Diane

[timneedscoffee101]

Those APR springs were just not doing it for me … absolutely nothing wrong with them, but the GLI is not listed in their application guide, and it turns out there’s a damn good reason for that.

This morning I replaced them with H&R springs and it made things 1000% better.

Here’s a photo of the rear springs: stock (black), APR (red) and H&R (blue). The stock and H&R are specifically GLI springs, and the APR is a GTI spring. Check out how much shorter it is!!

So that explains all the clunks still coming from the back end.

As for the fronts, I am absolutely certain I lined the springs up with the spring stops in the perch, but this is what I found when I removed them this morning.

The H&R also comes with new shorter bump stops … only about 1/4” shorter but I suspect this makes a huge difference too.

And finally, I readjusted the front sway bar end links on the new springs … wound up shortening them about 3/4” as well...

Ride quality is barely stiffer than OEM - all driving modes are perfectly comfortable. Slightly more body roll than the APR springs, but far less than stock.

So far I’m very happy … just a little bit of spring pop under full lock low speed turns (think backing out of a parking space in a lot)… but so far there are no bumps, clunks, squeaks or rattles. I said the same when I first installed my APR springs, but the more I drove the more I noticed, and obviously as they didn’t fit right, I think they got worse over time. Going to give my H&R a week or two before I decide it’s perfect, but it feels perfect right now.

 

[timneedscoffee101]

I listed the APR springs for $125 shipped... $100 if you can pickup in Southern NH.

 

[timneedscoffee101]

Gave her a quick detail over the weekend ... hand wash and quick clay bar (I just recently did a very thorough clay treatment), followed by a rubbing compound, then a finishing polish. Followed that with two coats of CG Hydroslick Ceramic "hyperwax", then two coats of carnuba wax. I really wanted to put a coat of glaze in the middle, but didn't have any on hand, so I'll do that with the next wash+wax. And yes, I know, CG is not everyone's favorite around here, hahah ... it's what I had available.

Also pretty happy with how the springs have settled. She goes to the body shop tomorrow to repair the damage on the driver side rear bumper (scratches and lower trim damage). The scratch has been there for years ... the car got knicked moving a ladder out of the garage ... but there's new damage to the underside below that scratch and I don't know how that happened... something must have hit me in a parking lot over the winter. But the whole bumper will be repainted so I'll be glad to have her looking mint again.

 

[timneedscoffee101]

Having an "aha!" moment, but can't do a damn thing about it, lol. I dropped the car off at the body shop this morning for bumper repairs, and won't have her back for a week or two. By Tuesday of this week I started getting low-speed turn binding noises again ... have sort of been racking my brain trying to figure this out and it just occurred to me: I readjusted my sway bar end-links when I installed the brand new H&R's to have 0 preload... then the car settled another 1/4".... preloading the sway bar again, lol.

Hopefully that's all it is -- it'll be the first thing I do when I get her back. For now, I'm hauling myself around in a Toyota Highlander :\.

 

[timneedscoffee101]

Installed my aliexpress digital cockpit retrofit today. The install was very straight forward… just followed the steps on mk7850’s diy and all is good!

Well, almost. Four minor complaints so far:

1) The trim to the left of the steering wheel doesn’t fit the new console shroud they shipped. I emailed the seller to see what they say about the trim. It’s a $5 piece if plastic so I’m not opposed to modifying it if needed.

2) The refuel amount indicator is in liters with no way to change to gallons. this is really no big deal since I’ll almost never use this, and can convert liters to gallons myself easily enough

3) There’s no customization of the colors on the display - would like red needles like my stock gauges, but oh well. found the settings for this — was just not intuitive at first…

4) The console chimes at power on, through a really crappy internal speaker, and it sounds ridiculous. found the setting for this too

 

[timneedscoffee101]

Broken level-sensor for the win!! Or DCC recalibration? Probably both...

My ride quality had gone to shit over the past 4-weeks or so, after installing the H&R springs. I was initially really happy with them, but it seemed like over night, they settled and the ride quality just went to hell. The spring pops were back, and the ride was harsh in all drive-modes for DCC. After doing some research, I learned that the level sensors play an important role for DCC, which makes an awful lot of sense, but I had naively let myself believe they were primarily there for the headlight auto-leveling feature due to reading posts from non-DCC owners who have all the same sensors. During the initial install of my APR springs, I dropped the rear control arm with the level sensor still attached and broke the swing arm on it. I crazy-glued it back together as a band-aid while I waited for a replacement to come in ... however, the trip to the body shop got in the way and I kind of forgot about having to replace that thing.

I got back around to it this morning, though ... I swapped in the new level sensor, and then re-calibrated the DCC using OBDEleven. While I had the car up in the air, for good measure, I also applied a thin coat of grease to the spring silencers in the front.

