Update on my £10.5k / 104k mile Noggy...

[Contigo]

Mine corroded and as a goodwill gesture Audi replaced it with a brand spanker.

[neckarsulm]

Where are they based neckarsulm?? B'ham area?

Yep, 5 mins from J3 M42.
www.sprintautos.co.uk

Removed my tailgate handle today - worst bit is removing the inner trim panel to get to the back of the handle thanks to same stupid design as Mk4 Golf which is easy to fit in factory and a b1tch to remove later without damaging clip mounts.
Have removed number plate lights and microswitches so it can be painted fully.

[Virdee Autos]

Nice strong metal clips which are too strong for the plastic mounts!!!

[neckarsulm]

Nice strong metal clips which are too strong for the plastic mounts!!!

That's it exactly! managed to get all but one clip out leaving plastic mount intact, nothing a bit of superglue wont sort!

[mbelle]

I did this ages ago....one of my first mods. As has been said, mine had also corrossion on it.

Bought a new one, and sanded it down with wet n dry.

Of course - I forgot you did it as well; sorry Virdee.

FYI - how much do they cost?
I might just get a new one too.
Is there a gasket underneath them as well?

Regarding removing them, how long roughly to do...?

[Virdee Autos]

I think I was the first one.....or at least to show it off!

New trim is circa £60....comes in black primer. So you need to get your grades of wet n dry out, and remove the primer.

Then depending on how you want it to look, you can finish off with a very fine wet n dry, for the brushed aluminium look, or top this off with Autosol, etc for a shiny finish. I went for the brushed look to match the mirrors, roof rails, etc.

Yes there is a gasket behind it....unless yours is really knackered, you can swap that to the new one.

You will need to remove the inside of the tailgate lining, and then is held on by 2-3 10mm nuts IIRC. The key barrel stays in place, so all you need to do is swap the no. plate lights, and handle pad to the new one. Check your no. plate lights as they maybe cracked (common), and now's a good time to change those to!

HTH.