I’ve just completed a retrofit of the safety warning triangle on the underside of the boot lid on an early B6 Passat.
I started with the triangle 3C5 860 251 and the plastic mounting bracket from a Passat CC that was being wrecked. I soon discovered that the bracket holding the triangle is different between a B6 and CC. The B6 uses part 3C5 860 285 with a hinged flap that holds the triangle after a twist lock is rotated 90 degrees. The CC uses part 3C8 860 285 that utilises a fixed spring clip. See front and rear view in these photos.


After lifting the sound insulation under the boot lid, it was obvious I could not use the CC bracket without cutting new holes in the boot lid as the B6 boot lid’s holes were in different places and were different shapes. After obtaining the correct bracket 3C5 860 285, it was just a case of cutting rectangular holes in the insulation to reveal the holes in the boot lid. When cutting, it’s advisable to hold the insulation away from the boot lid to avoid cutting through the paintwork and risking rust later. See photo.

In the CC the top of the plastic mounting bracket engages with the metal of the boot lid – see photo.

However it looked like the top of the B6 mounting bracket only engages with the sound insulation. I cut a slot for this. Possibly because the top of the bracket is not held onto the metal of the boot lid plus some other design features, some forum members who have already done this retrofit reported that the bracket would not hold the weight of the triangle and fell off. There's a thread somewhere on this, but I could not find it.
They said they needed to use a larger self-tapper screw. I’m starting with the genuine screw N90 698 606. I’ll see how it goes. So far so good. Hopefully it will hold the weight. One downside is the gas strut that lifts the boot lid now has to lift a heavier weight and is less effective. Finished result is shown below.
I started with the triangle 3C5 860 251 and the plastic mounting bracket from a Passat CC that was being wrecked. I soon discovered that the bracket holding the triangle is different between a B6 and CC. The B6 uses part 3C5 860 285 with a hinged flap that holds the triangle after a twist lock is rotated 90 degrees. The CC uses part 3C8 860 285 that utilises a fixed spring clip. See front and rear view in these photos.
After lifting the sound insulation under the boot lid, it was obvious I could not use the CC bracket without cutting new holes in the boot lid as the B6 boot lid’s holes were in different places and were different shapes. After obtaining the correct bracket 3C5 860 285, it was just a case of cutting rectangular holes in the insulation to reveal the holes in the boot lid. When cutting, it’s advisable to hold the insulation away from the boot lid to avoid cutting through the paintwork and risking rust later. See photo.
In the CC the top of the plastic mounting bracket engages with the metal of the boot lid – see photo.
However it looked like the top of the B6 mounting bracket only engages with the sound insulation. I cut a slot for this. Possibly because the top of the bracket is not held onto the metal of the boot lid plus some other design features, some forum members who have already done this retrofit reported that the bracket would not hold the weight of the triangle and fell off. There's a thread somewhere on this, but I could not find it.
They said they needed to use a larger self-tapper screw. I’m starting with the genuine screw N90 698 606. I’ll see how it goes. So far so good. Hopefully it will hold the weight. One downside is the gas strut that lifts the boot lid now has to lift a heavier weight and is less effective. Finished result is shown below.
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