CHello Robinson

I've read that it's easy, but I guessing either I'm doing something wrong or my objective is different than what's directed.

I'm trying to remove the entire compartment(the base), that houses the would be cup holder; not just the part that holds the cup. I have plans of making myself a usb charging station that's feeds off of the rear cigarette lighter(either through a soldered connection ...or just plugging in a charger and hiding the cord) and an aux jack that's connected to the stereo through a concealed cassette tape aux cord.

tester123

Some thing like this? I thought of the Aux jack but wouldn't it be even more convenient if you just stash a small bluetooth audio receiver and plug the cassette to it? Check Amazon, get a quality one. The one I got is rechargeable and even turns off by itself after no data for a while (i.e. walked out of car to shopping etc.). Come back and just push the button to power on and go. This way phone can be wire-free ok, wireless.

CHello Robinson

I was hoping I wouldn't have to remove the center console to get at it.

Part of my reasoning for wanting to do this is cleaning up the console of cords when I'm driving, and so I wont feel the need to put them away when I'm not(there's not that much storage and a lot of dirt traps.. I don't get out or pull off until everything looks presentable as much as possible). Right now I have the Cassette Adapter To Aux cord wrapped around the rear view mirror and I have the ashtray popped out to charge while I'm driving. I would like to find away to avoid needing to use the cassette adapter altogether, as no matter how I try to hide the cord, it still needs to come out of the cassette player.

I saw a video for a "power outlet"/cigarette lighter replacement, that has a aux jack and usb outlet, that connects to the stereo via a RCA cable. My problem with this solution is, 1 I'd have to still have the ashtray out, 2 I don't know if the car has RCA cables, and 3 I don't think it would fit into either power outlets.

Since I managed to break my dash cup holder, I've also thought about that or the card storage tray as a place for a aux jack and usb outlet. Another alternative is under the arm rest or even inside the arm rest. I know/believe I have the wiring for a phone... I'm not sure it would provide enough power, but if I use either of the arm rest options I might be able to feed into that power.

tester123

Thought of all this while ago and gave up . Got one of those flexible suction cup mount phone holder which is latched onto the area between shifter and ashtray. Using the rear cigarette lighter, ran a long micro-USB cable (snaking it between seat belt latch and seat and pulled it up to the phone mount. Not exactly clean but, does the work without having to see wires up by windshield/rear view mirror). Plus, the location of phone by shifter is convenient to access quickly instead of reaching to windshield etc. Of course, the wireless option I mentioned is also very convenient. At one point I thought of modifying the mount with a wireless charging pad... this way no need to plug anything anymore...

tanya_charbury

I understand this is an old thread, but in case my experience helps someone else with this problem, I'm documenting how I've recently removed the entire rear center console from two of my C5 Audi A6 cars, one 2000 and one 2001. Here are some of my notes:

In general, the plastic rear center console body is attached to the car with
- one 13mm nut at the rear



- one 8mm bolt in the center:



- two 8mm bolts at the front:




The problem is: what's in the way, and there's a lot of it.

A. To reach the 13mm nut at the rear, I first removed the rear vents ... which needed to be removed anyway since the seat warmer and cigarette lighter and illumination wiring would have anchored the plastic rear center console body to the car.

Step A1 -- insert a right angle pick inside the vent grid and hook a cross-bar and yank it backwards.




Here is the unit pulled loose slightly ...



... and more ...



Step A2 -- unhook the four plugs from the vent grid.



... here's the rear of the center console after removal of the vent unit.




B. I also needed to detach the handbrake position switch with its wiring otherwise that would have anchored the plastic rear center console body to the car.

The switch has a sort of barb that keeps the switch snug next to a vertical pillar.



I pushed the barbs together and pulled the switch loose.



Here it is, detached from the vertical pillar:




C. To better see inside the rear of the center console, I pulled out the ventilation duct just ahead of the rear vent unit.

D. The center armrest would block the center console from being removed, so I removed that first.

That required removal of a 13mm nut ...


... 1/4" ratchet, short extension, 13mm socket. It's purple because I color-code with nail polish my tools so that I can see at a glance see what I have.



Then, I could lift it up and away...



Then, the phone cord should be detached via a plug:



Here's a top view of the rear of the center console with the armrest removed:




E. The center bolt that attach the center console is under the storage compartment that's parallel to the handbrake. So, I removed that.

Before removal:



After removal:



I reached in to access one of the back tabs at the rear of the storage compartment to press it inward, without breaking it (it's kinda fragile):




F. The storage compartment that's parallel to the handbrake is blocked by the wood trim just behind the handbrake, so I removed that first.




G. The two front bolts that attach the center console are under the wood trim that's around the transmission shifter. So, that I pried that up to get access, using a flat-bladed screwdriver applied at the rear of the wood trim.

Before prying up:



After prying up, we can see the two 8mm bolts that keep the center console in position.




After that, the handbrake and its trim are still in the way, but with that resolved ... the center console can be struggled loose.

I hope this helps!

~Tanya

tanya_charbury

After some more experience gained, I have made a revised version of the process. The above write-up shows a process that does work, but the new way is better.

Here's the link to the article on my website -- and yes, I pay for my company to have formal vendor status so I can do that. :-)