Broken armrest compartment latch- help!

[S80DDE]

hi everyone, i have just broken the small latch which allows access to the centre armrest compartment (i.e. the one between driver and passener seats). The latch seemed to be stuck in the 'open position' however the compartment remained shut and when i tried to fiddle with the latch i happened to break it clean off in one piece with another small length of wire coming loose too.

long story short... how do i fix this?

help!

and thanks in advance

(56 plate S3)

 

[NHN]

Buy a new lid if its snapped of or if its possible to superglue back together, but the metal spring part is inside the lid & you have to literally prise the lid & material part apart to get to those areas, then fix then glue back together, nice little job, but sounds like yours is screwed, any pics to clarify?

 

[S80DDE]

the little bit of wire seems to hook around the middle notch of the armrest, might attempt to glue it. tried uploading a jpeg put it didnt work due to an 'undefined' error. Its only 1.1MB so dont know why?

 

[NHN]

Upload it to site like photobucket, then link it to your post as you cant upload directly to asn mate & yes the wire acts as the spring for the lid catch iirc

 

[paddy]

To be honest if this thread said "armrest compartment latch not broken !! HELP!!" i would have been more surprised

 

[Kunit]

Just renew the lid, they are not expensive and are simple enough to do.

 

[NHN]

Yes thats true, also why they didnt continue the quick release catch aswell to lower the armrest is beyond me, having to pull armrest up every damn time to lower it again is damn annoying.

 

[NHN]

Just renew the lid, they are not expensive and are simple enough to do.

Depends if you call £50 odd for a armrest lid expensive, I know I do.

 

[S80DDE]

To be honest if this thread said "armrest compartment latch not broken !! HELP!!" i would have been more surprised

haha, is it a common thing then? dont even know how i managed it

 

[NHN]

You didnt, there's a best before label hidden on the car somewhere for each part lol

 

[paddy]

Does it really need a latch ?

 

[JCMCN]

This happened to me not so long ago. In fact it was after I had ordered a new car from Audi and awaiting delivery Along with the glovebox falling lid off in my hand the next day I went on to ebay and bought both at £15 each Damn lucky if you ask me!!!! I tried working without the catch for a few days but everytime I lifted it everything fell out!!

 

[smudge_don]

Check on ebay, on my old car the same thing was broken and i picked up a new lid for £11

 

[Kunit]

Depends if you call £50 odd for a armrest lid expensive, I know I do.

Didnt think they were that much but then I just fit them not sell them, on the other hand a 50 quid part on a vehicle still worth 20k+ is not expensive to me.

 

[S80DDE]

yeh i was gonna leave it but if i lift the rest the lid will fly open and be useless. Ebay aint looking great ATM but ill keep on it. Ringin Audi tomoro, should be worth a laugh

 

[S80DDE]

spoke to audi today- £120!! 30mins labour at around £50 and the rest on the lid. Criminal. Gonna definately be doing it myself so has anyone done it before? or can describe how to replace the lid and if id need any specialist tools?

 

[NHN]

Piece of **** mate, just lift lid & squeeze the big thick black plastic locators inward & then kinda turn the lid at an angle to remove it from its position & one side should lift up then other side just follows fairly easily.

 

[smudge_don]

Piece of **** mate, just lift lid & squeeze the big thick black plastic locators inward & then kinda turn the lid at an angle to remove it from its position & one side should lift up then other side just follows fairly easily.

Tis easy, just might be a little tough

 

[S80DDE]

cheers guys, had a quick look and those large cirle discs either side appeared to be a release mechanism of some sort but didnt wanna force before checkin in case i broke sumet else!

 

[NHN]

Uh no mate, as I advised the lid has as part of it 2 plastic arm/locators inside the armrest storage part where it swings on, if you squeeze these inward towards the center of the storage part they will release the lid, dont touch the side round plastic disc parts, no need to, its all part of the lid you need to touch, nothing else.

