What did you do to your MK7 today?

tdidieselbobny said:

Had to replace right side low beam headlight. Been 2 years since I installed them, last time driver side burned out, replaced both,so this time I used the spare used one. Next one to burn out will do the pair again. I used the Sylvania ones, not the gold zxe, the regular zxe's. I already have a new set in my cabinet...

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I'm working on a year and half with the Osram Night breakers, they are a smidge whiter and brighter, was worth the $30 or so Amazon wanted for them.

Had a nasty dent removed from the hood of the wagon by Tim Henckel, Baltimore's amazing Dent Wizard. He's truly a paintless dent removal artist.

Today was a busy one for my Golf. JasonTDI installed a new timing belt and serviced the DSG on the 2015 Golf I currently own. All seems to be working spot on and at 117k, it was due to be done very soon. Belt had slight signs of cracking by the teeth and tensioner was showing signs of grease seal starting to go south. It was time. I had to bet up fairly early for me so I could be there on time at 8:30am. I live two hours away from his shop.

leicaman said:

Today was a busy one for my Golf. JasonTDI installed a new timing belt and serviced the DSG on the 2015 Golf I currently own. All seems to be working spot on and at 117k, it was due to be done very soon. Belt had slight signs of cracking by the teeth and tensioner was showing signs of grease seal starting to go south. It was time. I had to bet up fairly early for me so I could be there on time at 8:30am. I live two hours away from his shop.

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Wow. You're accumulating the miles on that car!

And just like that, the driver side low beam headlight went kaput on Friday. I saved the used passenger side once again, and installed a fresh set of Sylvania ZXE bulbs. These ones didn't have the gold tip on bulb, so I'm guessing the old ones were the top ones, Advance used to allow discounts on the headlights, but they've really cut back on things you can use some discounts for....

Turned off the DRL's on my Golf with lighting package. Also, the horn when locking from key fob.

Didn't like either function.

Ovrhill said:

... Also, the horn when locking from key fob...

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The fix for this is obviously to install the Audi chirp alarm. Not annoying like the horn for lock/unlock, but even louder if the alarm actually goes off; win/win.

Long thread is long, but post #381 wraps it all up nicely, with pictures.

Back on topic-ish (rare for me) and not today but yesterday... Passed CA emissions/smog check.

Car is Stage 1+ Kerma tuned, with full emissions system intact obviously. Fuel system readiness is not set (or failed). It has been tuned for both my tests but I didn't check readiness in the past, just took it in and passed. Diesels in CA built after 2007 (I think) can have 2 monitors not set and still pass. Tune is too good to try flashing back to stock just to see if fuel system readiness ever sets.

Cuzoe said:

The fix for this is obviously to install the Audi chirp alarm. Not annoying like the horn for lock/unlock, but even louder if the alarm actually goes off; win/win.

Long thread is long, but post #381 wraps it all up nicely, with pictures.

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Guess it wasnt obvious to me. I was totally unaware and will look into it.

@Ovrhill That was only meant in jest, I disabled the horn long before I stumbled across that audi chirp alarm thread. And I am strongly in the business of trying to convince others to spend/waste money on unnecessary mods; just as I have done, successfully, for years.

Cuzoe said:

@Ovrhill That was only meant in jest, I disabled the horn long before I stumbled across that audi chirp alarm thread. And I am strongly in the business of trying to convince others to spend/waste money on unnecessary mods; just as I have done, successfully, for years.

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I do appreciate the info Cuzoe. Looks like that mod is something that I'll have to plan for. Agree that its better than no audible signal at all and certainly better than the horn sounding. That thing was driving me crazy.
I'm still learning about these cars and for sure the 7.
Really like the car. Always concerned about the emissions add ons. Maybe some day those will come off it I keep it. Do enjoy driving it.

Ovrhill said:

Turned off the DRL's on my Golf with lighting package. Also, the horn when locking from key fob.
Didn't like either function.

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I didn't like the DRLs on my Lighting Package car, either. Instead, I put white LEDs in the fog lights and coded those to be the DRLs instead. Much better look in my eyes.
I actually prefer the little horn "beep" I get out of our VWs, compared to the Audi "chirp" from my wife's A3; inside the house, if I hit the lock button I can hear the confirmation "beep", but can never hear the "chirp" - so have to look outside to see if the lights blinked.

Cuzoe said:

And I am strongly in the business of trying to convince others to spend/waste money on unnecessary mods; just as I have done, successfully, for years.

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And yeah - be careful with @Cuzoe ; because of him, I have parking sensors, blind-spot-monitor mirrors, and TPMS sensors sitting in my garage waiting to go on my GSW....that hasn't been licensed for almost a full year now (COVID). Of course, he'll blame me for his MIB2.5 (maybe time to go MIB3...?), Active Info Display, and probably a few other things, so we're probably even.

Nuje said:

I actually prefer the little horn "beep" I get out of our VWs

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My MK4 is a little horn "beep". The MK7 was a horn "blast". Very annoying when locking while standing close to the car.

