Retrofitting Sharkfin Antenna Experiences?

[noisuf]

Hi Everyone,

I have a MY08 R32 with a Horsewhip Antenna.

I know of the stubby antenna but I LOVE the sharkfins. Really thinking about doing the change but wanted to find out your advice and experiences first.

Done a bit of research and find that there is an instruction mod out there with body matched paint: VW GTI Forum / VW Rabbit Forum / VW R32 Forum / VW Golf Forum - Golfmkv.com - View Single Post - DIY - Euro OEM Shark-Fin Antenna Swap

I have a few questions:

1) I understand I'll lose AM? Not a big miss for me if the case though.

2) Will taking out the horsewhip and replacing make the car less rain proof? I've read that VW has high advised that the retrofit not be done?

3) Has anyone actually performed the changed? Was the mod hard to do? What did you do to ensure watertightness? Did you follow the instructions above?

Some OEM part numbers here: VW GTI Forum / VW Rabbit Forum / VW R32 Forum / VW Golf Forum - Golfmkv.com - View Single Post - Shark Fin Antenna QUestion

TMTuning sells the OEM here: VW OEM shark fin antenna

Three eBay items:

Is this OEM? German seller. VW Golf 1 2 3 4 T4 Radio Antenne Hai Shark Dachantenne (eBay item 130444324195 end time 15-Dec-10 05:32:31 AEDST) : Audio Hi-Fi

Painted sleeker Sharkfin...is the connector plug and play? Canadian seller. AM/FM Painted Shark Fin Antenna - VW Golf GTI Rabbit - eBay (item 230420271122 end time Nov-30-10 16:50:50 PST)

Unpainted sleeker Sharkfin from same German seller above. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/VW-Golf-1-2-3...item1e5f274403

[Rob Burns]

The German ebay seller one doesn't look genuine due to the connector and it looks like the ad says it fits mk1 - mk4. The Canadian one is just a cover to go over your normal antenna base so is definitely not genuine and might not fit the Australian edition base as it looks like it covers the satellite radio antenna aswell. Cant hurt to send them a message as it may be the cheapest and easiest option. Might look cheap and nasty though but if you prefer the shark fin look then you're obviously not bother by it looking nasty

[noisuf]

The German ebay seller one doesn't look genuine due to the connector and it looks like the ad says it fits mk1 - mk4. The Canadian one is just a cover to go over your normal antenna base so is definitely not genuine and might not fit the Australian edition base as it looks like it covers the satellite radio antenna aswell. Cant hurt to send them a message as it may be the cheapest and easiest option. Might look cheap and nasty though but if you prefer the shark fin look then you're obviously not bother by it looking nasty

thanks for your reply. The tmtuning one is genuine so should look like a my07 that came with satnav... But it sounds like you're not a fan of the sharkfin...even the genuine one? I have to admit that i wonder if it's worth the trouble.

[nutttr]

Don't you have to at least partially drop the roof lining to do it? That alone would make me reconsider!

[noisuf]

Don't you have to at least partially drop the roof lining to do it? That alone would make me reconsider!

Yep, looks like it's the case based on the instructions. After having recently done the mod for microphone...I'm game!!!