After being a lurker for a quite some time I thought it was time to make a post about my 2005 GTI.
I purchased it in March 2016, one owner, 61k and a full service history with all maintenance done at a VW dealer.
The guy gave me a couple hundred off as I asked about the cambelt being done and he wasn’t sure. I later read through the history and found it had already been done! So, it seems he would take it to the dealer not ask questions, pay whatever they asked and they kept it in tip top condition. He could afford it, he lived in some nice flat by the Thames. When I went to pick it up, parked next to it was his brand-new shadow blue MK7 GTI.
Factory Specs:
Metallic Shadow Blue
Manual
Full Leather heated seats with electric lumber support
Dual zone climate control
Sat nav
6 disc CD changer in leather armrest
Rear cupholders
Electric windows all round
Auto dimming rear view mirror
Auto Lights
Auto wipers
Current changes/mods:
18” BBS CH-R’s on Pirelli P Zeros
H&R 30mm Lowering springs
Forge 6 speed quickshifter
New front grills incl. ‘performance’ fog light grills
Android 5.1 touch screen stereo
Alpine 12” Sub + Pioneer amp
MK6 Rear Badge mod
GTI seat inserts
Planned changes/mods:
Colour code the rear valence, side skirts and front splitter
Replace Cam follower
Diverter Valve Revision D
PCV Revision R
R8 Ignition Coil Packs
Forge Twintake
S3 Intercooler
revo Performance 3 Piece Engine Mounts
Milltek 3" sports cat Downpipe
Revo/APR Stage 2 ECU remap
Dream on:
Uprated Clutch
Uprated HPFP
K04 turbo
S3 injectors
Only photo I have of it Stock
First things I did were:
1 Monza refurbished
Repaint flaking calipers
Some minor Body work > scuffed mirrors, NSF door dent, OSF door molding
First mod, a MK6 Rear badge to replace the whiteworm riddled rear badge. I thought about a whole new MK6 handle but it was quite expensive and it turns out the newer versions didn’t have the soft dampened release like the MK5, so I found a mod online. You get a MK6 chrome badge off ebay, remove the mk5 badge, fill in a small hole with body filler, sand it and paint it and the badge doesn’t quite fit… whipped out the Dremel and I made it fit. Stick it on with some 3M double sided stuff and it turned out better than I expected. And I think it looks better than the original.
Next, I replaced the very dated satnav radio with a risky purchase.
An eBay, Chinese Andorid 5.1, OEM Fit, 8” touch screen radio. The build quality was surprisingly very good and it fitted absolutely perfectly and felt very OEM.
Features include Bluetooth with built in microphone, Wi-Fi, GPS, Micro SD slot for music etc., DAB if you buy and extra box and the ability to use any android app. I use poweramp for my music and google maps/navigation for satnav with my phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot.
One huge problem, occasionally, a few months apart, the radio randomly resets itself to factory settings on startup and I have to reinstall all the apps and all my settings are lost. This only takes half an hour to do but it is hugely irritating.
I also removed the 6disc CD changer from the arm rest and replaced it with a cubby hole, much more useful.
Also, I got some GTI inserts for the seats
I was never a huge fan of the Monza alloys. I was looking at fake Chinese BBS alloys on the bay, I then read up on how terrible they are but was set on the style, bit the bullet, and got a set of real satin black 18” BBS CH-R’s. 18x8.5x112 ET 47.
I fitted them with Pirelli P Zeros at 225/40/18, just a slight bit of stretch. looks great.
The chrome ring protector is a brilliant idea and saved one of my wheels once, but I wanted all black. I thought about replacing them with a new set that I would paint black, but at 60 quid each, I chose to risk it and just removed them.
Having these wheels and being stock height looked a bit goofy like someone wearing ankle swingers. I looked into coilovers but went with Lowering springs. H&R 30mm drop. Took a while to settle but now looks pretty damn good.
Then some repairs were made, the battery died and the drivers lock would not lock remotely, I got a new lock fitted and I replaced the battery.
Back to looking like new, I was fed up with blacking up the front grills only for them too look faded shortly after. So, I replaced all the front grills with ones I found on eBay, all fitted perfectly and I got fog light grills with the extra air flow/holes. The black unfaded plastic makes a big difference.
I then got myself a Forge Quick Shifter, pretty simple install and makes changing gears tighter. It felt very heavy at first but you get used to it.
Definitely not good for performance or fuel economy, I purchased a 12” Alpine subwoofer and a Pioneer Mono Bass Amp. They are pretty heavy but I’m very pleased with the sound they produce. I was looking into getting a stealth enclosure to put the sub to the side in the boot, but for now I’ve got a boring carpeted MDF box
Next, more repairs! I had a very annoying, erratic squeaky brake. Eventually I took it to my local VAG garage and had to replace the entire NSR caliper and both rear pads. It had been rubbing continuously, the wheel wouldn’t spin freely on the ramp and the pads had ‘crumbled’. A pretty expensive squeak. It seems to have permanently changed the colour of my discs too.
Being more expensive than I had anticipated, I thought I’d have a go at fixing the next problem myself.
Whenever the AC was on and I stopped, parked and got out, the fan sounded like a jet taking off. A quick google and look on here suggested one of the fans had seized. Turned out the smaller fan was not working at all. So, I took the fan shroud out, without taking the entire front end off, opened the fan with a Dremel, cleaned the brushes and put the whole lot back together. Problem solved for free or a couple hours of my time.
Soon I will get a few smaller mods like a foot rest and some genuine parts i.e. the interior door handles and switches to replace the worn and tatty ones.
This is my first time modifying any car I’ve owned, except putting new plastic hubcaps on my 02 polo lol.
I think I will be fitting all the future parts and mods myself as my confidence grows (and to save money!)
I will keep this post updated as I continue to improve my beloved GTI!
Also, Merry Christmas!
