So I had the center console out last night to replace the pocket for my idiotic console mounted cupholder and the shifter plate was staring me in the face asking to be fixed, so I thought I would give it a shot.

I won't bother giving a play by play on how to removeit considering that has been covered before, but I will tell you what I attempted to do to correct the problem.

First, I went at it with some 3M Scotchbrite pads (the green ones)hoping it would remove the surface scratches, but they were simply too deep. I then jumped at it with some fine sandpaper (220 grit) and after about 10 minutes of sanding I could tell it was going to take more.

I then jumped at it with my DeWalt random orbit sander with some fine grit sanding disks and scuffed it up pretty good. I was able to easily do all four sides and the top to get it to the point where the entire piece looked like it was pitted and scratched - it always looks worse before it looks better!

I then took the fine sandpaper and did the inside of the shifter gate by hand - since that part wasn't really scuffed it didn't take much.

Then I started back with the Scotchbrite pad and did the shifter gate and the outside edges first. Once I was satisfied with the look and had the grain of the pattern looking the way I wanted it, I used some clamps to hold the top two corners of the Scotchbrite pad onto the corner of my bench and then turned the shifter plate upside down and proceeded to run it lengthwise against the pad in a rocking motion. It only took about 15 or 20 passes and the result was a perfectly clean "brushed" look that matches the satin finish of the door pulls and shifter **** almost perfectly.

I attempted to take it a step further with my Dremel and some polishing compound, but truthfully that ended up looking worse so I went back and did the Scotchbrite pad again.

One thing I noticed was how easily that thing will get dinged up again. I tapped my ring on it 3 or 4 times just to see - and sure enough it left new little pits that I had to remove again. I imagine if you are the type to toss your cell phone or a pen or some keys on the center console, it won't be long before you have to repeat this entire process all over again - and to be honest the entire process probably took at least 90 minutes not counting the removal and reassembly time, so I'm guessing the total job would be about 2 hours.

Is it worth it? That is questionable considering I've seen new chrome shifter plates on eBay for as little as $40, but then again I assume they wouldn't last any longer.

Has anyone else had experience with this? I had thought about just powder coating it silver or black in an effort to reduce the scratches in the future, but the aluminum is so soft I'm not sure that would hold up any better.

 

A scratch resistantenamel paint might work pretty well. I think you can find those in silver. Yeah i agree i don't think i've ever climbed into an A6 and not seen that chrome plate scratched to all hell.