Shadow Blue MK5 GTI DSG - Premature Midlife Crisis

[RayRoocroft55]

A bit of back story (Skip if not required, but think it may be relatable) - i've always been into cars since my very very early teens. Ive owned around 30 now in my 14 years of driving, ranging from a 1987 mini to toyota MR's, honda civic to ford focus, ford fiesta to seat ibiza, and many many more.

Since 2016 ive had a job that required me to do 100 miles per day, and came down to 'only' 80 miles per day when I moved homes. This meant I needed a motorway car, and I owned a VW Passat 1.6 BlueMotion with all the mod cons. It was a dream to drive and since I first stepped in it, I fell in love with VW.

Now, fast forward 5 years, a pandemic and a baby, and things have changed somewhat. I have less mileage (currently working from home, and when we return to office ill be doing less mileage), and with my endless pursuit of personalising things I couldnt wait to get my mitts into a new project.

Cue my new purchase - a Mk5 Golf GTI DSG in Shadow Blue with 89k miles on, fsh, and in good -> spiffing condition.

I've made a website - rayroocroft.uk - which outlines many of the intricacies of the project ive been through so far. No matter how small, I think its the start of a journey of learning every nook and cranny about this car, about taking it up through the stages and making it something my daughter may enjoy driving with me in the future! (She is 5 months old, but I have grand plans for her  )

Once i've figured out how to add images, ill get them sorted!

[mjmallia]

Welcome and a nice colour. I have a steel grey GTI and would have got shadow blue if my wife did not have one in that colour already   

One thing that I have noticed on yours............are your handles plain black plastic or is it the photo, as they should be colour coded to the car.

[RayRoocroft55]

Welcome and a nice colour. I have a steel grey GTI and would have got shadow blue if my wife did not have one in that colour already   

One thing that I have noticed on yours............are your handles plain black plastic or is it the photo, as they should be colour coded to the car.

haha nice so you have two of the best colours! 

Yes they are plain black plastic - did GTI's always come with colour coded handles? Ive looked for any info about them and nothing came up, but i do have the paint to colour code them and the front splitter at some point.

[Golf_is_not_a_sport]

Looks clean!

Same/Similar boat as you, pandemic/wfh has made my 20k p/a mileage reduce to about 3k.. So, I sold up my 2020 Mazda 3, and came across a Golf GTI 2005, 85k Manual - Which i've relished the opportunity to get stuck in with a few bits of reconditioning and hopefully some mods!

I'll keep and eye on this thread to see what you get up to!

[RayRoocroft55]

Well, its been a while! Work got busy, baby got more baby-like and Christmas hit hard. Ive done very few modifications in total to the car so far, but its also due a few parts very, very soon!

So to date we have:

RamAir Oversized Intake


PCV Delete


CV Boot failure fixed


Replaced Cam Follower


Personal Reg Added


Double Din Headunit w/Apple Car Play from AliExpress - £150 and comes with all the toys!


New Chrome interior switches


Dynamic Indicators


Carbon wrapped some interior pieces


Front Grill Refresh - Noticed this was very grey and the red trim was very pink, so decided to get the PlastiKote out




New cut out foglight surrounds



Funnily enough I did not realise the MOT was due 11th Jan and there are a number of items I need to get sorted, so this has been a bit of a shocker to the system right after Christmas!

- Replacement rear offside caliper
- Rear Discs & Pads
- Replacement Rear Trailing Arms
- Full Service

After the MOT hopefully goes through without a hitch, I do have a list of items to fit to the car which im super excited about, more so because it will refresh the car a little:

- New near-side wing
- New wing mirror covers
- GFB DV+
- Removing all wheels and cleaning/undersealing
- Paint Calipers
- DSG Service
- Timing Belt & Water Pump
- Boost and Oil Temp Gauges w/ New South Gauge Pod

Beyond this, money-dependent, I want to get a full exhaust system and map to bring out the best in the car. It may take some time and I do want to DIY as much as possible, so we shall see :)

[Sam_786]

Nice work on the car so far, have you got a link to the head unit? Thanks.

