Stardate 26.03.2003--82000 km. H&R Sports and Bilsteins installed--yeeee haaaaw !!!

Stardate 20.03.2003--Dixie air horns installed. Long live the Dukes of Hazzard!

Stardate 13.03.2003--Installed toggle switch for Dixie air horns.

Stardate 13.03.2003--Driver's side mirror housing replaced. Now both outside mirrors are fully functional. See Stardate 25.02.2003

Stardate 11.03.2003--81128 km. Cleaned the K&N Filter for the first time. It's a bit early, but I did it anyway.

Stardate 07.03.2003--After I goofed a bit and broke a couple of parts I got it fixed.

Stardate 01.03.2003--Our esteemed premier who was arrested for drunk driving raised gas taxes by 3.5 cents per liter and it came into effect today. Premium gas is now hovering around $1 per litre!

Stardate 25.02.2003--80860 km. Replaced the motor mechanism in the right side (passenger) mirror because it was no longer folding properly. The problem occurred quite awhile ago and it was caused by people physically unfolding the mirror. It happened when I was parked at Metrotown Mall and returned to find the mirror bent back 180º. (What's with Metrotown, anyway? Every time I park there my mirrors get bent. People just can't keep their hands to themselves!) Part numbers and pictures to follow. Actually, after Westmount Motors replaced it, they told me that the left side (driver's) mirror was also broken. That's really strange because it was working perfectly fine after my 80,000km service--the mechanic at Westminster VW tested it in front of me. I never used it since. After my appointment at the dealership on 11.02.2003, I noticed that the mirror knob had been switched to the heat position. Strange .

Stardate 12.02.2003--Ordered a couple of accessories from JC Whitney. One is an exhaust tip and the other is a salute to my childhood (hint: I grew up in TV land). They're being shipped to my brother in Maryland, so it will be a while before I get them and can actually get them installed. (The exhaust tip is back-ordered and won't ship until March 13.)

Stardate 11.02.2003--(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction. After 3 years and many incidents of questionable service quality and poor customer service, I will no longer bring my Passat to Westminster Volkswagen. The last straw started with the 80,000 km service which was finally resolved without satisfaction this week. Details to follow. I was going to have them fix the passenger side mirror, but instead I just bought the part they ordered for me and will get Westmount Motors to replace it for me. 

Stardate 30.01.2003--80375 km. Replaced original battery after it no longer kept a charge. I guess letting it go totally dead for 2 months last summer didn't do it any good. Finding a Group 48 battery was difficult because most places didn't carry it. I definitely didn't want to go to the dealership and Lordco was charging about $160 CAD. I looked at getting an Optima battery, but I didn't want to deal with fitment issues. So instead I went to Canadian Tire and paid $100 for a Motomaster 72 with a 24-month replacement warranty.

Note: I did have an amusing (if slightly aggravating) conversation with the parts counter clerk at Crappy Tire who insisted that Volkswagen did not make a V6 engine for the Passat and that all Passats (especially the "newest ones") had VR6 engines. Then he insulted me (a paying customer!) by saying that his girlfriend had bought a Jetta recently because the dealership told her it would hold it's value more than the Passat. Then he tried to impress me by saying that his girlfriend paid $43,000 for the Jetta. Uh, yeah, that's right, buddy--you got such a good deal that the salesperson must have celebrated with you! Actually, the conversation became one-sided very quickly because I stopped contributing early on when I realized that this guy had no idea what he was talking about. He just wouldn't let it go however, and the more he talked the funnier it became. Sad.

Stardate 19.12.2002--Brought the car in for the 80,000 km service. Details to follow.

Stardate 09.11.2002--I received two documents from ashman78 (ClubB5) that should be very helpful to other owners: B5 Oil Change Instructions and B5 Manual Transmission Fluid Change Instructions.

