Armrest won't stay up and slams down??

[Chard]

Hey all, does your armrest have the ability to stay up on it's own (insert crude joke here).

My armrest will ratchet up for different levels until about 45*. Anything beyond that and it has zero tension. If I lift it up all the way, it has no resistance and will slam down, which makes it annoying when I am trying to access the cubby.
Is this a known problem and is there a fix for this?

[BarneyM]

Hey all, does your armrest have the ability to stay up on it's own (insert crude joke here).

My armrest will ratchet up for different levels until about 45*. Anything beyond that and it has zero tension. If I lift it up all the way, it has no resistance and will slam down, which makes it annoying when I am trying to access the cubby.
Is this a known problem and is there a fix for this?

No fix. That's the way it was designed.

[Chard]

Are you sure and can anyone else confirm? I've read in other places that there should be friction at points beyond the ratchet and that it should stand up on it's own.

[Hostile]

Yes he's sure and yes he's right.

Mine is tight enough to stand up on its own above the ratchets but it won't hold any weight. I wouldn't consider that "friction points" though. As soon as you put any weight on it then it goes all the way down to the closed position.

[Chard]

Thanks for confirming. That is a peculiar design as it makes it impossible to grab things in the bin or plug into the usb ports without using a second hand to hold the armrest up.

At least yours stays standing up at 12:00 position as mine won't.

[ron-sq5]

Mine stays up past the ratchets. Maybe they changed the design in 2022, or maybe because it is new and not worn yet.

[jim2562]

'22 Q5, ours stays upright easily.

[BarneyM]

Thanks for confirming. That is a peculiar design as it makes it impossible to grab things in the bin or plug into the usb ports without using a second hand to hold the armrest up.

At least yours stays standing up at 12:00 position as mine won't.

Ours will stay at any position above the ratchets but it won't hold any weight. It appears yours has a problem the dealer can fix?

[Chard]

Yes, mine must have a defect because again, it does not stay up past the ratchet section and when I lift it up to the 12 o'clock position to access the cubby and let it go, it falls, slamming shut. It can't hold itself up.
FYI mine is a 2018 SQ5 with only 26k on the odo.

[robb1887]

2018 SQ5 checking-in w/51k miles with an arm rest that doesn't need a little blue pill to keep it up.

Seems you have something not operating correctly

[arjun90]

Never understood why Audi walked away from what works versus not works, not really saving cost in R&D

[Hostile]

I know with my wife's Golf R the cars were halted at port for a while because the ratcheting arm rests didn't meet some NHTSA crash regulation. The arm rests were all modified at port, the ratcheting parts were removed and a portion of the armrest was fixed in place. Someone figured out how to unlock the armrest and get it working again with some spare parts.

[Chard]

Interesting. I've heard of this problem but my '17 Golf R armrest works as it should and opens.

Anyone know of a DIY for removing the SQ5 armrest?

[Hostile]

Ours is a '16. It was fixed at some point later in that production year iirc.

[Mythos_SQ590]

2018 and it stands up fine

[marco.sq5.2018]

**SOLVED *8

Hi
Newbie to the forum, and I know this is an old thread, but I’ve had the same issue aa original poster and did a diy fix that thought useful to share.

Firstly, in this thread there are *two* different issues being discussed, so let’s clear that up first.

The first issue is the ratchet system. That’s the thing responsible for “locking” the arm rest in place, which you can do if you lift it slowly from the lowest position and then (as the ratchet engages on the first tooth), press down and it’ll not budge downwards (if ratchet is working). You can move it upwards (to higher ratchet position) or all the all the way to vertical.
If you’re unable to get it to lock and it always ends up at the bottom position, ratchet mech is probably at fault.

The second issue (and Chard’s issue described in start of this thread) is about there being a little resistance as the armrest moves (similar to a door that has a soft closing motion). I’ve seen several people complain about lack of any resistance at all. It is this resistance that allows the armrest to stay in vertical position without having to hold it there, and also allows the arm to glide down to bottom position if you push it, rather than slam.

