The Green Bean (MY06 Forester)

As some of you will remember, I sold my previous dark-gray MY06 Forester in July 2009, before my family moved to West Africa. While over there, we drove an unbreakable 1998 Toyota Land Cruiser (with 3-liter n/a diesel) and a sporty 2008 Nissan X-trail with 2.2 liter turbo-diesel and 6-speed manual transmission. While the Land Cruiser and X-trail were both excellent vehicles, I really missed my Subaru. So as soon as I returned Stateside, getting another Forester was at the top of my list.

I was set on another Forester from the 2006-2008 model years. And I didn't want to overspend, as it's my wife's turn to get the nicer car. The "Green Bean" is what I ended up with.

It has a solid 70,000 miles (110,000+ km) on the odometer. With that said, the previous owner took very good care of it, with the sole exception of being a smoker (more on that later). And because it's the US-only LL Bean Edition, it came with a long list of extras, including seat warmers, heated wipers and rear-view mirrors, upgraded speakers incl. subwoofer under driver's seat, smooth beige leather, pre-wired OEM trailer hitch, and self-leveling struts in the rear (I believe, need to verify before installing a lift kit).

Needless to say, I am happy like a pig in sh*t with my new Forester! :biggrin:
 
As other members have done, I am hoping to document all the modifications and upgrades to the Green Bean in this thread. Given that I've had the Forester for several weeks already, I've already done a few things to it. I took pictures along the way, and hope to document things retroactively.

These are the "mods" that I have done to it so far:

* New cabin air filter by FRAM, branded as Fresh Breeze, with active carbon and baking soda (sorely needed because previous owner was apparently a smoker).
* Removed factory cross bars and moonroof wind deflector for cleaner rooflines.
* OEM front licence plate bracket
* SPT billet aluminum battery tie down
* Rally Armor basic mud flaps
* K&N high-flow (engine) air filter

Here are a couple more things I would like to add in the coming months:

* Stickers. Lots of stickers. Including the Big Stick and ORS Oval that I just ordered.
* Iridium spark plugs (already bought them)
* Tail pipe cover
* Sump Guard. I was going to get a RalliTEK skid plate. But then I realized that I should try to get back my old SubaXtreme sump guard back from the former work colleague I sold my previous Forester to.
* Paint wheels black. I don't particularly like the alloys that came with the LL Bean. I much prefer the 10-spoke wheels that come the the XS/Premium. But I don't want to spend money on new wheels. So I will likely just paint them a light black/charcoal, so they don't hit me in the eye like they do now. :)
* Lift Kit. Trying to decide between 1" aluminum strut-top lift from Subtle Solutions, King Springs, and/or 2" steel strut-top lift from SUMO Parts.
* New rotors and brake pads, once the current ones wear out.
* Off-road tires, once the current ones wear out.

That's about all I can think of for now. :)
 
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Sounds awesome Escher! I love the LL Bean editions and the beautiful shade of green they come in. Glad you guys made it back safe & sound!
 
Gidday Escher

Escher said:
It has a solid 70,000 miles (110,000+ km) on the odometer. With that said, the previous owner took very good care of it, with the sole exception of being a smoker (more on that later). And because it's the US-only LL Bean Edition, it came with a long list of extras, including seat warmers, heated wipers and rear-view mirrors, upgraded speakers incl. subwoofer under driver's seat, smooth beige leather, pre-wired OEM trailer hitch, and self-leveling struts in the rear (I believe, need to verify before installing a lift kit).

Needless to say, I am happy like a pig in sh*t with my new Forester! :biggrin:
Click to expand...

Sounds fairly similar to my "new" XS + luxury pack; right down to the very similar kms - just nicely run in ... :) :lildevil:
Very glad that mine had never had a cigarette smoked in it!

I echo your sentiments regarding pigs in the proverbial :lol: :ebiggrin: ...

Congrats on starting your journal, mate.
 
Damn! How time flies! This Member Log is in even worse shape than I remembered. Definitely time to get the log back up to speed, now that the Fozza is getting there too!

I'm happy to report that the smoke smell was "exorcised" and I can now breathe freely in the Forester, even when it's been sitting with closed windows.

Already completed (long ago): K&N filter, cabin air filter, Rally Armor mud flaps.

In the garage and ready to go on: strut top lift from Primitive (1" front, 1.25" rear), new rally wheels, new Yoko Geo AT-S tires.

Today, I also decided to order upgraded rotors and brake pads, to install same time as lift: Centric premium rotors, StopTech street performance pads, all four corners. I test-fitted the wheels, and couldn't stand to mount the new wheels onto the nasty rusted-out OEM rotors. :raz:

Ordered today for delivery in 1-2 weeks and later installation: RalliTEK bash plate.

Pictures and detailed log to come... :ebiggrin:
 
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Sounds like "green bean" is really coming along :biggrin:
Can't wait to see some pics of it :iconwink:

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
Turns out that Primitive didn't send me the right bolts with my lift kit. So I'm waiting for longer bolts to arrive before bringing the Forester and my pile of stuff to the mechanic.

On the upside, the RalliTEK sump guard arrived yesterday. So it will go on along with everything else. The RalliTEK plate looks very nice, although not as nice as the SubaXtreme one I had before. It's also compatible with the XT, in case I ever decide to go for a turbo. :ebiggrin:

carljwnc said:
Thats going to be "The Mean Green Bean" with all those goodies on it.:ebiggrin:
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Love the new name, Carl!
 
Boy oh boy! My build log/journal has been dormant for a long time. :neutral:

Took longer than expected to install the Primitive 1" lift kit. On the upside, when I finally got around to it, I threw in some HD King springs as well. Also put in new KYB struts, as the self-leveling struts in the rear were shot.

The King springs are wonderfully sporty compared to the OEM springs. A bit harsh, yes. But the Fozza corners 10 times better now. :ebiggrin:

Only complaint about the 1" lift is that there's significant buffeting noise when going faster than about 55 mph. Been meaning to ask about this and research any remedies. But I've just been quietly clocking up miles instead. ;)
 
kiwifoz said:
Any pictures? :D
Click to expand...

It would be about time, wouldn't it? ;)

Went looking through my phone pics, and only found two of the Forester. First is my avatar from when I bought it used in 2012. Yikes! That was five years ago. Second picture is below, when mechanic installed Primitive strut top blocks and King springs.

I need to take some beauty shots next time I find myself in a scenic spot.
 

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