The ride quality is right back to where I remember it the day I installed the H&R's -- basically stock, maybe ever-so-slightly harsher, but barely noticeable. I suspect the broken level sensor played a much bigger role here than the DCC re-calibration ... almost certainly that crazy-glue patch broke after the first hour or two of driving around, if that, and I suspect that's when the ride quality went to shit. The car would have thought the rear suspension was fully extended at all times, and it was driving like it too, lol. Every little bump bottomed out, and it was driving me mad!

Still some very light, quiet popping on low speed hard turns (backing into my driveway, or a parking space, etc) -- but significantly quieter. Hopefully that is primarily a side-effect of the car having proper control over the ride height, now, but if I have to occasionally lift the front and grease the springs, it's not the end of the world (until winter in New England, of course, but I'll save my regrets for then...)

 

[timneedscoffee101]

My never-ending quest to fix the suspension noises may finally have a resolution ... will find out in a couple weeks. EVERY SINGLE TIME I tear the front suspension apart, recheck everything and put it back together, the car looks, feels, and sounds perfect ... and then within 50-100 miles later, it starts ... the popping noises in low-speed turns. I've torqued and retorqued more times than I can count, nothing has come loose ... and I finally just got tired of it and decided this was a noise I can live with. I scheduled an alignment with my local german auto shop, and asked them to go over everything for me to see if they can find it before they do the alignment.

First they called and said it was the strut mounts -- which is the obvious answer, but I already replaced those and the bearings twice. After much head scratching, they found the issue by accident. They had the car in the air and one guy was turning the steering wheel, and another guy who was walking past just happened to notice it -- the strut assembly pulled itself up, and then popped back down, repeatedly throughout the turn. They said something's broken in the internal valving, and they need to be replaced.

Makes sense to me, I guess?! Very frustrated but -- gotta pay to play. I suspect this is my fault for putting the APR springs on the car in the first place, knowing full well they aren't sold for the GLIs. So -- new Bilstein B6's are en route. Hopefully they'll be here sometime next week. Finger's crossed!

 

[timneedscoffee101]

Installed the Billstein B6 today. Only did the fronts, for now. Was a little worried they’d cause some rake but they are definitely the same size and height as OEM

So far so good — actually the car rides MUCH smoother though, which bodes well for there actually having been an issue with the original struts.

But it’s too soon to call it. This is attempt #5 to solve the noises, and each time it seems great immediately after, and then the noises come back over the course for 20-50 miles. I’m driving to Boston the afternoon, so will have 150 miles or so by the end of the day, and some time on some truly awful roads. So if I get home tonight without and noises, I’ll be satisfied

 

[JTM88]

I’m interested in how the DCC B6s work out for you I’m probably due for some new struts

 

[timneedscoffee101]

I’m interested in how the DCC B6s work out for you I’m probably due for some new struts

The drive to Boston went well - 75 miles down, and then no noises at all navigating through parking lots here. So far so good!

As far as DCC goes, all modes worked as expected. Comfort felt a little bouncy, hard to say if that was the struts or the springs (H&R Sport) - but overall in all modes it’s far more comfortable than my stock struts were, even before I did the springs. Definitely something wrong with my stock ones. Very happy with the B6 so far, probably going to put them on the rear too just so it’s a full set.

 

[timneedscoffee101]

Last update for the night… 170 miles, 20 of which were on local crappy roads in Boston, the rest highway, and she passed the ultimate test: backing into my driveway — hard right to line up, followed by cutting all the way left before centering out. Didn’t make a single creak, groan, pop, squeak or clunk.

As for the B6’s — they’re stiff, but by no means uncomfortable. DCC works as expected and all modes feel great. Very happy with them so far.

I’ve got all my local errands to run tomorrow, so lots of low speed parking lot maneuvers, and that’s usually when I start to notice things... but I’m very optimistic.

 

[19birel]

Question about that digital dash, does the turn signal noise sound weird?

I have seen a couple people complain about that but on versions from a couple years ago so curious if it still sounds funny or not haha

 

[timneedscoffee101]

Question about that digital dash, does the turn signal noise sound weird?

I have seen a couple people complain about that but on versions from a couple years ago so curious if it still sounds funny or not haha

Oh man ... I can't say I've paid any attention at all! I use my signal all the time and haven't noticed, so I'm going to go ahead and say it sounds normal... but now you've got me curious. I will be sure to pay attention next time I'm in the car.

 

[timneedscoffee101]

It's been a couple days, and a couple hundred miles. Lots of time navigating parking lots, and of course my ultimate test -- backing into the driveway (hard cuts in both directions). Not a single abnormal sound from the front suspension. VERY happy. The Billstein B6 are fantastic -- very comfortable, and totally pass the wife-test. I was actually even driving my 81 y/o mother in law around Boston on them and the only comment I got was that I have a nice car (and she doesn't know how to be facetious).