@dwinaus - thank u

whilst i really like the factory 19" Trinity rims, it was time to change Gandalf's look after 6 yrs plus.

i wasn't sure how well the Rotiform LAS-R rims would work on the Superb, but i'm glad i went with it.  Suits the theme i had going.

 

lol - that rear three quarter shot always makes me turn around so can i have one last look, or two, or three, as i walk away after parking the car.

 

Wat Superb did u get?

 

Ours is a steel grey Sportline wagon. It's lovely to drive - a worthy upgrade from the RS245 and will suit our needs perfectly. Unfortunately it has the Supernova rims which I'm really not a fan of, but there aren't enough $ in the budget to warrant replacing them at this point. 

Had the Water pump on Gandalf replaced today, along with a new revision non-silikant coolant tank.

 

Parts used:-

P673 - Hepu Thermostat and Water Pump Assembly - MQB 1.8/2.0 TSI (06L121111H)

 

06L121131 - Union for Water - VAG MQB 1.8/2.0 TSI 

 

5Q0121407M - Coolant Reservoir - VAG MQB

 

Edited 16 April, 20242 yr by JR RS

I have read all the thread, amazing how much love (and money lol) you are showing to this car. Its amazing. Love all the fine touches, everyting is so clean and polite.
amazing, will be following for more updates, since in some things, you are inspiration, thanks and have a good one

@fila_superb - thanks for the encouragement.

I'm a nutcase when it comes to Gandalf, but I've tried to b as sane as possible without going over the top.

7 yrs and still enjoying every bit of it 😁

Gandalf had it's 105k km Service yesterday.

I just went over the 90k km mark about 2 wks ago...7 yrs later.

 

Everything is behaving.

 

Front brakes r down to 3mm, hence will need replacing soon.  They did well lasting 7 yrs, over 90k kms.

Will b replacing them with dba T2 rotors and pads.

 

Rear brakes r still good with 5.5mm left.

 

Tyres (Continental MaxContact 6) r down to 3mm too, front and rear.

This is my second set of tyres in the 7 yrs.  They've done about 45k kms so far.

Will likely replace them with Continental MaxContact 7s next, towards the end of the yr.

 

 

 

90k kms later, Gandalf's factory brakes were starting to run low, so I decided to change all 4 corners for DBA Rotors and Pads.

 

Front - DBA2806S slotted rotors + DB2384SP Performance pads.

 

Rear - DBA2837E plain rotors + DB2384SS pads.

 

1 hour ago, JR RS said:

90k kms later, Gandalf's factory brakes were starting to run low, so I decided to change all 4 corners for DBA Rotors and Pads.

 

Front - DBA2806S slotted rotors + DB2384SP Performance pads.

 

Rear - DBA2837E plain rotors + DB2384SS pads.

 

Discs...

Gandalf's latest "project" is complete....Front Grille DRL light bar.

 

 

Towards the end of last year Skoda released the new Kodiaq which has the front grille light stripe - I saw that and I decided that's my new project.

The new mk4 Kodiaq...

 

Been planning this since last year.

I'm happy with how it's turned out.

 

The light bar is connected to and controlled by  the BCM, so it dims and brightens like the factory DRL, with the same coding.  I used an empty lighting channel, Leuchte8F LB39. 

 

The front grille has an opening that is perfectly in line with the headlight's DRL - so perfect alignment for the light bar.

 

The light bar I made myself, using an LED strip, a plastic holder, and a light diffuser.

 

Fingers crossed that the light bar hold up against the elements.

 

The light bar I made...

 

Test fitting the clips to hold the light bar behind the grille.

 

Mounted and wiring routed on the bumper to use the same path as the factory PDC and headlight washer wiring.

 

 

Wiring from BCM was routed through the firewall, into the engine bay, they down to the factory wiring harness for the PDC and headlight washer.

 

 

 

Mission accomplished - MIB2 to MIB2.5 conversion on Gandalf!

The whole process was quite easy to do.

Those with a MIB2 unit, aka Columbus (Harman version) with 8" screen can do the upgrade. i.e. MY15 to MY17.

No need to change the glovebox head unit. Just the screen.

