VW R32 MK5 DSG DBP
Discussion
Could I get enough acronyms in the title?! 
I've been meaning to start a thread on here for ages, I finally got it all typed up on another forum recently so I've copied over from there.
Having owned quite an array of VAG cars previously, including MK1's (G60 & G40), MK2's (16v, VR6 & Rallye) I'd always lusted after an R32, a very distinctive engine note, sometimes referred to as a wookie sound and I just don't see many hatchbacks being made again with a V6, narrow bank or otherwise. Hopefully it will make a nice stop gap to a C63. Deep Blue Pearl was the only colour choice for me, being what I've always associated an R32 with since they first released the MK4
I've always liked OEM+ and these days prefer that much closer to the OEM side. This was a nicely specced car, with the (expensive) optional Wingback Recaro seats. Being 12 years old now they're getting to the age they need a little money spending to keep them in tip top condition, lots out there have been ragged or neglected due to some unusually high costs like £570 a year VED...
This will be my daily driver, doing around 15-20k a year, so it's always a challenge to keep it as clean as I like, especially in the colder months.
On first arrival:
Washed, decontaminated (Gyeon Iron, Tar & Bilt Hamber clay)
Autoglym Super Resin Polish
Sonax BSD
Autosol metal polish & grade 0000 wire wool on exhaust tips
Light rain and the beading with BSD is excellent
I bought some Gliptone product to help with a shiny steering wheel. I need to get a bit braver working with leather as I think I was far too cautious and only improved it about 20%.
Next up was Gyeon CanCoat, 2 coats spread out by a few days. Very very impressed with this product and just how far it goes, lovely gloss too. I also used ceramic coated the glass with a GTechniq G1 and GTechniq C4 Permanent Trim Restorer.
Brand new OEM suspension was fitted next, Sachs shocks front and rear along with all new dust covers, drop links, top mounts & bearings. I opted for H&R 25mm lowering springs to give a subtle drop, just to close the arch gap a touch while retaining the OEM ride quality.
Much better but still a slight issue with the offside of the steering rack to sort that's booked in for this month.
My first venture into Polish Angel products after reading about them on here. I have definitely been wowed by them and I'll certainly be investing in more in the near future. Very easy to apply and I've honestly never seen teh gloss or flake in the paint look as good. Beading appears nice too.
When giving a wash, I had noticed some areas of the front chrome grill you just can't get to easily enough so a full strip down of that area was in order. Some Autosol chased away a little oxidisation that was in hard to reach areas. All grill trim was coated in CarPro PERL and behind the grill, along with the chrome part were coated in Gyeon CanCoat.
I also removed the sagging bonnet sound deadening, cleaned, Gyeon CanCoat & High Gloss to finish.
Not being happy with the condition of the front brakes, or the fading colour on the OEM calipers I decided that a full refresh was in order.
OEM ATE Discs
EBC Yellow stuff pads
OEM dust guards, carrier bolts & pad clips
I even put a coat of CanCoat on the dust guards before fitting... (can you tell I love this product yet!?)
Arch liners were cleaned and dressed with CarPro PERL. I think in future I will replace these for new OEM items.
The calipers were split and the carriers removed, much cleaning and prep took place before they had some new coats of the OEM colour, Ultra Marine Blue.
And finished:
Fully refurbishing the wheels was something I had put off for sometime, wanting to find the right place I could trust to do a job that was both up to my standards and included the OEM machined lip the 18" Omanyt's have. I was not disappointed
On return home they were fully coated after about a week in GTechniq C5 Wheel Armour and once cured I regularly top up with Polish Angel Supersport PTFE Wheel Sealant. I've also changed my tyre dressing to Swissvax Pneu, I love it's matt finish and it lasts well for a water based product.
A few shots to celebrate:
(this shot was prior to switching to Pneu, I think this was PERL)
I bought a Raceglaze filter. I should have bought one years ago! My driveway has sun for most of the day so it was a real effort to not get water marks on sunnier days.
