I was wondering if anyone has had success in trying to replace the aluminum finish tipronic shift gate. I've seen in the archives talk about replacing it with something else, but I'm interested in using original Audi parts. My gate seems to be covered with scratches and scrapes and I was thinking of replacing it with the OEM cover, but this time protecting it with something (any suggestions). How much for the parts and labor?<p>Ken

You could try a couple layers of clear coat. Future minor scratches could then be buffed out, or it could be resprayed. I think even Krylon comes in clear, but you could look around to try to find a urethane or other tougher paint. (Try auto body supply stores).<p>A layer of the thin Invictashield or Stongard-type material (3M clear adhesive plastic) would also work. You would have to do a really nice job cutting it so that it wouldn't show at the edges. This has the advantage of being removeable and re-doable.<p>I suppose you could experiment with just spray painting your existing one with silver-colored paint. It would lose the factory brushed look, though.

the gate itself is chromed die-cast zinc and is easy to remove and replace as it is held to the sleeve holder (the roller that holds the piece of plastic siding in the shifter so things don't fall into the gear selector) with four black clips that can be undone and reattached with a screwdriver. You'll need to order the gate panel, gate trim, circuitboard with magnetic sensors and lighting, and the input plug to the right of the Tiptronic side of the circuitboard.<p>Cameron<br>

could you give that to me a step by step Cameron -- i'd like to do it myself, but I'm not as mechanically inclined as you...thank you

There's a plug on the center console side panel, one on each side and you'll need to move the seats back to their furthest rearward position to reach them if you're not vertically endowed (I'm not, at 5'9"). Remove the center console, the rubber gasket liner for the shift gate is attached to the console... careful not to scratch the console, it's soft plastic and any scratches will be bright white (Shaumburg Audi has a number of cars on the lot with scratches around interior panels from sloppy people trying to work on the cars and not caring what happens to them -- figuring buyers won't check). You'll see a black box, that's the gear selection mechanism and has a rod that runs in the tunnel. Mounted to the four vertical spire brackets on the box is a sleeve mechanism that holds your piece of black siding-like material that keeps stuff from falling into your shifter (the sleeve that moves with the lever when you change the lever's position). On top of the black sleeve mechanism are four delicate clips with dabs of hot glue. The sleeve mechanism is female and the chromed zinc gate is male. Carefully unclip the gate, it will have a liner, and underside, a circuitboard, and the chromed die-cast gate. Your dealer will be able to order either a black (european) or chrome (north american) gate that will have the same four male attachment points and will clip on top of the sleeve mechanism. Carefully clip the gate back on, put some dabs of hot glue over the male/female join points (4) and put the center console trim cover back on, replacing the caps you carefully set aside earlier. I recommend the black plastic gate, as it lights up the same way, has the same bracket alignment relative to the sleeve hardware, and is much less susceptible to scratching. But if you don't have a black interior, it will look funny.<p>I hope this helps you.<p>Cameron