Chrome Obsession

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ljeverson
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2016 8:42 pm

Chrome Obsession

Post by ljeverson »

So I've been getting into my chrome add-ons big time in an attempt to spec up my B8 SE business estate and thought I'd share my progress! In my humble opinion it's all a big improvement over the look of the factory spec. I've added a genuine VW stick-on chrome strip to the boot lid, and the rest of it is OEM stuff from Luxell Europe and German company I can't remember the name of but it was through amazon.de. I've added a load-in area bumper protector (already a little bit dented due to frequent loading of heavy rock band amps), and I like the way the two chrome pieces "meet" on the boot's bottom edge. I'm also quite chuffed with the addition of chrome rear exhaust louvres which are usually only found on the BiTDI, R line or GTE versions. I decided to peel off the cheap sticky-back plastic black insert sections and replace them using 3M matte carbon fibre - not the most professional job up close but it looks fine at a distance of a few feet. Probably the nicest addition which is the chrome bonnet and headlights strip to the front which really gives it that premium spec feel (I gather this was only standard with the premium LED lights). Finally I added a set of OEM interior door sills with a nice passat logo (from Turkey!) and I couldn't resist the genuine VW GTI sports pedals. Chrome-tastic!

I must confess it did become a bit of an obsession at one point, but I've managed to resist the allure of the bottom chrome edging around the doors/sides (I mercifully can't find any front or rear edging for the estate version - only saloon versions). I am still tempted to swap out my "silver carbon" plastic trim for some brushed aluminium for the interior. I'm too paranoid of ballsing up the installation doing it myself with some pry-tools though. And I'd need to ensure I kept the original buttons in place because I have the DCC suspension and area view buttons. But no ESC disable button like I see on some versions!? Perhaps time will tell on those particular indulgences. One thing I am genuinely lusting after is the chrome loading-in sill for the boot interior's edge. My grey/black plastic one is getting a bit worn already and I've seen reviews of the continental passat estates which seem to get that feature (probably on the higher spec versions but it looks great - could only find a left hand drive version from a breaker on ebay - I'm not sure how easy that would be to swap out with the existing one).

Happy chroming if this has inspired you at all!

Cheers, Lee
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