Modifying your Car Aesthetically, the Rare and OEM way | E90 Corolla

First of all, Happy New Year Guys!!!

I had been accepted in a facebook group about corolla stuff 3 months ago and most of the cars posted in that group are E90 to E110 corollas. Some of the members ask for places where they can buy some surplus OEM pieces for their cars to achieve the ultimate “JDM” plus OEM look.(pretty exaggerated but true) I had scrolled down too far in that group and here are my observations.

You may say, “If you want OEM, why not stick with the stock one that you have?” Well, some of us have this never ending feeling of changing things on your car. So what do you do? Fulfill it and be happy with the end result. Modifying a car doesn’t necessarily mean buying all the expensive aftermarket parts for the car, sometimes buying some OEM parts, especially rare ones, is one way to do it (which could be more expensive). Remember, all of us have our own ways in portraying how our car would look like, as long as we are happy about it, then go for it.

Since a number of members have E90 corollas, this might help :)

Face Lifts (Wagon face or Levin front ends)

The famous wagon face. If you search for an AE92 in our local online market place, chances are, most of them are have these front ends. This is a very common first piece that an E90 owner would install. Luckily, there are second hand pieces that one can buy for a fair price. Match it with suitable front and rear bumpers then your corolla would stand out.

If you have some extra cash, you could go for a full levin front end, just search for front half cut as fenders and bumpers would be different or you could be patient and search for these individual pieces.

Door Handles with Chrome Trim

To add more OEM goodies, one needs this door handle with chrome trim. Match it with other chrome trims (ones in the quarter panel, doors, and bumpers) and you would have completed the look. I separated this door handle from the rest of the chrome trim family as this one is quite hard to find in our local market, and can be bought for a fair price.

Long Gauge

Every E90 owner’s dashboard dream, the rare long gauge. This comes with a LHD or RHD version and pretty rare considering that we are near Japan. Lucky if you will ever find one on half cut cars (AE92 Gti) or in surplus shops. In some online stores, some of these doesn’t come with plugs or bezels so you only have the cluster itself.

Some corollas have no tachometers in their gauges (mostly base model ones) so some folks would look for an OEM cluster with a tachometer, which is much easier to do and to obtain.

When I first got my car, I also thought of having this gauge, but after I found out that this one is a rare item, I said “Ok nevermind” and just stick to my stock gauges.

Lastly, OEM levin interior (sidings and seats)

Since you already completed your exterior look, It’s now time to put some love in the interior. Some corolla owners in our country would go for levin interior as these things look good, which has that 2 tone color and the rare siding for manual windows, and still fits the purpose of having all the OEM toyota parts.

Some folks would find the interior pieces (like seats, steering wheels, and different switches) of a much higher trim model and fit in their car. This the easy way as it is a straight swap to the car.

I remember when I saw a maroon door card for manual windows with carpets on sale (man the whole set looks good). Unfortunately the seller asks a fortune for the whole set (still wont match my car anyways so I’ll let it pass)

I wish you had fun reading this post, and as always

Thank you and have a good day CTzens