The leaves are falling, days don’t last as long, and the holidays are just around the corner, and that means it’s time for FCP Euro’s 2024 Cyber Week Sale! This year, FCP Euro is going all out with the most significant discounts ever offered on doorbusters! Thousands of products are on sale from a handful of wide-ranging vendors, but the doorbusters are as good as it gets, with some reaching 40% off their original pricing. Head to the Cyber Week home page for the best way to shop this sale, but before you do, check out the best deals below!
Mechanicals
It’s just about the holiday season, and while you’re shifting gears to get ready for it, you can help your car do the same. Modern automatic and dual-clutch transmissions are technological marvels that have made driving more accessible and reliable while improving overall driving performance and fuel efficiency, but they still need maintenance like any other transmission. We’ve discussed why the “lifetime fill” fluids are anything but, so prepping for a service may be your best choice.
A fresh filter is a perfect place to start, and this Cyber Week, we have a couple of popular options available at their best prices ever. For nearly every BMW made in the last decade, this oil pan and filter kit made by ZF is a fantastic option, as it includes the single-use bolts needed to fasten the pan to the transmission. It’s ZF’s latest pan and filter revision, so even the oldest 8HP transmissions will benefit from the experience gained over years of development. Similarly, this Vaico PDK transmission oil pan offers the most modern revision for the latest 992.2 GT3 to the earliest 997.2 PDK cars. It includes all the bolts and a fresh drain plug to ensure your P-car is ready for the warmer weather next year.
We carry a few different options for transmission fluid for both of the above gearboxes, but not nearly as many as we offer for engine oil. Between LIQUI MOLY and FUCHS, there’s plenty to choose from, but the former’s Leichtlauf High-Tec is one of the most popular oils around. As such, we have tons of the 5w-40 blend in stock and ready to ship at a considerable discount. Pairing an engine oil change with a transmission oil filter and fluid change is a great way to knock out essential maintenance in one quick afternoon.
The holiday season also coincides with the off-season for many enthusiasts who attend track days and participate in motorsports events. That gives plenty of time for some choice upgrades, even the not-so-flashy ones. While only a select few may notice that you’ve swapped your VAG’s wheel bolts for Motorsport Hardware wheel studs, you’ll experience the benefits every time your wheels come off or go on. Wheel bolts have been the go-to for many years for street cars, but they’re not the safest to use on heavily tracked vehicles, and they’re annoying to deal with, so swapping to wheel studs and the proper steel lug nut is a safety improvement that removes a hassle from your ownership experience.
Speaking of safety, properly functioning headlights are as important as ever now that sunlight lasts much less. Many modern cars have HID headlights, also known as Xenon or bi-Xenon lights, that utilize special headlight bulbs that are far more costly than a traditional halogen bulb. However, during this Cyber Week sale, the Phillips D2SC1 Xenon HID headlight bulb is a good bit closer to the cost of halogens. Even if you or someone else doesn’t need them now, there will likely be a need in the future, and there’s no better time to buy than now.
Tools
Parts are tricky to buy as a gift if the recipient didn’t specifically ask for them, but tools are a good choice. Wrenches, ratchets, sockets, and screwdrivers are the backbone of any capable tool set, so chances are the person you’re buying for, whether yourself or someone else, already has them. However tools are diverse, with tons of specific equipment available for unique situations. There are also plenty that are overlooked that can make a wrencher’s life much easier, and it just so happens that we have a few as doorbusters!
Wheels must come off the car for nearly every suspension and brake-related job, so wear marks are not uncommon on the wheel around the lug bolts or nuts. Impact sockets are thick and will mar the wheel finish if they make contact while removing or installing the wheel’s fastener, but not if the socket is one from the thin-wall set from CTA. These specialized sockets are thinner than impacts and have a soft plastic outer coating that protects the wheel’s finish if they make contact. They also make a perfect pairing with CTA’s wheel hanger set, which threads in place of a lug bolt and allows for much easier wheel removal.
