| FOREWORD... |
STEP
1 & 2. |
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
slightly different on later-models cars (those
with no rear cup holder) and all models with
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. |
Slide the driver's and front passenger's seats
completely forward then open rear ashtray and
remove red insert as shown in picture above. |
| STEP
3. |
STEP
4. |
Remove the two sides to the rear ashtray as
shown in the picture above. 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). |
The picture above illustrates how the top and
bottom of the ashtray sides are connected to
the ashtray. |
| STEP
5. |
STEP
6. |
Remove the rear ashtray housing by carefully
prying up the two tabs on each side with a
screwdriver, as shown in the picture above. Be
careful not to break the tabs while doing this
- they are somewhat difficult to get off. |
To remove the rear cup holder (if applicable),
push down the two retaining tabs indicated by
the arrows in the picture above. |
| STEP
7. |
STEP
8. |
Slide the rear cup holder out of the e-brake
console as shown in the picture above. |
Remove the driver's side of the armrest trim
as shown in the picture above. First pull the
top of the trim towards the driver's side (1)
and then pull upwards at an angle to remove
(2). |
| STEP
9. |
STEP
10. |
Be careful doing the above. The trim piece is
held in by 6 tabs as shown in the picture
above (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. |
Remove the 13mm bolt in the picture above to
remove the armrest. Once the bolt is out, you
may need to wiggle the armrest back and forth
to get it free - then move it up to remove. |
| STEP
11. |
STEP
12. |
Remove the two T20 Torx screws indicated by
the arrows in the picture above. |
Slide the driver's and front passenger's seats
completely backward. Pry out the trim tab on
both sides of the e-brake console indicated by
the arrow in the picture above. |
| STEP
13. |
STEP
14. |
This is easily done with a screwdriver, as
shown above. |
Remove the T20 Torx screws behind the tabs, as
shown above. |
| STEP
15. |
STEP
16. |
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 above for
approximate position) and then (2) sliding the
front of the console out from under the lower
center console (where the shifter is). When
the front of the e-brake console is free,
slide 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. |
The image above shows the 4 tabs (yellow
arrows) and two posts (red arrows) that make
it difficult to release the front of the
e-brake console from under the lower center
console. |
| STEP
17. |
STEP
18. |
The picture above shows the position of the
e-brake micro switch. It just clips onto the
e-brake support and can be easily removed. |
Slide open the front ashtray lid and remove
the red insert seen in the picture above. (I
apologize for the detritus - I should have
done some detailing before I took the pics.) |
| STEP
19. |
STEP
20. |
Remove the small trim piece just below the A/C
controls (or Climatronic if that's what you
have) by pulling it towards the rear of the
car, as shown above. While this step is not
absolutely necessary, it makes the removal of
the front ashtray significantly easier. |
Remove the T20 Torx screw at the bottom of the
front ashtray indicated by the arrow in the
picture above. |
| STEP
21. |
STEP
22. |
Using two screwdrivers (only one is shown),
pull the two tabs indicated by the arrows in
the picture above up simultaneously (1) and
slide the ashtray toward the front of the car
(into the center console) approximately
1/2" (2). Be careful to only pry the tabs
up slightly 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. |
Raise the rear edge of the ashtray upwards, as
shown above, making sure the two tabs on the
edge of the ashtray clear the center console
(1). Once they're clear, slide the ashtray
towards the rear of the car and out of the
center console (2). |
| STEP
23. |
STEP
24. |
Disconnect the power wire for the 12v outlet
from the ashtray by removing the wire
retaining clip (red arrow) from the hole in
the bottom of the ashtray (yellow arrow), as
shown above. |
Disconnect the power wire from the 12v outlet
by pressing in the white tab (1) and pulling
the harness connector out (2), as shown above. |
| STEP
25. |
STEP
26. |
Remove the T20 Torx screw from each side of
the front of the lower center console in the
footwell, as shown above. |
Disconnect shifter boot from lower center
console by pulling up on the rear edge of the
boot support, as shown above. |
| STEP
27, 28 & 29. |
STEP
30. |
Slide the boot all the way up and out of the
way and remove the foam piece that surrounds
the shifter mechanism inside the lower center
console, as shown above.
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).
If you can't
slide the lower center console backward
easily, there is a good chance that there is a
small metal bracket in the way. 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 is by far the most difficult step of the
entire DIY. |
Begin by removing the 10mm nut (right) which
holds the bracket down, as shown above.
|
| STEP
31. |
STEP
32. |
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 above). |
Do the same for the left bracket nut, which is
shown above. |
| STEP
33. |
STEP
34. |
When both 10mm nuts are off, raise the front
of the bracket over the posts that the nuts
were on and then slide the bracket backward
and out from underneath the lower center
console (yellow arrows in picture above). This
is difficult to do due to the limited amount
of space under the console. Once the bracket
is out, you should be able to slide the lower
center console backward (red arrow in picture
above) and few inches and then up and over the
shifter. |
The lower center console has two plastic
fingers approx. 1.5" long which protrude
from the front edge (red arrows in picture
above points to driver's side finger). |
| STEP
35 & 36. |
STEP
37. |
These fingers insert into corresponding holes
in the bottom of the main center console
(yellow arrows), as shown above. The fingers
(above) are normally bare plastic, but I
covered them with felt to prevent the fingers
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.
The hidden/mystery 8th screw that holds the
glove box in can also be seen in the above
picture (indicated by the red arrow). Remove
this screw if you plan on removing the glove
box. |
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 above. It's easier if you
use two hands, but I needed one to hold the
camera. |
| STEP
38. |
STEP
39. |
Remove the T25 Torx screw indicated by the
yellow arrow in the picture above. |
Use a screwdriver to carefully pry out the
rear of the light in the glove box(1) and then
slide it towards the rear of the car to get it
out (2), as shown above. |
| STEP
40. |
STEP
41. |
Disconnect the harness connector from the
light by pulling the two tabs apart
simultaneously, as shown above. Once
disconnected, push the wire back into the hole
that the light occupies. |
Remove the three T20 Torx screws on the bottom
of the glove box, as shown above. |
| STEP
42. |
REASSEMBLY
TIPS (A) |
Remove the three T20 Torx screws on the top of
the glove box, as shown above. Pull the glove
box out and disconnect the micro switch for
the glove box light from near the driver's
side hinge. The glove box can now be removed
from the car.
NOTE: Due to length restrictions, this DIY
is continued in another SECTION, Part II... |
When reinstalling the lower center console,
make sure the front sides of the console slide
into the brackets indicated by the yellow
arrow in the picture above. It may take a few
attempts to get both sides to catch. You'll
see if/when you try it. |
| REASSEMBLY
TIPS (B) |
REASSEMBLY
TIPS (C) |
When reinstalling the rear cupholder, make
sure to pry up the retaining tabs with a
screwdriver, as shown above, or the cupholder
may slide back out. |
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! |
