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nicholam77's PP GTI thread

lucyfek

Ready to race!
Location
IL USA
Car(s)
GTI & GSW
I did not skip a picture, I do not have the caps I guess. Do you know the part numbers? I ordered my trim pieces a la carte, as the full kit was way too expensive for me for pieces of plastic. In the rears I installed the same rubber grommet style pads instead of the ones you have. I would definitely add the caps to the fronts if I could find the part number to order them. I don't want to let the salt in either and we get a lot of it where I live!

Also... might just be my specific jack stand and jack, but I am able to place a jack stand on the pinch weld in the front while the jack is under the pad adapter.

Thank you for the extra pics and info.



Thanks!
Parts are:
Front Jack Socket - right ES#2726181 8V0802846
Front Jack Socket - Left ES#2725579 8V0802845
Rear Jack Socket - ES#2733037 8V0802847A
My preference is to avoid using pinch welds as this strips them off anti-corrosion coating. I'd not care as much if I lived down South but rust is the cars' ultimate enemy where I live (besides accidents).
 

nicholam77

Go Kart Champion
Location
Minneapolis
Parts are:
Front Jack Socket - right ES#2726181 8V0802846
Front Jack Socket - Left ES#2725579 8V0802845
Rear Jack Socket - ES#2733037 8V0802847A
My preference is to avoid using pinch welds as this strips them off anti-corrosion coating. I'd not care as much if I lived down South but rust is the cars' ultimate enemy where I live (besides accidents).

Thank you for this! I am definitely gonna get the front pieces from e-acca, where they are less than $8 each.

Where do you put the jack stands if you jack from the adapters and don't use the pinch welds?

I am totally with you on not damaging the pinch welds (I've already damaged a few of mine) and I live in harsh winter climate where they dump salt all over for half the year. But I like the stands placed as far out on the edges for stability, and I haven't found a better place to put them. Suggestions are welcome.
 

Hambone

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Florida
Car(s)
2020 TR GTI SE
Really liking your build thread; you have absolutely NO idea how helpful your various pictures and mods are to me in regards to jack points on the MK7. Glad that I am not the only one who doesn't trust the pinch welds for single-point jacks. I am most definitely going to research those adapter pads and the trim cutout.

By the way, are you planning on tuning at any point? Piggyback/ECU Flash?
 

nicholam77

Go Kart Champion
Location
Minneapolis
Really liking your build thread; you have absolutely NO idea how helpful your various pictures and mods are to me in regards to jack points on the MK7. Glad that I am not the only one who doesn't trust the pinch welds for single-point jacks. I am most definitely going to research those adapter pads and the trim cutout.

By the way, are you planning on tuning at any point? Piggyback/ECU Flash?

Thanks! It's all due to info from others on the forums. If my pics and posts help pass along the info that makes me happy!

The jack pad adapters are GREAT. So much better than jacking the pinch welds or subframe bolt. If you're not in a rush for shipping, look up the part numbers on e-acca.com and you will find everything for a very reasonable price. Some of the bigger parts distributors have huge markups on these parts. For those of us without the luxury of a lift, it definitely makes life easier.

I really want to tune... but being 6MT I am not quite ready to take the plunge on the clutch. Yes it might last awhile with certain tunes, but there's always the risk of slipping and seeing as I just bought wheels I don't have the money at the moment to upgrade. Down the line though, I hope it will be in the cards. Might *attempt* the labor myself as there are some good guides out there. As far as tune vs. piggyback I would lean towards JB4 at least until the warranty is up. I don't need a ton more power but a little boost would be nice.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out the thread :D
 

STANDARD H

Ready to race!
Finally had time to do a write-up of my latest installation:

Dark Cherry LED Euro Tails

I've been wanting to grab a set of these for awhile, but $600+ for lights is a tough pill to swallow. Many other mods could be had for that money (jb1, stage 1 tune, downpipe, tint, etc). However, from the moment I opened the box, I had no regrets. These lights look absolutely awesome, and I think they totally transform the rear end of the car. Much more upscale / Audi-esque, and match the LP front lights in looks and utility. I got mine from BEC Autoparts with their adapter harnesses. They were the ones made for VW China by Koito, not the Automotive Lighting European ones. To me this is no big deal -- they are OEM and ooze quality.