Finally jumped on a MIB2 setup and put that in today. Really easy install surprisingly and works awesome!
Was told I would need to make at least one code change as I have the Fender system, but I have yet to touch anything and all systems working as they should. Plug & play from Bojan from the MK7 TDI facebook page.
Would love to figure out the performance gauges since only the G-force one works. Boost doesn't go anywhere near high enough, and oil/coolant temp just flat out don't show.

Nice, the performance monitor displaying data seems to be a hit or miss with MIB 2 retrofits, having to do with whether the ECU and/or gateway provides the data. In my car everything shows. Just got lucky really. And the boost gauge maxes at about 40, but includes atmospheric.

Also, where are the updates on the engine swap? We must know .

The boost works, but need it to go to 4bar absolute in order to be usable really (2260 good for 2.4 or 3.4 absolute), and bar is easier to do the math at a glance since you're just subtracting an even 1bar. I have my mechanical boost gauge in the vent, plenty good with me and oil temp in the MFD is what I go by before I start beating on the car.

The engine swap is slowly going, but I'm ready to jump on it pretty soon. Recently had a state inspector look under my car and tell me all the things that were "missing". Used to be that diesel passenger vehicles were exempt from visual inspections under the car here...not so any longer. I'm finishing up a stealthy exhaust now with a piece from darkside and a factory mid-pipe that has the cat in hopes that's enough to not draw any attention

Otherwise, I need to get my AC system evacuated, then I really have most of what I need to get moving. Going to get it running with my current turbo and injectors before upgrading those. May just do injectors and dyno before touching the turbo honestly..I think it could get 300+bhp with the right fueling.

I've been slacking on posting this update, but front and rear brakes have been done for awhile (so please excuse the dust, and rust transfer from my wheels):







I went with the "ugly" approach for the parking brake cable by unhooking it from the torsion beam clips; routing it up and over. It works perfectly, and requires no drilling into the caliper or remounting of the cable lever. Doing this however, you will need to unhook the two cables from hangers underneath the body about 3/4 of the way back. Here is the right side hanger:



I just completely removed that one. The cable (black with gray stripe) stays where it moved to above perfectly, and not in the way of anything. As for the left side:



I moved the hanger slightly to secure the cable away from the exhaust. Although it never touched it hanging freely, its just a small amount of insurance.

Here was my full parts list, any non-listed parts were cleaned and reused:

• Front Calipers (312mm Non-PP GTI) = $52.50/each used with 36k miles from Auto Haas
• Rear Calipers (272mm Non-PP GTI) = $55/ea used with 36k miles from Auto Haas
• VK-1347F Front Brake Lines = $60 from Techna-Fit
• VK-1327R Rear Brake Lines at 16.5" Overall Length and 10mm Banjos¹ = $55 from Techna-Fit
• 4x N90948802 Front Caliper Mounting Bolts²
• 4x N91194501 Rear Caliper Mounting Bolts²
• 5Q0615611P Left Rear 272mm Torsion Beam Dust Shield
• 5Q0615612P Right Rear 272mm Torsion Beam Dust Shield
• 2x WHT007150³ Rear Wheel Axle Bolts (This and everything else below I bought from FCP Euro.)
• TRW Ultra Ceramic TXC1760 Front Pads*
• TRW Ultra Ceramic TXC1779 Rear Pads*
• Zimmermann 100330020 Zinc Coated Front Rotors
• Zimmermann 600324120 Zinc Coated Rear Rotors
• 4x N10648301 Rotor Set Screws
• 2x B0007501MDSP DOT 4 Class 6 500mL Brake Fluid

¹Having a 16.5" Overall Length specified is very important. The PP brakes use 12mm Banjos.
²I had to find a dealership parts department open on a Saturday as https://parts.vw.com/ listed the incorrect ones. The ones listed for the GTI are double the length.
³These are torqued to 200nm+180°.
*I'm happy with these pads. Semi-Mets would definitely bite better, but these are better than stock and barely make dust. They took about 600mi to bed. Here is a blog post about them: https://blog.fcpeuro.com/trw-ultra-ceramic-brake-pads-the-ceramic-pad-you-need-to-try

Make sure to have blue threadlocker, rubber safe brake lubricant, and some quality anti-seize on hand. Also, if you're going to do this yourself, bookmark these links: https://blog.fcpeuro.com/the-definitive-guide-to-mk7-volkswagen-gti-brakes and https://bit.ly/3ey7lEz

This was also one of the best purchases I made: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/audi-vw-jack-pad-adapter-powerflex-pf31-661

And a sneak peak of my GTI bumper conversion. The TDI uses standard H11 fog light bulbs, whereas the GTI uses a proprietary connector on its LED fog lights. The connector specifically is 07P973702, and the best place to get one seems to be eBay as it'll come with pinned wires: https://www.ebay.com/itm/162782903449

Solder the pinned wires to a Male H11 connector:



Heatshrink and reinsert the pins into VW's connector:



Test:



The flat side of the connector is +12V and the rounded side is ground. That information was nowhere on the internet, or wiring diagrams as far as I could tell. Hopefully that helps someone Googling in the future. Oh, the necessary coding changes: https://forum.obdeleven.com/post/6591

dv52 said:

