Following my successful attempt to remove the shift knob and the shift gate, I was so determined to go ahead and replace my chromy shift cover to a leather boot that's commonly found in the manual version of Bora and Golf. So I did more research, and have several correspondences with a fellow vwvortex's member, FEELER, who had attempted this mod awhile back. One of the important task is to remove the gasket that's secured beneath the shift console, so that any MK4 OEM shift boot can be fitted on the shift console perfectly without any further modification. To do so, I have to remove the shift console, and before placing an order from hillsideimportsp, I decided to try taking out the gasket first.

How-to step by step

the prerequisite of this how-to is to remove the shift knob, and optionally the shift gate. If you have not done so, just refer to the shift knob removal and shift gate removal articles.

1. First of all, using a torx screw #15 driver, remove the 2 torx screws, which are located at the front end of the shift console, just under the dash console, as shown.

2. Next remove the cover as shown in the above picture on the left, and unscrew the torx screw. There are 2 torx screws on each front side of the shift console, which secured the shift console firmly to the ebrake console.

3. Remove the ash-tray component from the shift console. First slide open the ash-tray lid, and remove the ash-tray casing, and it will expose a torx screw at the bottom of the ash-try, as shown on the left. Unscrew the screw, and slowly slide the ash tray out by pushing the ash tray forward alittle before pulling up and away from the shift console.

If you have problem trying to move the ash tray, chances are the plastic tab at the bottom of the ash tray is clipping on the metal piece, as shown in the picture on the left (the two tabs are located on each side of the centre torx screw). Pry the tabs slightly so that the metal piece is off the tabs' hook, before sliding up the ash tray. In my case, it's very easy to take out the ash tray without even prying on the tabs.

4. When the ash tray is taken out, unplug the harness from the ash tray lighter, as shown in the diagram on the left

5. With the ash tray removed completely, you will be able to see a metal bracket as shown in the photo on the left. Pull out the left side of the bracket.

6. With all the screws and ash tray removed, you may start wiggle the shift console, pulling it up and backward.

First of all, pull up the shift console away from the bracket at the front, where you previously unscrew the 2 front torx screws. This free the front console, and then you can start to pull back the shift console.

When you pull back the console, wiggle alittle so that the 2 finger-like plastic pegs on the shift console are out from the main console's bracket completely. When these plastic pegs are not cleared from the bracket, you will find it difficulting pulling out the shift console at all. Once the pegs are cleared, the console should be freed from any clips or brackets, and you can slowly pull it out, leaving the shifter as shown in the diagram on the left.

7. Remove the shift guide & optic cover from the shifter, by unclipping the 2 tabs at each side of the cover, as shown above. Apparently, this is required for the OEM shift boot to be inserted into the shift console perfectly without any obstruction. Once my shift boot arrives, I will confirm if this step is required or not.

8. With the shift console taken out finally, the next step is where the real intent of removing the console is about. Flipping the shift console, you will see the gasket attached to the underneath of the console with 4 philip screws, as shown on the left photo.

When the gasket is detached away from the shift console, you see that the rubber trimming around the chrome cover is also removed. The rubber trim is actually fitted onto the gasket, before tightening all 4 screws on the gasket to the console. With the gasket and hence the rubber trimming removed, it creates some gap around the shifter, presumeably for the OEM manual shift boot to be fitted on properly.

More information will be shared once I get hold of the shift boot and figure out how the shift boot will be attached to the shift console.

In the meantime, I have ordered a shift boot from Hillsideimports, just couldn't wait for it to come. To be continue in 10 days time, hopefully!