Remove the lower "B" pillar trim?
 

I need to retrieve something that fell into the slot where the d/s shoulder harness goes down to the chassis. It looks like the entire B pillar trim cover is just snapped into place? So in theory I should be able to pull up from the bottom, where the shoulder harness runs into it, and just unsnap it without damaging it?

Anyone ever go poking around in there? Secrets to share?

Maybe this will help


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...bda982a6b4.jpg

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...9b7844a925.jpg


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...4ae62d7ce3.jpg


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.aud...c7297eadea.jpg

Thanks! The article is about as clear as the phrase "Your car is out of gas, put in gas and it will work again."

Well sure, neatly assuming someone knows what "gas" is (they might not know it was "petrol", or maybe it is CNG and they need to sign upo for an account before they are even allowed to purchase that here), assuming they know where the "gas" is to be put in (the back seat? Behind the license plate? A side hatch?) and all that other good stuff.

I really do wonder how their manual can be so obtuse at times, i.e. showing the removal tool 80-200 to remove the "sill" cover B-panel lower trim plate, but not showing where or how to insert it. I'm guessing the arrows "A" and "B" are the locations to twist and pry at, so I'll gently try to tear the car apart on those dotted lines.(G)

Hoping that I can slip the lower portion out without first removing the upper...as the instructions don't say whether that is or isn't possible, or optional.

How you find things in the electronic manual, I just don't know. To me, it looks very much like a phone book that has all the names listed in random order, instead of alphabetized! (And software that generates indexes has been so good and so cheap for SO long!)

Dirty deed half done, thank you again Spijun!

What the manual fails to show, is that the lower B pillar trim is snapped onto the body with six spring clips, two lines of three clips, high, low, and center of the panel. These are made of spring metal, and expand inside of a bracket on the body metal. On the panel itself, they are allowed to float inside a plastic slot for positioning. And when the panel is pried off, the springs pop and remain in the body--not the trim. They remain quite firmly snapped in, and cannot be removed easily. The flat-to-the-body base tabs must be compressed, and then the spring forcibly extracted, as it is still too wide to come free without significant force.

I suppose I now know how Audi tamper-proofs some of their body trim panels. Is the unreferenced "edge removal tool" supposed to be of some use in compressing and removing these?

I would have used a diagonal cutter (since it would slip under the tabs) but in memory of Dwight Eisenhower, I made do and prevailed with what I had at hand, a couple of good pair of hemostats. Once they locked on, the battle was decided in my favor. Six times.

Oh, the item I wanted to retrieve? Yes, finally got it. Tucked between a thick wire bundle and the wire bundle's tie-down support, just within reach of those same hemostats.

Tonight I let the car sulk shame, with the trim panel and exposed B pillar there for all the world to see and poke fun at. No wonder labor charges are so high on an Audi! Such a complication, when six plastic clips (yes, they break but are easily replaced) or screws would have cut the time down in half.

And without your clarification...I would have never dared to put that much force on a plastic panel.

[addendum]
SEVEN spring clips, not just six. There's a seventh spring clip, also not shown, that holds the bottom rear tongue of the panel into/onto the adjacent rear rocker panel trim cover. Which, needless to say, sticks in and hides in the body panel and is most difficult to pull out.
In fact the upper "B" pillar trim has to be partly removed to insert the lower back under it, and then everything somewhat forcibly re-assembled. Including the seventh invisible spring clip.

440 pounds of clever German engineering versus one determined Yankee. HA. No contest.

I know this is an old post but these diagrams are super helpful! Where did you get them???

Elsawin, search Google.

Workshop software used by the Audi main dealers : Elsawin

Thanks (and Bob Petruska) for the reply! For the price that's incredibly helpful