OccyVRS

A DPF isn’t like a GPF - it needs to be taken somewhere above 40/50mph for 20/30 mins and allowed to heat up in order for it to regen. You don’t absolutely need to do it every week - but I’d try and give it a run once a fortnight. Equally, it depends if you’re taking it 45 mins to work every day, or crawling around town with it.

The link you’ve sent is an early 245 Challenge. It’s all a bit bullsh** as the “edition” cars have black tips and… nothing else. All 245s were supposed to come with black tips, apparently, but some/most didn’t. My car, meanwhile, has the black pack which, for a mere £600, comprised of a black spoiler and… nothing else. The grille, mirrors, etc were already black as standard - they couldn’t even give me black badges. The Challenge cars are supposed to come with all the boxes ticked as standard, but couldn’t manage a pan roof, digi dash or any other big ticket items. IMO, the Challenge should have been the standard level of trim, virtually. I’m still amazed VW sold a 2020 EA888 car with an LSD, but with manual mirrors and no heated seats. The only 5E/5G/5F/8V cars that attract any more money than other examples are, really, the GTI CS S. Some of the nicer specced ABT Leon Cupra Rs, GTI E40s and TCRs also hold their value slightly better than standard models, but not by that much. Something like a top-end S3 Vorsprung is worth a fair bit, but it’s still depreciated horrendously considering the MSRP. The only Skodas that are even in the same book might be the vRS245 and Superb 280 4x4, simply because they’re a bit niche and not that common. Even then though, I doubt you’ll see any real price difference between a vRS230, 245, 245 Challenge or whatever else. Super special GTIs aside, the MQB enthusiast market isn’t really substantial enough to keep prices high for anything special. Not in the same way as the hot Civic, Megane, Yaris or any other serious enthusiast cars, anyway.

As per a previous post, constantly searching for parts on the site will result in you being blocked.

The low mileage part is probably what killed it - TDIs need to be driven in order to regen the DPF. You can be kind to it by taking it on a proper run once a week or so, and get it flushed.

OBD11 does the job. VCDS is overkill for OP, along with ODIS or whatever else.

Not true - all versions of the Mk3.5 vRS came with 18” Gemini wheels as standard. Both 230ps and 245ps variants also had 340mm front brakes - the difference is that the 245 has 310mm vented rear, rather than 272mm solid. The easiest way to tell a 230 vs a 245 is to take a look at the rear brakes. The interior stitching on the 230 is also white, whereas the 245 is red - this is probably the most useful when looking at an advert. You can also check the door sticker for the engine code. 230ps models will be CHHA or DKTA, whereas 245ps will be DLBA, DHGA or DKTB. The DKTA and DKTB variants are Euro 6 with the GPF. You’ll find people claiming that the 245 has black exhaust tips - this isn’t true. They were, technically, meant to, but a lot of them didn’t. The 230 was phased out around 2018, but build dates and dealer stock means some do exist with later registrations. You want to get the 245. The extra power is irrelevant, along with the rear brakes - but you want it for the LSD and DQ381. Nothing wrong with the 250, but the 7-speed ratios are just that bit more friendly. The LSD, frankly, makes the car what it is. You’ll find that the prices are pretty much the same - whether it’s a 230, 245, 245 Challenge or whatever. The base build spec of both cars was the same - that’s how my 2020 car has ACC, the digi dash and £600 worth of black paint on the spoiler, but manual folding mirrors and no heated seats. If you want to do some research on the 230 versus the 245, you can compare the GTI to the GTI PP. It’s the same thing. There are lots and lots of posts about this - just use the search function.

It should do. If the car doesn’t know what the front wheels are doing, it won’t let you engage park pilot properly, etc.

Even if the car has proper TPMS sensors, it may not be totally accurate. The BMW is insisting one tyre is 0.1 bar lower than the other, when I’m reasonably sure it isn’t. Still, 600 miles is a long way so maybe it’s gone down - I’ll give it some air tomorrow and see how it goes.

I wouldn’t go near a main dealer if you paid me. Find a decent Indie place - anywhere with a TVS sticker is worth a punt!

Sorry - I meant air dryer as in one of the ones used to dry cars after washing them! It’s honestly probably more powerful than a leaf blower, and it’s nice and small. I use it to loosen everything up before hoovering, or to quickly clean stuff up if I can’t be bothered to hoover.

