Tackled some of the easier of the dechrome tasks today.

Now need to take front bumper off to fit the grill surround and lower grill strip, fit roof bars and wrap window chrome.

Finished off the front grill today.

Bumper off job. Once again a big thanks to @JR RS for a brilliant how to guide.

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/469985-front-bumper-removal/#findComment-5277204

Lots and lots of Torx screws and fiddly clips but it wasn’t too bad a job in the end.

Really like the look now it’s all done!

The badge is not quite the right white. I think it’s more candy white. But I begrudge paying £100 from kopacek for two colour matched badges. I may get another couple of cheap Ali ones and try painting them myself with touch up paint.

Just the side view left to dechrome with wrap around the windows and the roof rails to install

after seeing your bonnet badge on another post i had to read this post too,, i havent even decided what car to buy ( Superb or Octavia ) but ive decided on the badges and lights and other interior options

Has anyone ever said youre a bad influence??😉

1 hour ago, GREEBO_22 said:

after seeing your bonnet badge on another post i had to read this post too,, i havent even decided what car to buy ( Superb or Octavia ) but ive decided on the badges and lights and other interior options

Has anyone ever said youre a bad influence??😉

Superb. End of.

Looks good @Binx1310 - the only downside of mine is blacking out just would look too much for me and needs something to accent. I was wondering about a brushed-aluminium colour but I'd have to see in time.

1 hour ago, GREEBO_22 said:

after seeing your bonnet badge on another post i had to read this post too,, i havent even decided what car to buy ( Superb or Octavia ) but ive decided on the badges and lights and other interior options

Has anyone ever said youre a bad influence??😉

Superb 100% SE L Exec or L&K. Personally I prefer pre facelift as you avoid the intrusive ADAS.

Blame @Kosin for influencing me!

I’ve now ordered another set of badges and some moon white touch up paint to try to properly colour code the badges.

Fitted new black ŠKODA centre caps today. Didn’t look right with the slightly pale grey but caps so got some Matt black nut caps to match.

The centre caps are slightly larger and stand slightly proud compared to OEM but I like the cleaner non-chrome (and non corroded!) look.

Black Skoda Logo Centre Cap Stickers

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005009034228022.html

Black Blank Centre Caps

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D73BN87K

Matte Black Nut Caps

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B094FCNTT2

Also bought some positioning pins to make installing the wheels that bit easier.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006157081259.html

Some sunshine and a bit of downtime meant I could continue with the chrome delete project. I decided to start wrapping the chrome around the windows. Not too bad of a job and I’m really pleased with the result. Slow and steady is the secret. And gentle applications of heat in key spots.

Drivers side all done. But I’m now out of scalpel blades so have ordered some up and will hopefully finish the other side tomorrow.

The white colour of the black/white Skoda badges from AliExpress I now have on the car isn't quite right (more like candy white rather than Moon White) and doesn't give the clean look I was hoping for. I refuse to pay £100 for two Skoda badges from Kopacek so decided to make my own.

I ordered another pair of Black/White badges from AliExpress. I thought I would use the White background ones so that the paint had a pale base layer to go onto.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005009424974993.html

I then ordered some colour matched spray paint including clear lacquer.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/166899014624

And finally some specialist hard plastic glue as SuperGlue doesn't work well on the ABS plastic these badges are made from

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0001OZI5C

First step was to dissasemble the badges. These come off quite easily with a slight bend of the back plate and gentle pry from a trim tool. I labelled each badge A/B and put the black parts in labelled bags so that they would reassemble properly.

The whole of the white area of the badge as roughed up with some fine sandpaper and then wiped over with Isopropyl alcohol to remove any dust and residue.

These then had 3 gentle coats of basecoat

At this point I was slightly concerned that the colour didnt look much different so I painted a small portion of the cardboard with OEM touch up paint as comparison and it was spot on. This can be seen at the bottom right of the above picture, so I was happy to crack on.

Next was two gentle coats of clear lacquer and this really brought out the colour and the metallic in the base coat. The photos really don't do it justice.

Then came reassembly. The glue is the type that gets applied to both parts separately, allowed to dry for a few minutes and then assembled. These went back together well and will be left for a couple of days to fully cure.

In between the rain showers I had to have a quick comparison with what I started with. It looks brilliant in person and hopefully shows up on the photo below. With the car clean, and not covered in rain, I think the colour match will be perfect and a certain improvement over the standard AliExpress badge.

Total cost was just under £30 so cheaper than one Kopacek badge without delivery and took approx half an hour of work and a couple of hours of drying time all in. No real skill required other than a gentle hand on dissasembly and ensuring light coats of paint to avoid runs.

Im not sure if OEM badges dissasemble in the same way, so this could potentially be done with an OEM Monte Carlo badge to ensure fitment to the car is perfect.

I shall await some better weather and get them installed on the car and update with further pictures when that's done.

Now fitted on the car and much better clean look I was after.

DSG service and brake fluid change today at 129,323 miles. As far as I can tell from the service history it’s the first ever brake fluid change and the second DSG service with the first being at 110,000 miles.

The garage said the oil looked clean and nothing untoward so hopefully the lack of previous servicing hasn’t done too much damage!