I sourced a secondhand 9.2" Screen from a MY18 Superb being wrecked.

Got the G11 to G13 firmware conversion from mibsolution.

Then once done, reinstalled the latest maps.

I'll need getting used to where the things r cause there r no more physical buttons.

Will do a how-to-guide soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The trim piece is not flush behind the top of the screen though, but u don't notice it unless u look through the windscreen.

Will need to sort this trim piece at some point in the future.

 

Edited 11 September, 20241 yr by JR RS

On 20/01/2021 at 12:08, JR RS said:

 

It was relatively easy to do.

The front cover unclips easily from the top, then unhinge from the bottom.
The actual tray has two hinges at the bottom - the right side pops up, allowing u to slide the left side out.
Then unclip the wire plug to the car, and u can then proceed to freely remove the 12V socket from the tray.

The replacement USB socket fit perfectly in the existing hole.

 

How do you remove the old socket from the tray....mine just spins

On 14/09/2024 at 09:01, Karlc28 said:

How do you remove the old socket from the tray....mine just spins

I had to pry/break it out as I wasn't planning to use it for later.

 

 

 

Edited 19 September, 20241 yr by JR RS

The Hardrace front swaybar (7758) is in. 28mm.
Car feels a lot more tighter, making corners flat n easy 😁 
Did a wheel alignment as well as they had dropped the sub-frame.
All good.
It nicely compliments the existing Hardrace rear swaybar (7759) and front strut tower brace (8949).

 

 

 

 

 

The original factory one.....

Edited 20 September, 20241 yr by JR RS

So I decided to change the front grille light bar to a proper one, i.e. not a homemade version.

 

This one is an aftermarket one, from AliExpress - link here.  They make different versions - mk6, mk7/7.5 and mk8 Golfs.

Comes with the light animation at the start.  It's cool.

 

I specifically got the mk6 version as it was the right length for the Superb grille.

I simply removed the surrounding trim that came in.

 

It comes with a wiring harness (14-pin) that u can connect to ur existing headlight plug.  Its designed to turn on with the low beam.

I however used my existing wiring that i did before to power it up, so it comes on with the DRLs.

 

The kit....

 

The light bar for the mk6 Golf....

 

The light bar without the surround....

 

The light bar test fitted...

 

Clearance around the ACC radar....

 

 

The finished result.....

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 28 September, 20241 yr by JR RS

After almost 4.5 yrs, Gandalf's battery was showing signs of weakness when cracking the engine.

So I replaced the Exide EFB+ battery with a Century ISS Active AGM battery.

 

Old: 12v 70ah 700CCA EFB+

New: 12v 70ah 720CCA AGM

 

Did the Battery Adaptation too, changing it to Fleece.

So after an initial failed attempt 6 months ago, thinking the mk7 Golf GTi resonator delete pipe will fit on the mk3 Superb (FWD), which it doesn't cause wrong length and bend angles - I ended up getting the version designed for the mk3 Octavia RS.

 

It's the RPM Performance Anti-drone (Helmholtz) Resonator Delete Pipe, which I had fitted on Gandalf earlier this week.

 

There is a nice subtle increase in exhaust note, no drama. My biggest relief is that there is absolutely no drone, at any speeds.

No farts or crackles, but I wasn't expecting that.

 

Fitment wasn't 100%. The factory downpipe end was easy, with the slip on clamp. However the rear end had to be welded on as the catback pipe end was the same thickness as the resonator delete pipe - hence couldn't use the slip on clamp.

 

Overall happy with the Anti-drone Resonator Delete Pipe.

 

Comparison.....

 

The delete pipe...

 

Fitted...

 

 

 

Factory resonator removed..

 

Video of the resonator delete pipe fitted...

 

 

 

Edited 27 November, 20241 yr by JR RS

A more effective & shorter comparison..

 

 

 

Second attempt was finally successful at giving Gandalf's wing mirror covers a "facelift".... literally.

I swapped the wing mirror covers for ones that have the blind spot detection light on the side of the cover.

Normally the BSD light is on the outer edge of the wing mirror. 

On the facelift Superb, the BSD in on inside edge of the wing mirror cover.

 

The wiring harness had to b made as it wasn't plug n play.