Stardate 16.07.2002--After a long ordeal with FedEx Ground ( the driver delivered the package to a different street name, in a different town, with a different postal code ; one week later when he went to get it back, the driver didn't know who he delivered it to and had to knock on every door in the apartment complex ; a week after that, he couldn't find my house again so dispatch had to print out a map from MapQuest to help him ; when he still couldn't find it after the weekend , another person had to accompany him to find my house and throw it on my doorstep ), I finally received the Tiptronic shift knob adapter from Supreme Power Parts. Yes, it is expensive, but it's much better than my Dr. Frankenstein project. The package was delivered opened and I was a bit worried that the part would be missing , but I think everything was included. There was the adapter and an allen key, and strangely enough, a poster for a Harley Davidson V-Rod motorcycle. The picture shows a side-by-side comparison with the SPP part and my do-it-yourself project. The fit of the SPP is perfect, although there is a bit of wiggle in the knob--I suppose there wasn't that much wiggle in my adapter because the fit was a bit too tight (it didn't drop down smoothly like the SPP adapter.) UPDATE: There's been some discussion at ClubB5 about the fitment of the SPP Tip Adapter. There are complaints that it fits too loosely and there's posts about fixing the problem. I don't have any issues but you may want to do a search on the topic.

Stardate 12.07.2002--VW Drivers of Vancouver cruise/GTG to Cypress. Pictures here.

Stardate 02.07.2002--Finally got the rear passenger door fixed (see Stardate 15.09.2001). At the same time I had them repaint the lower panels on the driver's side because I had bent them by accident and the paint was starting to chip. Service at the place I took it to (Mark's Auto Body in PoCo) was great--they fixed a paint defect on the rear bumper cover from the last time and thoroughly cleaned and vacuumed the interior. They even wrapped the driver's seat and steering wheel in plastic so that it wouldn't get dirty.

Stardate 01.03.2002--Updated the gallery with new pictures taken tonight as well as pictures of various get-togethers and cruises I've been to. 

Stardate 27.02.2002--71021 km. Valvoline Synpower Fuel System Cleaner added. 

Stardate 05.02.2002--69610 km. Rear brakes replaced with cross-drilled rotors and Mintex pads.

Stardate 15.11.2001--64959 km. Dealer performed major service. 

Stardate 10.11.2001--64809 km. I had my first hiccup with the car today--an electrical problem. UPDATE: 14.11.2001 Problem resolved . Read about it here. 

Stardate 10.11.2001--Second annual VW Club of Vancouver Cruise to Hope. With 31 cars, it was a great turn-out and we really lucked out with the weather . Here are the pictures I took: Part One and Part Two and here's a link to some pictures from Squishy, Deception, nate1.8t, and vw4life. 

Stardate 03.11.2001--Seattle GTG at University Village Starbucks in the U District. Lots of fun! 

Stardate 24.09.2001--I made my ICBC claim today (see Stardate 15.09.2001). The repair estimate is about $435. I only have to pay my $100 deductible and I have 2 years to get the repairs done. It's covered under the Comprehensive portion of my insurance so it won't affect my rates. I might buy something for the car so the body shop can paint it at the same time. 

Stardate 24.09.2001--Geocities was proving to be too unreliable so I moved my webpage to b5glx.com. 

Stardate 20.09.2001--Mental note to self: Do not use windshield washer fluid while sunroof is open. 

Stardate 16.09.2001--I bought a new steering wheel cover for the car because I was feeling kinda down (see Stardate 15.09.2001). I like this one because I think it looks more sporty. It makes the steering wheel really thick, though. I also bought a smiley face air freshener to hang from the rear view mirror-- unexpected side benefit: my wife loves the smell ("drives her crazy") so I may start wearing one around my neck, too . 

Stardate 15.09.2001--My car got keyed !!! It was parked for about an hour on the sidewalk outside an apartment building after dinner, and I'm pretty sure that's when it happened. It wasn't a bad neighborhood, but I guess some brainless idiot had nothing better to do ! I didn't notice the scratch until I was at home the next morning when I opened up the garage. The damage is almost the entire length of the rear passenger door--I'll never understand senseless vandalism . From a distance you can't see it, but from certain angles it's really noticeable. My appointment with ICBC is next week.

Stardate 07.09.2001--Whoo hoo! Directly from Vienna, I just received the aspherical driver's side mirror. It's a wide angle mirror that allows me to see objects behind me starting from the rear passenger door, across to two lanes on my left. It's only available on European VWs. While it's possible to order one for the UK market (RH drive) and install the mirror on both sides, I thought I would try and stay authentic and have it only on the driver's side. Boy, it sure is nice having relatives over there! 

