Let the S5 mods begin (and a DIY step by step grill swap)

[rollininstyle04]

First off I want to introduce myself, my name is Jordan. Im not new to the modding scene. Here is my VW Passat that I have been building for the past 5ish years. I know its not some of your style, but its my baby and the S5 is the newest project (nothing as crazy as the Passat though): http://www.passatworld.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=138696

The car in question is a 2009 Brilliant Black S5. With under 30 miles on it the mods have started. Here is what was done today:

- Gloss Black S-Line grill with Gloss Black Filler plate (HUGE thanks to Tommy at Rival :) )
- Debadged rear S5 logo and debadged V8 logos on the side

I lastly wanted to thank Tony Nguyen of Trend Setting Motors for helping out significantly with the install today, if you are in the GA area or anywhere in the Southeast hes the man for whatever you want done. www.TrendSettingMotorsLLC.com

I did a little writeup with some steps on how to remove the bumper/swap the grill for those interested in doing it themselves.

Now on to the pictures of the install:

First things first, get the car jacked up so you can get the wheels off:



Then remove the 4 Torx 25 screws on the top panel under the hood:



After the screws are out there are 3 little metal push downs that you do just that, push down and the panel will pop off



What it looks like without the panel:



Me taking the lugs off (they were loosened with the car still on the ground)



Wheel's off!



Tony removing the inner wheel liner to get to the bumper bolts. You need to remove the bottom Torx screws then pop off a few clips



You dont need to fully remove the wheel liner, just enough to pull it back some and get to the bolts. Here you can see 2 of the bolts (10mm) below the headlight holding the bumper on:



Then there are some bolts underneath that need to be removed.



Tony repeating the process on the other side



There are 2 more Torx screws on the top (one on each side) that hold the bumper/grill in when it slides in, those also need to come out



Now its time to get the bumper off. Pull carefully to make sure nothing else is still holding it on. It takes some wiggling and some work, but it will come off pretty easily once you figure it out. Also you have to remove the airtemp sensor and disconnect the foglights before the bumper is free.



SUCCESS! Tearing apart a brand new car :)



Taking a look at the back of the new grill



Tony starting to disassemble the grill from the bumper



I didnt take to many pictures of the grill removal because it is pretty self explanatory when looking at it. All the screws are very easily visable. I started debadging the car at this point. However here is the new bumper/grill assembled.





Here you can see the V8 removed, some of you may wonder why I decided to take them off. Personally I like a cleaner badgeless look. The V8 there looked a little tacky to me.



Tony getting the bumper back on and in place



I moved on to debadgeing the rear. S what? LOL



Getting the wheels back on, passenger side all buttoned up:



Rear fully debadged.



Tony finishing up the drivers side



And now some finished shots of the days work (well only a couple hours worth of work, but you get the idea). I am very happy with the results, I think the gloss black looks SO much better than the gray plastic does on a Brilliant Black car!















I hope everyone likes it. I have a decent bit in store for the S5 so ill be around these forums learning what I can.

-Jordan

[Turn10]

Nice car. From here, at least what I have seen on other S5's that I really like is that they get a custom oval exhaust instead of the two pipes.

[yung turbo]

now it looks like an a5 with quad pipes. still sexy tho.

[Kemiksiz]

Sorry but for that efforts.. I really LOVE the S grille shape, colour everything. ITs just not good as it is. Also now its like an s5 wannabe with the alu mirrors..

But if you do like it, its fine for me!

[Tommy@Nemesis]

Awesome write-up Jordan! Can't wait to see more mods in the future

[xpdavidd]

love it...looks so clean...PIMP

anymore info on that black filler plate??

[rollininstyle04]

Sorry but for that efforts.. I really LOVE the S grille shape, colour everything. ITs just not good as it is. Also now its like an s5 wannabe with the alu mirrors..

But if you do like it, its fine for me!

How is it an S5 wannabe with the S5 bumpers, wheels, brakes, exhaust, oh yea and MOTOR. Its just a debadged S5, I personally think cars look cleaner without the badges. Its still an S5 to anyone who knows cars...and for those who dont, I could care less what the average passerby thinks.

[rollininstyle04]

Awesome write-up Jordan! Can't wait to see more mods in the future

Thanks Tommy! Are you going to end up putting the other black one on yours too?

[rollininstyle04]

love it...looks so clean...PIMP

anymore info on that black filler plate??

Talk to the guy that posted right above you

[MeteorS4Ti]

I personally would have not debadged a S5 and also why didn't you go for the GMG Front grille?

[rollininstyle04]

I personally would have not debadged a S5

Its a good thing its not your car then ;)

and also why didn't you go for the GMG Front grille?

I dont see a grill on GMGs site...however this one is exactly what I wanted...

[MeteorS4Ti]

I dont see a grill on GMGs site...however this one is exactly what I wanted...

That is all that matters ;)

[[email protected]]

Nice!
Keep it coming

[switchface]

The grill def fits nicely on the brillant black S5. I always wondered why the S5 got a grey filler plate and the A5 gets the (nicer IMO) gloss black...think it should be other way around.

Do you think the filler plate would stand out on a phantom car?

[[email protected]]

C'mon, keep the mods coming!!! :)

[quattro.it]

Great write-up ands pics! Welcome to Azine. Now your S5 looks like an A5 with S5 wheels. Not sure why someone would do this but hey, it's your car.

