New Head Liner

[Kevin C]

My headliner needs to be replaced. I found a few good threads, and the job does not seem all that bad.

My big question do I try to match the color or convert it to black. I think that just doing the center in black and leaving the side trim the original gray would look good, but I'm not positive!


Swap thread:
https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...r-removal-swap

Input appreciated.

Suggested Source: https://headlinermagic.net/products/...al-for-audi-a4

Any other suppliers?

Thanks!!!

[JohnnySLine]

Hey there,

I'm also in the same boat regarding needing to do a headliner on my car. I have decided to convert to black once I have to free time to do so. I have collected all the parts that are made from plastic and need to be swapped to black (lights, seatbelt sliders, airbag badges, etc). I plan on reupholstering everything myself with an anthracite coloured alcantara type material and would also like to know how those have who have done the job have found it. What adhesive to use and where the best place to source headliner material is would be great to know.

I think that if you're just doing the centre part of the headliner, a close match to the original colour would be fine. Even from the factory they're not an exact match in terms of colour. I don't personally think that keeping the grey side panels the same colour would look that good, it's not a very factory looking thing. That's just my opinion though.

I have heard good things about headlinermagic. Something I've read is that looking for not only a foam backed material, but one that also has a stitched layer on top of that helps a lot with longevity and install ease as you're able to more easily lift the material to get it bonded correctly. I don't know if the headlinermagic material features this.

I would love to be able to justify the cost for original Alcantara branded material, but the costs are astronomical. Even OEMs like Porsche aren't offering genuine Alcantara on their new cars and are instead going with their version of it (Race-Tex). For a black headliner conversion, it's important to make sure that the material has been UV stabilised so it doesn't fade in the sun.

Interested to hear what others have to say

[krazeedrivr]

Kevin, do you mean you are going to try and put the fabric on yourself, or do you mean you just intend to take it out, have it reupholstered and put it back in yourself? That's what I did on both of my B6s. Removed all the trim and headliners and took it to a local upholstery shop and they reupholstered for a few hundred bucks each. I did all black headliner and trim on one, and all grey on the other.

Putting fabric on this stuff is often not as easy as it looks. All the desiccated foam, and adhesive covered plastic and cloth is a real bummer to remove, and there is a bit of an art to putting it on correctly to make it look right. I will say you should expect half of the trim to crack or break pulling it out, and ESPECIALLY if you are cleaning and trying to reupholster it yourself as a newbie to upholstery(correct me if I'm wrong there). Its all old and brittle now, and even with the most delicate of hands and researching how to pull each piece correctly its likely to happen. Breaking a couple pieces is what ultimately had me decide to reupholster the trim too. I was able to buy some good used stuff (of various colors) to replace the broken stuff when I had it reupholstered. Black headliner looks great, but I don't know how I'd feel about it if the rest of the trim was a different color.

[kevin1980]

i have done everything, so the sky, and the styles
Everything in black
Personally i think that looks better than 2 different colors
To me it seems a bit like "nice but not quite"

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cq8jB...h2b2lsNXFqYjI=

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cq8fm...I3dG40MzZtbA==



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[Kevin C]

i have done everything, so the sky, and the styles
Everything in black
Personally i think that looks better than 2 different colors
To me it seems a bit like "nice but not quite"

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cq8jB...h2b2lsNXFqYjI=

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cq8fm...I3dG40MzZtbA==



Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-S911B met Tapatalk

Nice, and not an unreasonable goal to go all black. I did ask the inhouse style expert (aka my wife) and she didn't think having the side pillars grey would look bad. At the same time, if I'm going that far, why stop? I'm curious if you had to do anything on the air bags?

[Kevin C]

Kevin, do you mean you are going to try and put the fabric on yourself, or do you mean you just intend to take it out, have it reupholstered and put it back in yourself? That's what I did on both of my B6s. Removed all the trim and headliners and took it to a local upholstery shop and they reupholstered for a few hundred bucks each. I did all black headliner and trim on one, and all grey on the other.