 

The new wiring harness takes the power from original factory loom, and splits it two ways - one for the mirror BSD light the other for the cover BSD light.

 

Happy with the end result.  Wasn't difficult, but i had to do things nice n slow, n careful so as to not break anything.

 

Wing Mirror covers with BSD light was from AliExpress.  Link here.

The grey colour is not an exact match.  I'll getting this either painted in gloss black or wrapped in black vinyl, soon.

The first version I bought last year, from China, was the wrong size.  Turns out the Chinese mk3 Superb uses a different wing mirror design altogether!!  That was promptly returned.

This one fits good and is good quality.

 

Wiring plug/connectors were also from AliExpress.  Link here.

 

 

Some pics of the progress....

 

The covers side by side 

 

 

New wiring plug connectors, same as the factory connectors.

 

I moved the factory BSD wiring loom from the front to the back of the frame.

 

New wiring harnesses for the wing mirror BSD light...

 

New wing mirror cover in place. There is just enough room for it to clear the frame.

 

 

New wiring harness - taking power from the existing factory plug, and splitting it for the wing mirror cover BSD and the wing mirror BSD.

 

Setup complete...

 

A short video of it in action....

 

 

So on pre-FL is the indicator on the glass only? And FL its on the body of the mirror only?

9 hours ago, defsix said:

So on pre-FL is the indicator on the glass only? And FL its on the body of the mirror only?

 

Correct.

Am 18.01.2025 um 06:27 Uhr sagte JR RS:

Der zweite Versuch war schließlich erfolgreich, Gandalfs Außenspiegelabdeckungen ein „Facelift“ zu verpassen, im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes

 

 

I've had this project open for a long time, and I've connected it the same way before, but I always get an error. But I took the original Facelift BlindSpot LEDs, they only have 5V and not 12V. So you have other LEDs for the mirror caps. But it's nice when it works. Then maybe I'll have to try this set too.

Am 18.01.2025 um 06:27 Uhr sagte JR RS:

Die Bezüge nebeneinander

 

 

Did the retaining lugs fit like they originally did? The caps from China are not exactly the same.

 

@Lutz_91 - i assumed the BSD indicators to be 12V, as per usual.  Hence wiring in the Wing Mirror Cover BSD indicator caused no issues.

no errors, or issues working.

the original wing mirror BSD indicator is just as bright as it was before i added the additional wing mirror cap BSD indicator.

the wiring is simple & straightforward.  see pic below of how i connected it up.

 

as for the wing mirror cap mounting clips - yes, that one in the middle is in a different location, hence the black trim piece, behind the mirror glass itself, doesn't clip onto it.

however it doesn't matter as the the wing mirror cap is securely fastened on either sides, and around the back.  

there is no way the mirror cap is coming off, unless of course it gets smashed up in an accident.

 

Vor 14 Stunden sagte JR RS:

Die Verkabelung ist einfach und unkompliziert.

 

Yes, I know the wiring. But on the original Facelift Superb the LEDs are 5V and not 12V like on the vFL. 

You have LEDs from the Passat and the adapted mirror cap.

So 6 months later after converting my MIB2 unit to a MIB2.5 unit, I finally managed to get my hands on the centre dash trim suited for the 9.2" Columbus screen.

Got it from an MY18 Superb being wrecked.  Good price too.

Was difficult to find a match with mine as most of the Superbs being wrecked were Sportline models, hence carbon or black finish trims.  That's assuming the trim piece was available and not damaged to start with!!

 

The swap out process was relatively easily.  Removed the screen first, then unclipped the old trim piece. 

I was unable to disconnect the ambient lighting strip connector as it was deep inside the dash trim and there was no way of getting to it!! 

So I unclipped the actual LED board and clipped it on to the replacement trim piece.

Job done.

There is two of them.  One shoots light from inside to left, and the other from inside to right.

 

MIB2 trim piece - 3V2.858.418.A

MIB2.5 trim piece - 3V2.858.418.F

 

Comparing the two trim pieces...

 

 

 

Seperating the LED from the 2x ambient light holders...

 

Cover removed...

 

LED board removed...

 

Without the LEDs

 

All done...