VW Passat B5.5 on rare BBS RS18 by Neven

By now, you are used to reading about good cars from the region. This Volkswagen Passat B5.5 is good but it’s not from this side of the world.

This Volkswagen Passat B5.5 (2003) is a project by Neven Baljak from the United States, which he owned since it had 34,000 miles on it. At the very beginning, Neven replaced the car with wheels and a mask without an VW emblem.

It did not last long, these changes were not enough, the car had to go low. Firstly, H & R springs were mounted, which was not low enough, so the stock shock absorbers were replaced with coilovers. Soon came the first work on the engine:

I wanted the car to be a little faster so I added a Dahleback racing chip and a diverter valve.

Soon after, the whole exhaust system was replaced. The Votex body kit followed, which required the change of the wheels, because these two things did not match. Neven decided that Stern 19″ was a better fit, with the Votex body kit.

The interior of the car was still the same, so I decided to refresh the leather seats from the Passat CC.

 

Like most of us, with the “diagnosis”, Neven wanted to drive his Passat even lower. So next logical step was to get an air suspension and make Air Ride from his lover.

With the help of his friend, Air Lift System was installed in few hours and the car was on the ground the same day. Efficient team they are!

Boot was reorganized with the sound system, and with that the outer appearance was complete. Car, in his opinion, was still slow. The decision fell on the replacement of the entire turbo system. He decided to go with the T3 / T4 60 Trim Garrett turbocharger.

This did not turn out to be the best solution. The third piston did not withstand the boost, so the engine block was broken. Neven soon found the second 1.8T engine and then the real job started, with “performance” parts. The engine was opened, pistons replaced, bearings, an oil pump and all engine gaskets also. The already mentioned turbocharger has been transferred to the new engine, and the 3 “Eurosport exhaust system has been installed.

The time came for new wheels, and a chance to grab the popular BBS RS 18″ emerged soon. Very rare in that size at the time.

Interior mods

• Passat CC seats conversion
• 42DD LED lighting
• W8 Chrome door card inserts
• VDO Boost gauge
• B&M Short shifter
• MOMO shift knob
• MOMO shifter booth
• JVC DVD player with ipod adapter
• 1000 Rockford Fosgate amp

Exterior mods

• Votex fron bumper
• Votex side skirts
• Votex rear valance
• Shaved front license plate holder
• Color matched head lights
• LED side turn signals
• Clear bumper markers
• 6K hid low beams
• 3K yellow hid fog lights
• M3 style lip spoiler
• Shark fin antena
• 50% window tint

Suspension and wheels

• 18×9.5 ET13 BBS RS wheels
• 215/40 front and 225/40 rear tires
• 15mm front spacers
• 15 mm driver side rear spacer
• 7mm custom pass side rear spacer
• Air Lift slam series front struts
• Aur House 2 rear bags
• Shortened D-Cup rear brackets
• 3/8 air line
• 5 gallon air tank
• 4 half inch manual valves
• Front-back only and no side to side
• Custom switch box in built inside arm rest
• Easy street dual needle gauge
• Tank pressure gauge in trunk
• 400C compressor
• Notched strut towers
• Raised trunk with 10″ sub box
• 2 farad capacitor

Engine

• T3/T4 60 trim Garrett turbo
• Custom built to order with 360 degree bearing etc…
• 3″ down pipe
• ATP exhaust manifold
• 3″ euro sport exhaust
• 38mm Tial waste gate
• Screamer pipe and open dump
• Greddy BOV made into recirculating valve.
• 2.5″ FMIC Piping
• Manual boost controller
• IE rods
• JE pistons
• All new gaskets
• New oil pump
• Coated bearings
• Emissions deleted
• SAIP deleted
• Second O2 sensor written off
• 3″ MAF housing
• 3″ custom intake with filter
• IE breather block off plate
• SPEC stage 2+ clutch kit
• SPEC 15 lbs flywheel
• Walbro 255lph fuel pump
• 630cc Injectors
• Integrated Engineering coil pack adapters
• FSI coil pack conversion
• NGK BKR7 plugs
• Unitronic BT software
• QUIFE 5 spd tranny