Hello All,
I've been here for several months now, posted a couple of times and asked many questions but with plenty more to come. It's been said before and will be again but there is a wealth of knowledge and support here; it's been a great resource to me.
Any rate, I thought I'd create this thread as a single place where I can ask my questions but also document the small, and hopefully not so small updates I make to my S3.
With a family we needed a second car. The long of the short of it is, I purchased this MY61 Black Edition Sportback in January. It had 55k miles it was from a main VW Dealer with a 1 year warranty & paint protection (& cambelt, waterpump). The warranty gives some piece of mind (already claimed rear wiper on it) but it also slows the modifying process for fear of voiding it.
This second car we needed - It wasn't to get much use and I had a budget in mind so I bought an A3 MY09 1.8 TFSI (facelift, 44k miles) in September 2016 as the second car. It was a great car and in spotless condition but I should have done more research before buying. I didn't need a race car but I was always going to tinker with it.
When I started looking I was surprised at how few aftermarket upgrades there are for the 1.8; like many of us here I had a wish list and my wish list was putting me into S3 territory price wise, however the 1.8 would still be 30-40hp shy of a std S3 with all the money spent.
So after having the paint corrected, fitting an RNS-E, Audi Parking Plus (front sensors) and a couple of other things I decided to stop spending on it and trade up to the S3.
Budget eh, it's amazing how flexible they are.
A new wish list has been drawn up covering Interior, Exterior and Performance...
First off was the ash-tray delete and changing the ciggy lighter to the flip-top covered one. Unfortunately I have no before photos - they wouldn't have been clear anyway as I did it at 10pm under mobile phone light. This was quickly followed by an LED upgrade via @t8ups .
Then it was on to the folding mirrors - As my S3 is a late model 8P (61) I already had the correct door modules for the auto fold. The rest of the parts I purchased over a period of time from @mjr901 via parts request. If anyone is interested the parts required are:
- door modules 8P0959801P/802P (my car already had these fitted)
- optic for switch on door handle 8p0919173 C
- new door handle 8P4959522 C7 PE (Sportback remember!)
- mirror 8P2858531 GC (heated, fold, dim, indicator)
- mirror 8P2858532 GC
- switch 4F0 959574 A
The mirrors were available on eBay but pretty poor condition. Prior to getting the mirrors from Mike I got a pair from ECP, one was broken but overall the quality just wasn't there so I sent them back. I was surprised how competitively priced the genuine Audi items were. After a visit to @Ash187 @ AudiRetrofits the mirrors were all fitted and coded, along with TPMS and Hill Start Assist (only coding required for this, I think it's because I have the 1AT ESP)
Maintenance wise, I had a new cam-follower fitted a couple of weeks ago. The one I removed also looked new but no harm in changing it again for piece of mind. I'll be looking to get the Haldex oil and filter changed in the coming weeks too.
This last weekend I fitted my DV+ and on Monday had my Revo (camcoat) and TTS cover fitted...
It does look very good doesn't it. I'm not sure what I was expecting from it but it's a lot quieter than I was expecting. It also felt like there was a loss of torque/boost but today it was running just fine.
I'll wrap up this post here - sorry for the lengthy read but it's one place where I log my thought process etc...
I've been here for several months now, posted a couple of times and asked many questions but with plenty more to come. It's been said before and will be again but there is a wealth of knowledge and support here; it's been a great resource to me.
Any rate, I thought I'd create this thread as a single place where I can ask my questions but also document the small, and hopefully not so small updates I make to my S3.
With a family we needed a second car. The long of the short of it is, I purchased this MY61 Black Edition Sportback in January. It had 55k miles it was from a main VW Dealer with a 1 year warranty & paint protection (& cambelt, waterpump). The warranty gives some piece of mind (already claimed rear wiper on it) but it also slows the modifying process for fear of voiding it.
This second car we needed - It wasn't to get much use and I had a budget in mind so I bought an A3 MY09 1.8 TFSI (facelift, 44k miles) in September 2016 as the second car. It was a great car and in spotless condition but I should have done more research before buying. I didn't need a race car but I was always going to tinker with it.
When I started looking I was surprised at how few aftermarket upgrades there are for the 1.8; like many of us here I had a wish list and my wish list was putting me into S3 territory price wise, however the 1.8 would still be 30-40hp shy of a std S3 with all the money spent.
So after having the paint corrected, fitting an RNS-E, Audi Parking Plus (front sensors) and a couple of other things I decided to stop spending on it and trade up to the S3.
Budget eh, it's amazing how flexible they are.
A new wish list has been drawn up covering Interior, Exterior and Performance...
First off was the ash-tray delete and changing the ciggy lighter to the flip-top covered one. Unfortunately I have no before photos - they wouldn't have been clear anyway as I did it at 10pm under mobile phone light. This was quickly followed by an LED upgrade via @t8ups .
Then it was on to the folding mirrors - As my S3 is a late model 8P (61) I already had the correct door modules for the auto fold. The rest of the parts I purchased over a period of time from @mjr901 via parts request. If anyone is interested the parts required are:
- door modules 8P0959801P/802P (my car already had these fitted)
- optic for switch on door handle 8p0919173 C
- new door handle 8P4959522 C7 PE (Sportback remember!)
- mirror 8P2858531 GC (heated, fold, dim, indicator)
- mirror 8P2858532 GC
- switch 4F0 959574 A
The mirrors were available on eBay but pretty poor condition. Prior to getting the mirrors from Mike I got a pair from ECP, one was broken but overall the quality just wasn't there so I sent them back. I was surprised how competitively priced the genuine Audi items were. After a visit to @Ash187 @ AudiRetrofits the mirrors were all fitted and coded, along with TPMS and Hill Start Assist (only coding required for this, I think it's because I have the 1AT ESP)
Maintenance wise, I had a new cam-follower fitted a couple of weeks ago. The one I removed also looked new but no harm in changing it again for piece of mind. I'll be looking to get the Haldex oil and filter changed in the coming weeks too.
This last weekend I fitted my DV+ and on Monday had my Revo (camcoat) and TTS cover fitted...
It does look very good doesn't it. I'm not sure what I was expecting from it but it's a lot quieter than I was expecting. It also felt like there was a loss of torque/boost but today it was running just fine.
I'll wrap up this post here - sorry for the lengthy read but it's one place where I log my thought process etc...