About to embark on Skoda ownership, Superb L&K Estate

[mintyflinty]

Hi commievid,

 

I'm enjoying following your journey so far, so thanks for the detailed and interesting posts (with pictures for newbies like me).

 

I like your running cost statistics, can I suggest an additional one?  Time spent. 

 

Thanks, Adam 😀

[numskull]

On 28/02/2024 at 19:14, nicknorman said:

What I do have is the plastic things for the boot that clip off the bottom of the sides.

They are a brilliant idea. I use them all the time..

[commievid]

2 hours ago, mintyflinty said:

Hi commievid,

 

I'm enjoying following your journey so far, so thanks for the detailed and interesting posts (with pictures for newbies like me).

 

I like your running cost statistics, can I suggest an additional one?  Time spent. 

 

Thanks, Adam 😀

 

Time spent? Hmm I'll have to have a think, I'll remind myself to make a mental note and probably stick it on the end of certain jobs. I can't guarantee any accuracy, for example, the suspension replacement will depend on what else I find lurking underneath, etc.

 

I'd say an hour for each of the two update processes for the head unit, so 2 hours for those.

[commievid]

Some homework this time.

 

Went and spent £12.74 on a workshop manual from https://easymanuals.co.uk/product/skoda-superb-workshop-service-repair-manual/ think I scoured some discount code from somewhere.

 

Fair warning: it's almost everything clumped into a single PDF, so I've been splitting things out into sections. The wiring diagrams section is in the thousands of pages, essentially going through the same systems but over different iterations depending on build date! Alarmingly comprehensive!

 

I also went on eBay where a guy offers a VIN decode service for EUR 3.01 (so £2.57 according to my bank statement). I ordered this on Thursday, got it on the Friday. It's about 6 pages of all the codes for the car. I've mainly used this to cross reference things like parts on https://www.lllparts.co.uk/ where suspension does reference random codes (mine is L07 front and 1JP rear for example).

 

Whilst vacuuming the first time morning, moving the seats back and forth have revealed all sorts of wonders in the rails, think crisps and sweets, so I'll probably have to resort to dedicating some spare time to remove all the seats to have a decent change of really cleaning the interior.

 

Will shop and stockpile service items over the week.

 

Oh, one thing I haven't mentioned. The day after we got the car home, I scoured nearby for some lighter wheels, and looked at a set of 16" wheels from an Audi A8. Super light. Unfortunately, they don't clear the front brake calipers by about 4-5mm, so frustratingly couldn't procure them, not without some drastic consideration to shrinking the front brakes from 340mm to 312mm (I suppose, if I used Porsche calipers, but then sod's law those calipers might still make 16" wheels not fit).

 

So I'll have to plan ahead around 17" wheels. Not a fan of large wheels, and these 19's are a bit much.

 

Fair play that Michelin's are fitted though, so kudos to @nicknorman, as usually I'd imagine what happens is that people discover the cost of wheels on larger tyres is more than they expect, and you end up with naff tyres and big wheels.

 

I imagine there isn't a market for smaller displays from a Skoda Superb Mk3? 3V0 919 606...

 

I'll have to wrap it up and stow it somewhere for posterity.

 

Maintenance: £324.88

Upgrades: £315.00

Miscellaneous: £600.26 (+£15.31)

[commievid]

So something I ordered in anticipation of the car arrived last night, very random, couriers these days:

 

A heated steering wheel, plus airbags and steering column. £350 plus £11.49 delivery, so £361.49 all in.

 

At the time, I figured by the time I tally up the steering wheel, airbag (as its slightly different shape on these facelift ones), and squib, it probably comes up to about that much. I may regret this impulse buy though, I'll see if I understand and explain later.

 

For now, this morning, decided to take it apart.

 

There's enough on Youtube and the internet in general, but I imagine it's quite rare to get a shot of how the airbag is hooked onto steering, given there's a dashboard and stuff in the way usually:

 

So this is with the steering wheel turned a quarter so the side is facing up, and the airbag hook is the black part, over the steering wheels metal springy bit. So you basically wedge a flathead screwdriver into there and wedge the metal towards the centre, dragging it across the hook and free:

 

I did it with a stubby one, and did the slot it in and rotate it 90 degrees approach.

