th3_f15t '07 GTI

[th3_f15t]

Hey all, thought I'd share my little project with everyone.

So the car... A 2007 Golf GTI. Bought September 2011, traded it in for my old 2004 TDI SE. I was aware, at the time, that it was due a service and some other scheduled work, however wasn’t ready for the massive list of work. Over the past year, I’ve had the following done (mostly via the Volkswagen dealer);

Cam belt (full kit)
Front and rear brake discs and pads, plus brake fluid change
4 new Falken FK-452 tyres, balanced and tracked
New engine cover and air box assembly
Air conditioning pressure switch and gas
Full service + MOT

To follow will be some more detailed posts and some pictures, but wanted to introduce the car to you all now.


Here’s the nice, shiny new brakes;


And the engine bay, all stock;

[th3_f15t]

The story so far...

Engine & Exhaust;

APR carbon fibre intake feed
K&N panel filter
GFB DV+ upgrade
Milltek non-resonated cat-back (with R32 rear)
AmD Tuning stage 1 ECU remap

Bodywork & Suspension;

Bilstien B14 coilovers
H&R anti roll bars
SuperPro full polybushes front and rear kit
SuperPro anti lift kit
BBS CH 18” x 8J ET50 alloys with custom power coated finish
Michelin Pilot Sport 3 225/40 R18 tyres
Mk6 Golf TSI R front brakes with Hel braided stainless steel lines
R32 rear bumper (genuine VW parts)
De-badged and smooth front grill
LED lights (sidelights, rear fog, reverse and rear number plate)
Polo stubby aerial

Interior;

R32 Recaro bucket seats
Leather interior retro fit, including arm rest
Kenwood DNX520VBT stereo
JBL GTO1004 4 channel amplifier
JBL GTO6508C 2-way 165mm speakers (rear)
Custom trimmed steering wheel
Edition 30 gear knob and gaiter

Awaiting fitting

Audi S3 intercooler
Neuspeed intake pipe
Audi S3 rear brakes
Edition 30 front splitter
JBL GTO 906C 2-way 165mm speakers (front)

[th3_f15t]

The very first modification I fitted was the K&N Filter. I managed to purchase the item from an eBay company for £15 less than most other online performance shops. So, out came the tools and off came the engine cover…


So after I took more screws off than I care to remember, plus a heat shield (held on with more screws), it looked like this;


And the new filter in place. It just looks cool;


I’ve mainly noticed that on the motorway, I now get 3-5 more MPG and the car revs about 200 RPM lower at 70 MPH. This modification will not be replaced unless I ever go to a K04 turbo and other upgrades associated.

[th3_f15t]

Next on list is the R32 rear bumper conversion. This is a more involved stage and requires a fair few Volkswagen parts plus other modifications. No doubt most people reading this know that the exhaust sits differently on the R32 than it does on other Golfs.
I contacted AMD via e-mail asking about fitting of the bumper and additional costs, and was amazed when one of the guys (Ben) replied within a few hours listing the Volkswagen part numbers needed to build the rear bumper assembly! A trip to my local Volkswagen to collect my uncle’s Passat, I spoke to the parts department regarding the parts needed, and got some prices (these are also the Volkswagen part numbers, as provided by AMD);

1K6 807 433 C GRU - Lower half of the bumper which requires painting as it comes in primer - £245
1K6 807 568 9B9 - Black trim that clips into the above item and wraps around the exhaust - £123
1K6 807 441 E 9B9 - Toe eye cover to suit R32 bumper - £5
1K6 945 105 A - n/s reflector - £16.50
1K6 945 106 A - o/s reflector - £16.50

Naturally, some research was on the cards to discover whether there was a way to bring these prices down. I had seen many replica parts on eBay, but one night while trolling through I came across an eBay company;

http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/partsdepot_uk&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSX:SELLERID&_trksid=p3984.m1543.l2533 - Link is dead

They sell genuine Volkswagen and Audi parts, as well as a lot of other manufacturer parts, but importantly, they’re cheaper than the main dealer prices. I ordered the lower bumper part that was listed with the part number thinking it had to be too good to be true. But I ate my hat over this one, it turned up 48 hours later and on inspection was full, 100% genuine! Price… £156!

It was like opening up a big early birthday present;


And it already has the heat shield mounted in place;


So now I’m in the process of getting quotes from some reputable paint shops, so far I’m swinging towards one that AMD recommended me to (which happen to be a sponsor of their BTCC team). It will be a month or so before I can afford to get the bumper sprayed, also got to factor in the other parts that I need so there won’t be a great deal of process over the next few months. But as I get parts, I shall update here.

