EnjoyTheView (Adam)

My Volkswagen Passat was the first car that I ever owned. I received it as a gift from my parents after I graduated High School. From the moment I set eyes on her, I knew that I was going to be happy. I remember how I would just go outside, sit in the car, and play around with everything. I knew that I wanted to mod the car, but I really did not know anything about cars other than what I read in Car & Driver. So I would sit online all day and search for Passat related 'body kits,' rims, performance mods, pretty much anything I could find. And for the most part I could not find anything (I got my car in June of 2001, so the B5.5 was new and there was not much out there for me to find). Thus I decided to do some universal mods and so it began...

The first thing that I had done to my car was window tint all around (35% Front, 15% Rear) This was the first step in the direction that I wanted to take my black beauty. Other than that I kept the car stock for about half a year. At this point I decided to upgrade the stereo and did so with two MTX 10" subwoofers, an MTX 450 Amp, and an Alpine CDA head unit. Right around this time, I stumbled upon a fairly young web forum called Clubb5. I had seen the site before but dismissed it because there were no photo galleries for the most part. But once I realized the helpfulness of a forum, the true growth of my car began.

Once I got a chance to actually interact with other Passat owners I began to exponentially learn things about my car. I remember when I first changed the stock air filter for a K&N; I was so scared that I would damage the car, ahh kids. Since that point I've learned so much from all the guys on forums like B5one, VWVortex, and ClubB5. I now pretty much do all the work on my car, except for tasks in which an airgun makes things easier.

I must say that my experience with this car can be expressed as a love-hate relationship. In that I absolutely love the way the car looks and handles, but I utterly hate it when something goes wrong. However, if it were not for things going wrong in my car I am positive that I would not have learned so much along the way. I do not know what my black beauty has in store for me in the future, but as long as I own this car I vow to continue modding it with the same respect to European styling and finesse.

On one final note, I would like to once again thank everybody who is a part of the B5 community. Without you guys I would probably be some ricer with a giant wing on the back of my car. Becoming a part of this community at such a young age has privy me to the knowledge of what 'Euro' is all about; I am profoundly grateful to be oneB5 for September '05.

Mods

Engine/Performance/Suspension:

• GIAC K03 performance chip
• GIAC Tiptronic transmission chip
• Evolution Motorsports Air Intake
• Forge Motorsports Diverter Valve
• Brullen stainless steel Catback dualtip Exhaust with 2.5" Downpipe
• Blitz Electronic Turbo Timer/Boost gauge
• KW Height Adjustable Variant 1 Coilover system

Wheel/Tire:

• 18x17.5 Flik Wasp-A
• 225/40R18 Falken Azenis ST115
• Exterior/Interior
• Hoefle Badgeless Grille
• Kamie Upper/Lower Eyelids
• 15% Rear Tint
• 20% Front Tint
• Painted Unders
• OEM replaced with Ultra Whites
• Monster Mats rubber floor mats
• Supreme Power Parts Tiptronic Adapter
• Ichibahn Shift Knob
• Tinted Tails
• Tinted Sidemarkers
• Tinted Bumper Reflectors
• Tinted Headlights
• InPro Chrome Mirror Covers
• Chrome Door Handle Covers
• JE Design Front Bumper Molded to stock Bumpercover

Mobile Electronics/Stereo:

• Alpine CDA-7995
• 2 10" MTX Subwoofers
• MTX 450 Watt Amp
• Pioneer Motorized In-Dash TV
• Custom Mounted Playstation 2 under glovebox
• Audio transfer switch for playstation

Other oneB5s

B5one is a licensed club of Volkswagen