The gear knob in my Gen 1 facelift is quite scratched etc, and I have seen on here that the best bet is to get a jeweller to polish out the scratches, which Osman @R8-Stuff very kindly confirmed as well. So I took it to a jeweller today to get it polished. The jeweller was not too sure about it, and thought it was plated, so he tried a bit of it, and he was right the chrome plating came off!!
I have not had the car from new, so do I perhaps have a cheap replacement knob? Or are the polishing claims misguided on the Gen1 facelift s-tronic knob?
So now I am on the look out for a new original replacement, hopefully Osman can get me one, if not then I'll have to get one directly from Audi I guess.
Here is the area the jeweller tried on the buffing wheel:
Here is the original knob before the attempted buffing:
Anyone any ideas, or have a A1 condition one to sell
polish it yourself by wetsanding using various grits of sandpaper. start with 500, 800, 1000, 2000 and then finish with some rubbing compound and microfiber cloth. Just tape off the knurled section using multiple layers of painters tape first, and remove the emblem on the top. Worked wonders for me even by hand. Just take your time and you will be amazed at the results.
Thanks @bavarianstance , but that will not work, it's chrome plated, the plating will all come off, it's a totally different colour underneath as per the image.
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Yea just recommend you sand it down to a brushed finished to save you hundreds of dollars.
Thread the knob to a threaded rod (you can get a bolt and cut off the bolt head) and attach to your screwdriver. You'll have a clean shift knob in half an hour.
I have a well used one. Also have a very nice billet piece that fits and weighs very well for a gated. I don’t know the feel for an auto. I imagine you don’t use it much…you know put it in gear and then just drive around to the grocery store or your kids elementary school or church all boring like without any enjoyment. But I don’t know from experience. Don’t have one.
If I were you, I'd probably aim eBay or find one not from Audi as an OEM replacement. Interim, if the scratches bother you, get something non-OEM until you can find an OEM at a decent price in good condition. There are also non-OEM options and some of them are pretty cool. I like Raceseng but that's me (no affiliation). Raceseng Volkswagen Custom DSG Weighted Shift Knobs
With Audi, it's only 1000% markup; ridiculous. I'd try to polish at this point, since the plating is already damaged. If it doesn't work, buy aftermarket or hunt until you find one used. Probably not a common piece, but it's worth a try.
So, let the glove-haters say what they will, but after nearly 8 years... no scratches. It also doesn't hurt that in a DCT I only really need to touch it a handful of times per drive... the rest is all paddles.
In this case, I'd probably try to polish it out. But, truth be told, I might miss the plated look... and would bite the bullet to either professionally refinish it or buy new.
I replaced mine with a LatheWorks knob (multiples for different styles). Much better than the stock knob, feel and weight. But again, as above, the DCT won’t be used much so not a huge deal.
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