If the car is in the air and the wheel needs to come off, it should be supported on jack stands. Balancing one half of the vehicle on a jack while working away at the suspension is an accident waiting to happen, but placing jack stands under the vehicle provides a stable platform for the chassis to rest, so there’s minimal risk of injury. This set from OTC can carry three tons of weight, making it perfect for smaller cars, SUVs, or EVs.
Considering brake pad and disc replacements are some of the most common jobs, a tool that makes the job easier is probably a good buy. In this case, it’s not a wrench or a socket but a very aggressive brush. Why? Calipers are exposed to the elements; if not painted, they typically corrode. The same can happen to the wheel hub; fighting that corrosion to remove discs or pads is an unnecessary hassle. Lisle’s caliper cleaning brush is thin but has stiff steel bristles to aggressively remove anything in its path. Realistically, it can also clean corrosion from suspension parts, making it a reasonably handy tool.
While the wheels are off, it’d also be an excellent time to check tire tread depth. Tire wear is one of the most important things to consider about vehicle safety, as the sipes are directly responsible for evacuating water from below the tires, giving you traction in wet conditions. The minimum tread depth for most tires is between 4/32 and 2/32, which isn’t exactly easy to read from a glance or with a household measuring device. Luckily, it’s effortless with a tool like a digital tire depth gauge.
Another regular job perfect for an easy upgrade is the oil change. There’s not much to do during an oil change as the tools are all straightforward, but the one thing common across any car is the potential for spillage. The oil is meant to go in the engine, not on it. Any drips or spills while pouring in the new engine oil will quickly coat the engine below, where it can attract dirt and hit exhaust components, where it’ll smoke and smell while burning off. A locking fill funnel from CTA completely prevents all of that as it threads onto the engine in place of the filler cap. Preventing spills while draining the fluid is a little more difficult, but having some super absorbent mats on the ground will go a long way toward preventing an intense cleanup.
However, one of the best tools you can buy for yourself or someone else is arguably one of the most important to any modern toolbox: an ODB-II scanner.
The OBD-II system instituted in cars around 1996 made diagnosing issues much easier, but it has since expanded, connecting nearly every system into a single port that anyone can access. Anything relating to the engine, transmission, anti-lock brakes, and airbag system is accessible through the OBD port, but a scanner is needed to connect and communicate with the car. The Autel AL629 has all the functions of a basic scanner but includes ABS and SRS (airbag) connectivity, making it the best choice for avid DIYers. The latter two systems may only give off individual trouble codes in an older car and prevent an OBD-II system from passing a yearly inspection. It also has the largest discount of all the doorbusters, making it the best value buy this holiday season!
Car Care
For many, detailing is the best part of owning a car. Hours spent cleaning and protecting upholstery and paint are time well spent, even if the vehicle just sits in a garage. FCP Euro understands the love and care that goes into detailing, and the catalog is stocked with hundreds of products from a few key brands that reflect that fact. Now, during Cyber Week, you can find a few at a hefty discount.
GYEON is a favorite among our suppliers. They’ve sent representatives to our HQ to teach us how to wash a car properly, and they offer multiple products for almost every potential detailing job you can think of. Some are more involved than others, but there’s still plenty for the not-so-obsessed, like this Q² QuickView.
Cleaning your windows doesn’t take much time, but they dirty easily from dust, water, and other contaminants. However, if you go through the simple application process with the Q² QuickView, you’ll apply a hydrophobic coating to the glass, giving it incredible dirt and water-repelling properties. It’s similar in principle to paint wax, and wouldn’t you know it, GYEON offers that, too. Available in this easy-to-use kit, the Q² Wax provides high-gloss paint protection for any color with outstanding hydrophobic properties. The included fluorine gives the non-traditional wax insane water beading and repellency, allowing your ride to stay cleaner for longer.
Something a little more versatile to the average enthusiast is the Q²M QuickDetailer. Instead of a product that needs careful preparation and a specific application, the QuickDetailer is as easy to use as a household cleaner. Simply spray it onto a dusty or sooty paint surface and use a microfiber cloth to wipe it off. In seconds, the dirty surface is clean and shining bright, and it has a thin but powerful film that lasts on paint for several weeks.