 

That side should immediately want to come free, so repeat on the other side (you'd turn the steering wheel to the otherside if on a car I suppose), and it'll pop free:

 

For heated steering wheels, it looks like 3 connectors. The airbag connector in yellow, which needs the flathead to gently undo the white latch:

 

Then the other two, one for the heated steering wheel power, and the other presumably for the steering wheel controls:

 

That should allow the airbag to come free, and you'll be presented with the retaining bolt for the steering wheel:

 

Fortunately, the wife used to have a SEAT Ibiza, and in doing bits and bobs on that car, one needed the sockets that go into these sorts. I've called them spline bits, others call them tri-square. Regardless, seems like a typical VW group thing, presumably to annoy people than anything else.

 

So a brief rummage in the garage and I found them, and it looks like M12:

 

Attached to my trusty impact wrench (which is probably overkill here). The bit of red on the socket appears to be the foam from the container, as the sockets themselves haven't been used in about 7 or 8 years!

 

The steering wheel actually made it a bit awkward to position the bolt in, the photo here looks worse mainly because I'm trying to hold the wrench and a camera phone at the same time:

 

But no drama, and it came out easily enough, as did the steering wheel itself. The benefit of it being from a circa 2020 car I suppose:

 

So only the bit that holds the clock spring and indicator stalks remaining. These appear to clipped in place at three locations. On on the left rear:

 

The same on the right:

 

With the final tab on the underside:

 

Nothing actually difficult, but fiddly, as its 3 locations, the sides have a tab which need pushing downwards, and should be done with some gently pushing out to start the process. The underside latch can then be gently pulled downwards with maybe a thing screwdriver and it should then start coming free:

 

That should then be it!

 

I could have been even madder and used the steering column as well, I mean, a 4 year old one must be in better nick than an 8 year old one? Alas:

 

One of the mountings was bent, and my attempts to straighten it was always a fools' errand. This upper steering column doesn't look like its any more componentised, so I imagine it's only destined for the scrapheap.

 

I'll note my realisations about this could be a waste of time and money in the next post.

 

Maintenance: £324.88

Upgrades: £676.49 (+£361.49)

Miscellaneous: £584.95

 

Edit: oh, this process took about 15 minutes. This didn't include the 15 minutes rummaging for those spline bits. I imagine it'd take a bit longer faffing with the airbag when it's in situ.

Edited 3 March by commievid
Added time

[commievid]

So, as I started to do a bit more swotting up, I feel a little bit of a plonker for going in head first with the above purchase. Maybe the alure of the shiny steering wheel distracted me from the potential pitfalls.

 

Firstly, the clock spring part number:

 

Isn't one that I've seen on the forums. I'm hazarding a guess here, but it looks like 5Q1 953 569 L is part of the facelift for these Superbs, and I can't imagine it would be backwards compatible (because otherwise it'd be the same part number, right?).

 

I've seen specifically for this heated steering wheel retrofit, 5Q0 953 569 B (or C) and 5Q0 953 549 D so essentially either 569 or 549.

 

So rummaging with the VCDS:

 

Quote

Address 16: Steering wheel (J524)       Labels:| 5Q0-953-549.clb
   Part No SW: 3Q0 953 521 BD    HW: 5Q0 953 569 A
   Component: Lenks.Modul   075 0195  
   Revision: FF033033    Serial number: 20160118401316
   Coding: 6410
   Shop #: WSC 73430 790 00063
   ASAM Dataset: EV_SMLSVALEOMQB 001015
   ROD: EV_SMLSVALEOMQB.rod
   VCID: F3B833CBFB374B22A21-80A6

 

It looks like the one currently installed in the car is 5Q0 953 569 A. So I really need to go for B or C, and of course they have to be more expensive than those ending 549!