[A4natomical]

Nice and clean

[Auditude2.0T]

A5 Grill on an S5 backwards but ok:) looks nice though.

[mikej]

hehe..did the opposite (normal)
S5-grille + other stuff on my A5 .. + debadging
My glossy black A5 -grille is lying somewhere at work ;)
My oppinion was that the glossy black + black car removed some of the shapes from the car and I feel tha grey S5-grille enchances the black car more..
but thats just me =)

sorry for hijacking the thread ;)

Black standard 3.0TDI grille (glossy)


S5-wannabee-grille + mirrors and stuff


take care all and happy new year!
- mIke

[TonyD]

Looks great. Whats next? How about some wheels or exhaust?

[CanuckRS]

Looks good, nice job.

[rollininstyle04]

The grill def fits nicely on the brillant black S5. I always wondered why the S5 got a grey filler plate and the A5 gets the (nicer IMO) gloss black...think it should be other way around.

Do you think the filler plate would stand out on a phantom car?

I think it might stand out a little more on a Phantom car. The grill wouldnt have the metallic finish that the rest of the car does.

C'mon, keep the mods coming!!! :)

More coming soon, no worries

Great write-up ands pics! Welcome to Azine. Now your S5 looks like an A5 with S5 wheels. Not sure why someone would do this but hey, it's your car.

Thanks for the "Welcome" but check the join date, ive been here for a few Just introducing myself to the A5/S5 section since I havent ventured in here before.

As far as why...because I think it looks better. Pretty simple reason as to why I would do it. I could care less what car it came from. What if the new RS5 came with a Gloss Black grill (I know it wont, but what if it did) everyone would be all "Oh now it looks like an RS5 great upgrade." I mod to get the vehicle to look as I would like it to look. Where the parts came from are not a concern. I think a brillint black grill flows better with a brilliant black car. Simple enough.

Looks great. Whats next? How about some wheels or exhaust?

Hopefully both soon. Still trying to figure out what style wheels I want to go with. Id like to stick with one set, keep the wheel whore status for the Passat (on set 4 already there, looking at number 5 too )

[AUDITOPGUN]

nice job i love the new grill so what is the one thing you like the best about your S5.

[OEMplus.com]

Love the S-Line grill on black. Very classy.

[c6bel]

great write up...looks really good...though i'd like to see the S grille dipped in that gloss black....

[heateris]

looks great, your passat is also nice.

[Borg54]

Here is my S5 with a black-out S5 grill. not a great pick, but i really like what it did to the car. i hate chrome with a passion. It also has a blacked out grill surround.

[Hockenheim]

car looked great before you "modded" it

[Borg54]

car looked great before you "modded" it

I agree, and now it looks cleaner "moddeded."

just as we should "save the carbon fiber hoods for civics", we should save the chrome for hot-rods...

[rollininstyle04]

car looked great before you "modded" it

Thanks for your opinion

Glad you put quotes around modded like im throwing trash parts on the car, last time I checked its still all OEM Audi.

[rollininstyle04]

looks great, your passat is also nice.

Thanks

[Rippin]

Thanks for your opinion

Glad you put quotes around modded like im throwing trash parts on the car, last time I checked its still all OEM Audi.

I don't think he meant it that way. I'm guessing he doesn't consider an Audi grille swap to another Audi grille a notable modification, especially seeing that the grille that you removed is a distinctive visual cue for S series cars (vertical chrome).

[NewImageS4]

A5 parts on a S5

[quattro.it]

Rollin, looking at it again the A5 grille does look good on the black S5. Personally I wouldn't bother with that mod on a non-black S5. I'm not a fan of the debadged look but I know there are plenty of people out there who are. Obviously by posting pics here you are going to hear people's opinions.

[Borg54]

Agree. we are all big boys and we can take it. that is all part of the fun no? At the end of the day i just want the car to look good for me and look like "my" car.

I love the opinions.

j

[rollininstyle04]

Rollin, looking at it again the A5 grille does look good on the black S5. Personally I wouldn't bother with that mod on a non-black S5. I'm not a fan of the debadged look but I know there are plenty of people out there who are. Obviously by posting pics here you are going to hear people's opinions.

I am perfectly fine with other peoples opinions, and I completely understand that people are going to offer them when I post. Like I said before check my join date, I am not new to this stuff. I have been building the Passat for 5 years now and after $25k+ invested in that one aftermarket I have gotten my fair share of criticism. No hard feelings here trust me. Im not losing any sleep at night if you guys dont like my car. I build for me

[rollininstyle04]

I don't think he meant it that way. I'm guessing he doesn't consider an Audi grille swap to another Audi grille a notable modification, especially seeing that the grille that you removed is a distinctive visual cue for S series cars (vertical chrome).

Well he said the car looked good BEFORE I "modded" it, which means he thinks it looks worse now. Oh well...like I said, I thanked him for his opinion, I just dont care about it

[fetus4cletus]

Hate to bring up an old thread, but it looks like the photobucket pics got deleted, any chance you can rehost them?

[rollininstyle04]

Hate to bring up an old thread, but it looks like the photobucket pics got deleted, any chance you can rehost them?

All the pictures are here. Sorry my buddy re-organized his whole photobucket. Check them out:

http://s49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ill%20Install/

[b0ober]

haha very clean, i love the black grill with chrome frame. any plans on swapping to euro headlights?