A nice bit of morning sunshine and no plans with the family meant I could finally finish wrapping the passenger side chrome strip. The rear quarter light has some dings on the chrome from an unknown event with the previous owner so that took about 4 failed attempts to get right. Eventually got it looking good enough with the only tiny crease of the whole project.

It looks great from a distance, just don’t look too closely! As I say with a lot of my projects “Stevie Wonder would be pleased to see it”

Just the roof rails to swap out and then the full dechrome is complete. They require a guaranteed dry day so may be some time before I attempt that!

Edited 16 May16 May by Binx1310

just a couple of quick questions,, the 2 badges you painted, are they different sizes? the link you have says a choice of 8cm or 9cm,

and i know prices are going to be different all over the country, and possibly also the model of box but how much did you DSG service set you back? (ballpark)

Hoping to look at another car on Sat 🤪

7 minutes ago, GREEBO_22 said:

just a couple of quick questions,, the 2 badges you painted, are they different sizes? the link you have says a choice of 8cm or 9cm,

and i know prices are going to be different all over the country, and possibly also the model of box but how much did you DSG service set you back? (ballpark)

Hoping to look at another car on Sat 🤪

Badges are both 9cm on the superb.

Gearbox service was £300 inc VAT depends on the gearbox as newer ones have 7 speed which needs doing much less frequently

£640 for cambelt?? That’s half what I’d be charged for my Exeo, does the prices include the labour too? I knew I’d be saving buying a Superb and gettin rid of the Exeo but I didn’t realise by how much..

Ordered the badges… and bought the number plate …. Just need to get the car now

I’m guessing you have personal plate otherwise it’s a bit premature ordering it before you have the car!

Yes prices include labour on the preset list. This is a local independent VAG specialist.

Yep I just bought GR66BOO 😜 I’m a big Terry Pratchett / Discworld fan,

I’ve moved and unfortunately haven’t got anywhere to work on my car anymore ( brother-in-law moved too & now I don’t have access to the carport & pit) so for the bigger jobs will have to find a respected/ recommend mechanic around the Coventry area

You’re quite close to VW retrofit. Not sure if they do general servicing too

VW Retrofit

VW Retrofit - Retrofitting for VW, Audi, Seat & Skoda Car...

VW RETROFIT have over 12 years of experience with vehicles in the VAG Group range. We specialise in retrofitting of OEM equipment and accessories into most of the VAG range. We only use the latest gen

Thanks, even if they don’t do general work they may recommend someone

I had a flickering then non working headlight bulb on and off since upgrading to LED. A warranty claim with the manufacturer was successful and new bulbs arrived today. Swapped the non working one out and all is well again.

In the process of checking things under the bonnet I discovered the battery was not actually clamped down and had slid out from under the catches on the battery tray. No UK stock for the spare from OEM and Amazon was a long lead time too. So I thought an OEM- one from Ali express would suffice.

Also picked up new front discs and pads to try and finally solve the brake shudder.

Edited 18 May18 May by Binx1310

On 16/05/2026 at 07:20, Binx1310 said:

The garage said the oil looked clean and nothing untoward so hopefully the lack of previous servicing hasn’t done too much damage!

That's a good sign at least. Sounds like previous owner didn't service it well, but didn't drive it that hard either to compensate.

17 minutes ago, travs said:

That's a good sign at least. Sounds like previous owner didn't service it well, but didn't drive it that hard either to compensate.

Lots of long distance work so motorway mileage which is generally quite gentle on the DSG so fingers crossed a good bit of TLC will keep her going for many years to come. I can't garuntee that I won't drive it hard though!

Air con recharge today at local Kwik fit

AliExpress delivery day today for a few more upgrades.

First off - battery clamp that I found was missing. Nice easy fit.

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EvpbmXk

Black Sportline badges (not the best photo as it was getting dark)

https://a.aliexpress.com/_Ey0q3ro

Black mirror caps

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EyOVXV4

Again a relatively easy fit. Although the glass takes quite a bit of force to remove. As @JR RS found, the Chinese copies have the middle fixing tab in the wrong place. But secure well using the two side catches.

Unfortunately the passenger side didn’t go so well….

I was shocked at the price of the auto dimming glass. £300+! So I shall squint into a £25 non dimming version in future.

https://www.carwingmirror.co.uk/skoda-superb-wing-mirror-glass/skoda-superb-wing-door-mirror-glass.html

Also in the delivery was some spare trim screws as I seem to lose a couple every time I take out the arch liners!

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EQd73PY

New (non dimming) mirror glass installed this evening. It doesn’t have the clip for the dimming wiring plug so I had to tuck it away. Initially it fouled the swivel movement so had to very carefully take the glass off again and tuck it away a bit neater.

I also received the third attempt at buying a steering wheel with DSG. This time it was listed as for a karoq with part number 3V0419091AB. It is completely identical to my current wheel but with the addition of DSG paddles.

It came with the usual wreckers grime but 5 minutes with some autoglym leather cleaner and a damp cloth and it looks good as new. Silky smooth with a nice matt finish. What was described as a scuff on the wheel in the eBay listing turned out to be a dirty mark which cleaned up fine so that was a bonus.

The vehicle it came from had only done 38,000 miles so I’ve ended up with a steering wheel significantly newer and in better condition than my old one too!

The addition of some alloy DSG extension paddles completes the look.

https://a.aliexpress.com/_EvShoRU