[RayRoocroft55]

Nice work on the car so far, have you got a link to the head unit? Thanks.

Sure thing buddy! https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001731579363.html?spm=a2g0o.9042311.0.0.3e9e4c4dnulEB9

Looks like its gone up in price since I bought it in September, but I do recommend it for the money.

Ive ordered a reverse camera as when you enter reverse it comes up with NO REVERSE CAMERA DETECTED and irks me so ill update the thread when i have that fitted too :)

[Sam_786]

Fantastic! I eagerly await your progress. Saying that, I think that has been tried and achieved by other(a) in this forum/YouTube so a quick search might help you.

Also, just had a look at the link as I was surprised to see it going for so cheap relative to the ones I have seen knocking about around the £250 mark but then noticed that yours is a Desay model if I’m not mistaken.  I think for my needs a noname unit will suit for future updates etc.

Thanks anyway though!

[Golf_is_not_a_sport]

Plasticote on the front grill is excellent, and so, i'm off to buy some plasticote this weekend.

[RayRoocroft55]

Plasticote on the front grill is excellent, and so, i'm off to buy some plasticote this weekend.

my thinking was that although its not the most durable of products, its durable and easy enough to use, and very easy to re-apply instead of faded paint work. ive done the entire of the front end plastics and they look so much better for it!

[RayRoocroft55]

OK, so...... yeah..... I went a bit mental......

With the MOT due, I needed certain parts to be fixed - rear brake caliper, therefore new discs and pads, new tyre, and a few other things. I decided to start scouring ebay and..... well......

- Rear View Camera
- Mirror Ground Lights
- Eibach Springs & Bilstein Shocks
- Drop Links
- Front & Rear Strut Top Mounts
- Front & Rear Shock Dust Covers
- Turbo Muffler Delete
- Dogbone Polybush Insert & Bolts
- 11mm Spacers Front & Rear
- 3" Gravity Performance Cat Back
- 3" Gravity Performance Downpipe w/200 cell sports cat
- Gravity Performance Intercooler & Hard Piping
- Powerflex Anti-Lift Kit
- NGK R8 Coil Packs
- Autotech HPFP Internals

yeah...... to say ive gone a bit wild is an understatement haha! Basically i'm aiming for stage 2 or 2+ and will be putting these parts on as and when possible, leading up to a map.

Ive decided to go for a full custom map and dsg map at West Yorkshire Tuning which are relatively local (50 minutes) and have quite a good reputation.

Also in good news, instead of replacing one tyre, i got a great deal on some new wheels and therefore will be punching new rubber on all four wheels - here are the wheels on the previous owners' car.

Exciting times!

[Golf_is_not_a_sport]

Love it, can't wait to see the transformation.. You're doing all of this over the weekend right? Not to keep us all waiting..?

[pudding]

Those dynamic indicators are quite funky!  Shame the fronts and rears can't do that 

As for plasticote, I sprayed my grilles with it years ago and it's held up well 

[akbarirfan]

Love it, can't wait to see the transformation.. You're doing all of this over the weekend right? Not to keep us all waiting..?

Even in the snow!

[RayRoocroft55]

Love it, can't wait to see the transformation.. You're doing all of this over the weekend right? Not to keep us all waiting..?

haha i wish buddy! I have a number of things going on this weekend including a full service, new rear trailing arms, and a few goodies if I have time before the MOT ;)

Those dynamic indicators are quite funky!  Shame the fronts and rears can't do that 

As for plasticote, I sprayed my grilles with it years ago and it's held up well 

Yeah im pleasently surprised by the plastikote finish and longevity so far - i'm tempted to top it up now and again but i did three coats and there are no signs of it changing!

speaking of change, i got some polish pads for my drill to essentially make it an orbital polisher. I intended to do the lights as they were disgusting and yellow. Every guide told me I needed a polisher, but then my drill packed in! So I thought sod it, i've got t-cut and ive got elbow grease, so gave it a go.

3 t-cuts and a polish done and the results are