69GSColorado's 2013 Buick Regal GS- New Look!

I'm definitely not a fan of the plasti-dipped grille or fangs, but I agree that black wheels look pretty cool. I've used plasti-dip before on multiple occasions, and while it holds up well, it's a gigantic pain in the ass to remove. For example, it took me over an hour to remove it from my Riviera grill with its 50 vertical plastic bars. If I were to go this route, I think I would just have my wheels powdercoated gloss black. However, with my satin silver window trim, fangs and grille, I kind of like how the 19" wheels match. It looks good together.

What about that glossy-gunmetally look you have on your Rivi's rims?

I've never used plasti-dip on wheels, but it's probably easier to remove than say a grill. It's common with the Subaru guys to plasi-dip wheels for winter, then peel it off. I've seen one in my area that changes colors a few times per year.

My Riv's wheels are black chrome. There are a few shops out in Cali that could refinish them, but I'm sure it would be pricey. That would look incredible though, considering the waterfall grill is black chrome. Good idea Matt. Gives me something to look into!

Congrats Jordon! The regal looks awesome!

Dude at work dips his FX35 wheels for the winter months. I think it's a good idea if youre running nice wheels and want to protect them.

I've been sourcing more upgrades for the GS recently. I'm nearly finished with a full interior and partial exterior LED conversion. I don't have any good pictures yet because it's daytime and the car is now covered in snow, but I swapped out the dingy yellow dome lights, map lights, floor lights, license plate lights and reverse lights with Osram Sylvania 6000K LEDs. They're pretty expensive but definitely worth it because they have incredible light output and look OEM. I'm not a fan of the led bulbs with 25 glued on cheapo Chinese lights. These reverse lights were made in Germany. I had to order bulbs for the courtesy/puddly lights under the door. Ignore the dirty and/or missing lenses. This was just to show the difference.

I love this mod because it just makes everything look nicer and newer. I'm just running cheap ebay bulbs, and those Sylvania ones look like they put out a lot more light. Might have to pick some up...

How are those on lighting width or spread? Every LED light I've really tried has pointy light which is why I haven't had any interest. The pics look like they're better than anything I've tried. I wouldn't mind getting the reverse lights brighter.

I like that dark interior. Hard to believe, when the Riv came out in the mid-90s, it looked just as contemporary. We've come a long way with materials in 20 years!

Nice job with the LED conversion; save for a few bulbs in my gauge cluster I've swapped the Ferd completely over to LED's too! I have similar reverse lights(have little LED's tacked on to the sides to fill the housing) and I can vouch for the performance they offer.

Nice facking HIGHJACK Ilan!!

Abaddon wrote:

Nice facking HIGHJACK Ilan!!

Just helping the comparison shots!

Time to throw all the 'other car showroom' threads back into one ginormous thread!

AA wrote:

Time to throw all the 'other car showroom' threads back into one ginormous thread!

Yes!!!

Aside from a big ugly Ford splattering itself in this thread.....

Jordon, I just thought of this while I was in the pisser. If you want to have some real fun with that car, put it into "Competition" mode. Not only do you hit the "GS" button above the radio, but also hold down the TRACTION CONTROL button (not at the same time) until the Stabilitrac OFF and Traction Control OFF icons appear. I actually think a message will pop up on the DIC. It usually takes about 5 seconds of holding the button to make this happen. Most people don't know about it. They just hit the Traction button once and turn Traction Control off. This really does nothing because Stabilitrac is still live. If you've ever driven a new(er) Corvette, it's the same exact thing. Just hold the button down and WEEEEEEEEEE

Lots of newer cars have that extra level of protection against defeating the stability/traction controls. I think it's so people won't kill themselves as easily, creating a lawsuit. A friend and I turned off the system completely in a BMW 335i using a similar complex procedure. Had tires smoking and ass-end out in no time. Turned from a respectably quick, modern (safe) sedan into some kind of analog monster, ready to reveal our driving deficiencies and punish us accordingly.

Abaddon wrote:

AA wrote:

Time to throw all the 'other car showroom' threads back into one ginormous thread!

Yes!!!

Aside from a big ugly Ford splattering itself in this thread.....

Jordon, I just thought of this while I was in the pisser. If you want to have some real fun with that car, put it into "Competition" mode. Not only do you hit the "GS" button above the radio, but also hold down the TRACTION CONTROL button (not at the same time) until the Stabilitrac OFF and Traction Control OFF icons appear. I actually think a message will pop up on the DIC. It usually takes about 5 seconds of holding the button to make this happen. Most people don't know about it. They just hit the Traction button once and turn Traction Control off. This really does nothing because Stabilitrac is still live. If you've ever driven a new(er) Corvette, it's the same exact thing. Just hold the button down and WEEEEEEEEEE

Thanks dude! Believe it or not, I actually managed to figure this out the day before you posted this. I'm still babying the car, so I haven't pushed it's limits or anything yet. In time haha

So this will probably wait until summertime, but I think I've pretty much settled on forgoing sourcing a set of 20" OEM GS wheels and instead find a set of nice aftermarkets for my summer setup. The cost for OEM 20s is supposedly near 5K, and those that have them do not want to trade. I found somebody who was wanting to trade a set on Craigslist, but he wanted me to make a 12 hour round trip to Chicago and trade him my brand new OEM 19s plus $1200 cash. Not happening.

Plus, as with the Riv, my goal is to have the GS stand out from the rest of the crowd and add my own unique modifications. Here are some of my favorite options as of now. I think I'll stick with 19s so I'll have the ability to use my same tires. My dad owns a tire shop, so swapping them out wont be a problem. Let me know what you think. As of now, I think the anthracite BBS SR wheels are my favorite. Although they're a bit heavy, BBS wheels are top quality and made in Germany.

I like the first option best, with the last option being my second favorite. I think the first option is more "GS-ey", while the last option is more like something you would see on somebody's boring day-to-day car.

#1

Or this one:

Just scored a great deal on a brand new set of OEM illuminated Buick door sills on closeout. Although they were offered by GM Accessories only for the 2010-11 Lacrosse, I can't imagine that I won't be able to make them work on the GS. At the time, they were a $400 option (gasp!) This will be a good spring break project for me here in a few weeks.

Here is what they look like installed. It will look good with the soft blue factory lighting.





I've simply been killing it on eBay recently. Last week I stumbled upon a set of rubber Buick all-weather floor mats and cargo liner for just $63 shipped. I was considering WeatherTech, but you can't beat that price for factory fit! These will be put to good use with the snow we've been getting.

Those definitely look better than the door sills i made by hand last year haha.

Those sills are gonna look awesome on it if you can get them to work. Please keep in mind that you have a full factory warranty. Pay VERY good attention to how you wire those in....just sayin.