GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: Vaporise on 17 June 2020, 14:31
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Just finishing off some basic cosmetic mods- the final one for now is that I want to fit the smoked R tail lights to my GTI. (I'd rather go OEM than spraying or wrapping my lights.).
Most articles/posts online refer to retrofitting LED (i.e. Euro) tail lights to North American Golfs, which requires harnesses +/- coding for full functionality. I've searched everywhere, sorry I've missed the answer!
Basic question: seeing as I already have LED tails on my UK GTI, would swapping them for R LED tails be literally plug and play? Or will I need a new harness or need to code anything?
Thanks for any advice :)
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Straight fit assuming UK/Euro spec car :cool:
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As Exonian says, nice and easy. I swapped them over on my MK7 PP and they look much better. I've also got them still resting in a box. Will be advertising them at some point in the future but if you need a set and are interested then let me know :smiley: (I'll pop my sales hat to one side now!)
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Straight fit assuming UK/Euro spec car :cool:
As Exonian says, nice and easy. I swapped them over on my MK7 PP and they look much better. I've also got them still resting in a box. Will be advertising them at some point in the future but if you need a set and are interested then let me know :smiley: (I'll pop my sales hat to one side now!)
Great, thanks for the replies :-) I know it wouldn't have been a big job but glad to know I don't have to snake harnesses up and down. Yes mine's a good old UK spec.
@Watts yes I am interested! Been enquiring with breakers yards/eBay, but from a forum member such as yourself would be great. Let me know what condition they're in and what you'd be looking for? Put your sales hat back on! :D
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Jolly good! I'd rather discuss it by PM if that's okay but you need to get to a minimum of 10 posts before we can!
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Jolly good! I'd rather discuss it by PM if that's okay but you need to get to a minimum of 10 posts before we can!
Ah I see, fair enough! I'm nearly there (I won't spam obviously!)
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Obviously for non spam reasons, tell us a bit more about your car and mods both planned and already done Vaporise.
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Obviously for non spam reasons, tell us a bit more about your car and mods both planned and already done Vaporise.
Of course! :D Well, having had the benefit of my previous mk7 GTI (2014) that is now dead, and not liking the mk7.5 facelift so much, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and not do when I picked up my current 2016 GTI a month or so ago.
So my 'new' car:
2016 (65) GTI DSG PP, pearl black with a handful of options, the ones I wanted in particular were leather seats, Dynaudio, Discover Pro. Also happens to have keyless, lighting pack, and park assist- having never been in a car with it before, it is like some kind of sorcery!
I have Austins on this vs Santiagos on my 2014 GTI, and while not as eye catching, I think I'll appreciate going down from 19 to 18". They're currently wearing some kind of Avons which are not my preference but I'll wear them out before I swap them for some Michelins or Goodyears which I liked before.
Things I've done so far (pics below)- mostly cheap/subtle cosmetic stuff, trying to go for a sort of so called 'OEM+' look-
- Black and red front and rear VW emblems,
- Mud flaps,
- Carbon fibre eyebrows,
- BMS exhaust tips,
- Custom GTI carpet mats with a metal heel plate,
- Upgraded the foot rest to the one that matches the pedals
- VWR drop in air filter
- Lower engine cover fitted
- DIY'd the bonnet sound proofing panel thing which had shrunk/come loose on the bottom flaps using some velcro tape and a stapler, haha.
- Sprayed some automotive grille mesh Tornado Red and inserted them behind the honeycomb grille (this was just an experiment which has turned out ok!)
- Wind deflectors (still on the fence about these, I do find them useful for not letting rain in so easily when the windows are slightly open, but spoil the lines of the car somewhat)
- A simple red stripe on the bottom crease of the rear diffuser which in my opinion really sets off the back end! (also see pic below)
- An old school '16V' badge on the tailgate that a friend donated as an homage to his old Mk3- also helps me spot my car more easily in the car park, haha.
- Steering wheel cover- what a pain in the arse to sew on, again I'm on the fence about whether it looks tacky or not, but I prefer the extra erm, girth, of the steering wheel now, and I kept scratching the bottom of the steering wheel with zips/keys which annoyed me. It's certainly much more tactile now which makes it worth it.
- And very important recently, air con bombed the car with the Meguiars air refresh thing, it does the job vs the horrible sweaty/feet/musty AC thing that commonly happens
Not going to do:
- I'd lowered my old GTI on VWR springs, I don't think it was worth it ultimately, I expected but never really enjoyed the slightly harsher ride. Perhaps it was more pronounced as I was on 19" Santiagos, but I'll leave the suspension as stock probably anyway.