Zaino Z8 Grand Finale had been on my radar for some time, having read discussions about it here. When it became available I jumped on it. It does indeed give a lovely finish, although doesn't seem to last very well through regular washing in my experience.
If you've read this far, first well done! We're nearly up to date.
My recent MOT showed that the rear tyres have been worn right down on the inner edge, probably in part due to the lowering (nearly -2deg rear camber). 4 new Michelin PS4's and a Hunter 4 wheel alignment should prevent the same from happening again.
I've collected most of the parts required to do a complete overhaul on the rear brakes now, including:
New OEM rear calipers
New OEM rear carriers
OEM discs
EBC Yellow Stuff pads
I'm looking forward to getting this job done, as that will move me nicely onto paint... which I'll cover another time!
A couple of detailing products I've bought recently and rate
MTM Hydro PF22. I changed the orifice to 1.1mm. Now even Bilt Hamber at 5% wants to look like shaving foam!
The Hagakuri wash sponge is lovely, and does a fine job on my car. I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable using it on paint when heavily soiled though. I may switch back to something else for the winter months.
Thanks for reading this far, that was a pretty epic first post but it's bought things bang up to date. I pride myself on trying to part with cars in a better condition than they came to me in I've owned this for about 18 months now, loved every minute of it so far.
I've been meaning to start a thread on here for ages, I finally got it all typed up on another forum recently so I've copied over from there.
Having owned quite an array of VAG cars previously, including MK1's (G60 & G40), MK2's (16v, VR6 & Rallye) I'd always lusted after an R32, a very distinctive engine note, sometimes referred to as a wookie sound and I just don't see many hatchbacks being made again with a V6, narrow bank or otherwise. Hopefully it will make a nice stop gap to a C63. Deep Blue Pearl was the only colour choice for me, being what I've always associated an R32 with since they first released the MK4
I've always liked OEM+ and these days prefer that much closer to the OEM side. This was a nicely specced car, with the (expensive) optional Wingback Recaro seats. Being 12 years old now they're getting to the age they need a little money spending to keep them in tip top condition, lots out there have been ragged or neglected due to some unusually high costs like £570 a year VED...
This will be my daily driver, doing around 15-20k a year, so it's always a challenge to keep it as clean as I like, especially in the colder months.
On first arrival:
Washed, decontaminated (Gyeon Iron, Tar & Bilt Hamber clay)
Autoglym Super Resin Polish
Sonax BSD
Autosol metal polish & grade 0000 wire wool on exhaust tips
Light rain and the beading with BSD is excellent
I bought some Gliptone product to help with a shiny steering wheel. I need to get a bit braver working with leather as I think I was far too cautious and only improved it about 20%.
Next up was Gyeon CanCoat, 2 coats spread out by a few days. Very very impressed with this product and just how far it goes, lovely gloss too. I also used ceramic coated the glass with a GTechniq G1 and GTechniq C4 Permanent Trim Restorer.
Brand new OEM suspension was fitted next, Sachs shocks front and rear along with all new dust covers, drop links, top mounts & bearings. I opted for H&R 25mm lowering springs to give a subtle drop, just to close the arch gap a touch while retaining the OEM ride quality.
Much better but still a slight issue with the offside of the steering rack to sort that's booked in for this month.
My first venture into Polish Angel products after reading about them on here. I have definitely been wowed by them and I'll certainly be investing in more in the near future. Very easy to apply and I've honestly never seen teh gloss or flake in the paint look as good. Beading appears nice too.
When giving a wash, I had noticed some areas of the front chrome grill you just can't get to easily enough so a full strip down of that area was in order. Some Autosol chased away a little oxidisation that was in hard to reach areas. All grill trim was coated in CarPro PERL and behind the grill, along with the chrome part were coated in Gyeon CanCoat.
I also removed the sagging bonnet sound deadening, cleaned, Gyeon CanCoat & High Gloss to finish.
Not being happy with the condition of the front brakes, or the fading colour on the OEM calipers I decided that a full refresh was in order.
