Disaster has been averted - car was almost undriveable for a few days!
 

You know how it is, just one little thing breaks and it's a total disaster.
I'm not sure how I'm going to cope now, my S8 is almost undriveable.
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Yes, the drivers armrest has broken off. :angry2:



It's the square cross-section casting that goes across the top of the pillar connecting (and mounting) the two armrests. Snapped through on the drivers side. :-(

It looks like taking the armrests apart is a no-no and getting a replacement bit of metal probably impossible, so is this an "opportunity"?

It's a PF car, and I've always liked the look of the D2 FL armrests. I'd need one with space for a phone handset (or are they all like that?).
Are the FL armrests mounted the same way, so just can just be bolted onto the existing pillar, or does the pillar have to come out too (I gather it's a tapered fit so careful tapping and prising to free it)?

Platinum interior, so nice grey leather armrests. Any matching FL ones available anywhere?

Edit: Not yet, but some nice FL ones that are a very close match are now fitted. :love:

Nice excuse to upgrade. The facelift armrests are so much nicer and have a lot of storage. Worst case, get a black one and have it retrrimmed. Will probably be about £100. This would be one of my top mods for a PF D2.

The repair - if thats the way you choose - is here:

http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articl...estrepair.html

Interesting solution, I like the idea of that location for the armrest, but way beyond my pay grade to do it even if the parts are cheap! :o

In the short term I'm rejoining the broken mounting with araldite - might hold for a while as long as I don't actually lean across it but just use it as an armrest. :tuttut:

Longer-term the FL armrest appeals. :love:

Well, the answer is no, but the pillar base is mounted the same way so just need the right bits.
All described here: http://www.audipages.com/upgrades/armrest.html

(I've taken all the existing bits off easily enough to make the temporary repair)

Happened to mine as well, a few weeks ago :(

Looks like A8 parts have a grey FL pair - at THIS linky +++

Yes, spotted those earlier and sent them a couple of questions - no reply as yet.
Mainly concerned about the colour match to my platinum interior; the eBay picture is useless for that as it's taken in a very yellow light.

And the price they're asking! :eek:
Audipages suggests they can be found for about €175 (under £150) bought in Germany including shipping to USA, so that's more than double. :tuttut:

What did you do in the end?

I've had another creative thought about repairs though............
Mine has a phone holder so the drivers arm is significantly larger and heavier - probably the main reason it failed at the pivot.

BUT I could reassemble it and cross-link the two arms so that they are held tightly together and support each other. A couple of suitable bolts straight throught from side to side or (less visible) a couple of repair plates on the underside bridging them. Anyone know what materials are inside and where the release mechanisms run from the buttons on the ends?
I rarely, if ever (only when doing work on the car) raise the armrests and always both of them, so that's no problem at all for useability.
BUT I'd know there was a bodge underneath. :o

And those FL armrests do look nice. Chrissie present maybe :love: (from me to me, SWMBO would have a fit as they cost more than my best bottle of whisky :tuttut: )

A friend of mine tried to ally weld the part back together, but it melted, as apparently the casting was fairly pourous.

Solution 2, he's going to machine up a new part in stainless, and attach it to the remainder of the casting, its not done yet, but I'm not moaning as its FOC :)

I don't think it's aluminium, just some cheap soft casting.
I've araldited mine, will see tomorrow if it holds for any length of time.
Mine is the larger, heavier drivers armrest complete with phone bracket so puts a serious strain on a small bit of cheap metal. Now I've looked at it I'm amazed it's lasted 14 years!

Well, so far so good, but I have my doubts on "long-term viability".
Meanwhile the FL armrest is beginning to seem ever more attractive, provided "the price is right". ;)

Well, I didn't make a very good job first time and the araldite failed :tuttut: , but I seem to have (fingers crossed) sourced a FL set from another member here at a fair price. Probably a bit darker grey but hopefully will look OK.

Just out of interest I can see why they fail and have a couple of thoughts about how it could have been designed better, not that it's going to happen retrospectively....:ROFL:

The arms each have a cast metal pivot where a stub of metal goes sideways into the central mounting pillar. These 2 stubs overlap and have a hole through the centre for a vertical retaining bolt, so are pretty thin at the critical point.
Overall the stubs are square but are cut in half (actually diagonally to make a triangle) to overlap - one above the other.
The really daft thing (German engineering eh? :o ) is that the heavier arm (drivers is probably 2Kg vs 1Kg for passenger) has the lower stub (with bolt hole through the thin bit) so the L shape of the stub is effectively pulled open and cracks in the inner corner then breaks.
The lighter passenger arm has the top stub, with the bolt through the thin bit, so is mostly in compression at the weak points and supported by the stub for the drivers arm.
Finally the bolt has a small head and small washer so only bears down on the passenger arm stub in the thin overlap area.

If the stubs had been the other way round they would probably very rarely fail.
In addition a much larger washer or (better) a rectangular plate spreading the pressure from the bolt across a good length of both stubs (say 30mm wide) would be much stronger. :cool:
The pillar that they fix to is about 28mm wide and the actual weak overlap section is only 12mm on each arm, so there's plenty of scope to provide additional support using the full-thickness parts of the stubs if it had been looked at by a mechanical engineer.

