MkV GT TDI 170 DSG - Blue Graphite [Sunday Clean]

[MikLSP]

I understand why people are apprehensive about doing this but there's really nothing to worry about as long as you have the right supplies and a good amount of patience.
They certainly get worse before they get better but you'll also be left with a lot of fine scratches if you give up too soon.

I wasn't happy with my first polish and went back to the 2000 grit with lots of water to work on a few stubborn areas and that made the polishing much more effective.

[Joshy]

Wow. They look amazing mate! I may have to do fine as mine are looking pretty bad :(

I remember the first time I did something similar with a car grille, It got worse, but after use thing some rubbing compound it came out looking pretty good!

[MikLSP]

Thanks, it's well worth doing. Good luck with yours, I look forward to seeing the results if you decide to have a go 

[Andy]

the rear valance was £100 to get done and fitted at the paint shop for mine..Excellent job on the lights

[MikLSP]

Thanks for the info, that is quite reasonable. It's certainly something I'll have to look at getting done then 

I've just put the lights on the car today, looking pretty good! I'll post some pictures this evening once I get them off the camera.

[MikLSP]

Here is a quick look at the new lights on the car, obviously the GTi lamps look much more purposeful but I'm really glad I spent time reconditioning them as it makes the thing look newer I think 

I went the whole hog and removed the bumper too; partly because it really isn't that difficult and the extra time is saved in messing about struggling to access the screws, and partly because it gave me the chance to snap those R-Line grilles into place a little better.




And a little before & after comparison:

[Andy]

looks a lot better

[MikLSP]

Thanks, and I think they look even better in reality than the pictures.

Something to play around with arrived today...

[Timepillow]

Car looks amazing now with them gti lights!

Think i might invest in some! makes the car all a lot nicer! 

[MikLSP]

Definitely mate, find yourself a set, they're worth while and I personally prefer the look of these over the xenon lamps too.

Don't be put off by scratched lenses either, you can save a good amount on some that are a bit scratched if you're prepared to work on polishing them up again.

[MikLSP]

So in and around the arrival of our second child, I've managed to vinyl wrap my grille insert with 3M carbon fibre vinyl to quite pleasing effect. I also wrapped the thin plastic surround on the grille badge.
Here's a couple of before and after shots, as usual I'll post some better ones later  

[MikLSP]

OK, I finally managed to get some pictures of the vinyl wrap on the grille plus the front badge surround and rear badge backing. Unfortunately, the car wasn't particularly clean but time for these things is a little short since the new arrival 

I really need to do some work on my chrome now, I did use Autosol on the rear but it's still showing lots of hairline marks. Anyone know a good process to restore the badges?

[MikLSP]

Oh dear, just had the dash bing at me and flash up "Engine Fault Workshop!" along with the glow plug symbol.


Luckily I was only a minute away from home so I just cruised and didn't actually notice if it was in limp mode as I took it slowly anyway.
A quick search seems to point towards some sort of sensor or wiring issue and though I have an old VAGCOM cable, it's a cheap blue one off ebay so I doubt it'll work with the MkV to find fault codes.
Thankfully the car will be going back into VW soon for some warranty repairs but this will mean a 20 mile drive to get there, I hope it will be ok to do this?

[Andy]

should be ok but will be very under powered--least its still under warranty--probs the injector or wiring as it was a recall

[MikLSP]

Thanks, as long as it can get there without risk of damaging anything. It has already had the injector recall done actually, I noticed that in all the paperwork.