A quick guide on how to remove the centre console of the Polo GTi (and I'd guess 6n2 in general - just not sure on the heater controls).
There maybe faster ways, but this worked fine for me.
Sorry for the pictures, I can't take pictures freehand without them being all blury, even when using the self timer, and my 'good' highlighting was too faint as the line was too narrow, hence the rushed photobucket attempts
It was also done on re-assembly, so some of the steps maybe in the wrong order.This can be done with 1 person, although there are a couple of bits that are easier with 2. I did it with the front seats out, which made life a lot easier. They're held in with one bolt at the front of the seat (gold in colour, and runs horizontally at 90degree to the sills), by the release lever for adjusting them. Undo this, push it back, and wiggle it around and it should come out. There are a couple of trim bits that just pop off around the seat runners, but these are pretty easy to figure out.
Step 1;
You need to get access to the edges of this strip.
The left is easy - open the glovebox and screw is revealed. The other side is a bit harder. You'll need to remove the left hand side of the panel by the drivers knees. There's a couple of screws along the bottom, which are easy to find.
There's a hard one to find behind the cowling for the steering wheel release.
Once that's removed, you can pull/bend it back far enough to gain access to the other 2 screws holding the trim on.
(There is another, only I lost the screw, and forgot to photograph it!
)Step 2;
Remove the CC controls.
Firstly, the coin tray thing just tugs out, as does the bit of trim around the CC unit.
(It goes back on with the slim edge at the top.)
Now prise the two edge bits of trim off to get access to the rest of the screws. There are 4 in total - make sure you don't release the CC unit from the rest of the buttons.
(You could leave it connect, and just unplug it, but I found this easier.)
Now you can undo the two bolts that hold the top of the console in place.
Step 3;
Remove the ash tray.
Now you'll need to release the back of the console. Firstly, pull out the bowled tray in front of the handbrake (just clips) and release the gear lever gaitor (again, clips).
By the gear stick there are two bolts that need undoing, then the console can be lifted from behind.
The ash tray is held in from two screws from underneath.
(While hard to see, these are the same size/fitting as the rest.)
The ashtray should now be free, and the console can be removed around the gear stick/handbrake etc.
While it's quite easy, I found it took a while to find all of the screws in the first place, hence the guide.
Hope it helps someone.