Putting fabric on this stuff is often not as easy as it looks. All the desiccated foam, and adhesive covered plastic and cloth is a real bummer to remove, and there is a bit of an art to putting it on correctly to make it look right. I will say you should expect half of the trim to crack or break pulling it out, and ESPECIALLY if you are cleaning and trying to reupholster it yourself as a newbie to upholstery(correct me if I'm wrong there). Its all old and brittle now, and even with the most delicate of hands and researching how to pull each piece correctly its likely to happen. Breaking a couple pieces is what ultimately had me decide to reupholster the trim too. I was able to buy some good used stuff (of various colors) to replace the broken stuff when I had it reupholstered. Black headliner looks great, but I don't know how I'd feel about it if the rest of the trim was a different color.

I have done a few headliners on vehicles that did not have removable inserts. That meant overhead scraping and gluing (that car needs to be redone, it did last 22 years). After that I'm thinking that this one should almost be fun. Perhaps fun is not the right word, but you get the idea. Good point on breaking trim, my plan is to be careful. If I learn the hard way the pick and pull is a 20 minute drive and has 4 A4's.

[kevin1980]

Nice, and not an unreasonable goal to go all black. I did ask the inhouse style expert (aka my wife) and she didn't think having the side pillars grey would look bad. At the same time, if I'm going that far, why stop? I'm curious if you had to do anything on the air bags?

Did nothing on the airbags
I used a thin fabric with a foam layer
If the airbag on the side deploys, she is totally loose
When it comes to that I'll see you in the Audi B6 heaven
(I don't wear a seatbelt)

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[kwilson]

Good timing. I'll be following this. I've been thinking of redoing mine in black this summer. Nothing currently wrong with mine but I have all of the black trim from a S4 I parted a year or so ago, and thinking of swapping.

[DownhillA4]

I'm in the same boat, I need to redo my factory headliner also and thinking of pulling it all out and doing it in black vs. the factory tan color.

[BumblebVR6]

I just scrapped my 05 Sedan and when removing the pillars and headliner, most of the panels broke or had parts break. I need to redo the one in my Avant, but after that shit show, I may just take it to a shop and hope they have a better process for doing it.

[Kevin C]

I just scrapped my 05 Sedan and when removing the pillars and headliner, most of the panels broke or had parts break. I need to redo the one in my Avant, but after that shit show, I may just take it to a shop and hope they have a better process for doing it.

I lack the common sense needed to farm the job out. This is an after spring break job, no big hurry. Initially I was pushing to do it after I discovered water in the left quarter panel. I was sure it was my sunroof drain, but it turned out to be the quarter window seal. That I will pay a shop to fix. I think that my sunroof drain connections might drip a little, but they are not plugged. I spent a bunch of time in the garage last night with a bottle of water and a flashlight, the quarter window leak was signifigant. It looks like the shop messed up when the car was repainted. I didn't find any sunroof leaks, but a slow drip from a fitting is hard to find. That's one reason why I want to inspect this myself. Anything with a poor seal is bad news in the winter in Oregon.

[krazeedrivr]

I just scrapped my 05 Sedan and when removing the pillars and headliner, most of the panels broke or had parts break. I need to redo the one in my Avant, but after that shit show, I may just take it to a shop and hope they have a better process for doing it.

Careful allowing a shop to pull and replace trim parts. They'll likely get it all back together again looking good/ok, but they'll break stuff too and just hide it with glue, plastic welding, and wood screws. I've worked with upholstery shops for about a decade now, and even the ones that charge a lot more than everyone else have issues. They lose and break parts, cut wiring, break and crossthread mounts, and things I'm not even remembering. This is why I do all the removal and installation myself now, from learning the hard way. The only thing I allow upholstery shops to do these days is wrap stuff, and even then they break things. Just saying if you pick an upholstery shop, know what you are getting into.

[Kevin C]

Last night I dug into the interior to narrow down the leak source. I removed the C pillar trim that covers the rear quarter window. The trim above it did have a pre cracked mount. With a bit of effort I got the trim off and found the gap in the glass sealant. Cutting the glass out does not look that hard, and if I'm pulling trim to redo the interior its super easy. The broke trim is probably a byproduct of the paint work I had done when all the glass was removed. The quarter window was actually bonded to the trim, it was obvious that the adhesive was done wrong, unfortunately the trim lost and will need replacement.

I also realized that its not a big deal if I break the trim or if its broken since the new plan is to replace the grey with black. Also the glass shops I spoke with wanted $200 to reseal the window. Several shops did not do R and R , they only fix the broken ones since they said they might break the glass. They quoted $480 as the fix for a leak!

