Anyone advise on how the A3 8V driver door key barrel hooks upto the actuator ? My key blade wont lock/unlock the door (pushing the key fob does).
I see a rod with a ball on the inside of the key barrel but its just hanging loose ? If I put key blade into barrel in to door and turn it left/right, the ball with the rod twists left/right. I cannot see any place it would fit into actuator ? The plastic area of the acutator near the 'ball' is rigid, its fixed and does not move any other element, so cant see how it would operate anything if put into there (not that it fits in there )
See diagram of what i can see inside the door

My advice would be to remove the door card to thoroughly inspect it. I know with my much older a6 the lock abd door handle has an adjuster as this broke on mine making the handle loose. 

hiya, i am having the same issue, did you finally crack this problem, i think there is a black paddle shaped bit missing on your barrel/lock, were you able to get a replacement and did you have to remove the driver side door skin/card to fix it ?