[th3_f15t]

A small update and sadly no official photos at this time. Today I took a small afternoon drive to a fellow forum member's house to collect a complete set of Volkswagen Golf R front brakes, which came off a 2012 model that had covered 10,000 miles. These include the CALIPERs, brake lines, discs, pads and dust shields; all this for a very reasonable £300! I just need to purchase some carrier bolts for the calipers and possibly, provided I can find spare budget, some stainless steel braided brake lines.

For the sake of pictures (because I like lots of pictures), here's a rough idea of what the finished product may look like;


Big shout to user sustanon400 for the set up!

[th3_f15t]

As it’s been a month since I last put anything on here, I thought I would post a little update for those who may be following this. It’s been a mostly quiet month of looking around, seeking information and parts and generally saving money for the exhaust. My first achievement this month came in the form of the R32 rear bumper reflectors, managed to get both from an eBay auction for £8.50 which is half of what one would cost, so another good saving there. However, impatience took hold and I decided to just go ahead an order the lower bumper trim and tow eye cover direct from my local Volkswagen dealer. But despite not saving any money, I’m still happy to report I now have all the parts for the bumper assembly!

So here are some lovely images to enjoy;



This corner of my room is looking rather full;


So now the plan is to get the relevant parts colour coded to my car, and then save like a fatherless son to afford the new Milltek exhaust to be fitted. I’m also planning to have the Forge diverter valve fitted at the same time as it’ll be up on the ramp so logical to have it all done in one hit, although it’ll mean nearly £1,000 in work without even a ECU re-map! Most of this work will not be carried out by myself, I shall hand over my keys to a professional garage to get it done.

I’m also planning some workshop time with a friend who works as a mechanic, and the aim is to fit my front brakes. I’m delaying it slightly as I want to source some stainless steel brake lines to help improve the overall feel of the car. The system needs to be able to cope comfortably with the BHP and torque increase as I have plans to take this car to the track one day…

More updates next month hopefully! Stay tuned, and as always, drop me a message if you like what you see or have a suggestion for me, always happy to hear back from people out there.

[th3_f15t]

I ordered my GFB DV+ the other week and a few days later it arrived.



The plan for the weekend was set, grab a jack and axle stand, my tool set and a cup of tea and get down to business installing this much needed part.


So, getting the diverter valve off… It’s actually a simple enough job, but I managed to drag it out to an hour because I didn’t realise I could have actually used my socket wrench more if I had changed where I was trying to turn it. But off it came none the less, and it was actually in good working order, no rips or damage and everything operated as it should.


Despite this, I went ahead and re-built the unit with my new DV+. Made sure to oil the bits as per the manual and gave the solenoid a bit of a clean-up too while I had it out, not that the pictures show my efforts.


There’s a noticeable difference to the way the engine pulls through the rev range now, combined with my air filter and some 99 octane fuel, the whole engine runs so smoothly now compared to a year ago when I first drove the car. Has more get-up-and-go to the engine now.

In other news, I’m picking up my R32 bumper from the paint shop tomorrow afternoon, so stay tuned for some pictures again soon!

[th3_f15t]

Well, as promised although a few days later than I said, here's the finished, colour coded R32 bumper;


Next stop is AMD in Essex to get my new Miltek exhaust and bumper fitted. I may have them re-map it as they run an offer on re-maps bought with exhausts, but I've heard far too many good things about R-Tech to ignore a trip up the M1.

Penciled date for the trip to AMD is 15th November, just in time for my 25th birthday!

[th3_f15t]

Further to my last post, I have also replaced the high pressure fuel pump (HPFP) cam follower as I read a lot about how this little £30 part can causes thousands of pounds worth of damage to the HPFP and cams if it wears through and fails. For anyone who has an engine with this part, make sure you learn about it, check it and replace it if necessary as the grief it'll save is well worth the 30 minutes labour on the driveway.

I found the genuine part on eBay for £32 delivered so bought it ready for the weekend just gone and made it a priority job. The Volkswagen part number is 06D 109 309 C for those who have a GTI like myself, can't be sure if this is the same for other VAG cars. I also used the DIY guide below, loaded it up on my tablet and it made the job as simple as it could be.

http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102858

So to highlight how worn my actually was, here's a nice edited before and after. There's no messing with light levels or colours, that's how my phone captured the images from 2 different angles. As it shows, it's worn to the recommended point of being changed. At this point, my engine had done 83,000 miles so it was well overdue a refresh.


Next on the list will be an OEM PCV replacement to the latest revision (E) along with a final check and possible oil change before the re-map and new exhaust. There's also a chance I may have acquired another nice little treat for my Golf so stay tuned!