 

This could also be probably why the retrofitters have also not embarked with the facelift steering wheel. From what I can gather, it doesn't use the CAN bus anymore and does things slightly differently.

 

Some additional research has pointed me to adapters such as https://www.cars-equipment.com/en/shop/steering-wheels-parts/jtcw1-skoda-steering-wheel-converter-octavia/ or something like https://skoda-acc.com/Skoda-steering-wheel-buttons-adapter-Full-S0001F.

 

Also a Kufatec adapter for the heated power wiring, unless I want to DIY something there.

 

This'll then lead to the indicator stalks. The ones on the car now are a little tired, although I guess they all do that, and I'd definitely want to put these shinier ones in given the chance. Whether they're the same or compatible though is another question.

 

Best case scenario, an additional clock spring, heated steering wiring and adapter might be all that's needed.

 

Worse case, the steering wheel just isn't going to work and I'll have to renege and get a pre facelift steering wheel.

 

Either way, probably far more than the benefits are going to be I imagine, but lesson nearly learned.

 

Anyways, given the carpet a second pass, this time with a stiff bristle brush to really agitate the carpet:

 

Some bits haven't turned out too bad:

 

Driver's footwell is looking a bit sorry for itself:

 

Very very worn pretty much in line with the brake pedal. Will need at least another pass with the vacuum, but need to debate whether I'll go mad and factor in a carpet replacement. Something for the long distant future if the car is still around after say 4-5 years.

 

I'll spare ones blushes regarding some of the things I've found under the seats. I will need to factor in seat removal to give this car a proper clean.

 

Maintenance: £324.88

Upgrades: £676.49

Miscellaneous: £584.95

Edited 15 March by commievid

[GordoGT]

This thread is yet another epic Superb 3V build thread.

Absolutely brilliant content and commentary so far.

 

[commievid]

So this afternoon, decided to do some additional prep work as part of the washer jet issues. Not only is the front having an issue on one side, but the rear isn't working either. I hear the pump, but no water.

 

I figured the easiest diagnosis point is the washer jet on the rear itself. Some initial rummaging around the wiper and I discover that its a tiny little but emerging from the third brake light.

 

So off to attempt to pop off the rear trim:

 

It's held on some, and the middle came free first:

 

Now, those who've done this before will know my mistake. After a bit of brute force, the left side came free, and to my horror, I see a torx screw and its plastic retainer atteched to the upper trim. It's fastened to the dang tailgate!

 

I feigned ignorance and quickly went to pulling at the bottom trim, which appears to just be attached with the metal clips (as far as I could see!). Disconnected the button to close the tailgate and the two lights, and:

 

It was then a clear view to undo the remaining bolt holding the upper trim, I think it was a T25 torx, I'll be sure to note it on the reinstallation post.

 

The upper trim then falls away, revealing the third light tucked up in there:

 

Looking at the workshop manual (I know, it probably says remove the bottom trim panel first), it mentions some metal clips and a sliding thing, which looks to be that black plastic bit.

 

The manual also mentions replacing the gasket, presumably because if you don't there's a risk of water ingress. I'll source some gaskets in due time, so for now, I'll leave it at that:

 

Will give me an opportunity to give them a clean and assess whether I should scour the scrapyards. Looks like only two of the metal clips snapped in that ensuing chaos, so I'll be hoping that eBay has some available for a reasonable price.

 

All in all, I think I got away with it.

 

Maintenance: £324.88

Upgrades: £676.49

Miscellaneous: £584.95

 

Edited 3 March by commievid

[commievid]

On the subject of eBay, I put an early bid on this and managed to win it for £20:

 

Collection only but based in Leicester, and by the time I got the post code, was actually 25 minutes away, so paid up and drive over to collect.

 

I would like to meet the person who decided that not having a specific fill hole with the drain hole, and that the oil should be filled FROM THE BOTTOM of a gearbox; was a good idea, and give him a subsequent slap in the face.

 

The workshop manual suggests a tool that screws onto the tops of 1l canisters and essentially feeds it like a saline drip.