Things I plan to do:
- Need to get 2 of the wheels refurbed, or all of them powder coated/painted (not decided yet)
- May then sell off/store these Austins and get a fresh set of alloys altogether
- Stage 1 tune +/- intercooler upgrade, closed induction kit, some kind of exhaust upgrade
- Oil and filter change and new battery next week
- Try to hunt down and eliminate all the various annoying rattles and stuff (impossible I'm sure)
- Maybe some carbon fibre mirror caps/replacements
- Metal stamped plates to go in some number plate frames I have lying around
- Oh and of course swapping the tail lights for smoked R's (hopefully from Watts! :D)
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Here she is:
(https://i.imgur.com/sTjiGkh.jpg)
Exhaust tips, 16V badge and the red stripe near the bottom of the diffuser:
(https://i.imgur.com/wff3VEM.jpg)
My DIY mesh/grille mod and carbon eyebrows, both only really noticeable up close.
(https://i.imgur.com/szla8LF.jpg)
Very dirty custom mats with GTI embroidered and contrast red stitching and heel plate- (genuinely wore a hole through the regular carpet mat on my previous Golfs), and the pedal matching footrest
(https://i.imgur.com/YkfNf28.jpg)
Iffy looking but great feeling steering wheel
(https://i.imgur.com/aVpvXcy.jpg)
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That's a good long list of things done and to do! There have been other forum members that didn't get on with VWR springs for similar reasons if I recall correctly. What caused the passing of your previous car?
Exhaust wise, a CSS rear box seems a popular upgrade and a straight swap on a MK7 and reasonably priced if you like oem mods.
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That's a good long list of things done and to do! There have been other forum members that didn't get on with VWR springs for similar reasons if I recall correctly. What caused the passing of your previous car?
Exhaust wise, a CSS rear box seems a popular upgrade and a straight swap on a MK7 and reasonably priced if you like oem mods.
Thanks for the tip!
Yeah I thought going with just the VWR springs would have been ok, as they only lowered a couple of cm and didn't need new shocks etc, so as not to affect the DCC. I can't say the slightly lower stance paid off vs the harsher ride, for me anyway. And I definitely don't feel like going down an adjustable coilover set up or something like that. So yeah that side of things has definitely gone down my list of things to do again!
I'm hoping my last car is RIP as I don't like the idea of someone else driving it now, haha. Relatively low speed (30-40mph combined?) near side front corner collision with an oncoming A5 as I was turning right, so my fault. Some damage to the sub frame and apparently the DSG too, so insurance write off.
(https://i.imgur.com/unGeWFX.jpg)
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Ouch! But your new one looks great and with a few nice new features too!
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Ouch! But your new one looks great and with a few nice new features too!
Thanks! Yeah I'm pretty happy with it. Decided to go all in on the little cosmetics and will do more mechanically as I'm probably not going to get a mk7.5 and I don't like the look of the mk8, so this one will hopefully be with me for a long time to come :-)
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Going back to swapping the lights. I recall that I did the swap in the work car park on my lunch break in around 15mins. It's easy and quick if you have a socket set. All plug and play.
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Going back to swapping the lights. I recall that I did the swap in the work car park on my lunch break in around 15mins. It's easy and quick if you have a socket set. All plug and play.
Now that's my kind of modification, thanks for that information :-) Did you sell your original ones? If so do you mind if I ask what you got for them? Seems pretty variable on eBay how much they can go for, similar to R tail lights.
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That’s a very impressive list of mods Vaporise, and you’re well over the 10 posts now! Have you got those darkened tails bought?
Great work with the car so far. The mk3 GTI 16v badge made me smile. Those were the days! Actually the mk3 16v was a bit of a turd but... :laugh:
I really like the steering wheel cover. It was worth the effort!
I hate wind deflectors with a passion so won’t comment further on those plans :whistle: :grin:
The tailpipe trims look really good too :cool:
Thanks for taking the time to post up the pics and detailed write-up :afro:
Shame about your old car though :sad:
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Going back to swapping the lights. I recall that I did the swap in the work car park on my lunch break in around 15mins. It's easy and quick if you have a socket set. All plug and play.
Now that's my kind of modification, thanks for that information :-) Did you sell your original ones? If so do you mind if I ask what you got for them? Seems pretty variable on eBay how much they can go for, similar to R tail lights.
The GTI ones will go for a fair bit less than the R ones. The R ones tend to be rarer. I think that I paid a little under £300 for the R ones used, sold my GTI ones for £160... so it would have been a good value modification if it wasn't for the fact that I had the worst eBay buyer ever.
-Listed as for UK buyers only, chap from Italy wins the auction
-Managed to sort out shipping and literally was messaged multiple times a day on shipping progress even though he had the tracking number
-They arrived with a tiny bit of perspex chipped off of one unit which could easily be glued back in without anyone noticing. I offered a 25% refund but he wanted the money for an entire replacement unit
-At that point I had had enough of dealing with him so just refunded him the £130 that it would cost to get the single unit so that I would never have to speak to him again.
