My A3 1.8TFSI Progress Thread

Farhan

Farhan

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Picked the car up end of february totally stock, Chose the 1.8TFSI as it best suited my budget and what i was after.

Heres the Spec
2008 A3 S Line Lave Grey - Full Leathers - Bose -Factory Fit Bluetooth With GSM Prep - AUX - Auto Lights - Dim View Mirror

Photos
DSC_0008.jpg


DSC_0010.jpg


DSC_0056-1.jpg


DSC_0198.jpg


IMG_0991.jpg


IMG_1045.jpg


Interior photos to follow

I first started with replacing my standard headlights, As many of you will know i went with LED sidelights, Philips Diamond Vision for dipped. Photos are posted in a separate thread.

Planned Upgrades:
Cruise Control/Alarm Beep - Fitted (Pics to Follow)
Black Edition Rear Bumper - Currently Being Done
Silver Indicator Bulbs
Upgraded Number Plate Bulbs - On hold
Armrest
MY09 or MY11 Rear Lights
Intake/Remap/DV Valve
OEM BBS Speedlines or Ch's
Aluminium Pedals
RNS-E
 
Anyone know what the correct size for the number plate bulbs is? 239 Festoons or are they 289? A Thread which i searched said 36mm but 36mm corresponds with 239 Festoons just want to make sure, Im trying to find a alternative to leds which are 5W

Im considering these, the blue tint on the glass may give them a more whitish light and being non leds and 5W they should be a better little upgrade.

Stylish 12V 5w BLUE Interior Festoon Bulbs 239(pair) on eBay (end time 07-Apr-11 12:37:31 BST)
 
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nice car mate!! looking forward to seein all the listed mods!
 
RedDejavu said:
Hi there Farhanali, was nice to meet you over the weekend. Hope you enjoy cruise control! Nice ride but not sure about the roof shark fin;).
Click to expand...

LOL cheers bro! Thanks for gettig that steering off was a nightmare!
 
Yes mate... its obvious that I like the look of your car because I've just made mine look the same! :lmfao:

Looking forward to seeing that new rear bumper etc.
 
farhanali said:
Thanks lads, will keep this thread lively more pics to follow later today. Guys anyone considered these!

I really want White Number plate lights LOL
Audi A3 S3 A4 S4 RS4 A6 S6 Q7 LED License Plate Light on eBay (end time 24-Apr-11 21:27:14 BST)
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I saw these on a BMW the other day......Really Bright White.....To Bright for me .....I'm going with something with a lower brightness.

Nice car Mate........I've always wanted a 1.8T .....Rare engine ...and reminds my of my 1997 Audi a3 that I had back in the day. I would swap my 2.0 tdi engine any day for a 1.8T engine.:yes:
 
I reckon they will be far to bright but the safest option guys....If these dont cause damage to the circuit behind the tailgate cover and dont overheat just like the conventional canbus bulbs which seem a hit an miss i wouldnt mind these.

To overcome the brightness maybe a bit of black insulation tape over half of it to tone it down LOL?

Or painting around the clear lens? and leaving just a centre area unpainted? Toning the brightness down isnt a problem, I just dont want to replace or worry about errors. Iv been looking really hard for non LED bulbs which will give a slight whitish light but theres nothing on the market......Iv been at work all day and done zilch looking for the bulbs..Heres some alternatives but again i reckon they will just be yellow!

Stylish 12V 5w BLUE Interior Festoon Bulbs 239(pair) on eBay (end time 07-Apr-11 12:37:31 BST)

The MTEC & PIAA bulbs are 10Watts which will over heat and cause problems so cancel those out now :(
 
They look like a decent buy dude, but i have similar ones at home which im scared to use, Thing is the heatsinks actually cause the overheating because they need airflow to keep the built in resistors cool. Over time they start causings problems this is why im looking at the whole units as they may be designed slightly better to stay cool.
 
I placed an order for some silvertec bulbs for the headlamps, Will also be ordering the number plate LEDS with the housings as the yellow ones are annoying me.

Heres my first official erm....Mod shall we say :rockwoot:

Thanks to Jb0o for the install & Redejavu for making it happen (Knowing my luck the ruddy steering wheel wasn't coming off!)
photo-1-1.jpg
 
Looks lovely mate. Lovely engine as well, 1st gear was a dream compared to the diesels!

Im gonna start looking again for number plate lights so Ill keep an eye on this thread..
 
