My Passat R36 Japanese Imported

[ScottW24]

I've been reading a few readers cars on here over the years and decided I'd eventually post about my own car. My new to me passat r36 which was imported from Japan.

As of now ive had this car just over 2 years so will go back through the photos and what work ive done.

Starting at the beginning
Viewing the car at jm imports and test driving it, some proper bits of kit in that place






Wheels were freshly refurbed in silver and look soo much better than the black

[danb79]

I've looked at these a number of times; there's a few JDM car importers local'ish to me here in Lancashire and they always have a few in...

They do sound superb on full chat I have to admit

[ScottW24]

danb79 said:

I've looked at these a number of times; there's a few JDM car importers local'ish to me here in Lancashire and they always have a few in...

They do sound superb on full chat I have to admit

Mine did surprise me, my first n/a car for a while but first decent power one and still loving it

[ScottW24]

The car came with this funky thing inside stuck on the dash I never fully worked it out and never had a English language option so I took it out


Despite the car being a 59 it came with red mfd clocks which are common but some later ones had the white mfd and something I preferred so I went straight on to get an adapter for the wiring which required 2 extra wires for fuel level sensor




Managed to score a set of passat cc clocks from ebay for £40 from a 3.6


I sent the clocks away to get the needles turned blue so it's i keeping with standard vw R


Also got the milage coded to the new clocks and a spare key done at the same time with an alarm button

[Andy86GT]

Looks in great condition, underneath looks new! You can thank lack of road salt in Japan for that. It's why Japanese cars tend to rust in UK as they don't need to protect them as well for domestic market.
What engine is it, VR6?

[DaveyBoyWonder]

Andy86GT said:

Looks in great condition, underneath looks new! You can thank lack of road salt in Japan for that. It's why Japanese cars tend to rust in UK as they don't need to protect them as well for domestic market.
What engine is it, VR6?

3.6 VR6

I keep looking at these too. Whats not to like about a good looking, slightly "normal" looking Passat with a load of power, 4WD and a massive boot?

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Wow that is clean underneath!

[Andy86GT]

DaveyBoyWonder said:

Andy86GT said:

Looks in great condition, underneath looks new! You can thank lack of road salt in Japan for that. It's why Japanese cars tend to rust in UK as they don't need to protect them as well for domestic market.
What engine is it, VR6?

3.6 VR6

I keep looking at these too. Whats not to like about a good looking, slightly "normal" looking Passat with a load of power, 4WD and a massive boot?

Indeed a real Q car!

[itcaptainslow]

I always marvel at how clean Japanese imports are underneath!

[danb79]

This is why I will always say; if you're in the market for a niche car (like BMW E39s or similar, VW R36s like this etc) and you have the budget; go for a JDM import

They're easy to get sorted for the UK roads; cheaper road tax and pristine in comparison to UK cars; and generally with much lower mileage

You just need to do your due diligence on their condition and spec; get as many pictures as possible from the seller

And super-easy to sort underneath protection too and a very easy DIY as long as you're handy with a few simple tools and have the time/patience

I used to be a Lanoguard user and would recommend it too; but now much prefer the likes of Bilt Hamber Dynax and think it's a better quality product...

UB for the unseen areas and the underneath; and UC for the suspension/wheel arch areas etc

[itcaptainslow]

danb79 said:

This is why I will always say; if you're in the market for a niche car (like BMW E39s or similar, VW R36s like this etc) and you have the budget; go for a JDM import

They're easy to get sorted for the UK roads; cheaper road tax and pristine in comparison to UK cars; and generally with much lower mileage

You just need to do your due diligence on their condition and spec; get as many pictures as possible from the seller

And super-easy to sort underneath protection too and a very easy DIY as long as you're handy with a few simple tools and have the time/patience

I used to be a Lanoguard user and would recommend it too; but now much prefer the likes of Bilt Hamber Dynax and think it's a better quality product...

UB for the unseen areas and the underneath; and UC for the suspension/wheel arch areas etc

Agree with all of this! Used UC on my Up! GTI when it was brand new, and it still looks great underneath. It’s a fantastic product, and dries pretty much clear with only a slight yellow tinge on the white painted bits of underbody.

[ScottW24]

danb79 said:

This is why I will always say; if you're in the market for a niche car (like BMW E39s or similar, VW R36s like this etc) and you have the budget; go for a JDM import

They're easy to get sorted for the UK roads; cheaper road tax and pristine in comparison to UK cars; and generally with much lower mileage

You just need to do your due diligence on their condition and spec; get as many pictures as possible from the seller

And super-easy to sort underneath protection too and a very easy DIY as long as you're handy with a few simple tools and have the time/patience

I used to be a Lanoguard user and would recommend it too; but now much prefer the likes of Bilt Hamber Dynax and think it's a better quality product...

UB for the unseen areas and the underneath; and UC for the suspension/wheel arch areas etc

Hello the car was lanoguarded when it first came into the country, I was looking to topping it up this year when the weather allows me to do do so but was also considering bilt hamber products too so your comment definitely gives food for thought

[Andy665]

Looks like a cracking example and agree about the use of Bilt Hamber products, they are not that widely known about but I have been using UB / UC and Surfex (very cost effective degreaser) for years, all great products

[ScottW24]

Andy665 said:

Looks like a cracking example and agree about the use of Bilt Hamber products, they are not that widely known about but I have been using UB / UC and Surfex (very cost effective degreaser) for years, all great products

Definitely something I'm going to look into ive always been aware of their autowheel product and recently found myself looking into their touchless snowfoam too

[danb79]

ScottW24 said:

Hello the car was lanoguarded when it first came into the country, I was looking to topping it up this year when the weather allows me to do do so but was also considering bilt hamber products too so your comment definitely gives food for thought

That's a a good base; topping it up won't be a bad thing at all

But if you can; I'd highly recommend getting it up on axle stands; stripping the wheels off, removing the wheel arch liners; giving it all a through deep clean (I usually snowfoam the area, scrub it all and then rinse it off and dry it thoroughly with a small electric fan heater), and once bone dry, give the deeper areas a coating with UB (ie the areas you can't see (sills, cavities etc) and UC on the suspension components, inner arches, arch lips etc)

It's a good days work; but well worth it

And yeah; the BH stuff is very good. I'm a big fan of their Auto Foam, that's my go-to personally; although I do have their Touchless and tend to use that over Atumn/Winter and winto Spring when I do contactless washes on the cars to stave any sanding of the paintwork from road detritus etc

As an example; this was a previous E81 130i LE I had and just after I had the full suspension overhaul done to it and Bilstein B14s fitted; I did all the wheel arches; finished results were as these pics:

[ScottW24]

danb79 said:

ScottW24 said:

Hello the car was lanoguarded when it first came into the country, I was looking to topping it up this year when the weather allows me to do do so but was also considering bilt hamber products too so your comment definitely gives food for thought

That's a a good base; topping it up won't be a bad thing at all

But if you can; I'd highly recommend getting it up on axle stands; stripping the wheels off, removing the wheel arch liners; giving it all a through deep clean (I usually snowfoam the area, scrub it all and then rinse it off and dry it thoroughly with a small electric fan heater), and once bone dry, give the deeper areas a coating with UB (ie the areas you can't see (sills, cavities etc) and UC on the suspension components, inner arches, arch lips etc)

It's a good days work; but well worth it

And yeah; the BH stuff is very good. I'm a big fan of their Auto Foam, that's my go-to personally; although I do have their Touchless and tend to use that over Atumn/Winter and winto Spring when I do contactless washes on the cars to stave any sanding of the paintwork from road detritus etc

As an example; this was a previous E81 130i LE I had and just after I had the full suspension overhaul done to it and Bilstein B14s fitted; I did all the wheel arches; finished results were as these pics:

That looks spot on that good work definitely got some homework to do

[ManicMunky]

danb79 said:

This is why I will always say; if you're in the market for a niche car (like BMW E39s or similar, VW R36s like this etc) and you have the budget; go for a JDM import

They're easy to get sorted for the UK roads; cheaper road tax and pristine in comparison to UK cars; and generally with much lower mileage

You just need to do your due diligence on their condition and spec; get as many pictures as possible from the seller

And super-easy to sort underneath protection too and a very easy DIY as long as you're handy with a few simple tools and have the time/patience

I used to be a Lanoguard user and would recommend it too; but now much prefer the likes of Bilt Hamber Dynax and think it's a better quality product...

UB for the unseen areas and the underneath; and UC for the suspension/wheel arch areas etc

I've been looking for a very niche car for a while now, seems like I may need to get one from Japan instead! Or South Africa, which seems to have loads for sale.

Is there anywhere local you'd recommend?

[Dave Hedgehog]

looks lovely, i loved the engine in my R32, always wanted to try an R36

MillTek exhausts are a must IMO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G5N5RwoVBk

[danb79]

Dave Hedgehog said:

looks lovely, i loved the engine in my R32, always wanted to try an R36

MillTek exhausts are a must IMO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G5N5RwoVBk

The R36 sound is superb; but some of those exhausts are stupidly loud IMO and the pops/bangs ruin it IMO

Depends on personal tastes; but decent sound can be had without ruining the car

[danb79]

ManicMunky said:

danb79 said:

This is why I will always say; if you're in the market for a niche car (like BMW E39s or similar, VW R36s like this etc) and you have the budget; go for a JDM import

They're easy to get sorted for the UK roads; cheaper road tax and pristine in comparison to UK cars; and generally with much lower mileage

You just need to do your due diligence on their condition and spec; get as many pictures as possible from the seller

And super-easy to sort underneath protection too and a very easy DIY as long as you're handy with a few simple tools and have the time/patience

I used to be a Lanoguard user and would recommend it too; but now much prefer the likes of Bilt Hamber Dynax and think it's a better quality product...

UB for the unseen areas and the underneath; and UC for the suspension/wheel arch areas etc

I've been looking for a very niche car for a while now, seems like I may need to get one from Japan instead! Or South Africa, which seems to have loads for sale.

Is there anywhere local you'd recommend?

Where's local sorry?