If you are going to just de-pin, bite the bullet and get the OEM ones. If you get the Aliexpress ones, just be prepared to meticulously remove each pin from the end of each wire and use the new pins in the case the new plug does not accept the old pins. I had to do that. It wasn't horrible, but not fun in freezing temps in a driveway.

 

If you are going to just de-pin, bite the bullet and get the OEM ones.

That'd be the route I would take. It assures a nice solid connection reducing risk of misfires.

 

I bought a pin tool at the local AutoZone. It had 4+ pin sizes and worked great on the ignition coil connectors as well as every other connecter I needed to repair on my car. I used generic connectors from Ebay and they worked fine.

 

I started that job on my (late) 2005 1.8T Audi A4 (close relative to the B5.5 Passat) with connectors I got from an eBay seller. They were genuine FCI Interconnect connectors, made in Hungary, and came with a decent de-pin tool.

But... upon starting the job on cylinder 1, I discovered that the wires were all well-baked with the insulation cracking off of them. A blown fuse and stranding waiting to happen! I carefully swapped that one connector, crossed my fingers, and ordered a replacement harness kit from ECS Tuning. It only requires you to cut and re-terminate the 12 wires at the rear of the engine (in to a connector)--you just need a crimp tool that will make the "inverted M" sort of crimp. Ignition Wiring Replacement Harness

I'm sure ECS Tuning has at least one in stock. My A4 was rear-ended and totaled before I ever got the kit installed, so I returned it. The good news is the car ran until Insurance Auto Auctions carted it away.

Now I'm looking for another car, but that's different story.

 

I finally got around to this so I'll describe what happened for anyone else with the big pin receptacles that doesn't want to splice wires.


I ordered some 4B0973724 connectors (same part# already in the car) from an eBay seller in China that showed HUNGARY (thanks to FrescoGreen01.5 for this tidbit) and blurred logos in the listing picture:

The connectors I received had VW and Audi logos scratched off. As far as I could tell, what I received was exactly the same as the old connectors in terms of material and dimensions:

Before depinning the connectors peel back the rubber boot and remove the purple slider piece inside the connector, otherwise the pins won't be able to come out. I didn't get a pic of the pink/purple piece inside the connector that slides out of the side but here's one of the boot peeled back:

Depinning was difficult because the tool is a tight fit so when you push in to unlock the pin receptacle then pull out to remove the tool, the tool sort of pulls the pin receptacle forward and relocks it in place. Basically, there's two sort of wings on top and bottom of the pin receptacle that the depinning tool needs to fit tightly to because it has to press in those wings all the way so that each receptacle can be pushed back. But because it's so tight it's going to grip the receptacle and pull it forward. So you kind of have to work it back and forth a little or maybe get another tool at the same time. In my case though the plastic channels that hold the receptacles were so old they just cracked right off:

The first connector I depinned I screwed up big time. I forgot that the way VW/Audi control ignition coils is a ground switch, and the ignition coil has a hot wire at all times (wire #1 the red/green wire). When I removed the pin receptacles (ie depinned the metal female pin things you see in the above pic) #1 fused together at the tip with #2 (the ground wire) but I think maybe the wires bunched together or touched the valve cover or something which actually grounded it. I noticed immediately but it was too late and the weld burning hot. Once they cooled down I used a tiny pry bar to separate the tips. I do not have a pic of this. It blew the fuse of course. My advice is uh make sure you pull the fuse beforehand:

Fitting the pin receptacles in the new connectors was a very tight fit. Remove the sliding pink/purple retainer pieces before attempting to do so. Make sure you have good lighting because you'll need to look into the connector face and sort of jockey them a little up or down so they can slide in. In my case I had to slide them all in together, there just wasn't enough slack to do one wire at a time. You'll hear them click in place. I used a small screwdriver to lightly press on each pin receptacle to make sure it was properly seated and wouldn't back out, then I put in the sliding piece. Each wire has a little tiny cylindrical rubber boot itself and those boots need to go fully into the back of the connector. If any of them separate from the wire crimp that holds them in place you'll need to use a tiny pry bar or something to sort of stuff it into the hole by going around slowly until it's at a depth similar to the others. The material is very easy to break so take your time.