Do you ever drive your car and wish that it had certain features found on better trim levels? I know I do! The good news is that you CAN bring your car up to those better specification trims.
In a nutshell, a car is just full of add-on parts. For example, if you prefer the Recaro seats in the sportier version of your car, you can just bolt them in!
But how do you go about upgrading the specification of your car? And which upgrades offer the best bang for buck? In today’s blog post, I will share with you some common upgrade paths and what you need to know to get started.
How basic is your car?
Before you begin, it’s worth checking if these DIY upgrades offer the best value for money. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that the changes you want to make will cost you a grand.
But, what if you went to Autoworld Cars and upgraded to a better spec version of your car? It might cost you much less to do that! If you only need a few inexpensive upgrades, of course, it makes sense to keep your car.
Infotainment System
Are you the proud owner of a car such as a Volkswagen Golf or Honda Accord? Many of today’s cars have infotainment systems as standard on higher-end trims. It might annoy you if you’re driving around in a car with only a CD player head unit for entertainment!
In case you’re wondering, infotainment systems are ones that include touchscreen displays. They often have satellite navigation as standard too. For many cars, the process is just a straight swap for your existing head unit.
You may need to buy an extra wiring harness or two for things like GPS and DAB antennas. But, to all intents and purposes, the process should be “plug and play”!
Leather interior
I enjoy driving cars with a full leather interior. Especially ones with heated seats! The fabric alternatives are hard to clean and look worn out after a while.
Check out sites like eBay to get cheap and full leather interior sets for your car. Be sure to get the door cards too. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a mismatched interior!
You may also need to get extra wiring looms for heated seats and other functionality.
Reverse camera and parking sensors
On some cars, you may be lucky and find that you have the wiring in place for those items. Otherwise, prepare to rip out half your interior to wire the camera and sensors up!
You can, of course, get DIY kits that work on any vehicle. But, if possible you should consider sticking with manufacturer parts only.
LED lighting
The bulbs that your car uses in the interior will most likely be filament ones. I recommend upgrading to LED lights for two reasons. First, they use less electricity. And, second, they offer a crisper, brighter light!
Does your car have a CANBUS system? If so, you may need to use a relay with your LEDs. Otherwise, you’ll get lots of bulb failure messages from your car.
I hope you’ve found today’s guide useful. Thanks for reading it!