shineydave
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The rear door trim fillets have been knarking me everytime i wash my car, mine has got the dreaded corrosion that seems to affect most of the A4 range so today i decided to have a go at tidying them up a bit. I'd tried in the past to paint them in situ as it wasn't obvious at the time how they came off, this time i thought i'd try to do a proper job and remove them.
first remove the door trim by removing the 2 screws that hold the top of the door panel, there's one at either end of the trim.
then remove the screw holding the trim piece in the inner door pull and remove the plastic trim piece, it pulls downwards and can be quite tight so don't be afraid the use some brute force.
once the trim is out of the way you'll see the final screw that holds the door trim in place. remove this and the trim will then come off by pulling it upwards off of the retaining hooks.
i just left the trim sat on the floor with the cables still attached, it's not necessary to remove it totally but you can if you want to by unclipping the electrical plugs and the door release cable but it seemed a load of hassle.
remove the internal cover in the inside of the trim piece, this is just held in place by a peg and comes off by pulling it away from the red mounting bush, also you'll need to remove the sponge foam packing, make a note of how this comes out as i puzzled for a while as to how it went back in. behind it you'll see a T30 torx screw, this holds the outer trim in place, remove this.
with the trim off you can see the two grey torx bolts that hold the window frame in place, they're the two bolts on the outer edge of the door, there's four in total (two on the inner edge of the door) but i found it only necessary to remove these two.
you can now pull the trim piece away by easing the window frame away from the door and pulling it from the leading edge, the first one i did was quite hard as there was some sealent holding it in, the second one came out a lot easier.
then it was just a matter of preparing and painting the trims, i used some 400grit wet and dry and some soapy water to rub them down and remove all the corrosion.
then gave them several thin coats of primer, don't go mad with it, many light coats are better than one thick one as you'll find it will create runs and sinking. since it was a fairly cold day i warmed the trim pieces and the primer prior to painting.
leave it to dry for an hour or so then give them a light rub down using some 1200grit wet and dry and soapy water, once you're happy with the finish it's time to apply some gloss black, i used a BMW Black for no other reason than it was in the bargain bin at the local car shop. same thing applies as for the primer, thin coats and warm the paint and trims first.
leave to dry for three or four hours then depending on how particular you are you might want to give them a quick flatting off with some more 1200grit wet and dry, it'll remove any imperfections in the paint such as the greenfly that flew into one of mine or any orange peel effect. to finish give them a polish with something like Megs scratch X and a final buff with a bit of polish and you're all ready to refit them.
ok it took me an afternoon to complete but most of the time was waiting for the primer and paint to dry, well worth the effort as these trims don't half let down the appearance of the car.
first remove the door trim by removing the 2 screws that hold the top of the door panel, there's one at either end of the trim.
then remove the screw holding the trim piece in the inner door pull and remove the plastic trim piece, it pulls downwards and can be quite tight so don't be afraid the use some brute force.
once the trim is out of the way you'll see the final screw that holds the door trim in place. remove this and the trim will then come off by pulling it upwards off of the retaining hooks.
i just left the trim sat on the floor with the cables still attached, it's not necessary to remove it totally but you can if you want to by unclipping the electrical plugs and the door release cable but it seemed a load of hassle.
remove the internal cover in the inside of the trim piece, this is just held in place by a peg and comes off by pulling it away from the red mounting bush, also you'll need to remove the sponge foam packing, make a note of how this comes out as i puzzled for a while as to how it went back in. behind it you'll see a T30 torx screw, this holds the outer trim in place, remove this.
with the trim off you can see the two grey torx bolts that hold the window frame in place, they're the two bolts on the outer edge of the door, there's four in total (two on the inner edge of the door) but i found it only necessary to remove these two.
you can now pull the trim piece away by easing the window frame away from the door and pulling it from the leading edge, the first one i did was quite hard as there was some sealent holding it in, the second one came out a lot easier.
then it was just a matter of preparing and painting the trims, i used some 400grit wet and dry and some soapy water to rub them down and remove all the corrosion.
then gave them several thin coats of primer, don't go mad with it, many light coats are better than one thick one as you'll find it will create runs and sinking. since it was a fairly cold day i warmed the trim pieces and the primer prior to painting.
leave it to dry for an hour or so then give them a light rub down using some 1200grit wet and dry and soapy water, once you're happy with the finish it's time to apply some gloss black, i used a BMW Black for no other reason than it was in the bargain bin at the local car shop. same thing applies as for the primer, thin coats and warm the paint and trims first.
leave to dry for three or four hours then depending on how particular you are you might want to give them a quick flatting off with some more 1200grit wet and dry, it'll remove any imperfections in the paint such as the greenfly that flew into one of mine or any orange peel effect. to finish give them a polish with something like Megs scratch X and a final buff with a bit of polish and you're all ready to refit them.
ok it took me an afternoon to complete but most of the time was waiting for the primer and paint to dry, well worth the effort as these trims don't half let down the appearance of the car.
