S40 (New) General : S40 classy upgrade thread

[johnnybguud]

Originally Posted by dcw

I am slowly working on mine (as per the thread in the showroom). Don't know if you are interested but another easy upgrade is the auto dimming mirror - plenty on e-bay (just make sure you get the earlier one for our cars) and it's a straight plug & play...

David

That sounds dope, and easy to do, I'll have a look! Thanks for the advice!

[johnnybguud]

The S40 can be equipped with Canbus Xenon, so just bought the kit and installed it in December 2016.
Fun-fact: the S40 is one of the easiest, if not the easiest car to remove the headlights from; just pull up this small metal bit and then push the light, it pops right off!



The Xenon kit:




Final product:

[johnnybguud]

I don't have any pictures of the coilover procedure, just a video that I will try to upload and edit in the coming months. - it took place around March 2017.

They are JOM coilovers ( http://www.jomcoilovers.co.uk/coilovers.php?car=442 ) - if you are thinking of getting the same, don't buy the ones for the S40 like I did, they are the same as for Ford Focus C-Max (due to weight).
The reason I advise against this are the rear springs. Even without any height settings, at the lowest possible height - are still too high - if you are looking to do the same as me, get the ones for the Ford Focus, they may be lower, but at least you can regulate the height and set them as higher and have the height you want. I had to resort to lowering springs

This was the result (height comparison versus a v2 V50):




Floor height: 9cm (after lowering springs in the back)

[dcw]

Certainly sits a lot lower...

How's the ride with that set-up?

David

[johnnybguud]

I bought new tyres, the plan was to go for the "flush"/"stretch" look...
Going from 225/40 R18 to 205/40 R18, two sizes down! I believe the recommended tyre size is 215/40 R18 but according to my calculations, it would rub a little bit, so going small would be going flush! and that's what I did!



The day the new tyres arrived, the old ones gave out (I'm so lucky sometimes). I had bough them used and I recall them rubbing before installing some cheap 5mm spacers at the front - they had rubbed against the inside of the coilovers:



(yes I did run them a bit too long )



But since the new tyres were here, it was time to fit them... I had bought some Eibach spacers some time back, but the fender rubbed against the tyre on the outside (not very safe) so I had decided to bench them. After equipping stretch tyres, I re-thinked my possibilities, borrowed a fender roller and this was the result (unsprung picture):



From outside:

[johnnybguud]

Meanwhile, I had noticed some vibration in the front and my friends suggested it could be the front trailing arm rubber that was too loose! They were right! Due to riding the car so low for such a long time, the rubber was giving out. it was, once again, time to upgrade - this time polybushes in the Front Trailing Arms.

The price was not too exciting at first, but my friend Pete, once again (what a buddy), found a pair of front trailing arms out of a Ford Focus ST with polybushes (remember, both cars share the same chassis). We got on to installing them:



The surprise came when we found out that the balljoint that connects the trailing arm to the wheel was not the same size... confused, we researched and found out that it has nothing to do with the car model nor the torque... it was a change that came with a different year model, from 2006, both Focus and S40 had wider diameter balljoints (I know, right?)

I bought the correct size balljoint (thanks EuroCarParts), drilled out the rivets (yes, they all come with rivets), equipped the correct balljoint and tightened it with bolts and nuts and put it back in the car. Finally everything was in place...


...Everything? well, I wish! - while swapping the trailing arm, we saw a youtube video that suggested removing the drive shaft to allow more access to the location - BIG MISTAKE - this was the thing that took us the longest, trying to fix the bolt we accidentally snapped the thread of. We managed to put it back in place, but it's not coming out unless the whole part is replaced...

In addition, the bolt required to align the steering was stuck as a result of salty roads (thanks, cold countries)

(one of our Mechanic friends undid the bolt using some white grease and a blow torch)



Then I could (finally) align the steering... it was hard to find a place since my car is running so low, it becomes hard to access the bolts necessary to align it:


(note the double ramp)

Fun fact: during my wheel alignment session, everyone mistook my measly 2.0D for the mighty 2.5D R-design xD (they could hear a diesel and from the looks and 18inch wheels everyone thought it was the R-design version = WIN!)

I guess some lessons come with a few scars...

[johnnybguud]

The leather seats also have a funny story:

I had been looking for seats for a while, preferably grey to go with my car's interior. (I know, I should have looked in the forums sooner).

Leather seats are usually between £150 to £200. I offered £100 pounds to some guy in Newcastle... and I got them! He shipped them to me and I installed a full cream leather interior, which by the way looks amazing with the blue exterior, very Swedish!

So if there's anyone wanting some upholstery grey seats, please message me, I got a full set available, including a trunk cover - from a V50.

The seats are pretty straight forward to remove, and so are the door clips. I changed all of them in less than a full day. The driver's seat was - luckily - just plug and play. I was a bit afraid since my original seat was manual and the one I bought was electric with memory. Just connect the cables in the right order and I was good to go!

[johnnybguud]

This week I upgraded the fog lights, even bought a light switch (as I mine didn't have) inside the car.

So refreshing to see all the plugs are there... easy to install as well! Unfortunately, the lights don't work... everyone points me to a software update... I will try a local dealer in Taffs Well... wish me luck!

Also, you will notice the back is slightly higher - that's because I went on a trip to Europe and I wanted to be able to board the ferry without a hitch!

Still got stopped by the border control when coming into the country xD

I also removed the lettering in the back, I much prefer the German and Dutch way of not putting any letters in the back of the car - keeps it classy, people are not comparing the size of their engines...!

These are some of the best pictures (of the car) I took in my trip:

(In Calais! There was a huge bird dropping on the hood but from this distance, it is invisible)


(A look into the Past - the Netherlands)




(it is looking really good!)

[StatusRed]

It looks good! But blur your number plates!!!

[Petey80]

Doing very well there fella. Looks great ��

That tyre though!!??? Bloody hell!!??