I purchased my Passat in March of 2000 from Devon Hill VW in Devon, PA- they are good guys! I took delivery on the 24th, and I have been enjoying the ride ever since.
It is Indigo Blue with a grey velour interior. It has a five speed manual transmission with the 1.8 litre turbo engine. It came with the luxury package of a sunroof, rear tonneau, and Adelaide wheels (I like them!!). I also purchased the CD-6 changer to go with the Monsoon head unit. I got the CD-6 as a peace offering to my spouse since he wanted the Tip! I also have the VW roof rack crossbars.
My first mod was a customisation. I replaced the shift knob and boot with a gobKnob bubble ball and a custom boot which I made myself. I have a pattern and instructions for those who wish to make their own boots, too. The shifter shaft is an unusual thread- 12mm, 1.5 thread pitch, so you have to get a special tap! Dad machined out the stainless steel fitting which screws onto the shaft. I am planning a surprise *upgrade* for this spring to this knob system. Keep checking the forums at clubB5 for more on this!
2/01 – I recently swapped out the rear interior light for the switched version. This is the same reading light that is found over the rear doors in the cabin. The part cost $22, and the install took about 2 minutes. This is very nice for late night grocery runs with the kids- you can turn off the light and let them sleep!
4/01 – The AlienWindow remote window controller is an excellent modification to make to your car. It allows you to control the windows from your VW switchblade remote. I just did it, and it’s great! It took me about one and a half hours to get done and was a good afternoon project. I took some pictures of the install while I had the car apart.
5/01 – My Euroswitch has arrived from the Pottermen! What nice people out there in CA, they sent me M&M’s with the part. Order from www.parts4vws.com. I have installed it, now I must run the wires for my rear fogs. I also explored the underside of the dashboard – kind of a pain to get into, but there are many goodies underneath there! Including relay 173. I expect to be removing that soon, when I finally convert to clear corners and those fabulous PolarG blue bulbs!
Rear fogs are in! I had some trouble with the wiring, You must go up and over the hatch in the variant, something I did not anticipate when I soldered up my wiring harness. You need 20′ of wire, 13 feet from front to back, and 7 feet from side to side. I have caught some flack for wiring up both sides, but I think that it looks better. I am also thinking about slaving the brake lights into the fogs with the dual diode arrangement, so I need the wire over there anyway. I also hooked up the dash indicator. This was a bit difficult as I had trouble with the plug in the back of the tachometer. It was difficult to get out. But, done and over with, so I am happy.
I added the sunglass holder also this month. Unfortunately, the dealer was only able to get the Passat (3B0) part, so I am stuck with the chrome strip. It doesn’t look as bad as I thought it would in my otherwise chrome-free car.