If interested I have a pair of facelift D2 black armrests for sale, there is about an inch tear in the leather on the top of one of them as they fell off a shelf in the garage at some point. They're perfectly useable, and could be retrimmed etc..... they come with center bolt, so they bill bolt straight into a PF car.

Open to any sensible offers really.....

Thanks for the offer Ian, but a grey set should now be on their way to me from another member here. I'll decide whether they need retrimming once I see them installed.

If any of that goes awry for any reason I'll get back to you. :cool:

Let me know if you need a good old fashioned trimmer - the guy I used for my Alcantara sunroof refurb was incredibly helpful and extremely reasonable if youre not demanding everything within a day or two +++

Well I've got the new-style armrests and have installed them on a temporary basis (using the old bolt) to see how they look and fit etc.
TBH, though they're obviously darker, they don't look too out of place. I think as I already have contrasting colours and textures due to the leather/alcantara mix the lack of uniformity doesn't stand out - unless you "know" of course. :tuttut:
They need a bit of cleaning up before I finally fit them, but this is what they look like now (updated picture):

Very good... They are darker because they are 'swing' grey, not the lighter, 'platinum' grey.... The platinum facelift ones should be a very good match, but those look million times better than nothing anyway ... +++

Thanks Ian, I'd sort of got the impression that colours changed PF/FL and that there were no Platinum FL ones at all. I bought these "eyes open" knowing they were going to be darker, but I'm happier than expected TBH.

I guess if some do appear at a fair price I'd buy them and sell these on?
Is there any inherent difference in value between the colours?

I dont think so.... I think black is probably the most popular colour that works for pre and post facelift, so they generally sell well.

Grey/Cream/Blue etc is just luck of draw to find someone that needs them. As facelift ones dont tend to break, theres less demand for replacements, so your best hope is finding a PF who's upgrading, or someone who is doing a whole interior colour change....

Well I plan to live with them for a while before deciding what to do.

Though now I've cleaned them up I can see a bit of wear/scuffing on the top of the drivers armrest that might benefit from a bit of recolouring. I might look at whether it's possible to recolour them a bit paler.

Anyone know to what extent they can be dismantled, and how? At the very least I'd like to swap the top panels over if that's feasible - they look symmetric.

take a look at some of these sections from the workshop manual -

http://elsaweb.spaghetticoder.org/na...4154/68/17198/

This one might tell you what you need - http://elsaweb.spaghetticoder.org/do...KMI/20839939/2

I wish I'd known........:(

Never mind, I know where to ask when I break mine or fancy an upgrade +++

He's still got them......:Confused:
(I got mine from another member here)

Excellent - absolutely brilliant, just what I need. +++

I've managed to find (on eBay) and ordered the phone lift to fit inside, complete with liner. It's exactly the right one to fit my ancient Nokia 3110 and its holder (i.e. pre-Cullman). :cool:
That tells me all I need to know to change it over when it arrives. :)

Edit: Done - took about 30 seconds. So simple when you know how. :D

Which has given me another idea.........:tuttut:
The obviously visible part is the top panel. I think that would look good covered in Platinum alcantara - if I can get some.
Failing that I might just try to colour it a lighter grey with leather paint/dye.
I don't think having the lower part of the armrest slightly darker would be at all noticeable.

I can put you in touch with the trimming guy I know if it helps pm me a mobile number and I'll text you his details +++

I meant because I'd have taken a look at them last week when I was down for the wheels.

Sorry, losing the plot........

Looking at the way they come apart, recovering the top surface with a new bit of black leather would be a doddle for an expert.

No bother at all, I confuse myself at times.

That's even more reason for me to have them, a local guy has done work for me over the years and I'm certain he'd enjoy an easy little job like that.

They're incredibly heavy though. £20 for Parcelforce 24.
(which isn't too bad in the overall scheme of things - how far would £20 worth of petrol take the average S8? :ROFL: )

Which arrived just now. Sadly the gas strut has failed so it doesn't lift. You have to pull it up. :-(
I need to decide whether it's worth keeping or just send it back for a refund.

Does anyone have any experience (and costs) of repairing/replacing/regassing these little struts, or is it not worth it?
I did see one German web site that suggested a fix was possible with rubber bands! :tuttut:

They always fail. Those style facelift armrests only survived a couple of years, and when they moved from fixed phone to cullman cradles they binned the gas struts in favour of spring loaded which I've never seen fail.

Not worth fixing imo. Just rip out the phone mechanism and enjoy a load more useful space +++

OK, thanks for the info.

I got a suitable bolt so the armrests are now fully fitted and comfortably operational. Car is driveable again +++

PS If anyone needs an M8*80mm coarse-thread stainless steel allen-head bolt I have one spare - buying a pair was cheaper than just 1. :Confused:

Gas struts
 

Hi Guys,
I have dealt with Metrol Springs in Northampton, they can repair, recharge, reseal or offer suitable replacements for a large amount of gas springs.
My daily drive, is a 29 year old Audi 100, I have recently bought a pair of gas springs from them to lift the bonnet, cheap enough and fitted straight on.
Hope this is of help.
Best regards,
Steve