Insignia Elite VX-Line (ish...)

[Penfold101]

So almost 2 1/2 years after buying my Insignia Elite 2.0 160 (and halfway through paying for it ) I felt it was time for an update.



I ordered it with as many gadgets that I could, except for the front camera system as I had to draw the line somewhere and the price was already ridiculous... I'd have loved the bi-turbo, but it was an extra 5 grand for 35bhp, and no-one can justify that. Here it was on the day I collected it:
















So, options ticked were the Flexride system (basically gives me a choice of SRi or Elite suspension), sports leather front seats, bluetooth, full size spare wheel and the rear 240V power outlet. In reality the Elite comes with so many things as standard there weren't a huge number of options available - I avoided the wheels and body kit as I was already up to 32 grand and I could add them later on if I wanted.


Over time I've added a few bits, and after picking it up from the body shop last week I set about giving it a proper clean today as I ticked over 27,000 miles.


Current mods:


The VX-Line Steering wheel and gear stick: The latter was brand new at £150 and took ten seconds to fit. It feels so much nicer than the normal Elite one. The steering wheel had to be second-hand from eBay as it's over 700 quid brand new Used to fit them myself o my old Signum and the procedure is the same but seeing as I have the lifetime warranty I thought I'd jsut give it to Vauxhall to do. £63 well spent plus 150 quid for the wheel itself.


Front Grill: Again from eBay as getting the parts from Vauxhall was proving tricky. It's the Adaptive Cruise Control grill, and is a shiny version of the VXR one without the honeycomb. You can see the black plastic square where the radar itself would go.


VX-Line Body Kit: I had a load of different quotes for this, including £1500 from the dealership I bought the car from It's an 800 quid option at the factory, and I didn't think I'd get anywhere near that with brand new parts but I went digging on the internet armed with the part numbers. In the end I found the side skirts for £160 on the actual Vauxhall Accessories website, the rear skirt for £67 through Car Parts Connexion at a dealership in Surrey, and had to settle for the front skirt at £170 from Vauxhall Stoneacre up North. I'd hoped to find that a bit cheaper but in the end I gave up and went with it. A local body shop that were re-doing some insurance work on my front bumper quoted me £390 to paint and fit it, and when you add that all up you actually end up with a figure 13 quid cheaper than the factory option! This makes me happy...


Interior trim: This was changed just after I got the car - couldn't stand the wooden stuff so had the piano black from the SRi fitted. Typically, the next MY changed the spec so that the black leather interior came with the black trim as standard...


Things I still want to do: factory twin exhaust setup, 20" alloys from the current Elite, debadge the whole thing and fit a rear view camera. Oh, and the VXR brakes...


First time trying Autobrite's Jaffa cleaner to de-grease the engine bay - worked quite well I think!








Then a quick snowfoam and wash in banana gloss:








And the finished product!
































No-one still uses dial-up these days do they...? Comments welcome!

[Woody]

That a Very Nice Insignia you have gotten yourself attached to fella

[Penfold101]

That a Very Nice Insignia you have gotten yourself attached too fella

I had to get attached to it - 5 years finance to pay off....

[azacbr6]

Well worth it mate, excellent car.

[new boy]

That's a very nice car you got there m8

[Woody]

@Penfold101 I notice you chose the 240v Power Outlet as an option

Have you had any opportunity to check out what this module is in terms of size, ratings etc ? Pics of it as fitted would be nice and I'm just wondering if this is a viable retrofit for other models and so a part number would be useful if you know what it is (No worries if not lol)

This is just an "opener" because knowing GM, it is either so mind blowingly unique that it simply won't work without the correct master module being present and programmed, or, be so mind blowingly expensive to buy as a replacement part that it as about as likely to be fitted as a retrofitted "bi turbo" (NOT lol)

[Penfold101]

@Penfold101 I notice you chose the 240v Power Outlet as an option

Have you had any opportunity to check out what this module is in terms of size, ratings etc ? Pics of it as fitted would be nice and I'm just wondering if this is a viable retrofit for other models and so a part number would be useful if you know what it is (No worries if not lol)

This is just an "opener" because knowing GM, it is either so mind blowingly unique that it simply won't work without the correct master module being present and programmed, or, be so mind blowingly expensive to buy as a replacement part that it as about as likely to be fitted as a retrofitted "bi turbo" (NOT lol)

The best I can do mate is point you here:

http://www.partsbase.org/opel/insign...-console-230v/

...and then if you work forward and back through those images it'll give you all the part numbers. I'm assuming it's related to the AC and DC Control Module but how it wires in exactly is anyone's guess. All I know is that is was worth the 70 quid it cost...

[Penfold101]

So, apparently someone realised that £160 for the pair of sideskirts was a slight error...


http://www.vauxhall-accessories.com/insignia-side-sills

[Steven]

But you don't like the VX-line kit!? Haha..

Looks superb, makes me miss my old one a little.. ��

[Angel1368]

very nice car mate but 32 grand