OEM ATE Discs
EBC Yellow stuff pads
OEM dust guards, carrier bolts & pad clips
I even put a coat of CanCoat on the dust guards before fitting... (can you tell I love this product yet!?)
Arch liners were cleaned and dressed with CarPro PERL. I think in future I will replace these for new OEM items.
The calipers were split and the carriers removed, much cleaning and prep took place before they had some new coats of the OEM colour, Ultra Marine Blue.
And finished:
Fully refurbishing the wheels was something I had put off for sometime, wanting to find the right place I could trust to do a job that was both up to my standards and included the OEM machined lip the 18" Omanyt's have. I was not disappointed
On return home they were fully coated after about a week in GTechniq C5 Wheel Armour and once cured I regularly top up with Polish Angel Supersport PTFE Wheel Sealant. I've also changed my tyre dressing to Swissvax Pneu, I love it's matt finish and it lasts well for a water based product.
A few shots to celebrate:
(this shot was prior to switching to Pneu, I think this was PERL)
I bought a Raceglaze filter. I should have bought one years ago! My driveway has sun for most of the day so it was a real effort to not get water marks on sunnier days.
Zaino Z8 Grand Finale had been on my radar for some time, having read discussions about it here. When it became available I jumped on it. It does indeed give a lovely finish, although doesn't seem to last very well through regular washing in my experience.
If you've read this far, first well done! We're nearly up to date.
My recent MOT showed that the rear tyres have been worn right down on the inner edge, probably in part due to the lowering (nearly -2deg rear camber). 4 new Michelin PS4's and a Hunter 4 wheel alignment should prevent the same from happening again.
I've collected most of the parts required to do a complete overhaul on the rear brakes now, including:
New OEM rear calipers
New OEM rear carriers
OEM discs
EBC Yellow Stuff pads
I'm looking forward to getting this job done, as that will move me nicely onto paint... which I'll cover another time!
A couple of detailing products I've bought recently and rate
MTM Hydro PF22. I changed the orifice to 1.1mm. Now even Bilt Hamber at 5% wants to look like shaving foam!
The Hagakuri wash sponge is lovely, and does a fine job on my car. I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable using it on paint when heavily soiled though. I may switch back to something else for the winter months.
Thanks for reading this far, that was a pretty epic first post but it's bought things bang up to date. I pride myself on trying to part with cars in a better condition than they came to me in
I've owned this for about 18 months now, loved every minute of it so far.Thanks
I chose the DSG simply because it's a daily car. Doing the amount of miles that I do, I'm quite happy not to shift manually. I also get to enjoy launch control & blips on downshift when in sport mode for my inner child! Had I been buying a second, garaged car I would have likely bought a MK4 R32 which only came in manual in this country
The RaceGlaze is a DI vessel that connects in line with my water supply to a hose out the other end, taking my locally hard water of nearly 300ppm to 0ppm. This means I never have to dry the car by hand & I get no water spots as a result Great item and I wish I had bought one years ago! It's saved me a ton of time both on my car & the Wife's and the resin inside wont need changing for around 18months.
I chose the DSG simply because it's a daily car. Doing the amount of miles that I do, I'm quite happy not to shift manually. I also get to enjoy launch control & blips on downshift when in sport mode for my inner child! Had I been buying a second, garaged car I would have likely bought a MK4 R32 which only came in manual in this country
The RaceGlaze is a DI vessel that connects in line with my water supply to a hose out the other end, taking my locally hard water of nearly 300ppm to 0ppm. This means I never have to dry the car by hand & I get no water spots as a result
Great item and I wish I had bought one years ago! It's saved me a ton of time both on my car & the Wife's and the resin inside wont need changing for around 18months.
Absolutely fantastic - had one of these myself (very similar spec) and it's great to see them still looking so good (and being so well looked after) after all these years. Absolutely top car.
I also have to agree wholeheartedly on the Raceglaze Filter. It's probably the single best piece of car cleaning stuff i've spent money on. Sounds like I have a similar problem to you, living in a hard water area with my driveway being in direct sunlight most of the day. The painful, frustrating business of drying without water spots is now a walk in the park.