And it’s that second issue (no resistance in the movement) that I solved on my 2018 SQ5 today.

(side note, car under Audi warranty in UK, but they exclude upholstery and interior trim on page 10 of warranty doc, and refused to accept they fix it when I called to argue the decision, hence my DIY attempt. And they wanted over £600 for a new armrest!)

Ok, so, the armrest pivots, and the resistance (friction) is created by two torx bolts, one either side of the armrest mount. If those (either or both) are loose, they do not apply any pressure to the pivot, and so it flops loosely. To create the required friction to make it move slowly and smoothly, those bolts have to be tightened up. (you can’t keep tightening them until movement stops completely, the max torque create the correct amount of friction)

I found mine were loose.

To tighten them, I had to remove the rear part of the armrest (the part where the rear passenger vents are, and the rear climate control is), and then, could just about get a torx bit in to tighten the bolts on both sides (after removing two small white circle stickers that cover the torx head - no idea what those are there for) Ideally, you’d have to remove the side trim from the armrest to get access to the two side bolts, but honestly just getting the rear trim removed was enough of a challenge to put me off that.

I’m pretty sure that all those of you with “floppy” armrests (that still engage in the ratchet), have just got loose pivot bolts that have come loose with time and the up/down movements.

If anyone out there wants to k ow more, reply to this post, or message me, and I’ll try and provide more info, pictures. It’s a relatively easy fix once you get over the trauma of removing the rear bit of trim that feels likes it’s never coming off (it does, eventually!)

Shame on Audi UK for excluding this from a warranty fix, esp as it’s avoidable with a small blob of thread lock at build. But on the plus side, very satisfying to DIY fix and learn something.

[383vett]

Good job with the fix. It might be a good idea if someone goes through all this to tighten the torx fasteners is to first back them out and add a drop of blue loctite before tightening so this issue won't recur in the future.

[Zombie5150]

Mine was certainly tighter when I first got it but now it feels really loose. It ratchets but doesn’t feel like there’s any tension. I’ve thought about trying to remove the rear console panel but obviously don’t want to break any tabs. I’ve got a whole set of interior tools so maybe I’ll give it a try. Any tips to pop off the panel? Thanks.

[marco.sq5.2018]

Zombie5150, I found a link somewhere to some service manuals, which led me to some key diagrams which show where the clips are. The clips are *very* tight, and feel like they won't pop off. Gotta be very careful with the interior tools to not mark any of the trim.

On a forum elsewhere on this site, user "no thx" posted a link to some useful Erwin stuff, see this thread: https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...r-Manual-erWin

Take a look at page 40 of the document "D3E80183CDF-Body_Interior.pdf", and you'll see the rear trim piece you need to remove in blue, along with how to.
You have to start with removing the vents (page 44 of same doc shows how - that's the easiest bit!)

It took me a while and lot of patience to slowly work at the clip areas until the rear trim finally let go. I was convinced it was screwed in, given how tightly the clips hold it in.
Then, carefully pulled the side plastics away far enough to be able to get a Torx key in to tighten.
Plenty of risk of damaging trim, and cutting hands. But do-able IMO.

[marco.sq5.2018]

383Vett, I was going to reply to say no way to do that as you can't back them out enough with the side panels on to get to the threads, but actually, if you back them out, you can probably put a few drops on the body they screw into from the inside. Wouldn't be ideal, but probably better than nothing.
And if mine goes lose again, that's what I'm going to try.
So yep, good idea. No way am I going to war with the rear trim again though unless I have to.

[Zombie5150]

OK Marco thanks. I’m pretty handy and have removed quite a few plastic panels from various manufacturers. But I don’t like to remove them unless necessary for fear of breaking something and sometimes the pieces just aren’t as tight as from the factory the first time. I’ll fool with it a bit and see if I can make some progress.

