Installed the Bilstein B8s yesterday and am very pleased with the outcome. The VWR springs do lower the car just a bit more than I was hoping for, but the ride is now where it should be. It feels almost exactly like a previous stock '13 GTI I owned as far as ride feel and how low it sits. My floor jack just barely gets under my jack pads, and I'm back to using my 2"x8" boards for the car to get up on ramps as the bumper hits the ramps before the tires do.
These struts being shorter by 1" made for a slight glitch when it came time to get the end links reattached. I had to use a 2x4 block on my jack to raise the link enough to slip through the hole in the strut. I also had to cut all of the bump stops which was somewhat expected.
For anyone looking to do struts themselves, a list of all one-time use hardware follows:
WHT005437 x2 Front axle bolts (IMO, easier to do this one bolt on each axle than the six bolts at the axle/transmission connection) Only loosen 90deg with car on ground and tighten to 147ft/lbs before lowering car to fully tighten an additional 180deg. Wheel bearing damage can occur if not tightened or loosened properly.
N10127707 x6 Front strut upper bolts (11ft/lbs + 90deg)
N90954802 x2 Front strut pinch bolt (51ft/lbs + 180deg)
N10106402 x2 Front strut pinch nut
N10332002 x6 Front balljoint nuts (30ft/lbs + 45deg, tighten fully only with car on ground)
N90648402 x4 Rear strut upper bolts (37ft/lbs + 45deg)
N10628601 x2 Rear lower strut bolts (51ft/lbs + 180deg)