Stardate 06.09.2001--Well, it's almost been a month since I got the wider tires. Here are my impressions. 

Stardate 09.08.2001--57088 km - 3 x Pirelli P7000SS ~ R.I.P. Well, I finally got a new set of tires! See above. 

Stardate 24.07.2001--The stock VW badge on my trunk was crooked and needed to be removed, so taking inspiration from Boris's Badge Mod, I decided to try out the blue/white emblem from the 1.8T engine cover (Part #038-103-940-F, $23.60 CAD). I knew it looked good on dark colours, but on silver? Anyway, all silver BMWs come with a blue/white badge on their trunk lids.

It was pretty easy to remove the black ring from the emblem, and although it was smaller than stock, it fits perfectly in the indent left behind on the trunk lid.

I'm really not sure about which way to go, so I'm going to keep it on to see how it grows on me. I may or may not keep it on. Here's what it looks like. UPDATE: I decided there was something lacking so with a little extra work, the badge now has a black/chrome border. I like this look better, because I think the black ring visually "anchors" the badge to the car better. Here's what it looks like now. 

Stardate 24.07.2001--56297 km - Dealer performed 52500 km/21 month service which is just an oil change ($50.49 CAD). I don't understand why their numbers are so weird. I'm sticking to my schedule of 5000 mile/8000 km service as stated in the maintenance schedule from VW. Dealer Update: I'm really happy with the service and parts people at my VW dealer. The guys in parts are always friendly, even when I ask for strange things I see on the Internet. And Bill in service always sees that my car gets taken care of properly. The issue of the damaged rock/splash guard under the engine has finally been resolved (after 2 months of waiting, see Stardate 19.05.2001). They originally were going to order one in for me, but after following up on it, I was informed that the part itself was quite expensive. What they did instead today was swap my damaged rock guard for another one off of another car on their lot. 

Stardate 18.07.2001--1 x Pirelli P7000SS ~ R.I.P. I got a nail this morning, well, I guess it looked more like a large 1" rivet. I wasn't losing any air but I could hear a clicking noise as I drove. The tire shop wouldn't fix a bald tire, so I had to buy a used one instead. It cost me $48 CAD. Boy, that Pirelli was in bad shape! I'll have to get new tires soon! 

Stardate 15.07.2001--Bug Nationals at Seattle International Raceway. It was OK but the weather wasn't as good as last year and there weren't as many cars. At least we knew to avoid the $8 USD/$12.50 CAD hamburgers! The pictures I took are sorted in to different albums (Burnouts, drag races, car show, parking lot cars). See the good, the bad, and the ugly here. 

Stardate 14.07.2001--Washed the wheels today with a new cleaner I got from Canadian Tire: Maguire's Hot Rims. It works awesome because it cleaned stuff that I thought couldn't get clean anymore! It's expensive $10/bottle and you use a lot, but it works really, really well. Stuff that I had given up on and had been black for months, is now shiny, silver clean!

Stardate 10.07.2001--Rotated the tires today. The fronts are looking pitiful. They are generally bald, but there is extra wear on the inner two inches. Hmmm...the rears don't look so bad anymore. I wonder if the dealer rotated the tires for me at the last service--that would have been a first! Confirmed the size of the Ronal wheels: 7.5x16 ET 35. 

Stardate 30.06.2001--With over 47000 km on the Pirelli P7000SS, traction--even in the dry--is bad. When I accelerated hard from a stop into a 90-degree turn, the wheels broke loose and I fish-tailed through the corner. Several months ago, the tire shop recommended against rotating because the camber on the rear tires made the inner two inches wear faster: the fronts thus had a better tread. It is not the case now because I have not shown the tires any mercy. I guess I'll rotate the tires one more time before they are put to rest. 

Stardate 13.06.2001--Japanese-market accessories added to car. This is the write-up. 

Stardate 25.05.2001--Rock chip on new windshield repaired. ICBC cost = $53.58 CAD. My cost = $0. Quote from glass shop: "Hey, we just worked on this car!" 