 

I decided to opt for the above, which looks akin to my brake bleeder (and probably does the exact same thing). So hopefully, I fill it up with 6.5 or so litres of gearbox oil, pump up the pressure and then open the valve to fill the DSG gearbox. Then the valve can be shut once the required quantity is in. I'll have to read and re-read the steps as its just a tiny bit more of a faff in comparison to just draining and filling.

 

The tool new appears to be circa £45-£50, so probably unnecessary penny penching, but if it works, it works, and it's one of those tools that I will literally only use once every 4 years (unless I end up using this tool on side hustles).

 

I shall begin the process of acquiring service items in anger over the week. Whether I do any of the actual servicing, probably not immediately, there's most likely an optimal set of steps to do all this (doubly so given 4 shock absorbers will be part of the first tranche of mechanical jobs).

 

Maintenance: £324.88

Upgrades: £676.49

Miscellaneous: £604.95 (+£20.00)

 

[nicknorman]

Well I'm impressed at your bravery re. the MIB upgrade!

 

On the washer thing, I lost the rear washers at one point - right after an MOT where I suspect they adjusted the headlights slightly. I had a go at removing the rear washer nozzle but gave up as it was too difficult. I then noticed that when I ran the rear washers, water came out in front of the front RH wheel. I undid the wheel arch and found that a washer hose just behind and very close to the headlight, had come adrift at a connector. I suspected the garage had pulled on it. I plugged it back in. This was a while ago and so I wouldn't have thought it would have come adrift again, but I would check for any water coming out in front of the RH front wheel when you run the rear washers. It is a bit odd that the reservoir is behind the front wheel, but the hose runs initially forward in front of the wheel before making its way back to the rear windscreen.

 

On the DSG oil change thing, I bought a cheapo Draper manual oil pump thing which was a bit slow but did fill the gearbox adequately. It is a bit of a faff but only once every 40,000 miles! I did change the oil and filter at 80,000 miles so there is no need to do this again until 120,000 miles.

 

On the steering wheel, I now have the new one with the new Skoda. The heated wheel is great at this time of year, but the button/thumbwheel arrangement is not as good because it is far too easy to knock the buttons and/or thumbwheels whilst manoeuvring. I routinely find the radio on the wrong station or gone to mute etc. But this is a first world problem I guess, and probably the heated wheel is worth it!

 

On the wheel size, I wasn't a great fan of the 19" wheels but now I have 18" wheels they seem about right (and cheaper tyres). I would have thought 18" was fine and maybe 17" is getting a bit small / high profile for a fast car.

 

Intrigued to know what you found under the seats. Chips, crisps and sweets I can imagine, anything else must have been when someone else was driving!

 

[commievid]

Nah, I'll be going for 17" wheels. I don't think F1 cars are described as slow and they've had no issue with high profile tyres.

 

The lightest variants seem to be geared towards the Japanese cars, rare to see them in 5x112 PCD form. But there's a couple of options I can see.

 

But the CrossClimates on the wheels now are more than sufficient for the next year or so, then I'll change them and move these wheels along.

 

Will be doing all the service items more to baseline everything, otherwise I'll confuse myself by needing to do a "B" level service but with the DSG thrown in, The car is officially 8 years old, so it also marries up to every 4 years perfectly, mileage considerations or not.

[commievid]

This arrived just a moment ago:

 

It's the first bunch of suspension bits, namely the Eibach springs and associated sundries for the suspension (hopefully). These are hopefully the standard height springs, as I'm not into lowering (car's not flat as a pancake down there, so no benefit) as I'd presume the Eibach Pros are the usual go to.

 

Has felt like an age to arrive, but I only ordered it late last week, so as expected from AutoDoc. It's usually a few days to two weeks I've found, so only good if you can really plan ahead.

 

Back to work, so I'll divvy up and take more pictures in a more organised manner later.

 

I've done a bit more shopping, but I'll update cost tallies as and when things arrive (or when I start doing them, to try and keep things a bit more traceable).