I also have to agree wholeheartedly on the Raceglaze Filter. It's probably the single best piece of car cleaning stuff i've spent money on. Sounds like I have a similar problem to you, living in a hard water area with my driveway being in direct sunlight most of the day. The painful, frustrating business of drying without water spots is now a walk in the park.
Super looking car and a high standard of detailing there.
I have used a dI vessel for about 6 years now washing the car and it saves so much time not Having to dry the car. I think raceglaze must be carrying a scene tax Though as it’s essentially a window cleaners product, daqua for instance provide the same thing to window cleaners.
I have used a dI vessel for about 6 years now washing the car and it saves so much time not Having to dry the car. I think raceglaze must be carrying a scene tax Though as it’s essentially a window cleaners product, daqua for instance provide the same thing to window cleaners.
Thanks all, glad to hear there are a few other DI vessel converts! My drive also suffers with sun all day & this has been a godsend!
Nice to see a few former owners, I missed out on these first time around and went for an E46 M3 (no regrets!)
Today I stripped out the air box, all inlet parts and the fuse box cover from the engine bay.
Rubber seals were removed and coated in Gummi Pfledge while all the plastic parts were cleaned with CarPro Multi X (1:10), rinsed and left to dry on the decking for a while. I did a bit of cleaning of the areas that can't usually be reached but I could really spend a lot more time in those areas.
Next I dressed with neat CarPro PERL. Very happy with how they've come out, a nice matt finish.
I kept these parts clean and coated before but removing the mall has really allowed me to get right into all the awkward nooks.
Nice to see a few former owners, I missed out on these first time around and went for an E46 M3 (no regrets!)
Today I stripped out the air box, all inlet parts and the fuse box cover from the engine bay.
Rubber seals were removed and coated in Gummi Pfledge while all the plastic parts were cleaned with CarPro Multi X (1:10), rinsed and left to dry on the decking for a while. I did a bit of cleaning of the areas that can't usually be reached but I could really spend a lot more time in those areas.
Next I dressed with neat CarPro PERL. Very happy with how they've come out, a nice matt finish.
I kept these parts clean and coated before but removing the mall has really allowed me to get right into all the awkward nooks.
What a beautiful example and top job getting where it is now. Best colour and that's coming from someone who owns a black one (hell to keep clean with the sunny drive, familiar theme). I'll be using your exhaust cleaning method that looks spot on. Autosol on its own with cloth isn't doing that much currently.
Be interested to know how the suspension upgrade goes as they seem to snap standard rear springs loads.
Be interested to know how the suspension upgrade goes as they seem to snap standard rear springs loads.
Lovey that. I’ve always admired the R32, they’re not fast by today’s standards but the engine is so much more special than the modern turbo four pots and something we will never see again.
I’ve just got myself a W204 C63 for a similar reason, never again will a massive N/A V8 be put in a small saloon and I just had to experience it.
I’ve just got myself a W204 C63 for a similar reason, never again will a massive N/A V8 be put in a small saloon and I just had to experience it.
Six port, the suspension refresh has been on about 6 months at least now. no issues to report, just passed the MOT in the last 2 weeks and only the inner joint of the steering rack on the offside requiring some attention, which it's in the garage for as I type this.
Thanks for the other kind words. I've had faster cars but this feels & sounds like an occasion on all drives yet it can still be subtle when driving sedately. You'll be in 6th gear with the DSG by 30mph under normal driving but when you want a bit more theatre, it's right there.
I hope a W204 C63 will be it's future replacement, like you say, it's unlikely we'll see such fantastic engines as these again.
Thanks for the other kind words. I've had faster cars but this feels & sounds like an occasion on all drives yet it can still be subtle when driving sedately. You'll be in 6th gear with the DSG by 30mph under normal driving but when you want a bit more theatre, it's right there.
I hope a W204 C63 will be it's future replacement, like you say, it's unlikely we'll see such fantastic engines as these again.
love the sound of the R32 In my mk2.
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