I know - I tried this too - And I also know that there has to
 

be some kind of trick too - Has to be!

Re: leather door handle install (long, BWW)
 

Great resource! Thank you!

Harvey

Re: leather door handle install (long, BWW)
 

ok

regarding removing the switches from the assembly...
 

Mine, like yours, are not meant to be removed from the assembly once in the car. You can remove them, but the assembly has to be removed first, then the small retaining pieces on the switch can be pried away from the assembly and the switch pushed through the bottom. These retaining tabs are at the top of the assembly (not the bottom like shown in that picture - and there are 4 of them), and can only be gotten at from the top and not through the aluminum cover on the inside of the door- which requires it be removed from the door first.

Even with the assembly out of the car, removing the switches is tough. However, if you remove them it does make reinstalling everything much easier.

It seems Audi changed these parts somewhere along the way, probably due to the pita of removing ones that were faulty. I've got an oct build 2001 225 coupe.