Yeah I just put a newer gearbox in from ebay as it's cheaper than rebuilding the existing one. My original one had 155K on it and was getting a bit ropey. Clunky shifts and noisy.
I went with a 2011 Scirocco 2.0 TSI box, but any 2.0 petrol gearbox will work fine. MK6 GTI, Rocco TSI, Rocco R etc etc. Picked it up for £300ish with 36K miles on it, or somewhere around that. It certainly feels like new with very slick shifts
I did research all the possible iterations of 02Q and it fried my brain, so just took a punt on the Rocco one and it worked out fine
Gear ratios feel spot on.
Don't need any additional hardware, it bolts right in
You might need to play around with the shift relay bits and bobs as there are minor differences there compared to MK5, but at worst it's just a case of getting the right cable ends from VW. There's about 3 different pin sizes available. 8mm, 9mm, and 10mm iirc. Mine needed the big plastic block style cable end.