> I'm interested in the side air "channels" on yours as well. It seems
> as  though you have a plastic channel on the sides as well.

These are just coverage.

The german Carats (the luxury 6-seater you U.S. guys never had) have
these panels around the windows.
They have the holes for the stock fresh air outlets, three spot reading
lights, a reading light above the table.
They don�t have any A/C or other technical function, only optical reasons.

More photos:
http://kfz.freepage.de/rfeussner/v6tdi/fertigtotale.jpg
http://kfz.freepage.de/rfeussner/v6tdi/iso.jpg
http://kfz.freepage.de/rfeussner/klima1.jpg
http://kfz.freepage.de/rfeussner/klima2.jpg

Raimund