 

[cdco2]

Cheap fix.... 2 small squares of velcro from B&Q works just the same ;-)

 

[smudge_don]

Cheap fix.... 2 small squares of velcro from B&Q works just the same ;-)

LOL!!!!

 

[olivercassell]

Mine was broken before i got the car Had already had some velcro stuck to it Works fine now Better than paying for a new lid if they £50

 

[niffty]

OMG...

This seems to be a common fault.

Audi should replaced these under warranty!!!

My one has gone too.

Damn things might just go down the velcro route as well.

 

[MEddy78]

Thread resurrection!

Slot Car magnets glued in with Araldite




I opted for 4 of the slim circular magnets as seen on the left of the picture, 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom!

Much less than the £85 as quoted from the Steeler's for a new leather lid!

 

[wuta3]

**** those armrest latches, stupid cheap bits of ****.

I have a velcro solution going on at the moment. The magnet idea seems good

 

[A32]

Thread resurrection!

Slot Car magnets glued in with Araldite

View attachment 34235


I opted for 4 of the slim circular magnets as seen on the left of the picture, 2 on the top and 2 on the bottom!

Much less than the £85 as quoted from the Steeler's for a new leather lid!

Hey, sorry this is going back a bit now, what size magnets did you use? I would go and have a look myself t see what would work but the car is in having its drive-shafts changed at the moment. This solution will do me just fine

Thanks

 

[GreenOnes]

Thought I'd update this thread with the latest price, I broke my catch today. £72.18 for a replacement lid. Thats for my 2009 A3 Sportback with black (dark) cloth trim.

Dam pricey if you ask me, especially when all I need is the plastic catch bit

 

[Damiankowalski]

i got same problem im my a3 2008 at the mo i got velcro at mine does the job
plastic catch coast a bit :/ if you finde one with good price let me now

 

[FredrikA3]

Feom me to you

http://www.lightnings.dk/armlaenfix_en.html

 

[Damiankowalski]

Feom me to you

http://www.lightnings.dk/armlaenfix_en.html

thanks mate looks like is first job to do in 2017 nice one buddy

 

[FredrikA3]

Your welcome.

My apologies for the small pictures on the page, but they were handed over by one of the ebay sellers. I was in the same situation as yours and buying a new lid is pretty expensive! You will need to use a little more force than what feels comfortable, but nothing broke on my end

 

[Damiankowalski]

Your welcome.

My apologies for the small pictures on the page, but they were handed over by one of the ebay sellers. I was in the same situation as yours and buying a new lid is pretty expensive! You will need to use a little more force than what feels comfortable, but nothing broke on my end

shame that they dont post it to uk need to still keep looking around
peace

 

[ab1702]

This one says it posts worldwide https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262596074440

 

[ab1702]

Or there is this metal one which I suppose wouldn't break in future https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162328116563

 

[Damiankowalski]

thanks man

 

[S3VDO]

If you look round you can find them. I've been looking for replacement leather armrest for a few months, after trying to fix my broken one and found an immaculate one for a £100 off eBay.

 

[AbsoluteA3]

I think magnets are the best way to go. Firstly, no moving parts -- you're guaranteed nothing will break ever again. Second, the cost -- super strong neodymium magnets can be had for very little money these days. The only thing you're expending is time to install them. Here's my setup (closeup photos -- from a distance, the repair looks actually normal).

 

[Whodafunk]

I too went down the magnet route... a very simple cheap fix. I used two small circle magnets at the corners. They're very strong and do the trick nicely

 

[AbsoluteA3]

I too went down the magnet route... a very simple cheap fix. I used two small circle magnets at the corners. They're very strong and do the trick nicely

Glad to hear that it worked for you as well. I had a couple of old disc magnets in my junk drawer, but they weren't quite strong enough. These newer neodymium magnets are truly astounding in their power to size ratio. What glue did you use? I'm finding that Loctite Epoxy Plastic Bonder works really well, not just bonding plastic to plastic but also metal to plastic.