Or just cheat and use an air dryer inside 😂

Very surprised there are no DTCs. Sometimes stuff like a misfire don’t log a code, but anything worthy of the car going into limp mode is almost certain to be logged. Have you tried yourselves with OBD11 or similar? It sounds like bad luck - these cars have a pretty good reputation on the whole. Sure, there are the usual TDI issues, the TSI engines all have crap water pump housings, the infotainment system is rubbish and some panels are made of chocolate, but on the whole they are reliable and good value cars. At least, from what I’ve seen anyway. The TDI vRS drivetrain is shared with the GTD, Leon FR 184ps and some A3s. The same basic EA288 lump is used across many cars - Arteon, Passat, Golf, Leon, Ateca, Superb, A3, A4 and more. Aside from oil consumption, it’s generally pretty good.

We all know tyres should be checked and inflated when cold, however how much difference does this actually make? I need to do the tyre pressures on the BMW before Scotland, and I’ve only got tomorrow to do it. It’s a pretty warm and sunny day, so doing it in the evening would obviously be best, but then I’d be doing it with the car packed! I’m hoping to get up and do it early, but if not then - any ideas? My car lives in the garage - the BMW is not as lucky!

I did some Googling - some places shown your wheels as Dallas, while others show something entirely different for Mk7 Dallas! Either way, a lot of diamond cut to get improved by the quality UK road network.

Yes, it’s the same down here, however these are generally accident repair centers used by all brands/locations across a dealer group. AFAIK they’re generally not used for minor repairs - that’s up to smart repairers/PDR/etc. I know that BMW has approved people that work… with… the dealership to provide services under their umbrella, but I don’t think they’re actually employees.

Yes, by a mobile smart repair guy, as I said. Škoda don’t do paintwork, bodywork, glass, etc. Same as anywhere else - they’ll get a local guy in a van round to do it. As above though, it’s still the dealers problem.

As a last option, yes. I don’t know what a heated screen with ADAS calibration costs, but I’m guessing it’s more than £50. It won’t have seen a paint booth - will have been a mobile repair guy with touch up paint, a DA and some wet and dry. You say the wing - same side as the crack? Maybe the screen was leaned on while working?

To be honest, it all depends on your usage. We’ve had everything from a 3.2 and a 4.0, to a 1.0 and a 1.4. The current cars are 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 - all do different things and all are equally happy going around town, or sitting on the motorway. That said, power and capacity are a strange thing with regard to power curves. My first car was a 1.0 Focus which we had concurrently with a 1.4 A3. Despite only having 15bhp or so more, the Audi felt so much… I was going to say faster… so much less slow! That 1.0 110ps was simply not enough for a car that size. Fast forward to the subsequent 1.4 150ps Leon, and that thing was a rocket ship! Sometimes power curves and the like are more important than raw figures or capacity.

Maybe it’s not from your car? Certainly, it’s had a NSF and OSR replaced at the same time (well, the odds of having the same batch…), and then different visits for the OSF and NSR - very, very random. Still, it’s probably from an MQB car - just look at that rear alignment! Those Dallas wheels were never my favourite - I looked at a 2020 GTI with them, and they were absolutely knackered! If I got the car, I’d have put some Pretorias on there. Come to think of it, I might put some Pretorias on my vRS… same thing anyway, just with a larger arse. I don’t regret the choice, or a Cupra, but when pushing on hard I do sometimes wonder what life would be like if I’d gone team stiff suspension and not team sensible.

RS3 brake ducts are a cool one… As are these for a more subtle thing.

You’re absolutely fine to hardwire the dashcam and route the cable inside the pillar, as long as the trim is removed and the cable is routed behind the airbag. Absolutely 100% fine. The reason for not stuffing the cable into the pillar isn’t because the airbag will fail to deploy - it definitely will. If you put the cable over the top of the airbag, there is a strong possibility it will snap the cable upon deployment and whip you in the face.

The only place for badges and emblems is https://www.kopacek.com/ They get genuine bits and repaint them. Diffuser wise the only one I like is Rieger, but Maxton and others are available. FYI all diffusers are 'rear end' - the front piece is called a splitter!

Sorted. Interestingly, the DLBA is a Gen3 engine!

Could be worse. The last courtesy car we had was a 2025 Corsa with a boot full of dog sh**. Nice!

Not that it matters in this particular instance as @Gaz's GTI is a 230, but for cars with a front diff, you really need to change both front tyres at once. It's the same story for AWD cars. I always replace both tyres on the same axle. My vRS currently has around 3.5mm on the fronts and 5mm on the rears, so I will most likely get the rear tyres put on the front, and get some fresh rear tyres.