[th3_f15t]

So Friday was D-day for stage 1. Booked into AMD Tuning and took it in the morning, handing over the keys and headed off for a fry up. Came back to grab a quick picture of it on the lift, not a great picture but better than nothing!



So as you will probably know by now, I was having a Miltek cat-back non-resonated system installed along with the rear bumper to compliment the R32 rear silencer. I also had it booked in for a remap, and I’m aware I said I would go to R-Tech (based on tons of positive feedback from other users) but it was cheaper and easier to get it done all in one day.

For note, AMD currently offer 50% off remaps when bought with Miltek exhaust systems! So £250 instead of £500… Love a bargain!

Things didn’t go smoothly though at AMD…

They ran their full diagnostics before the remapped it and came up into the waiting room to tell me that there was an error for low pressure in the fuelling! Panic stricken is a fairly accurate way to describe the internal meltdown I started having. The technician said it could be two things, either incorrect fuel filter or the cam follower on the high pressure fuel pump. So imagine my joy when I remembered I’d replaced said cam follower not two weeks prior (to avoid this very problem)! So after a short while I got my first chance to hear my new, shiny exhaust as it sang on the rollers!



I asked the guys to let me have the old filter, and when they inspected it more closely they revealed it was not just the wrong filter (incidentally, it was for a 2.0 FSI engine, I think, whatever it was it was only providing half the fuel it should have been!) but it wasn’t a genuine Volkswagen part, which the garage that did the service had led me to believe the parts would be. Driving home in a rage when you have just had a remap isn’t advisable. I did manage to get my money back from the garage for the part at least, but certainly not going to use them again!

Oh, numbers! Well…
199.9 BHP and 234.7 lb/ft Tourque @ 2777 RPM before the remap
265.9 BHP and 304.6 lb/ft Tourque @ 3157 RPM after the remap

That works out as a 33% increase in BHP and 35% in tourque! Certainly shifts now at in any gear but sadly, I fear the brakes won’t like being punished with the new power so the upgrade is being bought forward to before Christmas (exact date TBC at this time)

AMD kindly parked the car right outside the front door for me to allow a brilliant shot of the car! Shame it was dirty…



So all in all, a pretty decent way to celebrate my 25th birthday I feel! I had the intension to get the car cleaned and do some more shots today, but sadly discovered a screw in my rear tyre and none of the tyre shops open near me had a Falken FK-452 in stock so it was called off and left at home (had to get the train back to base in London!)

I leave you to enjoy a few (attempts at) artistic shots of my car. For now, I’m waiting for funds to allow for some stainless steel brake lines and some rear brakes from a Golf R (to match my fronts!). Feedback for taking shots is requested from anyone who does it for a proper hobby or career!




My personal favourite;

[th3_f15t]

Well, in keeping with the monthly updates, I’m trying to pull together some exciting news on the project and sadly I have nothing to report that will be of much interest. First off, the rear tyre didn’t need replacing as the screw didn’t do any serious damage and the tyre has kept its air and seems good (even after some road testing), which is hand as the Falken FK-452 is no longer produced, replaced by the FK-453 now so in the event of a tyre going, it’s a minimum of 2 now as I won’t run mismatched on the same axel at least.

Apart from that, I’ve finally ordered my Hel SS brake lines for the front brakes, but the acquisition of rear Golf R brakes (to match my front) hasn’t come about just yet, so leaving the rears alone for the short term. Also bought some genuine Volkswagen brake fluid as I’ll only want to top up any fluid lost rather than replace the lot (which if you remember, is less than 1 year old at this point in time) and I don’t like to re-use fluid that’s been bled out as it could pick up contaminants once out the braking system.

Lastly, I’ve gone and bought lowering springs. APR currently have a deal on till the end of December on the VW Racing springs (which, if I’m correct, are made by Eibach to VW Racing specs) which normally retail for £210 but with £30 off, this bought them down to the price of other recommended springs and I’ve liked what I’ve read about the VW Racing ones, so in the shopping basket they went.

Enough text, picture time.


So all I have to do now is find a time (and friend) to help me fit all of the outstanding modifications to the car now. This is still TBC… Annoyingly.

[xjay1337]

I would drop the sump and replace the pick up for peace of mind myself.

Nice work so far

[TommyR]

Good progress so far!

[th3_f15t]

I would drop the sump and replace the pick up for peace of mind myself.

Nice work so far

Not heard of this being a weak spot. Will look into it though. Are there shallow sumps available for the 2.0 TSFI engines?

[xjay1337]

It's well documented (pick up pipe blocking)

http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,68442.0.html

My car was on 10-15k service intervals (so long life). Would be the first thing I did to be honest if I bought a new one.