 

Maintenance: £324.88

Upgrades: £676.49

Miscellaneous: £604.95

[commievid]

So here's a few more pics of the bits as I unpack them and try and reduce some of the clutter.

 

The rear springs have rubber mounts top and bottom, standard fare. Autodoc had a mish mash of different brands, so it's "Magnum" for the lowers, and "Topran" for the...tops:

 

The Eibach rear springs, R21093:

 

With a dry fit of those rubber mounts:

 

I expect the stub is there for alignment when installed to wherever it goes on the rear subframe.

 

Then it's the rear damper bits, some top mounts, which I ended up going with Sachs for:

 

With the standard bump stop and covers, Febi Bilsteins for both:

 

No sooner had I started to pack these all up and tucked to the side, then these arrived:

 

The front dampers!

 

So the 23-254343 B6 Damptronics.

 

The Eibachs are R16391, so a quick check for general fitment:

 

With the associated gubbins for the damper, bump stops, covers, and bearings and top mounts, SKF top bits and Febi Bilstein again for the bump stop and covers:

 

Now, I will probably be forever debating whether I should have stuck with B4s or even OEM for the sake of maintaining comfort.

 

I spent a good few days scouring the internet and gauging up prices.

 

If I based the prices on https://www.bilstein-shocks.co.uk/ as an example, then a B4 set was coming to £1137.42, and B6 £1232.10, so pricing wasn't going to be a massive deciding factor (it was £300-£400 difference, then sure).

 

It was a then a case of trying to beat that, and with some creative eBaying, there are these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155045005935 for £499.95. Some additional strategy involved me adding these on my watch list, and waiting to see if the seller would send me an offer, which they did to end up with the £474.95 that I ended up paying. I felt it was too hard to ignore.

 

So I'm now committed to the B6s.

 

Technically, there's nothing stopping me now from assembling the front struts as all the components are there, so I'll be back to rummaging in my garage for my spring compressors and then see where the mood takes me during the week, otherwise it'll be something for the weekend!

 

Maintenance: £799.83 (+£474.95)

Upgrades: £676.49

Miscellaneous: £604.95

[MartiniB]

@commievid

what engine does your car have?

IMHO standard size springs are too soft for Superb,
please share your opinion and pictures from the side,
example -> https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/508184-eibach-pro-kit-lowering-springs-and-scrubbing-question/?do=findComment&comment=5705864

 

[nicknorman]

12 hours ago, commievid said:

No sooner had I started to pack these all up and tucked to the side, then these arrived:

 

 

The front dampers!

 

So the 23-254343 B6 Damptronics.

 

The Eibachs are R16391, so a quick check for general fitment:

 

With the associated gubbins for the damper, bump stops, covers, and bearings and top mounts, SKF top bits and Febi Bilstein again for the bump stop and covers:

 

 

Now, I will probably be forever debating whether I should have stuck with B4s or even OEM for the sake of maintaining comfort.

 

I spent a good few days scouring the internet and gauging up prices.

 

If I based the prices on https://www.bilstein-shocks.co.uk/ as an example, then a B4 set was coming to £1137.42, and B6 £1232.10, so pricing wasn't going to be a massive deciding factor (it was £300-£400 difference, then sure).

 

It was a then a case of trying to beat that, and with some creative eBaying, there are these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155045005935 for £499.95. Some additional strategy involved me adding these on my watch list, and waiting to see if the seller would send me an offer, which they did to end up with the £474.95 that I ended up paying. I felt it was too hard to ignore.

 

So I'm now committed to the B6s.

 

Technically, there's nothing stopping me now from assembling the front struts as all the components are there, so I'll be back to rummaging in my garage for my spring compressors and then see where the mood takes me during the week, otherwise it'll be something for the weekend!

 

Maintenance: £799.83 (+£474.95)

Upgrades: £676.49

Miscellaneous: £604.95

 

I will be very interested to hear how you get on with the B6s. When I had to fork out £500 for one front OEM shock I was sorely tempted, but at the time they were still on a long lead time and it was an MOT failure. I said that if another one went, it would be B6s. But it didn't.