For $200 I can buy a lot of black interior parts,

I'm excited to fix the saggy headliner and do the color conversion. That and no more foggy windows.

[BumblebVR6]

Careful allowing a shop to pull and replace trim parts. They'll likely get it all back together again looking good/ok, but they'll break stuff too and just hide it with glue, plastic welding, and wood screws. I've worked with upholstery shops for about a decade now, and even the ones that charge a lot more than everyone else have issues. They lose and break parts, cut wiring, break and crossthread mounts, and things I'm not even remembering. This is why I do all the removal and installation myself now, from learning the hard way. The only thing I allow upholstery shops to do these days is wrap stuff, and even then they break things. Just saying if you pick an upholstery shop, know what you are getting into.

I'll just make the 4 hour drive up and pay you to R/R it for me!! :-)

[Kevin C]

A quick update: To avoid having parts arrive while I was away, I held off on ordering while I was on vacation. So far this is what's on the way:

1 section of black headliner fabric from Headliner Magic
1 full set of black trim from an S4. The parts look to be in good condition with no broken tabs (unlike the ones in my car). I found a full set on Ebay for $180.
1 set of black visors from Europe that don't have the warning labels.
1 quarter window in good shape to fix the water leak.

With any luck the parts all arrive in the next week or so and I take care of the sagged liner next weekend. I'm sure I will find some odd part that I don't have, but I think i have a good start. Getting the head liner out will also let me inspect the drain lines.

I had been looking at the sagged liner way too long, it will be nice to get it fixed and take care of the mystery water leak.

[kevin1980]

A quick update: To avoid having parts arrive while I was away, I held off on ordering while I was on vacation. So far this is what's on the way:

1 section of black headliner fabric from Headliner Magic
1 full set of black trim from an S4. The parts look to be in good condition with no broken tabs (unlike the ones in my car). I found a full set on Ebay for $180.
1 set of black visors from Europe that don't have the warning labels.
1 quarter window in good shape to fix the water leak.

With any luck the parts all arrive in the next week or so and I take care of the sagged liner next weekend. I'm sure I will find some odd part that I don't have, but I think i have a good start. Getting the head liner out will also let me inspect the drain lines.

I had been looking at the sagged liner way too long, it will be nice to get it fixed and take care of the mystery water leak.

Do you already know how you are going to remove the old foam?

I personally found it a "pain in the ass" job
I ended up using pure thinner
Unfortunately, the old foam started to become sticky again
Which caused it to be all over where you didn't want it
My upholsterer advised to let the sky air out in the open air for about 3 days
So that all volatile fumes could escape and the glue could adhere better to the old sky

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[Kevin C]

I'm sure its going to be a pain to clean up. I have redone metal using a scraper, I guess I will figure out how to clean it off. How hard can it be? I'm sure I will find out.

I hope my ebay parts are in good shape, the pictures look good, but you never know for sure until you get the parts.

[kevin1980]

I'm sure its going to be a pain to clean up. I have redone metal using a scraper, I guess I will figure out how to clean it off. How hard can it be? I'm sure I will find out. I hope my ebay parts are in good shape, the pictures look good, but you never now for sure until you get the parts.

Fingers crossed

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[Gunnarrrrr]

if you end up finding a black trim piece missing, hit me up, i’ve got two full sets of black headliner conversion parts.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine Forum

[BumblebVR6]

if you end up finding a black trim piece missing, hit me up, i’ve got two full sets of black headliner conversion parts.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine Forum

For Avant?

[john_gonzo]

Do you already know how you are going to remove the old foam?

I personally found it a "pain in the ass" job
I ended up using pure thinner
Unfortunately, the old foam started to become sticky again
Which caused it to be all over where you didn't want it
My upholsterer advised to let the sky air out in the open air for about 3 days
So that all volatile fumes could escape and the glue could adhere better to the old sky

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-S911B met Tapatalk

I'm sure its going to be a pain to clean up. I have redone metal using a scraper, I guess I will figure out how to clean it off. How hard can it be? I'm sure I will find out.

A wire brush works well for removing old foam from the headliner backer. And by wire brush I mean the hand-operated wooden brushes about a foot long with six inches of bristles from the welding supply section.