Comparison of US spec vs ROW spec outer units:



They just have so much more dimension and depth, even when off. I love the partial tint of the Dark Cherry version, and I think it looks great on Carbon Steel Gray. One last thing on looks -- they come across even better in person vs pics.

Installation:

It was somewhat miserable, I'll be honest. Removing VW trim pieces with clips is never fun, and I had a few mishaps with the wiring. DAP has an excellent video on the process <here> that shows how to remove the trim pieces and the basic idea of routing the harnesses (BEC harnesses are very similar). Some tools that will make your life easier are a small flathead screwdriver, 8mm deep socket and ratchet, wire snake/fish tape, electrical tape, zip ties, utility blade, and a flashlight if you don't have adequate lighting.

Where I ran into trouble is trying to make one of the harness connections. The pin terminal wasn't seating correctly in the harness, and after too much finagling it weakened and broke off inside. :eek: I was 80% done with the job, and had all the trim ripped out of the hatch. All I could do was email Ed at BEC and ask if he had it in his heart to ship me a new black wire if I paid for it. Not only did he email me back right away, on a Sunday, but offered to send a whole new left inner adapter for only the cost of shipping.

I would also like to mention at this point that before I purchased I emailed him with some questions, and he got back to me right away with clear and concise answers. Top notch customer service.

So... after a week of driving around with the lights plug and play, with no trim in my hatch (no way I was putting that back on and taking it off again to finish up the job!), the new harness arrived from Canada. Eager to wrap things up, I proceeded to swap out the harness only to find... I needed to re-make several of the connections, which meant undoing some wires. Well, apparently these wire pins LOCK into place once seated, and the only way to get them out is with a special little tool. Frustrated, I used my google-fu and found it is possible to flatten a small paper clip with a hammer to stick in the harness and release the pin flanges. I did just that, and by some miracle it worked, although it took 45 min of struggling just to remove two wires. Cue the swearing and fits of rage. :mad:

With my mistakes rectified, I got everything in place, and made it neat. Zip-ties everywhere!

Coding:

BEC provided coding instructions with the lights, which worked flawlessly. They adjusted to the correct dimmwert values of 10 where necessary to provide ROW contrast between running and brake light. Their coding is set up to match ROW implementation where only the outer units act as brake lights. I did some additional coding so both inner and outer light up when braking, as I prefer it that way.

Last thing to do was install deAutoKey LED reverse bulbs to get rid of the bulb-out warning.

Now everything is set up and working the way I want it to. 3 weeks from start to finish and about 8 hours of total work with all the mishaps and redo's, but it was definitely worth it.

Pics:








Shaving down the right inner connector:



My makeshift paperclip tool:





The finished product:







Looks awesome, man! I just received my Euro lights in the mail for the second time after having one of the four lights in the first set chipped during shipping (I'm assuming). Ed was super fast in getting me this second set and hope to put them on this weekend. However, the paperwork that came with the first set did not come with the second set. Any way there's a PDF somewhere I can get the coding??
 

nicholam77

Go Kart Champion
Location
Minneapolis
Looks awesome, man! I just received my Euro lights in the mail for the second time after having one of the four lights in the first set chipped during shipping (I'm assuming). Ed was super fast in getting me this second set and hope to put them on this weekend. However, the paperwork that came with the first set did not come with the second set. Any way there's a PDF somewhere I can get the coding??

Hey there, thanks! Ya Ed @ BEC is great.

I still have the coding docs, I can scan them for you if you'd like.

Did you get some reverse LEDs? If you follow their coding you'll need them.
 

STANDARD H

Ready to race!
Hey there, thanks! Ya Ed @ BEC is great.

I still have the coding docs, I can scan them for you if you'd like.

Did you get some reverse LEDs? If you follow their coding you'll need them.

Thanks again - got the coding PDF from Ed....that dude is ON IT! Installing tomorrow, and I'm so glad I stumbled on this thread as I removed my Clutch Spring today and it's EXACTLY what I wanted my clutch to feel like!!!

When test driving the MK7, I was so bummed about how easy it was to press the clutch...felt like a toy. My 2013 GTI was a DSG, and I missed driving manual so much (my 2005 GLI was a MT6) that my distaste for the clutch was still less than how much I missed driving stick...and now the clutch feels just like my GLI which has made me fall even more in love with the car! Sorry for the aside, but thank you to this thread!!!