I do think the standard setup is too soft, I nearly always had it in sport, very rarely in normal, and never in comfort. Far too wallowy, just horrid. So I think you have done the right thing going for B6 over B4 (the latter being much the same damping rates as the OEM)

My new car is the same as the old one in suspension terms, so once the warranty is out I will probably go for a set of B6s

[commievid]

48 minutes ago, MartiniB said:

@commievid

what engine does your car have?

IMHO standard size springs are too soft for Superb,
please share your opinion and pictures from the side,
example -> https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/508184-eibach-pro-kit-lowering-springs-and-scrubbing-question/?do=findComment&comment=5705864

 

It's the 2.0 TSI EA888 engine, CXJA.

 

I'm happy with the ride being on the soft side, although seeing two posts (including previous owner) cite it being too soft is probably suggesting a collective agreement.

 

I'm not fussed if its too wallowy because frankly the steering is lifeless anyway. The Elise is there for those situations. Things can change of course, and springs can always be changed over if need be.

 

Will sort out pics once done as par for the course.

 

I've noticed whilst perusing the workshop manual that I've forgotten a bit for the front dampers, what looks like another bit of rubber that the spring seats onto. Part 5Q0 412 545 D so I'll go and source that whenever I can.

[MartiniB]

1 hour ago, nicknorman said:

I do think the standard setup is too soft, I nearly always had it in sport, very rarely in normal, and never in comfort. Far too wallowy, just horrid.

how does first part of your sentence matches to next

exactly same conclusion, only Sport mode is acceptable with stock springs,

last two years, my previous 2016. Mk3 220ps had Eibach Pro + B6 Damptronic, where all modes were ok

 

[commievid]

On 28/02/2024 at 19:14, nicknorman said:

Umbrella - I kept it for the other side as you only get one with a new car. Tough!

 

So, because of that:

 

Yup, literally a picture of an umbrella. £27 from eBay, looks like a Skoda dealer in Doncaster.

 

I don't think you need a picture of me inserting it into the door.

 

Now, I'll put this into the maintenance section. I guess if I have a moment and decide to buy a second one, that would be classed as the modification!

 

Ordered a round of stuff that I would hope means everything for a "C" service is complete. I'll elaborate once I get servicing started.

 

Maintenance: £826.83 (+£27.00) 

Upgrades: £315.00

Miscellaneous: £584.95

Edited 6 March by commievid
Messed up maintenance tally

[commievid]

These arrived just a few hours ago:

 

Replacement washer jets. Cheap ones from eBay at £13.55 for the pair. Even though I specifically looked for an ad with the location being in the UK, I ordered these on 25 February, so it's taken longer than the Autodoc stuff to arrive, so I reckon they came via China.

 

Regardless, here's an attempt at showing the state of play:

 

So just the driver side (just imagine it as I didn't think there was value in caring about this photo).

 

So I head to the bonnet and start noticing:

 

A sign of things to come I'm sure...

 

The washer replacement itself is pretty bog standard I feel. Find the old ones:

 

Then I just placed my fingernails along the front edge and pulled downwards:

 

A bit more wiggling then brings them free. They're connected with a washer hose connector and an electrical plug, so loosen the locking ring of the hose connector and it'll come free and the socket via the tab.

 

I then got some silicone grease and slathered it on the eletrical plug before attaching it to the new washers, force of habit from my days sorting out 205 GTI wiring:

 

As they're not genuine ones, the plug needed some convincing to get in, but they did (who knows if it actually is). Then click the hose into the place and slide it back into the bonnet, again, with some resistance presumably because not genuine:

 

As I head back to the car I notice a new puddle:

 

So one fore and one aft of the front wheel, I hadn't changed the driver side one yet, so when I looked up:

 

Bit of a dribble. I shrugged my shoulders and changed this one, and gave it a test:

 

There we are, a sorta fan spray, but more importantly on both sides. So that's technically 50% of the MoT requirements complete.