[Kevin C]

A wire brush works well for removing old foam from the headliner backer. And by wire brush I mean the hand-operated wooden brushes about a foot long with six inches of bristles from the welding supply section.

I have an assortment, I'm sure me using them for everything but welding has not helped the quality of my welds. I will give it a try and probably buy a couple of new ones.

[Gunnarrrrr]

For Avant?

sedan


as far as the wire brush goes, i’ve found it cuts the headliner board a little too deep. I used a typical nylon bristle brush and it took the foam off just as easily, without cutting into the board.


Sent from my iPhone using Audizine Forum

[kevin1980]

A wire brush works well for removing old foam from the headliner backer. And by wire brush I mean the hand-operated wooden brushes about a foot long with six inches of bristles from the welding supply section.

That's right, you can also do it with a wire brush
The downside of this is that all the bristles of the wire brush get filled with that yellow foam stuff
And after that time you'd actually be better off throwing away the steel brush
Because you can't get the steel brush really clean anymore

That's a waste of your tools (I think)

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[Kevin C]

The giant box of black interior parts arrived last night. They are in good shape with only one clip broken on the entire set, easy to fix with a large wood screw.

Yea I know I was a day late posting that.

[Kevin C]

It was a nice day out, so I backed the car out of the garage and started in on the project. Once I figured out how the parts were attached, it went pretty smoothly, I did google a couple of online Audizine writeups to figure out the rear 1/4 window trim and how the headlined is attached to the sunroof. I also found that my sunroof air deflector was broken, that explains the annoying rattle. For that, I pulled the glass. In all, job was not that hard to do. The biggest slowdown was figuring out how to release the clips around the sunroof. That took was a ten minute search and ten minutes of messing around. No broken pieces, I did make a mess where the foam of the head liner got on the interior of the car. It really was very deteriorated and sticky, it has the feel of a tack rag. The foam on the headliner insert comes off easily with a putty knife.

I'm about 1/2 through the cleanup of the insert and waiting on the headliner adhesive. Once I get it scraped I will figure out what it needs to get the rest of the residue off. I did find the goop hand cleaner (the white stuff that looks like crisco) did a great job of getting the residue off of my hands. It may work on the insert.

[Kevin C]

I tried a couple of different cleaners to get the residue off. Mineral spirits, brake cleaner, simple green, decal remover (goo gone) and petroleum based emulsifying cleaner did nothing. I did find that urethane paint thinner did work. It tended to soak in, but to did remove the the foam and adhesive. A respirators is a must, it also ate through my nitrile gloves. I went through several pairs. I'm going to let the solvent flash off for a few days. One part is it really stinks and I want it gone to make sure it does not mess up the adhesion. It did seem to soften the adhesive holding the steel brackets on. I will take care of that once it flashes off.


The image is from another thread, but this is what I found inside my sunroof, I was hoping it was just a loose clip.

Time to hit the pick and pull. It will be nice to get the rattle fixed.


https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...nroof-rattling

[Kevin C]

I hit up the local pick and pull to get a replacement sunroof guide. The first car I worked on was a 2003 A4 V6. Now that I know how easy it is to pull the glass I had it out in five minutes and with a bit of careful prying I had an intact guide. I also pulled the dome light assembly apart so I could move the window. I noticed that the V6 had some extra map lights in the assembly.

EDIT: I looked up the part number and its actually a IR motion detector, I had no idea. Some info on it: https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...4-Shock-Sensor

Looking at my new part I noticed a faint silver line in one of the arms on it. That sure looks like a crack, and its where the others have broken. I figure I should try and find one that looks better. I checked out a B7. The B7 uses the same basic design but the casting is reinforced right where mine broke. I got the part out in one piece (it takes some patience). Once I had the new part I tested the one that looked bad, and sure enough the arm broke off with very light pressure. I did the same test on the other end with the same result, both arms were fatigue cracked and just hanging on.

I was pretty psyched to figure out that the part used in the B7 is an upgrade and fixes the one of the sunroof rattle issues (broken support).


Photos:

On the left you can see differences between the B6 vs the B7 sunroof metal bars. The B7 part (lower) has a lot more reinforcement at the base of the arm. On the right I have a the map light insert from the V6 model, it replaces the white plastic insert and the harness already has a connector for it (it turns out its an interior motion sensor for the alarm).