Left front fog -Leuchte12NL LB45
Lasttyp 12 > change to 6 - LED Lichtmodul (factory setting should be 10 - allgemeine Scheinwerfer)
Dimmwert AB 12> change to 127 (factory setting should be 100)

Right front fog-Leuchte13NL RB5
Lasttyp 13 > change to 6 - LED Lichtmodul (factory setting should be 10 - allgemeine Scheinwerfer)
Dimmwert AB 13 > change to 127 (factory setting should be 100)

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adjat84th said:

Finally jumped on a MIB2 setup and put that in today. Really easy install surprisingly and works awesome!
Was told I would need to make at least one code change as I have the Fender system, but I have yet to touch anything and all systems working as they should. Plug & play from Bojan from the MK7 TDI facebook page.
Would love to figure out the performance gauges since only the G-force one works. Boost doesn't go anywhere near high enough, and oil/coolant temp just flat out don't show.

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Next snag the 8" glass screen, it'll add remove 5 years from the look of that set up it's plug and play. I'm wanting to pull the trigger on a non nav 8" glass but it appears the ebay units are only coming from euroland.

I'm just happy to have Bluetooth that connects as fast as my aftermarket Alpine headunit in my MK4 Jetta now, along with a radio that stays ON till a door is opened! And obviously Android Auto is great.
Everything just works quicker, and the screen resolution is honestly way better than even the stock one. Backup camera video must be a much higher refresh rate too because it's much crisper when active.

Nice to see some regular posting in this thread... I won't do multi-quotes because I'm lazy but...

I actually think the 8" matte screen, which @adjat84th's appears to be, is the best MIB II has to offer... all physical buttons/knobs and no glare. It does show fingerprints a little but nothing like the glass screens. The 8" glass screen is (from what I remember reading) the same resolution as the matte screen. Blacks might be a touch better but not significantly. And I'm not a person that has an issue with touch screens, my screen is all glass with zero buttons/knobs, doesn't bother me. MIB II is soooo much faster than MIB I in every way, that speed probably makes the camera seem more crisp.

I was/am surprised at how much I like the cornering light function of the fog lights. I didn't have them from the factory on my S but it's a nice feature. No fog here since install so I don't know how well they work in that regard.

I did the same thing with the e-brake lines... didn't have the tools, skill or will to drill the calipers.

Yeah I'm coming from the 6.5" screen and just looking for realestate. I drove a couple cars with the 8" a 2018 GSW loander and an Skoda Octavia in Iceland, while the resolution isn't bumped up the limited graphics of say album art or waze def doesn't seem like you're missing much from a "retina 4K" uber resolution. Having a dedicated app button is nice but I do use the mute button quite frequently, so kinda a wash.

J M, I think you probably spent a lot more time on the rear brakes than just repositioning the ebrake hardware. It only takes 10 min per side and you avoid having to rip the cable out of the tube and ending up with a small radius bend. Looks like you reversed sides for calipers, left to right.

That still assumes folks have the tools and know how/confidence to drill the required holes. I doubt time is really a concern, haha. I can strip, crimp, seal and jump the shielding to join two runs of twisted/shielded wiring in 10 minutes... but the 10 minutes won't be the hang up for most folks.

740GLE said:

... app button is nice but I do use the mute button quite frequently...

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So, here's a dumb question: Where's / what's the mute button?

thundershorts said:

J M, I think you probably spent a lot more time on the rear brakes than just repositioning the ebrake hardware. It only takes 10 min per side and you avoid having to rip the cable out of the tube and ending up with a small radius bend. Looks like you reversed sides for calipers, left to right.

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You keep saying that, but three of us have been unable to figure out what exactly you did or where there is enough metal to drill into in order to reposition the hardware. Look at the bolt you're saying to move, anywhere else on the caliper you've extended past the meat.



PLEASE post photos and I’ll gladly redo everything if it’s as easy as you state; I have a drillpress.

And I did not reverse the calipers…they only go on one way, else the brake lines wouldn’t work.

Ok, I'll have to pull a wheel to get photo. There is enough metal on the caliper to drill and tap the hole, then the brake lines only need to be 2" longer and the bleeder is in the correct position using the correct side caliper. i've done three sets so far and it has a neat tidy look as well. using the original caliper to get position for the bracket. I'ts worth the effort.

I’m eager to see.

Still not backwards though; the calipers are mounted correctly. If they were backwards, the bleeder would be facing down. And if you want proof, here is a YouTube video of someone replacing the same left rear caliper:



Notice the bleeder and cable hardware are all oriented on the exact same side.

Nuje said:

So, here's a dumb question: Where's / what's the mute button?

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One of my various MIB setups had a mute button on the top left (or right), can't recall. For what it's worth, the all touch screen MIB 2.5 screen will mute if you tap the power "button" and requires a long press to actually turn off the system.

Nuje said:

So, here's a dumb question: Where's / what's the mute button?

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6.5 MIB II, Mute button (for non nav) is the upper right corner. Of the 8" glass displays (non nav), it's the App button.

It's coming back to me slowly... haha. One of my screens had mute in the bottom left too...