Kamold's R36

[Jakeys]

Enabled 'easy access' on the memory seats:

http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/...ml#post1137176

Just did this on my car as well, cheers for the tip! Sadly like you said it barely moves so it hasn't really helped the problem which is I can't get in without scraping the button on my back pocket on the bolster. Oh well, still a cool setting! Why oh why do they hide these things. I wonder what else is hidden away in there...

[maximumxposure]

I can't get in without scraping the button on my back pocket on the bolster.

Glad I'm not the only one that has this problem, Have started buying jeans without buttons haha

[Jakeys]

Glad I'm not the only one that has this problem, Have started buying jeans without buttons haha

Difficulty getting in and out of this car is one of its biggest problems. The side skirt and sill are huuuge, the bolsters are huuuge, and the seating position is very low. I'm 5'9" and not overweight and I really struggle to get in and out of this car without scraping the bolsters or hitting the side skirt with my shoe. Without the steering wheel to hold onto I don't reckon I could do it. My girlfriend is much shorter than me and I had to have the talk with her after I was cleaning the suede and noticed she had been sitting on the bolster for support to get out of the passenger seat and snapped the foam inside. >.<

(Not angry at her though, not a car person, that's not obvious. **** happens and she avoids it now.)

[kamold]

Ah the sacrifices we have to make to drive an R36....so worth it

[snerlo]

I hear ya with the getting in and out. You know what though, I would have preferred the seats in leather like our Jetta. I find it a little easier to sit in as my clothes can slide around a little to get comfortable. I find that I have to bob up and down to make sure that my short or pants are in a comfy position due to the alcantra being a grabby material. I am living with it, but if I had the choice, full leather for me. I also catch the odd button on the bolster and the bolster is looking a little worse for wear because of it too. It just cops all the hits doesn't it. Like Kamold says, so worth it though!!

[Jakeys]

Oh total opposite, I love the alcantara suede! It was a draw for me to get this car based on how good the interior is. As much as I complain, I wouldn't change anything about these seats. Except I'd replace them with these, but I just don't have the money for this kind of mod.



Would have to fix that inaccurate R logo though!

[snerlo]

they're nice aren't they mate. Yeah, I'm with you. I would have to fix the logo too as it would bug me knowing that it isn't technically correct

[seanmau5]

Those crushed side bolster feels

The CC is just as hard to get in/out of (I have full leather seats making it a little easier to shuffle around, also have to use the steering wheel as leverage). My mother and father comment about how low you sit in the car and that it's hard to get out and will more often than not sacrifice the front seat to sit in the back as it's just easier for them.


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[kamold]

R36 LED inner tails

Today I installed my inner LED tail rings.
Got these ones from Russia
VW Passat B6 3C2 3C5 Extra Park AND Turn Tail Lights LED Rings Skyline Style | eBay

They sat for a month at the post office until I got the final notice, I never got the first one...

Disassembly of the existing inners is fairly straight forward, I used a heat gun (hair dryer) to heat the adhesive, then pried apart carefully with a screwdriver and trim removal tools.

Used a drill press and 4mm followed by 5mm bits to drill out the holes in the silver assemblies. I wouldn't advise just using a hand drill as you could easily damage the plastic facetted reflector parts.

Put the housings back together and resealed with a 2 part epoxy.

Then I pulled the boot trim off and wired the red rings up to the license plate lights.
I used these 3-way connectors CRIMP WIRE CONNECTOR 3WIRE PK50 | Other Cable Accessories | Cable Accessories | Wire, Cable & Accessories | PRODUCTS | HP1272 | Jaycar Electronics to connect to the existing wires.

I'll run the wires for the turn signals at another time, as they have to go through the boot grommets, behind the trims to the outer tails.

Scratched my head for bit when they weren't working, only to realise that the polarity was wrong (my LED license plate lights are not polarity sensitive for some reason).

Now I have my 4 burner hotplates

If you aren't all that comfortable pulling this sort of stuff apart and potentially breaking stuff, I'd recommend getting in touch with VW Central who can hook you up with a set of already modified tail lights.

This is the assemblies pulled apart:


And here is the result:

[Jakeys]

Great work. VW Central have just jumped onboard Buckets to advertise his work a bit better, he is still the one doing theirs.

[kamold]

Yeah that's right buckets does the mods.

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[snerlo]

Good work mate. How's the colour match and the brightness match?

[Passat R36]

looking good！

[kamold]

Climatronics upgrade.

Out with the old



New unit part



It's plug and play (connectors are upside down compared with original unit) apart from coding, then flap calibration and compressor run in.








Just waiting on the facia to arrive.

So the new unit is in 1 degree increments rather than .5 with the old unit, but that one had dated looking digital temp displays, and no on screen display on the RNS so no loss there.

[Jakeys]

Nice. How was the install, and how do you find the new system's functionality versus your old one? I know of course it looks much better, but curious how they are using day to day. I have a weird interest in this, I used to have a GTV Verada with the Jap LCD climate system and I found it one of the best systems ever to use. The climatronics is nice but the Verada wins on that one, haha.

Also, did the old system have the two stage auto? One thing I do like about this car is it has two auto modes, a low power and a high power one. You could just adjust the fan manually but, I dunno, it's cool.