Fitting an Aftermarket Armrest to 2016 GTi
Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2017 7:03 pm
Just finished fitting an armrest to my Dec 2016 GTI DSG and very happy with the result. If I had ordered a factory build I would have specified and armrest but got a good deal on a pre-built car.
I obtained masses of info & help from a few other sites and from '2015_polo' on this forum.
The armrest I bought was (Ref1)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-sh ... 4be7653b34
The main advice came from (REf2)
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do-yo ... ation.html
and (Ref3)
http://workshop-manuals.com/volkswagen/ ... h_armrest/
There are quite a few armrests from AliExpress but the supplier I chose had good reviews (assuming they were real) but was far from the cheapest. It arrived within 5 days via DHL and was well packaged.
The fitting is a little involved as detailed in Ref2 where it is necessary to remove a lot of trim & console bits to enable lifting the rear end of the centre console to get the main alloy mount in position. I bought a cheap set of 'plastic trim prying tools' from eBay which made the job a lot easier and avoids damage/scratches.
This pic shows why so much has to be removed/loosened - the casting is sitting on top of the console afetr cuphlder removed
Ref2 shows that after removing most of the trim bits 2 horizontal screws holding the console. Mine did not have those screws fitted - I assume that this was intentional as there were no metal 'tags' for the screws to screw into.
So this is the finished result
I obtained masses of info & help from a few other sites and from '2015_polo' on this forum.
The armrest I bought was (Ref1)
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Free-sh ... 4be7653b34
The main advice came from (REf2)
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/diy-do-yo ... ation.html
and (Ref3)
http://workshop-manuals.com/volkswagen/ ... h_armrest/
There are quite a few armrests from AliExpress but the supplier I chose had good reviews (assuming they were real) but was far from the cheapest. It arrived within 5 days via DHL and was well packaged.
The fitting is a little involved as detailed in Ref2 where it is necessary to remove a lot of trim & console bits to enable lifting the rear end of the centre console to get the main alloy mount in position. I bought a cheap set of 'plastic trim prying tools' from eBay which made the job a lot easier and avoids damage/scratches.
This pic shows why so much has to be removed/loosened - the casting is sitting on top of the console afetr cuphlder removed
Ref2 shows that after removing most of the trim bits 2 horizontal screws holding the console. Mine did not have those screws fitted - I assume that this was intentional as there were no metal 'tags' for the screws to screw into.
So this is the finished result
