3.0 TDI CONVERTIBLE - SENSIBLE CHOICE?

looking to buy a 3,0 tdi Convertible, sub 100k mile auto with paddle shift and welcome advice, eg:

Dont want CVT, so is there just one other Auto choice on B7? - Is it reliable and ok for torque on a  Stage 1 engine remap?

These sound great ' straight piped', if  too loud, but great character detail - What exhaust components exist on various yrs of this car spec? - If, as suspected 2 CATs but no particulate filter - can one be removed and still MOT compliant - is there then a sensibly priced replacement Sport CAT for remaining CAT? - Does this or removing rear silencers breach MOT regs?

Love the sound of this straight piped engine, but would like to silence it a little and make it more mellow - Thinking removing one CAT (pre-cat?) and having hi-flow sport main cat may be the solution - if not, add a mild and mellow straight through resonator box before Y

Who is recommended for conservative re-map? - Darkside's tunes appear to emit unacceptable levels of soot - 300bhp + huge torque with exhaust and map should be a given?

When did the higher output 3.0 come out (c 225bhp rather than sub 200) - any advantage / disadvantage - some people say it may have a particulate filter, however a quick search suggests not - are both variants tunable to c 300 or is it simply c. 25% more power on either version?

Thats about it for first query, other than naturally to ask if their are any common potentially expensive flaws with engine or trans on the 3.0tdi auto?