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Old 25th November 2014, 11:32 PM
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steamship steamship is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Londonderry, Northern Ireland
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Default Retrofitting Rear Blinds

So, after having purchased the parts for doing the rear blind retrofit from the forum sponsors back at the start of August, they have been lying in the front room waiting for me. I did the side blinds about a week later, and only just did the rear blind a week or so ago. I've split the guide into two separate posts to make it a bit easier to go through.

Part 1 - Side Blinds



First up are the parts required to complete the job. Apart from the obvious door cards, you will also need a set of blind hooks and screws. The only other requirement are replacement plastic studs for the cards. The part number is 4D0 867 299D and I bought them from http://www.kfzteile-profis.de at a cost of 29.90 euro for 40 of them.



First off is removal of the door trim. Starting from the very rear of the door, gently prise the wood trim off. Once it starts, gently move towards the other end, releasing each metal retaining pin in turn.



There are five of these in total (holes marked in green below). When all five are free, remove the trim by pulling the trim towards the rear of the car, as there is a small lip holding it in place. Behind this piece of trim are three large screws, which should then be removed (marked in red below).



The next step is to remove the door handle surround.



This involves just getting your fingers underneath the very bottom part of the surround and pulling it away from the door. There are three retaining lugs on top, and one on either side.



Behind this handle surround, there are two screws which need to be removed.



The top half of the door handle surround now needs removing. Using a soft flat edged tool, gently prise the wood trim upwards from one end, and then move towards the other end. I found that by pushing the trim inwards towards the door made it easier to free up.



The electric window switch now needs removing.



The small ashtray illumination light is next for removal. This is done from inside, by very gently prising the plastic lug next to the bulb, whilst at the same time pulling from behind. Once the first one is through, the second one is pretty easy.



With the door handle area cleared, you will now see a single bolt in the door handle area which needs removing.



There are only two small screws to remove before the card can be taken off, and these could be overlooked. There is one at either end of the door card, on the outer parts of the door card.



That's it for all the nuts and bolts holding the card in place. The next step is to pull the card from the door. Not sure where it's easiest to start from, but I started at the bottom rear of the door. There are a total of eight plastic studs holding the card in place, and with the photo, you can see where to apply pressure when removing them.



Once you've got these released, there are still two connections left. One is the door handle mechanism and the other is the wiring loom (no photo of the wiring loom connections). The wiring loom is easy to disconnect, but care should be taken with the door mechanism. There is a small metal clip holding the cable in place, which should be removed first. The cable ends with a small metal barrel, which connects to the inner door handle. Around this small barrel is a small black piece of metal, which secures it in place. It is only held in place when everything is together, so when removing, be careful you don't drop it.



Okay, now that you have the old card off, you need to transfer the wiring loom, speaker(s) and lights to the new card. I did notice that the door card I had came with a Bose speaker in it. Mine on the other hand isn't Bose, and so has the small tweeter near the door handle. The only issue with the lights is to ensure that you transfer across the door handle illumination surround. It's basically some clear plastic that the light connects to, but is held in place by a big bit of tape, so may get overlooked. The last little thing is to check the plastic surround on the locking indicator at the top, and make sure it is there.

Once everything has been moved across to the new card, it only remains to replace any of the plastic studs that may have broken when removing the door card. You also have to make sure that you remove the broken parts of the studs from the door itself. The new studs come in two parts, a T-shaped piece that attachs to the door card indicated elsewhere, and a round piece that goes into the door, and these lock in place. I fitted them this way, and in hindsight, I don't think it's the best way to do it, as after I fitted the door card, I couldn't get them all seated 100%, and they would sometimes pop out again. The cards aren't going anywhere, but the fit isn't as flush as I think it should be. If I was doing it again, I would be inclined to fit the two pieces together first, attach them to the door card, and then fit the card to the door.

It only remains to fit the card. For this, I put the window down, just to have room to manoeuvre. I brought the bottom of the card to the door first, and attached the wiring loom. The next one is reconnecting the door handle mechanism, ensuring you have both small pieces of metal to hand. Slip the small black piece over the barrel end of the cable and attach to door handle. Then secure the cable in place with the small silver piece (this will only fit one way). Then, place the door card over the locking indicator and along the top half of the door. With it now partially held in place, start from one side and try and align up all the plastic studs to their respective holes. When they are all in place, push the card in towards the door, placing more pressure above the areas where the plastic studs are. You should hear them click into place.

With the card now in place, hook up the electrics to the door switch, but don't put in position. Then try all the electrics in the door to ensure everything is working fine. Once you're happy with that, replace the two small screws at either end of the door, then the single bolt behind the door handle. You can now replace the top half of the door handle surround, starting at the front. Again, I found that pushing it in towards the door made it slightly easier to fit into place. The two screws are next, followed by the bottom half of the door handle surround. This for me was the most awkward piece to put back in, as getting the alignment right was a pain, combined with the number of different securing lugs around it. You can then replace the three large screws that were hidden by the top piece of trim, and then replace the trim by first sliding it into place towards the front of the door. Then, gently push the trim from where the metal lugs are on the trim.

With the card now in place, you now have to put the blind hooks on the door. This is probably the only time where it pays to be careful, as you will be screwing these hooks into the window frame of the door. I did it by holding the blind up with the small handle and trying to get it to align neatly, moving it forward and backwards a few times to get the right position. Once I was happy with the position, I placed one hook in place and marked it. I then drilled small pilot holes and secured the hook in place, remembering to also attach the thin liner provided. With this one done, I raised the blind again, resting it on the hook. Still holding it, I again moved it forward and backward to find the best position for the second hook. Again, this was marked, drilled and the hook attached.



Time to do it was about one hour per door, although I wasn't in any hurry, so could be done quicker.

Result - Before and After photos


__________________
2001 A8 D2 FL 3.7 Q - LPG Conversion, Engine: AKC, Gearbox:FBB, Colour:LY5X Aqua Blue pearl effect, Interior:WJ light beige/dark beige valcona leather with burr walnut inserts

My DIY jobs - Replaced alarm horn, Replaced Coolant Temp sensor, Updated RNS-D firmware, Installed Reversing Camera and Digital TV, Dashcam Installation, Retrofitted Rear Blinds, Auto-Dimming Rear View Mirror, Chrome Boot Struts

Sold! 2008 S8 D3 5.2 V10 - Engine: BSM, Gearbox:KLW, Colour:LY7F Suzuka Grey Pearl Effect, Interior:Black/Black with Silver/Black valcona leather with carbon atlas inserts, Bang & Olufsen, Heated windscreen, Soft-close doors, TV, DAB, AMI, Quad Zone, Auto Boot, Auto dim Mirrors, Keyless entry, PDC with rearview camera, AFS II Headlights

My DIY jobs - Fan Jet Windscreen Washers, Retrofitted Electric Side Blinds
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