There are a number of starter assemblies for the 96 Passat:
1,>02A 911 023 F,BOSCH,>>3A-T-100000,ABA
2,>02A 911 023 A,BOSCH,>>3A-T-100000,AUTOMATIC: ABA
3,>02A 911 023 N,BOSCH,,AAA
4,>068 911 023 T,BOSCH,,AUTOMATIC: AAA,AAZ,1Z
6,>02A 911 023 J,BOSCH,3A-R-152916>>3A-T-100000,AAZ,1Z
7,>02A 911 024 ,BOSCH,3A-T-100001>>,AAZ,1Z,AHU
8,>02A 911 023 T,BOSCH,3A-T-100001>>,ABA
9,>020 911 023 N,BOSCH,3A-T-100001>>,AUTOMATIC: ABA
It wasn't clear to mewhether they are interchangable. There are some parts of the assembly specific to each start version, but they all share the same solenoid switch (#7 in the illustration). I don't know if that helps, but I don't know enough about starters to be more specific in my screenshots.