GOLFMK8
GOLFMK7
GOLFMK6
GOLFMKV

mnathanielc's BMP 07 GTI

mnathanielc

Reader
Location
Chicago burb
Car(s)
MKV GTI

Hello all,

I'm not a fan of a thread for every single thing you do with your car, so the plan is for this single thread to contain all that I ever do with this car.

History:
My first car was a 93 accord. I owned it from 2004-2013.
Then Dec 2013 I traded it in for this lovely 2007 GTI.

Car details:
Black Magic Pearl
DSG
4DR
125K mi

From what I can tell it's all stock besides the cheap 16s the previous owner put on it, and tinted windows.
And I have no idea what the maintenance history is.
So I'm going to be doing as much of the standard maintenance as I can to establish a history and ensure a reliable fun car.

Done so far:
-Oil change (Liqui Moly & Mann filter)
-Seated the headlight bulbs which weren't attached to the headlight housing at all, whoever touched them last obviously had no clue what they were doing.
-Looked over the car for issues. Found the following:
-d2s bulbs are different color temperatures.
-Driver side mirror indicator is out.
-Squeaking on the timing belt side
-Oil on top of valve cover, and here and there around, wiped off to see where it reappears.
-Tear in driver side CV boot
-Checked cam follower
-Busted up front grill
-Broken rear wiper arm​

I decided to just assume the car has not been properly maintained for a while.
Parts I have ordered:
-ECS Ultimate Plus Timing Belt Kit
-ECS Cam Follower Replacement Kit
-Genuine DSG Transmission Service Kit
-Cabin filter
-Air filter
-Fuel filter
-Set of Bosch spark plugs
-Raxles drivers side axle (Marty is a really nice guy)
-Ross Tech VCDS License with Micro-CAN cable
-Misc tools
 

SuperSkyline89

Das Schiesse
Location
Earth
Car(s)
2008 CW GTI
You definitely want a well running car before pouring thousands of dollars into mods. You can have the nicest parts you want but people will still focus on what's broken and it'll tear you up inside.
 

mnathanielc

Reader
Location
Chicago burb
Car(s)
MKV GTI
You definitely want a well running car before pouring thousands of dollars into mods. You can have the nicest parts you want but people will still focus on what's broken and it'll tear you up inside.

Exactly. A set of wheels and springs would look great. But I'd rather be driving reliably than looking great on the side of the road.
 

mnathanielc

Reader
Location
Chicago burb
Car(s)
MKV GTI
Air filter was definitely due for a change. Also changed the cabin filter and a small pile of leaves and junk fell out when I removed the old filter.


Pulled the coils out today. Thankfully there's no oil on them.


I'm beginning to suspect the valve cover being responsible for the leaks.
I feel like if it was just a bad gasket there would be oil in the spark plugs, not only coming up a few of the screw holes, base of the oil cap, and out the back.

Not sure if anything else is leaking, or if it's all just running down from the top.


Maybe someday I'll have money for aesthetic things like the busted grill.
 

mnathanielc

Reader
Location
Chicago burb
Car(s)
MKV GTI
Swapped out this little guy.
Did the fuel filter at the same time, worked out really well, had very minimal amounts of fuel come out of the fuel lines as I disconnected them from the old filter.


And the driver side axle.
By the way, Marty at Raxles is really a pleasure to do business with, really friendly, great price. Can't really beat better than OEM quality for less than OEM cost.
 

mnathanielc

Reader
Location
Chicago burb
Car(s)
MKV GTI
Is there an option to enable the sunroof to open and close with the windows?

The option is in there, but it doesn't work to open the sunroof, you can close it though. On my wife's 2012 Jetta the sunroof does open with the remote, so I guess it's a limitation or bug for our cars.
I haven't looked into it any further, I'm happy with being able to open the windows, and I'm glad it'll close everything.
 

SuperSkyline89

Das Schiesse
Location
Earth
Car(s)
2008 CW GTI
Thanks for the info.

I'm glad there's at least an option to close it, I literally never drive without both windows and the sunroof open in the summer so being able to close it all from outside is better than just the windows.
 

mnathanielc

Reader
Location
Chicago burb
Car(s)
MKV GTI
In case you were wondering, it is possible to replace the hatch harness without splicing the third brake light cable.
The brake light plug is in a rubber grommet so you can flex it around to get it at the right angle to get a small flat screwdriver in to release the old one.
Then I had to enlarge the holes on either side so my pointer fingers could fit to have the strength to maneuver and plug in the new connector. Only my pinky fingers could fit through the stock holes.
Don't forget to smooth the freshly cut edges with a file and put some paint over the bare metal.
It's a bit of a pain, but worth it to know your brand new harness is fully intact.
 
Top