@Colinspence I would get the VW dampers mate. Whilst they are a tad firm, they are a known entity. Cheap Bilsteins will be a disappointment. If you want to improve the ride, consider the VW Racingline Spring/damper kit, which comes in at £550ish for the lot.
Yep, the 19" wheels is why you're getting rubbing, so maybe lowering probably isn't a good idea 
- Budget for new topmounts - they arent pricey and they are notorious for coming loose from the screws holding them in place which then need to be cut out or drilled.
- Whilst on topmounts, note the arrows on them, they point to front and back, dont mount them incorrectly!
Good post mate, but could you please elaborate on the above 2 points?
I fitted new TMs to mine and had no problems removing the 3 bolts holding. Do you mean the exposed part of the thread corrodes up and they bind?
The arrows did confuse me a bit! I just made sure the arrows were facing the front/back, not left/right if that makes sense? I fiddled around with them and from what I could see, the 3 holes would only align if the arrows faced front/back anyway?
I agree, overall a fairly straight forward job. I did it all on my own, along with Passat hubs, new wheel bearings, Passat wishbones, new BJs, new TMs front and back, new dampers and springs front and back, both rear rubber spring pads.....pretty much everything. Took 6 hours in total and my back and shoulders were properly dead for a couple of days after.
I didn't need spring compressors as I removed and binned the entire front strut assemblies 
I thought torqueing the hub bolts was going to be the yang to spoil the ying of a good day, but a 4 foot 3/4" breaker bar makes easy work of it......they still feel like they're going to snap though. I hate stretch bolts!
From what I' found with mine (and subsequently researching online)) the nut on the underside of the top mount rust and detach from the top mount body/or break loose as the plastic of the top mount ages and gets brittle. You can spin the bolt on top by the windscreen but you cant get to the nut as its blocked by the body of the topmount bearing. My topmount bearing had come loose cos of a snapped spring and I still couldnt get to it as its so narrow up there so in the end I took a hacksaw to the top bolt and fitted new.
Arrows do face front back, I'd heard ppl can fit them sideways and it affects the function of the top mount but wasnt too bad when prewarned.
I've followed your advice on the passat stuff, doing wishbones with a superpro bj/alk/bush setup and will switch hubs and bearings in the future.
Out of curiousity is there a list of good oem alternatives? Ive used Febi Bilstein stuff with good results, same for a cpl of other makes. Found some Febi Bilstein bearings the other day for 70 each I nearly went for as well but wasnt sure on quality. Anyone got a link to whats trusted and what isnt?
Ah OK, mine all came out without any dramas, which surprised me given how corroded up everything was under there.
The OEM wheel bearings are made by FAG, but SKF are another good brand. As for others I couldn't tell you tbh. It's hard to tell these days if things are mass produced Chinese copies or OEM equivalent quality, which is why I only buy parts from the dealer to be on the safe side. I don't like repeating work because cheap parts failed prematurely.
