[CamaroChill]

Hi there, after more than 10 years, my dream of becoming a Camaro owner is becoming reality. I'm in Europe and Camaros are in scarce quantity, especially yellow ones.

Initially I wanted automatic and I was disappointed when I found out that the one I found has manual transmission. After watching some videos, I realized it should much better, it will be fun.

I have some questions I wasn't able to answer myself searching online.

- What are these black bumps in front of the headlights? What is their purpose and can they be removed? They look terrible in my opinion.

- What are 3 things that I absolutely need to check before buying this used Camaro? I am planning to bring a mechanic with me.

- There are no Chevy dealers here, if there will be any issues, can I bring the Camaro to any mechanic or do I need to find specific ones?

- Some previous owner painted the side mirrors in black. Will I be able to have them painted in the same yellow if I find the yellow color code?

- I don't like that black strip (probably weather seal) they put on the door. How can I remove it?

- Is there a way to repair the steering wheel? The leather looks damaged and gross.

- There's a Borla exhaust system but they don't know which one is it. How can I find out the exact version of the installed Borla exhaust?

[dfwcowboy]

It appears as if some of the shipping guards were never removed from the car when it was delivered. If your mechanic can put the engine on an analyzer, that will reveal some things about the health of the engine. I’d also have the clutch and brakes checked. Premature wear can reveal how well it was treated. I’d start with giving the steering wheel a good cleaning.

[Rock-It Man]

Those black bumps in front of the headlights are headlight washers. They are mandatory in Europe.

The black door guards prevent you from chipping paint on the edge of the door and also limit door dings when you open your door and knock the adjacent car. They're a good feature.

[Bumbleboy92]

https://www.borla.com/2016-chevrolet...ultiselect=451

You can check under the car, the part number probably is etched into the exhaust itself.

The mirrors might be mirror covers but if they are painted then you can have them painted the same color as the car depending on your local pricing.

For the steering wheel, you could buy a better condition wheel but also depends on shipping costs.

[arpad_m]

Congratulations on making your dream a reality, you will own a rare gem in Europe. At the risk of sounding complacent or cheap, which I am neither, I would leave the car as-is and try to enjoy it to the fullest. None of these issues should be dealbreakers, the mods I find actually tasteful, that Borla exhaust is an asset. You can disconnect the headlight washers, but then you'll have two holes to fix up somehow.

For the steering wheel, I'd buy a cover, my old one was from amazon (see here), it was a great deal at $30 and very durable.

The paint code for your yellow color is G7D (WA-131X), but again, I'd just leave the mirrors alone or buy carbon fiber covers if you don't like the black color, the reason being that a can of new paint will not look the same as the rest of the car that is 5-6-7 years old, and if the mirrors aren't remounted absolutely perfectly, you'll have a whistling wind noise at highway speeds from the mirrors. If those black things are covers, you can simply remove them if you heat them up with a hairdryer (be careful if you use a heat gun, though).

[S.Macias]

I have a US based car similar to yours. Believe the black dots are headlight washers.

The weather strip should just peel off. Might need some heat (hairdryer) beforehand to get the glue off.

The mirrors might be covers also. See if there's a gap anywhere between the mirror and the cover. If there is you may need to heat and remove. Highly doubt someone would spend the money to paint mirrors on a V6.

Should say the exhaust name and type on the muffler if you look under the car.

All work is pretty easy to do yourself. A lot of helpful guides on the forum.


Upgrade to the carbon fiber steering wheel of you can.

[CamaroChill]

Originally Posted by dfwcowboy

It appears as if some of the shipping guards were never removed from the car when it was delivered. If your mechanic can put the engine on an analyzer, that will reveal some things about the health of the engine. I’d also have the clutch and brakes checked. Premature wear can reveal how well it was treated. I’d start with giving the steering wheel a good cleaning.

Where do you see the shipping guards? The black bumps? Actually as another user said, they are the headlights washers.

Thanks for the tip for the engine, a mechanic will do a complete revision on Monday and check everything.

Originally Posted by Rock-It Man

Those black bumps in front of the headlights are headlight washers. They are mandatory in Europe.

The black door guards prevent you from chipping paint on the edge of the door and also limit door dings when you open your door and knock the adjacent car. They're a good feature.

Indeed they are the headlight washers, but what do you mean they are mandatory? Others cars don't have them here in Europe.

I understand the black door guards can be useful, but I can't stand the looks, I'll be as careful as I can when opening the door.

Originally Posted by Bumbleboy92

https://www.borla.com/2016-chevrolet...ultiselect=451

You can check under the car, the part number probably is etched into the exhaust itself.

