Anyone reading this a few months on
You don't need to remove the A pillar cover completely to wire a dash cam, you can pull it out at the top just far enough to be able to get your fingers in and guide the wire BEHIND the air bag
I raised the same question on our A3 Sportback, no way they would come off so I ended up fitting replacement tips from EBay over the existing ones.
Looks OK and a cheap fix.