Iggy's DD GTI Journal

Nice upgrade :thumbsup: I plan on running the 42DD bushings w/ S3 ss as well. Looking forward to your thoughts on the setup when you get it installed.

Thanks! I'll for sure keep it posted when they're in. Should be in by the end of this week or so. :thumbup:

Nice legs!

Peezza said:

Nice legs!

Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

First Wash & Wax

6 December 2012 - First Wash & Wax

Stopped by the Pearl Harbor NEX today and picked up some Meguiar's Gold Class Carnauba Plus Wax. Car wasn't too dirty aside from some road dust so I just did a self-serve touchless car wash and a hand drying. Afterwards I applied the car wax and let it sit for about ten minutes before I rubbed it off. A little streaky (maybe because I didn't let it sit long enough?), but overall it looks great! :happyanim: Couldn't have done it without my girlfriend! Cut the drying and polishing times in half!

BuyChina.com ... Legit?

7 February 2013 - Automatic Headlight Sensor & Euroswitch

Helpful Links:
Arash007ir's Similar Thread
Trigger Wire Install

Grocery List:
Automatic Headlight Sensor and Switch
Custom Trigger Wire (Terminal A: 1 / Terminal B: 1 / 0.8m / Any Color)

I haven't really done much to my car since I was out of state during the winter break and have been busy with school, but I finally received my Automatic Headlight Sensor and Switch. I'm usually very picky when it comes to the build quality and reliability of non-OEM parts so naturally I was hesitant when buying the sensor and switch from Buy China. I went through with it and paid on January 23rd. The next few days I began to worry because the website said it would take approximately 2-5 days to ship out. Thankfully on the 6th day the status changed in my Orders and it gave me a tracking number through USPS. Was happy to see tracking show that my package was in San Francisco Customs and it stayed there only for two or three days.

Skip ahead (15 days after purchase) and I see this in my mailbox:

Even has an OEM sticker:

The build quality of this switch is actually slightly better than US OEM. At first I thought it felt a little cheaper, but you really do have to compare them side by side to realize how cheap the US one feels. Turned out mine was made in Spain. I heard some people have switches that are made in Mexico...? Only trivial aesthetic downsides are that the chrome bezel is ever so slightly different than the OEM switch (possibly swap over the old one?) and it would have been nicer if the font sizing of "A" was uniform with "uto". No big deal though.

Using some links I found online (see top of post), the install went really well. Only problem I had was that the trigger wire wouldn't slip in easily on the switch end, but a clip undid itself when I applied a little more pressure using pliers. The sensor took a little time to work at first, but after driving in and out of my parking garage several times, there was only a 2-3 second delay before the lights would switch off or on. Also, I was in such a rush that I forgot to plug in the harness in the footwell area. My girlfriend and I had a good laugh about that.

I was in a rush, but here's a picture of my GTI using the DRLs with the fog lamps :wub:

did you have to pay for shipping when you were buying the trigger wire?
What is the trigger wire for?

jansonchan226 said:

did you have to pay for shipping when you were buying the trigger wire?
What is the trigger wire for?

Click to expand...

Yup, the total price ended up to be around $7 or so. The dealer has them for around 9 dollars, but I was a little lazy to drop by and I knew the switch and sensor wasn't going to be in my mailbox for a while. The trigger wire allows you to use your parking lights. I think if you set the switch to the parking lights setting without the trigger wire, it just turns on your DRL or low beams. Apparently the trigger is optional, but it's just nice having the OEM option there. Also, if you have the trigger wire and the light sensor is in dim light (not completely dark), your parking lights will come on and then your low beams when it gets darker.

Shift Bracket Bushings

Purchased Verdict Motorsport's Shift Bracket Bushings and they arrived within two days! VM's bushings are cheaper than the competition with the same effect. These bushings can be puchased here.

Took some quick pictures for this quick fifteen minute install:

Opening the package


Removing the OEM bushings


OEM bushings removed. Use a screw driver to make this process much faster once the metal centers are removed and the rubber needs to be pushed out


VM's bushings installed


The install was painless. Simply removed the intake to access the shifter bracket. I have relatively small hands so I found it unnecessary to remove the battery as some others do on the forums. If you are the type who must have the absolute best, ForceFed Engineering's bushings found here will float your boat. Because their bushings will actually clamp themselves onto the bracket, the likelihood of dropping the bushing halves down into your engine bay is slim.

Long story short, these bushings don't have nearly the same effect on tightening up shift feel as 42DD's shift linkage bushings. Whether placebo or not, these bushings did however clean up whatever slop was left in the shifting mechanism within the engine bay. For a little less than $30, why not? Thanks for Verdict Motorsports for selling them at a price closer to what they should be worth.