Screenshot 2025-04-06 160933.jpg


Headliner shell after it big cleanup.
Screenshot 2025-04-06 160830.jpg

Removing the deteriorated foam with a putty knife. The foam had turned into gooshy sticky goo. I used solvent to wash off the remaining sticky film. The insert still has a bit of a tacky feel, so it's not perfect but I got it as clean as its going to get.
Screenshot 2025-04-06 162235.jpg

[BumblebVR6]

So the replacement "upgrade" from the B7 is only available as part of the whole SR frame? I'm looking at the ETKA drawing and don't see anything like that available separately.

[Kevin C]

So the replacement "upgrade" from the B7 is only available as part of the whole SR frame? I'm looking at the ETKA drawing and don't see anything like that available separately.

I didn't look up any part numbers in ETKA and from what I could see on line I also did not find the part listed separately. I also did not see anyone selling the part separately on line (EBAY). I think its fair to assume that its a pick-n-pull only. The upside is there are a lot of B7's in the yards.

[Kevin C]

These showed up today from England. Nice parts with the non USA parts is no warning labels.

I also removed the fabric from the sunroof insert. It had the normal deteriorated foam, but it also had a cloth backer on the foam that was bonded to the insert. The thinner I was using to remove the deteriorated foam also took the fabric off. I done see any reason why I cant just bond the new foam directly to the insert.

Screenshot 2025-04-09 210827.jpg

[BumblebVR6]

These showed up today from England. Nice parts with the non USA parts is no warning labels.

I also removed the fabric from the sunroof insert. It had the normal deteriorated foam, but it also had a cloth backer on the foam that was bonded to the insert. The thinner I was using to remove the deteriorated foam also took the fabric off. I done see any reason why I cant just bond the new foam directly to the insert.

Screenshot 2025-04-09 210827.jpg

Did your original driver's side have homelink?

[Kevin C]

Did your original driver's side have homelink?

Yes, and as much as a like the option I have never used it. I did try to get it to work. If I was looking to add a way to open the garage door (and of course the gate to the yard), I would look for a way to adapt the remote from Chamberlain to unused switches in the car.

[BumblebVR6]

Yes, and as much as a like the option I have never used it. I did try to get it to work. If I was looking to add a way to open the garage door (and of course the gate to the yard), I would look for a way to adapt the remote from Chamberlain to unused switches in the car.

Cleans it up a bit for sure if you don't need the option. I like using mine instead of the clicker that comes w/ the opener which can be used to open the garage door if someone gains access to it. The HomeLink only works w/ the key in the ON position.

[Kevin C]

Cleans it up a bit for sure if you don't need the option. I like using mine instead of the clicker that comes w/ the opener which can be used to open the garage door if someone gains access to it. The HomeLink only works w/ the key in the ON position.

My 2003's system is not compatible with the updated openers, I did find out that there is a bridge device that I can buy to make it work. Or, I could just modify the three button control to work with the existing switches and be enabled with the ignition. The one time someone got into the garage is was when they got the opener out of my wifes car (the cars auto lock did not activate). Not having loose remotes is a valid concern. I did add an alarm system to the garage , its detached and if I'm asleep in the house I would never know if someone got in.

https://support.chamberlaingroup.com...-1484145620187

[Kevin C]

Saturday was killed doing taxes so Sunday was car day, I need longer weekends!

I spent the day in the driveway puttering with the car. I started with the 1/4 wind replacement, then the sunroof broken guide fix and then moved onto the headliner.

I'm happy with my first cut at this. To get some experience, I did the sunroof first and made a mistake. Ooops. The insert came out quite well, I spent a lot of time on prep.

1000007788.jpg

[ye1low]

Got any tips for the rest of us that will be tackling this in the future? What adhesive did you use? Did you start at one end and lay it down as you went or did you start from the center out? Did you put any stretch to it? Did you pie cut the round edges?
Any lessons learned wout be great!

[kevin1980]

Looking good K

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[EuroxS4]

In order to removed the dried foam. A stiff scrubbing brush is the quickest most efficient way Also when changing the fabric make sure to get a foam backed fabric as it hides imperfections much better.

[krazeedrivr]

Also, to hide all the wood screws you use to put it back together, use plenty of glue and paint over them.