Satin Silver GLE 2.0

[Lionbeard]

Wow, it's looking great so far! I actually quite like the two-tone seats; I didn't get that luxury in my '03 model
I'm also really interested in the steering wheel you've gotten and am going to agree with Robbie - we need more info!

[kdevitt]

You basically supply them with the wheel, and they'll retrim it how you want. Normal options are colour, type of leather (nappa / perforated), extra padding, colour and style of stitching, and whether you want thumb grips added or not. Jack who runs the place has done loads of wheels for people off my old BMW site, no complaints from anyone I know.

Taking your steering wheel off and shipping it to the UK will obviously add a lot of money onto the job - so I buy my wheels from ebay in the UK, and have them delivered to him. Makes life easier. Shipping for the wheel back to me (had an airbag - so was heavier than normal) was GBP47. Retrimming cost was GBP120. Wheel with airbag was GBP35 - bargain!

Got this one done for my MkV - but never fitted it, turns out I bought a wheel that wouldn't take multi function buttons.





Heres one of the options I had for the current wheel - more or less the same, but with lower thumb grips as well.

[kdevitt]

What have you got planned next for the MK4 Ken?

Need to get the central locking working - trying to figure out if its the locking module in the door, or the comfort module. Locks all doors from the passenger side, and unlocks all doors from the drivers door. Pretty irritating.

Next up to fit is the H&R kit, should arrive early next week. Have the comfort indicators kit to arrive as well. Then need to finish off the interior.

[kdevitt]

Got the steering wheel fitted today - makes a huge difference. Feels great anyway - the old stock plastic one was awful.





Also got the new centre armrest fitted. Need to get my hands on a new handbrake handle quickly

[kdevitt]

Finished up work for Christmas last Friday, so a chance to do more work on the car.

Have been trying to source a set of colour coded rubstrips for the bumpers and doors, but haven't come across a set, so decided to do them myself. Did plenty of searches for how to remove the rubbing strips on the doors, but there was conflicting information about whether or not they could be removed without damaging them. The strips are held on purely with adhesive tape - no clips. Some people suggested using fishing line or dental floss to get them off - didn't have any fishing line, but the dental floss only succeeded in marking my finger. Have since read that heating the strips with a heat gun will soften the glue enough for the fishing line / floss to cut through, but am happy enough with how my approach went.

First up I masked around the strips -



Then I used a blade to cut between the edge of the strip and the door - the masking tape is only being used to protect the area of the door above and below the trim. With the first bit of adhesive cut, I was able to gently insert a scraping knife between the door and trim.



Gently prise the trim away from the door - only enough to create enough space for a razor. You can then cut the adhesive tape. Just work your way along the strip. Just take your time, don't be overly aggressive and you will get the trim off in one very re-usable piece.



Et voila



This will unfortunately leave a lot of adhesive tape on the door - this needs to come off. Easiest way to do this is with a caramel wheel / eraser wheel. Have previously used one of these on my E30 - and despite being pretty safe on your paintwork, you can cut through it easily enough if you use a drill. Today I used a cordless screwdriver / drill - its easier to use, and does the job perfectly.



Again, just take your time and it'll clear off all the excess tape.



First step in colour coding the rub strips is obviously to remove the texture. This can be done in two ways - by either rubbing them done, applying high coat primer, rubbing down again, and then two more coats of high build followed by a final rubdown - or sanding down the texture and then high coat primering. The first approach is actually quicker - but I went for the second one as it was more effective on the MKV sideskirts I did a while back.

Used a 120 grit pad on a detail sander - an orbital would be preferable, but I wasn't bothered buying one just to do these. To make life easier, I quickly mounted them on some cardboard - the rubstrips have guide pins on the back that line up with the door, so I made matching holes in the cardboard.



After a few runs with the sander its taking shape nicely



One or two spots to be re-done



Next up is to shoot a coat of plastic primer -



Before this has dried fully, shoot your first coat of primer -



This will be followed by two coats of high build - after which it will be rubbed back, and shot with colour and clear coat. Will post more photos when I make more progress!

[kdevitt]

Got all the prep finished today, so should be able to wrap up these tomorrow. The front and rear rubstrips were a bit more involved as you'd expect due to their size. You need to remove the bumpers to get them out properly - not as big a job as it sounds.

Same process as before - some photos after they were rubbed down.





Once all the parts were plastic primed, I put down a coat of high build primer - bought it at VG Autopaints in Girraween. They also mixed up the colour for the top coat.





Once dried, there is still a visible texture on the plastic. The general idea is that the high build will fill the indentations on the part. Removing the texture by sanding, prior to primering, means there is less risk of sinkage when the paint dries over time.



After a rub down - looks a lot better



Once I'd sanded all the parts, I put down another coat of primer. This was mainly to cover areas which had needed more initial sanding resulting in some plastic showing through.

As this was the final coat of primer, I wet sanded it down and have left it to dry overnight. Looks fine now - colour goes on tomorrow!

[robbie]

Good to see the hard work still continuing Ken; it really is a pleasure reading your build threads and seeing how much time and sweat you put into lifting your cars whether it be big or small changes. From me it definitely is all worth it!

The body coloured bumpers really do lift the appeal of the car compared to those textured plastic bits that just make the car feel cheap and old I just wish I followed through with that quote I got to have all the exterior plastic bits body coloured for $1200 but it wasn't worth it for what the car was worth.

Are you doing the door handles as well?

Keep it up bud!

[kdevitt]

I'll be doing the door handles alright - I need to replace the lock actuator and have the part on the way, so might take that opportunity to spray them up. Have considered just buying new ones and spraying them, and just replacing the ones that are on the car. Unfortunately the car is constantly used (mainly by the wife) so while I can get away with having the rub strips off for a few days, I don't think I can leave the door handles off for so long

[bruce93]

Hi kdevitt

Really like what you've done to the golf!

I too have a Silver GLE and want to do some similar stuff to mine.

Just wondering where you got the sports seats from and if you don't mind roughly how much?

Thanks,
Bruce

[JustCruisn]

Nice to see it done properly. The last guy to show us his work just masked them off and hit it on the car.