Hello All,

Firstly, apologies if this isn't the correct thread to post this. I love my 500s AKA the rollerskate and wish to mod her a touch. Here is a list of things I wish to do and any advice is gratefully received. I am based in Weston-Sooper-Mare, so if anyone can recommend sources or people, then that's just dandy!







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1. Fit side mouldings with chrome inserts - my local dealer will fit and paint these, but wondered about buying them primed off ebay, then getting the paint and fitting them myself?

2. Alloys, currently have 15" factory fitted and would like some 16"s. Would look into swapping or selling mine

3. Can you retro fit front fog lights and parking sensors??

4. ECU and re-mapping? Currently rocking a 1.2 68bhp sport, but lags a touch when going up at certain gradients/ weight bearing etc. Is this worth doing?

5. Wrapping? I was thinking of getting the roof done (maybe cream and mirror covers to match)? My car is Tech House Grey.

Thanks again,

NewbieKitty

1. Yes, get them painted by a we come to you bumper repairer- he'll be happy fit them too.
2. 16's are too big and heavy especially on a 1.2 (even though they're a factory fitment)- they'll slow you down, cost you fuel economy, worse ride and handling etc.
4. Remapping on a NA car won't be a night and day difference.
5. Wraps are said to last a max of 2-4 years on a roof.

I'd rather fit a reversing camera than retrofit parking sensors. Not only is it much more practical to use, it's easier to align a camera than 4 small radars.

I've heard some people have retro fitted fog lights, but just put Philips extreme +130% (55w) headlight bulbs in and you won't need fog lights?

John202020 said:

but just put Philips extreme +130% (55w) headlight bulbs in and you won't need fog lights?

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eh????????????? You can't use high powered headlamp beams in fog. All you get is flare back at you.

D

rallycinq said:

eh????????????? You can't use high powered headlamp beams in fog. All you get is flare back at you.

D

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Sorry, I meant, don't bother fitting fog lights, just put better bulbs in the standard headlights?

John202020 said:

Sorry, I meant, don't bother fitting fog lights, just put better bulbs in the standard headlights?

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Still doesn't help as much as fog lights in fog

D

Reversing sensors are generally ultrasonic, not radar. I find the factory fitted setup works very well and would sooner have that than a camera. Rather than watching a screen you can keep a lookout all around the car while listening to the sensor beeps which start at one metre distance and increase in frequency until they become a steady tone at 300mm.

Thank you so much everyone [emoji106]

Fiat500newbiekitty said:

2. Alloys, currently have 15" factory fitted and would like some 16"s. Would look into swapping or selling mine

5. Wrapping? I was thinking of getting the roof done (maybe cream and mirror covers to match)? My car is Tech House Grey.

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2) You could swap to 16s, but as mentioned I think the ride would suffer. I moved from 14 to 15, and you can feel the difference! You could certainly find some nice aftermarket 15inch wheels though if that's what you fancied.

5) You could absolutely get the roof done. Shouldn't be too expensive either. I've had a few roof wraps on my Fiat 500, and have part of my mirrors wrapped. The wraps hold up pretty well, just take care of them. Good vinyl, and a good job should last longer, but the perk is if you change your mind you can just have it taken off again.
Also - another idea maybe; the dashboard is something that can be wrapped nicely for a bit of a personal touch too.

Noxide said:

2) You could swap to 16s, but as mentioned I think the ride would suffer. I moved from 14 to 15, and you can feel the difference! You could certainly find some nice aftermarket 15inch wheels though if that's what you fancied.



5) You could absolutely get the roof done. Shouldn't be too expensive either. I've had a few roof wraps on my Fiat 500, and have part of my mirrors wrapped. The wraps hold up pretty well, just take care of them. Good vinyl, and a good job should last longer, but the perk is if you change your mind you can just have it taken off again.

Also - another idea maybe; the dashboard is something that can be wrapped nicely for a bit of a personal touch too.

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Thank you



Here she is at the moment. I don't mind my 15's, and really appreciate the advice from yourself and others about being against 16's. What differences did you notice out of interest?
I'll not bother with another set of 15's, as really like mine. One needs a little refurb at some point though. ?️

I've changed the mirror covers to dipped carbon fibre, added wing badges [emoji634] and wind deflectors for the motorway. Might add a side decal and looking at the roof and dash in the future [emoji51]

Thank you everyone, very useful. [emoji106]

Fiat500newbiekitty said:

Here she is at the moment. I don't mind my 15's, and really appreciate the advice from yourself and others about being against 16's. What differences did you notice out of interest?

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What UFI & Noxide said; ride & fuel economy will be worse on 16" wheels; the only benefit is cosmetic.

I've just gone and got a Twingo GT on 17in wheels! (similar sized car to 500) What was I thinking!!:slayer:

Fiat500newbiekitty said:

Thank you

View attachment 182230

Here she is at the moment. I don't mind my 15's, and really appreciate the advice from yourself and others about being against 16's. What differences did you notice out of interest?
I'll not bother with another set of 15's, as really like mine. One needs a little refurb at some point though. ?️

I've changed the mirror covers to dipped carbon fibre, added wing badges [emoji634] and wind deflectors for the motorway. Might add a side decal and looking at the roof and dash in the future [emoji51]

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Ultimately you can always change wheels later if you want - not a tricky job in the grand scheme of things. Yours do look very nice though. With my wheels I noticed that the ride felt a bit harsher over strings of smaller bumps - like tree roots under the road, I'm also terrified of potholes and never was before. My wheels are also 7J or something, so quite wide in comparison with stock, and I find that the car does tend to follow the natural camber of the road a bit more which I assume is width related.

I love the dipped mirrors, making me want them haha! I've wrapped the little bit below (the plastic plate that holds the mirror on if that makes sense haha!) in carbon fibre and it looks pretty good. Maybe cream on there might set it off? I think the car really looks smart as is though!
My wind deflectors keep falling out too, sigh!

jrkitching said:

What UFI & Noxide said; ride & fuel economy will be worse on 16" wheels; the only benefit is cosmetic.

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When my ride quality went down when switching wheels I still feel as though the aesthetics are so worth my bad back haha. there's a thread on here about an Abarth running 18", which looks great but I bet the ride suffers.

Mine had a B14 kit which was pretty rough in the ride anyway, the biggest difference I noticed when swapping between 15 inch winter tyres and 16 inch summer tyres was a hike in fuel consumption.

Almost 15% more fuel used on the 16s.

D