OEM+ 2-DOOR MKVII

[aegis]

Gave these a good clean. Dropping some more photos for reference. Been looking around and I think 235/35 is the default tire with no problems for stock height. Just gotta save for a set...

 

[BTE]

The OSRAMS I would say are definitely worth the price if you're going from halogens. They look extremely clean and OEM, I haven't had any problems with condensation or jitter at all. The have a nice white light, some pictures I've seen in overcast weather make them look a little yellow, but I can say without a doubt they look white in all conditions.

My only small complaint is that the dynamic turn signal LED's (the orange ones) aren't diffused like on the Audis. You can see each individual LED but it's really not that big of a deal, I just kind of wish they were as diffused/clean looking as the daytime runners.

Overall though I'm really happy with them. They look really clean on and off, the housing themselves don't have that much chrome in them so they look really sharp and almost tinted which is a really clean look with the black. I can post some more pictures/video later today when I'm off work if you're interested. If you're also looking to buy them let me know and I can send you info on how to order from where I got them, can avoid tax and such if you email them directly.

Thanks for the feedback! I'll definitely reach out if I decide to go with them.

 

[aegis]

Well, discovered 3/4 of the no-name brand tires on the Austins are cracking so bad on the inside wall you can see the cords, so I bought some DSW06+ to put on the Pretorias, pictures coming tomorrow. I'll buy some winter tires for the Austins when winter comes, they are pretty rashed up at this point.

Doing tweaks to personalize the look is slowly getting more and more addicting. The irony is this all started when my turbo died and I was doing research into upgrade paths.. but had it repaired instead. I haven't spent a dime on power ... yet.

Also.. when you see the spots, we take these

 

[aegis]

When they say you can't not look back, it's really true. Even though it's still just mostly stock, always end up looking back at it. People have mentioned that a tint is pretty mandatory, but I'm still liking the lines of the 2-door without tint. Maybe that will change at some point.

Also a subtle note, thing I like about reading through other member's journals are the personal touches that go into the builds, sometimes not just parts. The plates I have were my late grandpa's, I had them re-registered after jumping through some hoops. Thing about them is that for a short period of time (1973-82) the slogan on Ontario plates was briefly 'Keep it Beautiful' before they changed over to the current one since then. I get a fair amount of comments from the dealership every time I pick it up, since they don't see the format very often.

 

[aegis]

Thoughts on one vs. the other?

Can't really describe how good these look in person. Black on black isn't always everyone's cup of tea but I think when I upgrade the front brakes to the PP calipers I have then it will fill out the 19's more.
Overall happy with how it looks for a summer setup.

Also installed the badgeskin taillight, not very noticeable during the day but nice and subtle detail.

 

[mrmatto]

Damn that looks slick between the all-black and the OSRAMs.

 

[aegis]

Damn that looks slick between the all-black and the OSRAMs.

Cheers, I've got some stuff coming up next month to continue the look; swapping in the PP calipers up front with some black GTI badging, smoked dynamic mirror signals and looking to the future for a taillight swap. It seems the dynamic Euro tails have a bit of a darker design which might go nice with the rest of the look. OSRAMs really contributed to the darker look up front for sure.

 

[Daks]

I love it. Black on black is for outlaws. Good job.

 

[aegis]

I'm regretting not ceramic coating the new bumper and headlights.. been low on cash for extra things like the car and it makes me cringe every time I'm on the highway..

MIBII swap this weekend, will try to post pictures of the process. Fingers crossed all of the parts I've sourced are in good working order.

 

[aegis]

After sourcing all the parts I started this install today, ran into a handful of problems however, so looking for any advise from anyone who's made the swap;
The car is a 2015 with MIB1 (no nav/AA), it's also an early Canadian Autobahn that came off the line without Fender audio, just the base sound system. Throwing a bunch of new codes but the four biggest issues after the install;

• Audio sounds way worse (less full) than my original stock unit. Sounds like the bass is missing and all of the sound is focused through the pillar tweeters. Edit; Resolved. Wrong dataset was loaded for audio system. See other troubleshooting I did myself below, however it's not something that can be solved in OBD11. I re-connected with the individual who coded my unit and he had to do it through VCP.
• ECS (driving) modes won't work, just states 'Activated' in the menu but I can't change modes or create a custom profile like on my old system. EDIT; Restored this functionality through OBD11. See below.
• Tire pressure sensor doesn't work, can't set pressures. EDIT: After driving the car for the first time after disconnecting the battery, the ESC modes and Tire Pressure functionality came on (warnings on dash went away).
• Throwing codes for 'Component Protection Active', however nothing is 'locked' per se. I'll post codes below. EDIT; After further reading, this is because the unit is 'hacked' for plug and play, and not professionally re-coded. Does not effect functionality at all.

Sourced my head unit (3G0 035 047) from @rrador (really great guy, met up in person) and we're going over the problems next week. Any other advice would be appreciated if anyone's had similar troubles.

Pulling dash trim for the first time is spooky af btw..

 

[aegis]

• Audio sounds way worse (less full) than my original stock unit. Sounds like the bass is missing and all of the sound is focused through the pillar tweeters.
• ECS (driving) modes won't work, just states 'Activated' in the menu but I can't change modes or create a custom profile like on my old system.
• Tire pressure sensor doesn't work, can't set pressures.

Not sure if I need to feel dumb or not but I don't think I ever read this anywhere; I actually drove the car for the first time after install just now and the ESC/pressure temp errors disappeared when the car started moving. However it might be placebo but it feels like the pedal response is a bit sloppier. The car doesn't want to lurch when its standing still and you release the break. Overall feels slightly different, not necessarily bad I guess. EDIT; This problem went away after a few minutes of driving. Sound problem still persists. It just sounds like it's looking for a subwoofer that doesn't exist.

Only other thing is the driving modes, my old unit allowed me to customize driving profiles (Sport, Custom, Comfort) but that menu item isn't there anymore. However in its place is an ESC menu that will turn off traction control for ASR and ESC modes.. Maybe that's the different feeling, seems like my custom driving mode doesn't exist anymore from my old unit.

@Cuzoe had some input on the modes, looks like some extra coding will be involved. I'll post an update if it all gets sorted out.
Sorted. See post below.

 

[aegis]

Resurrected the driving modes. OBD11 coding below Still need to test if the modes actually work as described however.
Still have the problem where it sounds like there's no bass.. meeting up with @rrador to fix it this weekend with different audio datasets. I tried some suggested OBD coding edits in this thread which didn't seem to fix my issue.

 

[aegis]

Shitty picture, but finally completed the MIB2 retrofit. Got the correct audio dataset and it sounds great again for the stock system. Perhaps a helix upgrade down the line but those things are like 800 dollars new from the dealer..

Everything seems to be in working order, been using it for a few weeks now. Steering wheel buttons, voice commands, driving modes etc. all up and running. Another nice to have is that the music/headunit and phone calls all stay on even after the car is turned off and parked after driving. My old unit would shut everything off after turning ignition off, now everything waits until I open the door to get out.

 

[19birel]

Nice job on the retrofit, the new unit looks good in there!

 

[aegis]

Impulse bought a factory black set of 19" OEM Pretoria's that popped up on marketplace because I guess I'm a purist.. will probably post the other set on the classifieds. Will I regret this decision? Stay tuned to find out.