pantablo

He all. I'm new here helping out a coworker of mine. He's not a car guy but just bought a 2000 TT 5 speed 1.8T with 197k miles. I believe its a 180q. Not being very knowledgeable about cars he didnt do the research and now has a car that looks like it has some issues, although small and manageable IMO. So I offered to help him since I'm a car guy and like to tinker.
He's had the car two days and already a CEL. So first order of business is an OBDII scanner, probably tell him to get a ScanGaugeII. Basic and simple. If there are better ones I'd love to hear about it. My M5 takes a Peake code reader which I think is BMW specific so that's no help.


Quick look over the car and looks like has a blinker problem. Researched and will be replacing the hazard relay shortly since his blinkers don't work. Seems a common issue. Came across several good how-to's including a note about not unplugging the radio.

Engine bay missing a bunch of cover panels too.
There appear to be some missing bolts and such as well.

For example, the battery.
He's missing this red cable:


His actually looks like this:


What does that cable do, where does it connect on other end and how important is it (I imagine very). Or is it even necessary on this car?



Previous owner installed what look like these LED projector headlights.

Will these cause problems for him later on down the line? I'm sure they're crap.

One last (first round) question. The end of the intake manifold has a threaded hole that has nothing in it. This photo has a hose attachment. What is that and what does it do? And how urgently does it need to be replaced in this car, lol?
This hose, at drivers side end of intake manifold:



PO said the timing belt is good for another 30k miles. So assuming we believe him, what immediate things should we do to the car, look at, etc. I'll be helping him with a complete fluid change and I imagine all the cooling hoses should be changed as well, no?

Ok, last question: what are good resources for used replacement parts online, like for the engine cover panels, wheel center caps, etc?

Appreciate all the help...