DMackie Golf GTI

[DMackie]

Well I picked up my new car at the start of September after selling the trusty Mk4 diesel after just over 2.5 years. I have always wanted one since they were released and I finally got one.

My budget for one was £5500 but after one came up locally for a lot less I went to view it and after a scan on Vag-Com didn't come up with anything major and it drove pretty well a deal was done after a lot of wondering if it was a gamble.

It is a bit rough around the edges but I am pretty happy with it. Once i picked it up it was dropped off at my mechanic who gave it a service and replaced the timing belt and water pump as it had recently hit 120k miles.

I am so far really enjoying being back in a petrol turbo after selling my leon cupra.

I have replaced a few parts so far including part of the airbox which had broken off. Cheap and easy fix.

There are a list of things which I would like to do to it but the immediate plans are to have the alloys refurbed as they are seriously letting the rest of the car down. Also bought a smoothed front grill which I plan to get wrapped a grey colour after seeing how well it looked on Mark M's GTI

A few pics after it was give a good wash.











Cheers

[DMackie]

Couple of things recently. Had the DV replaced as the one on the car was split.

I gave the new grill to customised coatings and got it wrapped in satin grey. Really happy with the finish.



Also treated myself to a new keyring as the old one was looking a bit tired.

[strell]

Looks like a nice few touches. Always liked getting a nice key ring for the car. But I change mine so often and pass it on each time

[Cocoapuff]

Looks like a good base. The alloy refurb should tidy it up a lot!

What are the other plans?

Keychain is a nice touch!

[DMackie]

Next two things are pretty boring. It is get it through its MOT and refurb the alloys.

[DMackie]

Haven't really done much with the car lately as I've had an issue with my eyes (not been allowed to drive) but as that is all sorted now I've started to get the parts for stage 2 or 2+ collected. Bought and S3 intercooler today. Is it best to get the hose kit from Darkside or get ones from VW?

Put a wanted thread up today as looking for a TBE system. Thinking of getting the relentless downpipe and getting someone to weld in a 200 cel cat then getting either buy a 3" cat back or have a cat back made up at a exhaust fabricators. Thoughts on this?

Trying to decide on either the Vis or Autotech uprated HPFP internals. I'll replace my cam follower when that gets fitted too.
Decided on the Revo air intake as it seems to be the best on these cars.

The some cosmetic things like fit my grill, wet sand my headlights as they are in a shocking state, refurb the alloys and fit some AP coilovers. How low do you need to go before having to get different drop links. I dont plan to go too low but want to be able to get the height just right.

Then REMAP!

[DMackie]

So a wee update on the car. After getting back to driving after operations on my eyes i got 1 weeks worth of driving before things starting making a noise.

Still love the car but the heat shield at the back started to rattle. Thought id sorted it with one clip but another section was down and hitting the back box when going over some bumps. I wish that was all that happened...

As i was leaving work on a Wednesday night i came off a small roundabout and the car started making a lot of noise. Stopped at the side of the road to see if i could see anything but nothing hanging off i could fix at the roadside. So i limped the car back to my flat and called my trusty dad. He said he would be able to pick the car up tomorrow whilst i was at work and take it to my trusty mechanic near my parents house to find out what had dropped/snapped/cracked.

It turns out the join between the downpipe and the cat had split. So i had a think and had a few options.
Get it patched up and drive it like that for a while until i could get a full exhaust
Buy a downpipe and sports cat and join it to the standard exhaust...or
Buy a full tbe and have the mechanic fit that in one go.

I went for option 3 and went for a 2nd hand r32 style tbe from a member on here. Originally i was going to get the gti backbox from milltek and sell the r32 on but at £350 new for the backbox i decided to go with the r32 look and started looking at r32 rear valances trying to find a good copy as a genuine one was out of my budget. So after looking at quite a few threads about this topic i decided a valance. I also thought 'why not' and got a edition 30 front valance and smooth side skirts too and have them all painted up whilst i get the rust on the rear arches sorted.

So the car is with the mechanic as the bus service to my work is quite good. Can't wait to see how the car turns out after the exhaust and paint. It will hurt the wallet but hey ho, i feel it is worth it.

Ordered parts
http://www.hzperformance.com/index.php/body-kits/vw/golf/mk5/vw-golf-mk5-r32-type-rear-bumper-lip.html
http://www.hzperformance.com/index.php/body-kits/vw/golf/mk5/vw-golf-mk5-r32-type-side-skirts-251.html
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171578195007
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221291434953

[DMackie]

Well i gave the car a quick wash on the way home but it will get a proper wash this weekend. Thought id take a few pics of the new rear valance, R32 style exhaust and the alloys refurbed by customised coatings.

I thought the colour was too dark to start with but it certainly has grown on me.







Cheers

[DMackie]

Car booked in for paint on the 27th so it will be Edition 30 front valance and side skirts and the r32 rear painted plus some other bits tidied up.
Pretty excited.

Then it will be suspension mods, FMIC and air intake then book it in to R-Tech.

[DMackie]

So its been a long time since i updated the thread.
The car has been driven daily but has sadly had some issues along the way but thankfully its been things the gti is known for having faults.
So the car was looking ace after the ed30/r32 valances and skirts were painted.
The car started rattling so took the plunge after speaking to a very vw specialist garage near my work. Had the timing chain and tensioner replaces. Well worth it as the car is so much quieter.
Went in for its MOT whilst i was in Vienna. An expensive bill to come back to. Rear calipers and disks needed replacing.
Knew the thermostat was faulty as it never stayed at 90C or if it did it wasnt there long. The garage who replaced it broke a lug off the alternator so I got a free alternator out of them for that.
Front disks were swapped over at the same time. Running Mintex disks and pads and i find them perfectly fine.
Also did some performance or tech upgrades with my mfd2 now having the gps aerial fitted. Changed the canbus gateway for the later model ones to stop the battery drain. The fitted an oversized ramair intake.

Happy with the car atm. Gonna get an s3 intercooler and then get it mapped. Suspension and wheels will come next year.
Will get more pics soon as its pretty dirty atm.