[unluky]

My 2020 SQ5 is my first AUDI and I HATE this feature. There is zero storage in these things and the one place I can use - I have to re ratchet this stupid thing back to where I like it and if I miss my spot I have to do it over again! AND the box is not even sealed with sides and everything you put in there is visible from the side! Terrible feature.

BUT - might is solid as a rock and will not fall on it's own - even from the top spot. I can lower it a little at a time and will stay where ever I let got, but won't hold weight till I get back to ratchet mode. This sounds like a nightmare to tighten - I hope I don't have to! Good info marco - I will book mark this just in case.

[marco.sq5.2018]

Hi Zombie5150, hi all,

Well, the tighened armrest didn't stay tightened, and is loose again.
So I'm going to have to attack the plastics again, and try tightening it again, this time adding some thread lock, so that it hopefully remains tight.

When I next do it (and that will be a while as am busy right now), I will take pics, and post, so people can see where the plastic clips are etc.

I love my car, but have to say, the arm rest is shockingly rubbish, even when it isn't lose...

Update to follow (but you'll have to wait for it!)....

[marco.sq5.2018]

Hi All,

So, having originally managed to tighten the arm rest bolts and "fix" the issue (arm rest stayed up, and was nice and controlled smooth descent from upright), per my previous message, this eventually came loose again.

Someone mentioned that I should have used some thread lock. And so I re-did the job, and used thread lock this time. So far so go (been about a month so far).

I got some pics (can't upload them for some reason).

if anyone wants to see pics to see where trim push-fit connectors are, message me.

[Chard]

Awesome you've figured it out and thanks for posting up in here to keep wondering minds alive. I've sent a PM as I'm still dealing with this issue myself.

[Zombie5150]

OK, I’ll pass along some info. Might help might not. Not sure on the Q5 series but on my ‘22 RS5 the center console assembly is slightly different. With some greatly appreciated help from Marco, I removed the rear panel to take a look. My panel came off very easily with little force using a wide upholstery tool pulling along the bottom edge. My hinge assembly is sealed on the sides so there’s no way to tighten the lid. Basically there’s just two small plastic (probably nylon) friction washers one on each side. That’s pretty much what keeps the lid mechanism somewhat tight. On mine, the drivers side washer was broken in half. The whole top piece (where the friction should be was missing). The bottom piece just fell out when I grabbed it. So, there was only friction on the passenger side and that wasn’t enough to keep the lid tight. I tried a couple different methods but finally just tried Marco’s suggestion and put a small tie wrap in place of the now missing washer. Tightened it right up. I put a second one on the passenger side as well and it works perfectly now. I’m sure over time the tie wrap itself will wear out at which point I’ll replace it. If I can find a friction washer the right size I might cut it and try that as well. Anyways, not sure if this is the same now on the Q5 series but if it is here’s a simple fix.

[marco.sq5.2018]

Hi all,

So I don't seem to be able to add a file to a post (no idea why), and when I get DMs asking for the doc, I can't attach files to any messages (again, no idea why - failing of forum in my view).

I created a word doc of th method and pics, and have shared it read only via this link:
https://bloomsbury365-my.sharepoint....ZQD1g?e=FmVvaP

Having done this fix twice, as the first time failed to perm fix, the use of the thread locker seems to be holding up well (has been 6+ months now).

Good luck, and if you spot any errors or improvements, DM me and I'll update the doc.

Marco

[mateo88]

Hi everyone,

I recently bought a Q5, and I was really annoyed by the lack of armrest adjustment—both in height and length. At first, I thought something was broken, but it turned out that my car simply didn’t have this feature. I checked with the manufacturer, and the official solution is ridiculously expensive.

After a lot of searching, I found a solution! The length adjustment can actually be unlocked, and for the height adjustment, you can buy a set of plastic components that enable the locking mechanism. If anyone else is struggling with this issue, it’s worth looking into!

Check out matkits.pl/en