I'm assuming that he just glued it in and pocketed the £130.
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Never sell items to Italy on eBay. Ends in bs every time.
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Going back to swapping the lights. I recall that I did the swap in the work car park on my lunch break in around 15mins. It's easy and quick if you have a socket set. All plug and play.
Now that's my kind of modification, thanks for that information :-) Did you sell your original ones? If so do you mind if I ask what you got for them? Seems pretty variable on eBay how much they can go for, similar to R tail lights.
The GTI ones will go for a fair bit less than the R ones. The R ones tend to be rarer. I think that I paid a little under £300 for the R ones used, sold my GTI ones for £160... so it would have been a good value modification if it wasn't for the fact that I had the worst eBay buyer ever.
-Listed as for UK buyers only, chap from Italy wins the auction
-Managed to sort out shipping and literally was messaged multiple times a day on shipping progress even though he had the tracking number
-They arrived with a tiny bit of perspex chipped off of one unit which could easily be glued back in without anyone noticing. I offered a 25% refund but he wanted the money for an entire replacement unit
-At that point I had had enough of dealing with him so just refunded him the £130 that it would cost to get the single unit so that I would never have to speak to him again.
I'm assuming that he just glued it in and pocketed the £130.
What a %$@t! Should have quoted shipping at £200 to any country outside the UK, that should stop them!
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The GTI ones will go for a fair bit less than the R ones. The R ones tend to be rarer. I think that I paid a little under £300 for the R ones used, sold my GTI ones for £160... so it would have been a good value modification if it wasn't for the fact that I had the worst eBay buyer ever.
-Listed as for UK buyers only, chap from Italy wins the auction
-Managed to sort out shipping and literally was messaged multiple times a day on shipping progress even though he had the tracking number
-They arrived with a tiny bit of perspex chipped off of one unit which could easily be glued back in without anyone noticing. I offered a 25% refund but he wanted the money for an entire replacement unit
-At that point I had had enough of dealing with him so just refunded him the £130 that it would cost to get the single unit so that I would never have to speak to him again.
I'm assuming that he just glued it in and pocketed the £130.
What an absolute gent you are and what an absolute chancer the “purchaser” was.
Stories like that are not uncommon and it’s why I dread using eBay for car parts.
You either seem to get a really good buyer and fellow enthusiast or a complete con artist.
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Not wanting to be racist especially in this day and age but my mate makes and sells scalextric stuff, fencing, little camera fellas etc etc and he's just had the same hassle from an Italian buyer. He reckons they are nothing but bother and now will not sell anything to anyone based in Italy. He's even had one guy try it on even though one of the parcels was tracked and signed for by said person.
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Going back to swapping the lights. I recall that I did the swap in the work car park on my lunch break in around 15mins. It's easy and quick if you have a socket set. All plug and play.
Now that's my kind of modification, thanks for that information :-) Did you sell your original ones? If so do you mind if I ask what you got for them? Seems pretty variable on eBay how much they can go for, similar to R tail lights.
The GTI ones will go for a fair bit less than the R ones. The R ones tend to be rarer. I think that I paid a little under £300 for the R ones used, sold my GTI ones for £160... so it would have been a good value modification if it wasn't for the fact that I had the worst eBay buyer ever.
-Listed as for UK buyers only, chap from Italy wins the auction
-Managed to sort out shipping and literally was messaged multiple times a day on shipping progress even though he had the tracking number
-They arrived with a tiny bit of perspex chipped off of one unit which could easily be glued back in without anyone noticing. I offered a 25% refund but he wanted the money for an entire replacement unit
-At that point I had had enough of dealing with him so just refunded him the £130 that it would cost to get the single unit so that I would never have to speak to him again.
I'm assuming that he just glued it in and pocketed the £130.
Oh no, sorry to hear that! That's certainly very generous of you in the end, were you even obliged to offer a refund? I thought the very most that sellers seem to offer is 'returns accepted, buyer pays postage' or something, I would have asked him to send everything back for a full refund!
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Oh no, sorry to hear that! That's certainly very generous of you in the end, were you even obliged to offer a refund? I thought the very most that sellers seem to offer is 'returns accepted, buyer pays postage' or something, I would have asked him to send everything back for a full refund!
I could have done a return but to be honest at the time I was splitting my time between UK and Australia with work, so that fact that I was living on expenses and pulling in a lot of overtime at the time (those were the days!) meant it wasn't worth my hassle... especially when the lights that I would be listing were damaged which were likely to sell for a much lower value... and I managed to get a £30 refund from DPD.
Had a catback exhaust system listed the other week, collection only, had a chap from Portugal win and then ask me how much for postage. Luckily I relisted that and managed to get an extra £100 and a £1 final selling fees promotion.