Stardate 23.05.2001--49206 km, new cross-drilled rotors and brake pads installed. Info here. Dealer Update: I visited the dealer on Tuesday to show them the engine splash protector thingy (I'll have to look up the real name later) and the clips left on the engine. Apparently, the clips don't belong to that part--hmm, I wonder where they came from then? They will replace the part (ETA: 1 week), but not before one of the advisors tried to tell me that I hit something--"Just look at it, there was an impact." Uh, yeah, because when I got on the highway, it fell and dragged on the ground for about 200 meters!!! 

Stardate 19.05.2001--Arrgh!!! This has not been a good weekend for the car. As I was hosing it down tonight, I noticed that the lower panel on the driver's door had been bent and some of the paint had peeled off. I'm sure I didn't hit anything.... That whole side eventually has to be painted again. No regrets, though. The damage is still hard to see and the improvement in looks with the lower panels painted makes it all worth it. I would definitely do it again. 

Stardate 19.05.2001--Arrgh!! The plastic splash tray under the engine dropped and started to drag on the ground. I figure the service people who did the oil change didn't put it on correctly (clips missing) and when it caught some wind, it fell down and was dragging like a scoop. Evidence (20 May): Checked the oil this morning and what did I find? Two clips left sitting on top of the engine! Dealership is closed until Tuesday! BTW, if you want people to get out of your way, drag a large plastic sheet along the ground as you drive down the road--people give you strange looks and then move aside as if your car is about to explode. 

Stardate 18.05.2001--Arrgh! Only two days after a brand new windshield, I get a little chip from a rock! I think it may be expanding, but I can't get it repaired until Tuesday, after the long weekend. 

Stardate 17.05.2001--Got some pricing for Brembo cross-drilled rotors and Mintex RedBox pads. Appointment is this Wednesday to do the front brakes. 

Stardate 17.05.2001--Pirelli P7000SS are near their end and almost right down to the wear indicators now after about 42000 km. I've heard a lot of good things about the Dunlop SP5000 and they should last longer so I'll probably get those next. 

Stardate 16.05.2001--48489 km, Dealer performed 45000 km service (Mobil 1, 5w30), CSAN fault memory and set basics, top all fluids, Silver NB loaner: $121.96 CAD. Replaced cracked rainsensor windshield with OEM: $100 deductible; rain-sensor back-ordered (installed two days later). Intermittent cruise control fix: operating to manufacturer's specifications. Grinding brakes fix: new pads and rotors required. Time to go shopping! mailto:laurissa1952@canada.com mailto:brucenguyen@canada.com

Stardate 12.05.2001--[RANT] [/RANT]  mailto:laurissa1952@canada.com mailto:brucenguyen@canada.com

Stardate 29.04.2001--Attended SpringMeet 2001 in Puyallup, WA. Did you know that VW put a speed-limiter in this thing?! 

Stardate 24.03.2001--MOMO door sills installed. mailto:laurissa1952@canada.com mailto:brucenguyen@canada.com

Stardate 22.02.2001--MOMO shift knob installed. Details here. 

Stardate 22.02.2001--40388 km, Mobil 1 (5w 30), brake fluid flushed and Recall Campaign WL completed today--alluminum tie rod end replaced. 

Stardate 05.02.2001--Updated the photo gallery. 

Stardate 04.01.2001--37371 km, Valvoline Synthetic Fuel System Cleaner. Recommended use interval: 12 months. 

Stardate 12.11.2000--These are some of the latest pics of from our last GTG. Side Action 1 ~ Action 2 ~ Action 3 ~ Action 4 ~ Action 5 ~ Action 6 ~ HIDs in Action 

Stardate 2.11.2000--Lower panels painted to match body colour. 

Stardate 30.09.2000--The look is complete! City lights are now operational. I also had OSRAM Diadem signal lights put in; they're a single filament clear bulb that blinks amber. I love 'em. Here's a close-up picture of the bulb--and, yes, at certain angles it does look psychadelic. 

Stardate 21.09.2000--Yaaa! Woohoo! Done! The HID install was actually really easy. Details and pictures are here.

Plus, since there seems to be a lot of interest on suspension upgrades at VWvortex and ClubB5, I've made this available here: information on the Volkswagen 1BE sport suspension (a 22k word doc) that includes, prices, part numbers, and impressions by .