The mirrors might be mirror covers but if they are painted then you can have them painted the same color as the car depending on your local pricing.

For the steering wheel, you could buy a better condition wheel but also depends on shipping costs.

Please check these photos I took today, it says ATAK (which is great, what I wanted based on some YouTube videos, it sounds very nice). How do I know which exact part is though?

Is it normal the mufflers are so dirty? Do they look just dirty or damaged?

Originally Posted by arpad_m

Congratulations on making your dream a reality, you will own a rare gem in Europe. At the risk of sounding complacent or cheap, which I am neither, I would leave the car as-is and try to enjoy it to the fullest. None of these issues should be dealbreakers, the mods I find actually tasteful, that Borla exhaust is an asset. You can disconnect the headlight washers, but then you'll have two holes to fix up somehow.

For the steering wheel, I'd buy a cover, my old one was from amazon (see here), it was a great deal at $30 and very durable.

The paint code for your yellow color is G7D (WA-131X), but again, I'd just leave the mirrors alone or buy carbon fiber covers if you don't like the black color, the reason being that a can of new paint will not look the same as the rest of the car that is 5-6-7 years old, and if the mirrors aren't remounted absolutely perfectly, you'll have a whistling wind noise at highway speeds from the mirrors. If those black things are covers, you can simply remove them if you heat them up with a hairdryer (be careful if you use a heat gun, though).

Thank you so much, I couldn't be more excited to finally have my Camaro. I wanted a V8 but it seems very hard to find here in Europe, especially yellow.

I really wanted the rear sensors but it only have the backup camera, I hope it will be enough.

Nice tip for the carbon fiber covers, I'll check them out, as well as the steering wheel.

Originally Posted by S.Macias

I have a US based car similar to yours. Believe the black dots are headlight washers.

The weather strip should just peel off. Might need some heat (hairdryer) beforehand to get the glue off.

The mirrors might be covers also. See if there's a gap anywhere between the mirror and the cover. If there is you may need to heat and remove. Highly doubt someone would spend the money to paint mirrors on a V6.

Should say the exhaust name and type on the muffler if you look under the car.

All work is pretty easy to do yourself. A lot of helpful guides on the forum.


Upgrade to the carbon fiber steering wheel of you can.

The mirrors should be yellow from factory, correct?

Carbon fiber steering wheel sounds great, any specific recommendation?

[CamaroChill]

I was playing with the MyLink display and noticed that it looks different than most YouTube videos. Is it because it is from 2016? Can it be updated to the newer MyLink system?

This is what's on the car:



And this is what I see on YouTube videos:

[SnakeEyeSS]

Different trim levels

[CamaroChill]

Ah guys I forgot, I noticed that this back light stays on when you turn off the car for some seconds. I noticed it because it's only at the right side. Is it normal?

The guy at the store says "it's normal" but he also couldn't explain why only that light on the right side. It seems weird to me.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by CamaroChill

I was playing with the MyLink display and noticed that it looks different than most YouTube videos. Is it because it is from 2016? Can it be updated to the newer MyLink system?

No, as stated briefly above, it's because you have a base level 7" screen/radio and gauge cluster, the ones you saw on youtube are 8" uplevel (SS and ZL1) radios and clusters.

It is technically possible to upgrade, but in Europe it'll be an insanely expensive uphill battle, I'd just leave it alone. If you still want it, contact Gen5DIY at gen5diy.com and Chris White at whiteautoandmedia.com, they will get you sorted. Prepare your wallet, though.

Originally Posted by CamaroChill

Ah guys I forgot, I noticed that this back light stays on when you turn off the car for some seconds. I noticed it because it's only at the right side. Is it normal?

The guy at the store says "it's normal" but he also couldn't explain why only that light on the right side. It seems weird to me.

Well, the fact that reverse lights come on when you park the car is normal, it's an age old GM thing, but both reverse lights should stay on as parking illumination, at least they do on US cars.

There are some electrical differences between US and EU/Asia models, for example you should have the reverse light at the bottom like the Mustang and have amber turn signals in the taillight, but I never heard that parking illumination would be limited to one side, it makes no sense anyway.

(On second thought, since you have separate DRL LED strips under the headlights and no turn signals in the side mirrors plus a nice ZL1 spoiler, you may actually have an imported US model, in which case you're probably dealing with a burnt out reverse bulb in the driver side taillight, that should be an easy fix.)


Re steering wheel upgrades, I recently bought and installed this fully customizable carbon fiber wheel, it's amazingly beautiful and its craftsmanship is top notch (alas, it ain't cheap either): https://carbonaddons.com/products/20...steering-wheel (see also my quick posts below for pictures and first impressions).