Took a snap of the bulbs indoors just to give an idea of the kind of color. The photo makes them look very blue but in real i would say they are more of a solid white.

63b1bfc8-1.jpg
 
farhanali said:
Took a snap of the bulbs indoors just to give an idea of the kind of color. The photo makes them look very blue but in real i would say they are more of a solid white.

63b1bfc8-1.jpg
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Looks sweet fella:) Much better than the standard yellow colour.
Think i need to upgrade my bulbs. Where you buy them from and how much if you dont mind me asking?
 
audi upgrades
farhanali said:
There a nice upgrade for sure dude, I was standing them next to my mates OEM Bi Xenons on his R32 the color temperature was very similar.

I bought them on ebay but luckily iv found a link of them on the following cheaper :)

PHILIPS DIAMOND VISION H7 5000k WHITE HEAD LAMP BULBS on eBay (end time 30-Apr-11 11:16:26 BST)
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Cheers fella think i'll get some :)

aythree said:
Are these the exact lights you've got???
I don't think they are road legal.
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Fella love your sig, car does look so much better.
 
RedDejavu said:
dont you reckon 4300k would be a bit better I mean more whitish:p?
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Defo bro, i need to try and get a more honest photo as under the camera they look very blue but in real they are a very close match to 4300k in terms of color

aythree said:
Are these the exact lights you've got???
I don't think they are road legal.
Click to expand...

There the exact ones dude, Unfortunately not road legal but for the color and lack of glare i would much prefer these over HIDS, The beam pattern doesnt scatter all over the place but the reason they are not road legal is because they are not e marked because of the color of the bulb being white when lit up.

Ash_B said:
Looks sweet fella:) Much better than the standard yellow colour.
Think i need to upgrade my bulbs. Where you buy them from and how much if you dont mind me asking?
Click to expand...

I bought them on ebay bro heres a link, good news they are cheaper than what i paid :( i paid nearly 40 for mine
PHILIPS DIAMOND VISION H7 5000k WHITE HEAD LAMP BULBS on eBay (end time 30-Apr-11 11:16:26 BST)
 
Ash_B said:
Fella love your sig, car does look so much better.
Click to expand...

Ah thanks man. Although I did cheat a little in the first sig pic and make it a little lower until I get some new springs! :eyebrows:

farhanali said:
There the exact ones dude, Unfortunately not road legal but for the color and lack of glare i would much prefer these over HIDS, The beam pattern doesnt scatter all over the place but the reason they are not road legal is because they are not e marked because of the color of the bulb being white when lit up.[/url]
Click to expand...

Cool cool. They do look very nice.

I'm thinking about upgrading my bulbs too. Just been reading up a little and apparently with the Diamond Vision you don't get any extra light over standard halogens, they are just a cosmetic upgrade i.e. the light looks brighter when looking at the car.
For more light on the road they recommend the new Philips X-treme Power bulbs, which emit "100%" more light.

I've got the older X-treme Power bulbs which give "80%" more light and they are very good. Think I might give these new ones a go.

PHILIPS- H7 X-TREME VISION +100% HEADLIGHT BULBS R477 on eBay (end time 08-Apr-11 15:15:51 BST)
 
Those Diamond Vision bulbs are pants mate trust me, as said they are a cosmetic upgrade only and actually offer less light on the road mate! The car will not pass MOT with them either as the beam doesn't register properly in the alignment equipment!

My neighbour had them that how i know this, in fact along side my standard lights they didn't even go half the distance buddy
 
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Smoothie said:
Those bulbs are pants mate trust me, as said they are a cosmetic upgrade only and actually offer less light on the road mate! The car will not pass MOT with them either as the beam doesn't register properly in the alignment equipment!

My neighbour had them that how i know this, in fact along side my standard lights they didn't even go half the distance buddy
Click to expand...

The Diamond Vision or the X-treme Power?
 
Smoothie said:
Those bulbs are pants mate trust me, as said they are a cosmetic upgrade only and actually offer less light on the road mate! The car will not pass MOT with them either as the beam doesn't register properly in the alignment equipment!

My neighbour had them that how i know this, in fact along side my standard lights they didn't even go half the distance buddy
Click to expand...

I agree with you, lightout put is not great, I didnt see any major negatives to my standard bulbs i personally find them ok. As mentioned though i do alot of town driving lots of streetlamps so its not a major problem for me.

