In short:
- Remove the bumper
- Remove the headlights
- Disconnect the intercooler pipes (Spring clips) located bottom left and right of the Intercooler
- Support the bottom of the Radiator/Intercooler with Jack/Blocks of wood (Do not lift the car - just support the weight)
- Remove the bumper bar (8x large bolts + 2x star head)
- Remove the upper bolts from the slam pannel/radiator mount
- Tip the whole unit forward and remove the coolant pipes (requires a little wiggling) 1x left & 1x right
MAKE SURE YOU DONT DAMAGE THE AC PIPES (left hand side of the rad when looking in the bay)
- Disconnect the power to the cooling fans (connector above the NS Intercooler pipe)
- Unbolt the cooling fan pack from the radiator (4x bolts) and lift it out
- Unbolt the radiator from the slam pannel (4x bolts)
- Lift the radiator up and out of the top
This is from the Rad change that I did on my GTI last weekend. I would imagine that the TSI isn't too dissimilar.
I hope this helps. Not sure I took too many useful pictures. Will check later.
Good luck.
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