, save yourself the headache and make sure to run down to your local hardware store and purchase 4 nuts or bolts, depending on your application.
Leather 2001 New Beetle GLS sliding bracket: (Note: the different connector and clip is circled here)
Cloth 2001 New Beetle GLS sliding bracket: (Note: the circled areas are where the bracket was bolted onto the underbelly of the seat with 2 Philips head screws.
NOTE (2 of 2): The airbag connector was different from the leather and cloth seats. Even though both sets of seats are from a 2001 GLS New Beetle, the connections were different. Be prepared to cut and solder or crimp the original connection to the new seats. Note: This was only an i ssue on the driver side.
Leather 2001 New Beetle GLS driver side airbag connections:
Cloth 2001 New Beetle GLS dri ver side airbag connections:
STEP 6: Let’s start with the driver side seat. Push the seat to the farthest rear setting. There are two 13 MM nuts (or bolts depending on your application. Remember how I mentioned this at the very beginning? Remember how you are prepared for this step already? Remember how this will help save you a ton of headaches later?) Remove both nuts (or bol ts).
STEP 7: Slide the seat to the very forward position and pull the side latch as i f you were letting people into the back. Using a smal l flathead screw driver, remove the two plastic circular covers at the base where the seats slide on their bracket. Remove both Philips head screws and remove the plastic pieces. (Note: Make sure the seat is all the way up so that it’s easier to r emove the covers and not snap them! We are removing these so the seats can fall out of their sliding bracket!)
STEP 8: Lock the seat back down and sli de it all the way back. It should fall right out of the bracket. Tip the entire seat back and take a look underneath. There are 3 connectors/clips under here. Two connectors for the airbag and one white plastic cl ip that holds the harness i n place so it doesn’t get tangled while you are sliding your seat back and forth. Unclip the airbag connections by pressing in a small tab. To unclip the plastic harness holder cli p, you need to lift up a small tab. Now, remove the seat by tipping it sideways. (Note: Be very careful as you remove the seat as to not scratch any i nterior pieces!)
STEP 9: The passenger side is exactly the same as the driver side, except there are only 2 co nnectors: One airbag connector and one plastic clip that holds the harness in place.