In terms of alignment i cant see how they would have a problem, it took me 3 attempts before the bulb sat in correctly to the headlight they kept pointing to the floor but once properly inserted after a good few attempts the bulbs alignment has been spot on since? Its a regular H7 Bulb i cant see how the alignment can be out of that compared to any other. It functions the same as a standard halogen bulb so not to sure on that one.

Just for the others heres another photo during the day gives a better idea of the whitish color output.
7033feae.jpg
 
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farhanali said:
I agree with you, lightout put is not great, I didnt see any major negatives to my standard bulbs i personally find them ok. As mentioned though i do alot of town driving lots of streetlamps so its not a major problem for me.

In terms of alignment i cant see how they would have a problem, it took me 3 attempts before the bulb sat in correctly to the headlight they kept pointing to the floor but once properly inserted after a good few attempts the bulbs alignment has been spot on since? Its a regular H7 Bulb i cant see how the alignment can be out of that compared to any other. It functions the same as a standard halogen bulb so not to sure on that one.
Click to expand...

Go try get your headlights aligned mate lol The beam is pants from them, regardless of how they function or it being a H7 bulb, i'm only saying theres a reason why they are not road legal
 
Ill let you know how i get on when my first MOT is due, The reason they dont get an E Mark is because of the excessive white/blue color output, There are no other reports of them failing from poor beam patterns.
 
Small Update!

I BOUGHT THE ARMREST!!

albeit a cloth one but i will be changing the lid to the leather one as soon as Dave @ Stoke audi gets me a price on one. Picked it up for a decent price in very good condition all in black.
 
rear bumper done today, absolute nightmare! Managed to get it off and everything done but for all reading, The black trim guard which goes over the bumper is different between the two versions, I managed to get mine on by trimming some plastic prongs away as the end 3 lined up.

Then i used some double sided adhesive to get it sitting flush again. Had another dillema the two nuts which go through the interior plastic have fallen through and i dont see anyway of getting them out! Luckily no rattles but anyone else had this?

Changed my front indicator to clear looking bulbs bumper off job again a nightmare but wasnt to bad in the end.

Heres some pics
5fc76b68.jpg


And if i have the energy later on ill attempt to fit this bad boy.
e1195a36.jpg
 
defo its been an expensive two months the MY11 are certainly on the cards, Most probably next month ill go for them. Bit unhappy with the rear valance though its not in amazing conditioning but ill probably change this further down the line as it picks up more wear.

"EDIT"

The stupid dealer i bought my car from put the rear plate on wonky so no one laugh at it :whip:

It will be changed LOL
 
farhanali said:
The black trim guard which goes over the bumper is different between the two versions, I managed to get mine on by trimming some plastic prongs away as the end 3 lined up.
Click to expand...

Looking good mate!

What is the trim guard?? You saying it's different on the the 8P2 and 8P3 bumpers??
As far as I know, mine went on fine with no problems. I'll double check though because useful to know for the future.
 
i had to modify my plastic guard because couldnt fit on the 09bumper and put some flex so it stays there also the mesh had to be modified for it to sit flush
 
Can somebody tell me/show me what this 'guard' is?
You talking about the horizontal bit of plastic that fits over the bumper, at the boot opening??
 
farhanali said:
And if i have the energy later on ill attempt to fit this bad boy.
e1195a36.jpg
Click to expand...


I posted this a while back, might help with fitting if you don't have the fitting template:


I fitted my armrest a few months ago and it was quite a scary time, cutting through my centre console. Although looking back it's quite simple. You have got quite a lot of room for error as the armrest trim covers almost all of the possible area you can cut the hole.

To help, once the armrest is fitted the measurements are as follows.....
From the top edge of the rear ashtray to the back of the armrest trim is about 7mm. And from the storage area to the front of the armrest trim is about 10mm.
From those measurements you should be able to work backwards to calculate where the hole needs to be cut.
The width of the hole is easy, just make it as wide as the hole for your storage area, maybe a little narrower.

As for actually cutting the hole, the plastic is pretty soft. I drew with a pencil the place that I was going to cut the hole, drilled a few small holes in each corner using an electric screwdriver with a drill fitting in it, then used the blade of a hacksaw to saw from corner to corner.

You will need a bolt and a nut to fix the armrest to the car. I used a 25mm M8 nut and bolt. 50mm was too long.
There is a hole in the bracket that the armrest fixes too but there is no thread in it. It's just a hexagonal hole.
I found inserting the bolt from the bottom and screwing the nut on the top side was easiest.

Here's a pic to show roughly where I cut the hole (red), and where the armrest trim sits (green).

armrestt.jpg
 
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