Hi Steve,
Pleased to see you have secured an A2. Jeremy has done a very good job replying to your post but I will expand a little on switchgear with the aim of making a reference for other new members in the future.
Yes, worn eyesore soft touch buttons do ruin the look and when tidied up it makes a big upgrade to cabin appearance.
Your choices for switchgear refurbishment as I see it are:
1. Purchase hard touch radio and climate units and rotary light switch sourced from an early A2 which were hard touch (2000 & 2001?). Considered the best solution, but not easy to come by and a tad costly but each slot in 10 minutes and perfect match and hardwearing
2. Purchase good condition A2(2002 on) soft touch units. A good solution but as 1. regarding drawbacks and will go the way of all soft touch buttons eventually.
3. (a) Replace just the buttons on your existing radio and climate units with good condition hard or soft touch buttons (your choice). Reasonably cheap and and a couple hours of straightforward work. Looking at £30 per unit. There tends to be two approaches to this, EITHER ping the old buttons out with Stanley knife blades/pull out using self tappers OR dismantle the units and remove buttons. Read this as a starter.....
https://www.a2oc.net/community/inde...n-buttons-without-dismantling-the-dash.24496/
To give a flavour of the dismantling route this is my detailed (overly!) guide for a Concert unit, the climate unit is very similiar.
https://www.a2oc.net/community/index.php?threads/how-to-replace-worn-buttons-on-a-concert-ii.35250/
Some more related points.
I am not sure the pinging method will work with the station buttons on radios (happy to be corrected).
Concert units only come in soft touch (happy to be corrected).
For donor units eBay is the usual port of call e.g. search 'A4 B5 climate control unit' will produce hard and soft touch donor units for buttons, but other Audi models are suitable.
The Marketplace on here is also a good source for parts and usually cheaper.
Blacker donor buttons IMHO are acceptable and act as a pleasing contrast to the button housing and you will never notice the difference at night.
(b) For the lighting rotary switch as mention above the auto head light switch is a good option. Read this ....
https://www.a2oc.net/community/inde...-leaving-home.26076/&highlight=auto+headlight
4. Lastly, there is also the sticker option for refurbing buttons. Cheapest option by far and with care can look quite good but I have seen many pictures of stickered climates were the stickers have wrinkled in time or start to come unstuck at the edges and look a mess. Anyway an option....
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Set-of-stickers-to-repair-the-buttons-on-the-AC-unit-for-Audi-A2-A3-8L/132713738687?fits=Car+Make:Audi&hash=item1ee65af1bf:g:9hEAAOSwUC1bYWXv:rk:9f:0
Hope this helps, sorry it turned out long winded in the end.
Andy
Pleased to see you have secured an A2. Jeremy has done a very good job replying to your post but I will expand a little on switchgear with the aim of making a reference for other new members in the future.
Yes, worn eyesore soft touch buttons do ruin the look and when tidied up it makes a big upgrade to cabin appearance.
Your choices for switchgear refurbishment as I see it are:
1. Purchase hard touch radio and climate units and rotary light switch sourced from an early A2 which were hard touch (2000 & 2001?). Considered the best solution, but not easy to come by and a tad costly but each slot in 10 minutes and perfect match and hardwearing
2. Purchase good condition A2(2002 on) soft touch units. A good solution but as 1. regarding drawbacks and will go the way of all soft touch buttons eventually.
3. (a) Replace just the buttons on your existing radio and climate units with good condition hard or soft touch buttons (your choice). Reasonably cheap and and a couple hours of straightforward work. Looking at £30 per unit. There tends to be two approaches to this, EITHER ping the old buttons out with Stanley knife blades/pull out using self tappers OR dismantle the units and remove buttons. Read this as a starter.....
https://www.a2oc.net/community/inde...n-buttons-without-dismantling-the-dash.24496/
To give a flavour of the dismantling route this is my detailed (overly!) guide for a Concert unit, the climate unit is very similiar.
https://www.a2oc.net/community/index.php?threads/how-to-replace-worn-buttons-on-a-concert-ii.35250/
Some more related points.
I am not sure the pinging method will work with the station buttons on radios (happy to be corrected).
Concert units only come in soft touch (happy to be corrected).
For donor units eBay is the usual port of call e.g. search 'A4 B5 climate control unit' will produce hard and soft touch donor units for buttons, but other Audi models are suitable.
The Marketplace on here is also a good source for parts and usually cheaper.
Blacker donor buttons IMHO are acceptable and act as a pleasing contrast to the button housing and you will never notice the difference at night.
(b) For the lighting rotary switch as mention above the auto head light switch is a good option. Read this ....
https://www.a2oc.net/community/inde...-leaving-home.26076/&highlight=auto+headlight
4. Lastly, there is also the sticker option for refurbing buttons. Cheapest option by far and with care can look quite good but I have seen many pictures of stickered climates were the stickers have wrinkled in time or start to come unstuck at the edges and look a mess. Anyway an option....
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Set-of-stickers-to-repair-the-buttons-on-the-AC-unit-for-Audi-A2-A3-8L/132713738687?fits=Car+Make:Audi&hash=item1ee65af1bf:g:9hEAAOSwUC1bYWXv:rk:9f:0
Hope this helps, sorry it turned out long winded in the end.
Andy
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