If you have an MT6, quit sleeping and remove it. Period.
 

nicholam77

Go Kart Champion
Location
Minneapolis
EuroCode TMD + silicone outlet hose

Installed EuroCode turbo muffler delete + silicone outlet hose



Got it on sale around the holidays for ~$65 if I recall correctly.

Nothing against the EuroCode parts or quality (which actually seemed well-machined and quite nice), but it's pretty much what you'd expect. On an otherwise-stock car I felt I could notice a hair more induction noise (not diverter noise!) and a hair better throttle response. But it's probably 90% marketing BS. I should have listened to the internet, lol. Oh well, I like installing parts on my car.

Not my video, but funny:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBYzy_EXDTU
 

nicholam77

Go Kart Champion
Location
Minneapolis
Frameless Autodimming Mirror Homelink

Installed this yesterday. I ordered from Quirkparts -- best price and extremely fast shipping. Part number is 000-072-548-C. Have not tested autodimming yet but compass and homeland are working on my car.



The kit comes with the mirror, a wiring harness, a few zip ties, and instructions on how to program the compass and homelink. Nothing about how to install it. I didn't do a great job documenting every step but I tried to take a few pics and hopefully it will help somebody else trying to do the same thing.

Here's what you do:

Remove headlight switch. Set selector to off position, push in slightly, then turn halfway towards on and the whole thing should pull out.



Remove driver's side dash end trim with a trim removal tool. Note where the clips are in the pic below and apply pressure in these areas.



Now let's take a look at the wiring harness. One end has two red plugs. The female plug connects to what was plugged into the headlight switch, and the male plug goes into the switch itself. On the other end is a single black plug. This goes directly into the mirror.













Now turn the ignition on and see if it works.



Now is a good time to remove the old mirror. I did not get good pics of this but you just need to remove the two trim pieces (one long and skinny, one small at the base), and then twist the mirror counter-clockwise ~30 degrees and it will pop off. I was able to do this without tools but wore a glove to protect my hand as it does require some force.

With the old mirror off, I began the extra fun part of routing the wiring. I started at the bottom.





Once you get to the A-pillar, peel back the rubber weatherstripping and grab the outside edge of the A-pillar and gently pull it towards the windshield. As you twist it around and pull, it should pop out partially but not all the way. This gives you some room to work if you want to just stuff the wire in there, but not enough space if you want to go behind the airbag and zip tie everything nice and neat. This is due to several "security" clips that are holding it to the car. The idea is you want them disconnected from the A-pillar itself and not the trim cover. They are near impossible to remove due to their design (little tabs locking them in place). I was able to remove one, and one slid off the trim side.





There are 3 clips in total, but only 2 are the security kind. They are all towards the upper half of the trim piece. If you are able to get this far you should now able to peel the A-pillar trim back enough to run the mirror harness wire along with the other existing A-pillar wiring above the airbag and zip tie it in place.



Twist the new mirror on, stuff the rest of the wire into the headliner, replace all trim pieces, and admire your new mirror!



 

Jedimk7

Drag Race Newbie
A great build thread!

sent using Pide Piper middle out compression app
 

nicholam77

Go Kart Champion
Location
Minneapolis
Thanks for the detailed DIY.
That is on my short list.

No problem. It's a great upgrade! About as expensive as the Double Apex button but you get a better looking mirror with extra functionality, too.

Great DIY!

Looks like a very easy install :)

Thanks - it is pretty easy. Only hard part really is the A-pillar trim.

Looks like I just found my next project. How does the homelink work?

Homelink works great. Was easily able to pair with my garage opener. A little green house icon blinks on the mirror screen when you push the button.

A great build thread!

sent using Pide Piper middle out compression app

Thanks!
 

nicholam77

Go Kart Champion
Location
Minneapolis
Got my summer (stock all-season) tires swapped over from the Austin's to the new wheels this weekend. When at the tire shop I was pleasantly surprised to see a Golf R owner doing the same and getting some Neuspeeds fitted.



Then I test fit in my garage. According to willtheyfit.com, they poke out ~11mm more than the Austins. I was using ECS flush kit spacers previously (15mm front, 20mm rear), and I think this is too much for the new wheels and will probably switch for 5mm front, 10mm rear to regain the flush look.

Also in the future when I can afford summer tires and/or wear down the all-seasons, I would probably go with 235 section widths instead of the stock 225.

But overall I am very happy with the way they look on the car and can't wait for summer to be here.

 
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