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showp...ostcount=13724
https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showp...ostcount=13755
https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showp...ostcount=13777

[CamaroChill]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

No, as stated briefly above, it's because you have a base level 7" screen/radio and gauge cluster, the ones you saw on youtube are 8" uplevel (SS and ZL1) radios and clusters.

It is technically possible to upgrade, but in Europe it'll be an insanely expensive uphill battle, I'd just leave it alone. If you still want it, contact Gen5DIY at gen5diy.com and Chris White at whiteautoandmedia.com, they will get you sorted. Prepare your wallet, though.



Well, the fact that reverse lights come on when you park the car is normal, it's an age old GM thing, but both reverse lights should stay on as parking illumination, at least they do on US cars.

There are some electrical differences between US and EU/Asia models, for example you should have the reverse light at the bottom like the Mustang and have amber turn signals in the taillight, but I never heard that parking illumination would be limited to one side, it makes no sense anyway.

(On second thought, since you have separate DRL LED strips under the headlights and no turn signals in the side mirrors plus a nice ZL1 spoiler, you may actually have an imported US model, in which case you're probably dealing with a burnt out reverse bulb in the driver side taillight, that should be an easy fix.)


Re steering wheel upgrades, I recently bought and installed this fully customizable carbon fiber wheel, it's amazingly beautiful and its craftsmanship is top notch (alas, it ain't cheap either): https://carbonaddons.com/products/20...steering-wheel (see also my quick posts below for pictures and first impressions).

https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showp...ostcount=13724
https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showp...ostcount=13755
https://www.camaro6.com/forums/showp...ostcount=13777

Apologize for not mentioning but the car is US imported!

What's the difference between the 7" inches vs the 8" inches other than the size? I tried Apple CarPlay and it seems to work fine. I will only need to use Waze and Spotify so it should be good to go (and the backup camera of course).

Do the DRL led strips mean the Camaro has the RS package, correct?
I thought the spoiler was part of the RS package but you mentioned it's a ZL1 spoiler, nice.

For the reverse bulb, the mechanic should notice that on Monday.

Thanks for the steering wheel, I'll have a look at it!

[Bumbleboy92]

Originally Posted by CamaroChill

Apologize for not mentioning but the car is US imported!

What's the difference between the 7" inches vs the 8" inches other than the size? I tried Apple CarPlay and it seems to work fine. I will only need to use Waze and Spotify so it should be good to go (and the backup camera of course).

Do the DRL led strips mean the Camaro has the RS package, correct?
I thought the spoiler was part of the RS package but you mentioned it's a ZL1 spoiler, nice.

For the reverse bulb, the mechanic should notice that on Monday.

Thanks for the steering wheel, I'll have a look at it!

For solely CarPlay usage, the screen is just an inch smaller. They both do the same thing

The RS package is the HID headlights/led taillights, specific grille, body-color painted antenna and 20” wheels.

The RS package gets a lip spoiler, the SS gets the three stanchion spoiler and the ZL1 is the same style as SS but wider. SS spoiler stops right at the body line, you can see yours goes over on either side so it’s ZL1 style

Regarding your exhaust I think it’s specifically this one: https://www.borla.com/products/chevr...t-system-11931

It being the Atak version with 4 tips and what looks like detachable outer pipes. The black is normal, you can clean it if you’d like

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by CamaroChill

Apologize for not mentioning but the car is US imported!

What's the difference between the 7" inches vs the 8" inches other than the size? I tried Apple CarPlay and it seems to work fine. I will only need to use Waze and Spotify so it should be good to go (and the backup camera of course).

Do the DRL led strips mean the Camaro has the RS package, correct?
I thought the spoiler was part of the RS package but you mentioned it's a ZL1 spoiler, nice.

For the reverse bulb, the mechanic should notice that on Monday.

Thanks for the steering wheel, I'll have a look at it!

Cool, that clears it up (the headlight washers must be some mandatory EU retrofit then). Just replace the reverse bulb on the left hand side.

The uplevel infotainment has a better screen, better software with apps and more options, and the gauge cluster (driver information center or DIC) has a much larger and better screen, too. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are available on both.

Yes, looking at the front it seems you have the RS package with its specific grille. The RS spoiler is a tiny flat blade spoiler, the previous owner must have changed it out for the ZL1 3-stanchion spoiler.

Good luck with the mechanic Have him check everything he normally does, engine, codes, live data, all the electricals, tires, alignment, maybe the clutch for excess wear (in case the previous owner brutalized it).