 

Whilst there, I stepped out of the car and pulled the rear washer, and noticed:

 

So yeah, I'll raise my fist in the air and shout expletives at whoever was around the headlight area and subsequently messed up the washer hose setup around there and presumably then routes to the rear of the car and rear washer.

 

Sadly also, the driver side is still dripping:

 

Is this a TADTS situation? Maybe I haven't attached the hose solidly enough into the washer so it isn't maintaining head pressure? I'll have to have another look.

 

So sorta done, but I've probably revealed some potential fun underneath. I'm hoping if I'm lucky, I can get away with doing whatever is needed by removing the wheel liner.

 

If I'm not, then I may need to resort to removing the driver side wing, which probably automatically entails removing the front bumper. Fun times ahead.

 

Maintenance: £840.38 (+£13.55)

Upgrades: £315.00

Miscellaneous: £584.95

Edited 6 March by commievid
Messed up maintenance tally

[nicknorman]

2 hours ago, commievid said:

 

 

So sorta done, but I've probably revealed some potential fun underneath. I'm hoping if I'm lucky, I can get away with doing whatever is needed by removing the wheel liner.

 

If I'm not, then I may need to resort to removing the driver side wing, which probably automatically entails removing the front bumper. Fun times ahead.

 

Maintenance: £365.43 (+£13.55)

Upgrades: £315.00

Miscellaneous: £584.95

It does sound like the pipe has come undone again. I fixed it after the MOT last March and it was still working fine in December. You should be able to access it easily by removing the wheel arch.

[commievid]

Another arrival today:

 

From Autodoc, the rear Bilstein B6 Damptronics:

 

So part number 20-267537 which I hope is the right ones.

 

These came to £481.54 after a 5% discount code as well. Compared to a pair from say https://www.bilstein-shocks.co.uk/products/20-267537 coming to £627.90 it felt like too good an opportunity to skip, as it makes £481.54 + £474.95 (i.e. fronts cheaper than rears) come to £956.49, which is a bit dear I suppose but for a set of Bilsteins is probably par for the course these days.

 

If we compare say the OEM ones for my Elise https://www.eliseparts.com/shop/genuine-br-lotus-parts-1/s2-k-bilstein-damper-spring-set/ at £1149.54 (although those do include springs), then it's less bad. Hopefully these last a little longer than the OEMs.

 

So there's definitely nothing stopping the rear suspension components being built up ready for the install.

 

The weekend is looking to be a bit drizzly though, so I suspect my plan is going to be to remove the front seats to give the interior carpet a proper going over, and to give the seat runners a clean out at a better angle.

 

If anyone knows the rough weights of the seats, I'd appreciate the heads up, I don't wanna find myself overpowered by some brown seats outside my house for onlookers to point and laugh at!

 

Maintenance: £1321.92 (+£481.54)

Upgrades: £315.00

Miscellaneous: £584.95

Edited 6 March by commievid

[commievid]

This also came in the mail:

 

An air quality sensor.

 

Whilst perusing VCDS, I noticed this, which remained after clearing out prevailing fault codes:

 

Address 08: Auto HVAC (E87)       Labels:| 3V0-907-044.clb
   Part No SW: 3V0 907 044 AJ    HW: 3V0 907 044 AJ
   Component: AC Automat    H32 3701  
   Revision: 20K05000    Serial number: 00000B00056520
   Coding: 12110004000400011005104100101102
   Shop #: WSC 73430 790 00063
   ASAM Dataset: EV_ACClimaPrehVW37X 002012
   ROD: EV_ACClimaPrehVW37X_002_VW37.rod
   VCID: FCAA18F7D669045AF3B-80A8

   Rear air conditioning block 1: 
   Subsystem 1 - Part No SW: 3V0 907 049 C    HW: 3V0 907 049 C
   Component: E265KlimaHeck  H02 0101 
   Serial number: 00000000000000000000
   Coding: 000000

