Hard top trim connector clips - which ones?

[BillK]

I like many people have torn apart the hardtop on my 2003 S to try and silence the creaks and rattles from the various interior trim pieces. (I had the dealer try but they didn't cure it, and PCNA says the squeaks and rattles I suffer are "normal" and refuses to pay for future warramty attempts to silence them. :cursing:)

However, it appears at some point Porsche changed the clips used to fasten the trim pieces to the hardtop shell.

The TSB on hardtop rattles references a one-time use two-piece metal clip, coated to reduce vibration, part number 999 507 479 09, and then each clip needs to be covered with a piece of tricot tape, 999 551 134 40.

However, my hardtop trim was attached to the shell by a one-time use two-piece plastic clip, part number 999 507 764 40.

According to my dealer, the plastic clip does not supercede the part number for the metal clip, and both are still active parts in the Porsche parts system, so I'm trying to figure out which to actually use. (The part numbers for the actual plastic trim pieces that attach to the shell remain exactly the same.)

My gut says the metal clips would hold better than the plastic clips and would be less likely to make plastic creaky noises, though they of course could make metallic rattling noises. :D

Does anyone else who's done this care to comment on which clips their hardtop had? :help: