Pre and Post Facelift Interchangeability
 

HI, this might be a silly question but I want to be absolutely certain so I'm asking the experts (aka you good people!).

I have a 2005 facelift CDTi, needs a few bits and bobs and I know someone who's breaking a 2001 model. Will I have any problem swapping over the following:

Rear nearside door
Boot lid (his has a lock, mine doesn't)
Headlamps (under the bodywork, are the headlamps actually the same?)

All advice, warnings, etc, gratefully received :D

Everything will swap over except the headlights.

the headlights are different, to have mki headlights you'll also have to fit the mki front bumper which is interchangeable.

You may want the key for that bootlid, although it will work electronically via the boot release button and also by holding down the unlock button on your key.

what is wrong with your headlights, if cloudy they can be polished using one of many kits but I've used a 3m kit

Re boot lid. Your key wont fit the lock. To open the boot, you need to press and hold your unlock button and the boot will unlock. There is also a button in the drivers footwell on the right hand side by your ankle.
I don't know if the press and hold unlock button feature would work on a MKI's boot lid but see post above.

macafee2

will a MKI car unlock the boot via press and hold the unlock button or only the MKII ?

macafee2

Only the MK2 (Unless you fit the BCU from a MK2 to a MK1)

Thanks for the info folks, good point about the boot lid - I like the press and hold to open, not sure I'll be able to get the key for the replacement as he wants to get rid of the other doors at some point, so not sure if it's worth the risk?

One thing I forgot to mention about the passenger door, the older ones had the chrome strip along the exterior, on my later one its colour-coded, it looks like it will pop off quite easily so I can swap them, anyone know if there are any hidden dangers lurking there?

As for my headlights, they're really fogged up, I've used TurtleWax clear headlamp kit on them but didn't improve much, is the 3M kit much better?

I had a good result with a 3m kit. It costs about 20 quid and you need a drill to use it. some folk do it by hand:eek:

macafee2

Have you sanded through the coating yet?

You need to sand off all the coating on your lights before you get anywhere near a finish on them.

Only the MKII does this, if you have the BCU replaced with a mkii one and programmed in the boot release via the key will work, had this done on my mki ZT years ago :)

I had it on my MK1 with a remote kit:cool:

If you mean Nos. 6 & 7 here it looks like they're held on by this clip but it doesn't say how many.

Looking at this pic I'd say there are 6 or 7 clips per door - 5 or 6 for the main strip and 1 or 2 for the short strip (the handle holes make it a bit tricky to say exactly). It might be easiest to whip the door card off and count them.

Easier to strip the paint off, they're chrome underneath:cool: The clips break easy & are expensive :o

No surprise there then.

Slightly cheaper here (e.g. £20.22 for 12 inc postage) https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-M...R/132977620214

I used the 3m kit on Mo's first headlights and it worked very well.
Since then they have been changed for a different pair and I got some slight fogging off with Tcut.
On Kims I have only used Tcut and they were pretty well fogged. They look great now.
So, first try Tcut, but if you're not happy with the result go for a 3m kit ;)

Edited to add images.

You don't say if you have a Rover or MG but if your existing strips are painted and it is a Rover you must have a Contemporary or Contemporary SE. All Mk 1 Rovers (but not MGs) had chrome strips so, although painted strips are chrome underneath, you would need to paint the chrome ones for your Mk 2 Rover.

One further point on headlights - I have had mine refurbed three times in my 13 years of ownership but I think the problem is stopping them going cloudy again. Mine are now ceramic coated but it has only been done a few months so I still don't know if that is the answer.