1 Fault Found:
263425 - Air Quality Sensor 
          B10AF 04 [00001001] - Internal System Fault
          Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
             Freeze Frame:
                    Fault Priority: 3
                    Fault Frequency: 6
                    Reset counter: 254
                    Mileage: 164940 km
                    Date: 2024.03.01
                    Time: 16:27:21

                    Outside temperature: 5.0 ∞C
                    Voltage terminal 30: 11.9 V
                    System run time-Engine running time: 0 s
                    System run time-Terminal 15 on: 253 s
                    Air quality status: Malfunction
                    System run time-Engine running time: 0 s
                    System run time-Terminal 15 on: 253 s

 

Normally it's not good practice to just lob things at stuff because the computer tells me to, but I decided to do so anyway because:

• This particular second hand sensor was £15 from eBay
• The location is under the cowl, and when I'm changing over the suspension (and possibly investigating the windscreen washer woes I'm having), I'll probably need to remove the cowl/plenum cover. The workshop manual calls it the plenum cover so I'll probably stick with that.

There's a plethora of cheap versions of this sensor, so it's one those where one could replace it 3 or 4 times before perhaps determining that a genuine replacement might have been better value.

This is all assuming just replacing it will make the error go away of course.

 

Hopefully this pops in when I sort out the front suspension.

 

Maintenance: £1336.92 (+£15.00)

Upgrades: £315.00

Miscellaneous: £584.95

Edited 6 March by commievid

[commievid]

These also arrived today:

 

Door projector lights.

 

Now, normally I'm not one for chintzy faff like this, but I noticed the doors on the Superb have lit red reflectors that also act as puddle/courtesy lights. So decided to scour across the interwebs for the above. As feels appropriate for a Skoda, these were from Wish, https://www.wish.com/c/5fcba0ba47e062b89c859cba, two lots of these for 4 at £22.44, with a discount and postage resulting in £22.06.

 

Pretty much go to the door:

 

 

Then have at it with a trim removal tool:

 

These original ones have metal clips to retain them, so need a bit of convincing. You'll notice the cover has slipped off, which was due to me trying this with my fingers first, hence the suggestion to use a tool. It clips on and off to allow for the bulb to be replaced so no harm done.

 

Some silicone grease on the wiring connector, plug it in and clip it back into place:

 

So these ones use a few LEDs for the red part of the light, and then the projector in the middle.

 

I waited until dusk to check:

 

Repeat for the other doors, probably 15 minutes all in really.

 

Cheesy, sure. But this is a £222 option on a Porsche:

 

Second mod done!

 

Maintenance: £1336.92

Upgrades: £337.06 (+£22.06)

Miscellaneous: £584.95

Edited 6 March by commievid

[MartiniB]

1 hour ago, commievid said:

 

bright example how marketing department cancels functionality

check how does look logo projector which doesn't disable foot step light

-> https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/510961-2023-280ps-lk-replaced-2016-220ps-style/?do=findComment&comment=5816504

 

but yes, stock incandescent also were replaced

-> https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/393511-what-bulbs-are-fitted-to-the-s3-upgraded-bulb-recommendations/?do=findComment&comment=5799679

 

[MartiniB]

5 hours ago, commievid said:

part number 20-267537 which I hope is the right ones.

on my previous 2016. Mk3 2.0 TSI 220ps FWD i installed this model,

but couple of sites recommends 20-254353 and i can't find info about what diff

 

now my current 2023. Mk3.FL 2.0 TSI 280ps AWD waits for exact same upgrade

# B6 Damptronic
front
680e    2x https://www.tuning-expert.com/Bilstein-B6-Damptronic-Federbein-Vorderachse-SKODA-SUPERB-III-3V3-23-254343

rear
? 710e   2x https://www.tuning-expert.com/Bilstein-B6-Damptronic-Stossdaempfer-Hinterachse-VW-TOURAN-5T1-20-267537

? 625e    2x https://www.tuning-expert.com/Bilstein-B6-Damptronic-Stossdaempfer-Hinterachse-SKODA-SUPERB-III-3V3-20-254353