5 YEAR BIRTHDAY!!
It was due an oil service, but decided to replace gearbox oil, plugs, rear discs and pads on top of the service and a few suspension parts (which I will post up in the OE suspension thread I started).
Its five years old and could do with a refresh regardless.
No fill plug on the gearbox (thanks VAG) so used the reverse switch to fill it.
Less notchy now and very smooth gearshift. Used a Castrol recommended 75w80 instead of the single weight VW 75W oil (75W for better economy). It has the same cold viscosity as the VW oil so won’t be notchy in the winter, but stays smoother/thicker in the summer, hopefully the eco figures won't suffer too much and it will be a better oil as per Castrol. Castrol say:
Recommended by Castrol for all 5- and 6-speed manual transmissions of Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Skoda and is used in the manual transmissions of a number of manufacturers as factory fill. Wanted drilled discs so it (kind of) matched the front, originals were ok but showing signs of age.
Surprisingly with the plugs changed it runs much smoother on cold start driving first thing in the morning and generally smoother now the plugs are changed, the old ones were in good working order and consistent on all 4 for colour.