Retrofit of RVC to MK6 Golf

[Idle]

Thanks for the pointer, Adam.

I popped the plastic pin out — which he'd done before making the video —(do use the right tool here (wide right-angle trim tool with V cut) — a screwdriver would be almost guaranteed to break it) then found I had just enough strength to force the corner of the carpet out sufficiently to wangle tools in. It almost beat me, tho', I can't apply the pressure that I could have done a score or so years ago, and it's not a place where I'd care to apply leverage without knowing what's under it.

The right-hand side is further complicated by having the frame for the little cubby hole glued to it — which makes it still more rigid.

This is definitely something that ought to have been better designed (perhaps it's yet another area organised for dealer income?)

In any case, DIY bulb changers should ignore this item in the official sequence, unclip the relevant end of the lip trim, take the pin out and then proceed with caution.

Thanks again for the tip.

[AdamD]

The right-hand side is further complicated by having the frame for the little cubby hole glued to it — which makes it still more rigid.

This is definitely something that ought to have been better designed (perhaps it's yet another area organised for dealer income?)

I agree, it can be mighty tricky. Several times I felt sure I was going to damage something, and it was really only blind faith in the manual, plus having seen Golfitup's video, that convinced me to keep at it. I've since pulled the carpet out a second time, and have noticed it's become much more pliable after the first battle.

Glad to hear you've managed it!

[Pepe]

Finally got my replacement VAG-COM cable today (first one was a dud)... et, voila:



By the way, to the OP, it IS possible to have both the RVC and OPS working at the same time, it just requires an extra bit of VCDS coding. You can see it shows an image of the car on the left of the screen above which is just a smaller version of the silhouette you normally see on the OPS screen.

[Ryan_R]

I was wondering how you were going with this the other day. I hope you get a chance to write up some instructions with photos to sway me to have a go as well

Did you already have OPS or did you add them as well?

[rs73]

damn, can't wait to get mine done... i'm just being so slack... how did you run the coaxial cable from the back of the unit to the fuse box ?
over or under the steering wheel column, and do you need to remove the under steering wheel column dash parts?

[Pepe]

I was wondering how you were going with this the other day. I hope you get a chance to write up some instructions with photos to sway me to have a go as well

Did you already have OPS or did you add them as well?

I'll write it up soon as my hosting provider restores my website (it'll be a bit too big to post in forum...form).

And yeah, it's an R, so had OPS as standard.

damn, can't wait to get mine done... i'm just being so slack... how did you run the coaxial cable from the back of the unit to the fuse box ?
over or under the steering wheel column, and do you need to remove the under steering wheel column dash parts?

Over the steering wheel, the dials/MFD had to come out but once out, you can get pretty easy access to everything down there

[Ryan_R]

I've run a Blutooth microphone cable under the steering column before - with the radio out it's as easy as pie.

You could use Google Docs or Google Sites or any other free provider if need be to host the write-up.

I didn't realise you had the Golf R - I know I wouldn't be in a hurry to pull apart my car if I had spent that much on it xD

[Corey_R]

I'll write it up soon as my hosting provider restores my website (it'll be a bit too big to post in forum...form).

It would be great that if at all possible, you could write it up on the forums. Feel free to create multiple posts in a row to include all the information and images you need (and I'll delete anyone who posts in between if needed).

The reason I say this, is that we just lose so much information to personal websites which go down etc.

[Idle]

Over the steering wheel, the dials/MFD had to come out but once out, you can get pretty easy access to everything down there

Being pretty ham-fisted these days, (my hands shake too much for precise work) I looked for a way to avoid dismantling the instrument panel and found I could get the coax cable through quite easily without taking the dash apart or removing the fusebox — if you insert a suitable guide through the larger of the two round holes in the aluminium support behind the fusebox, it will pass neatly through the loops formed by the instrument panel loom and appear in the centre area. You then use it to pull the coax and 12V wire through behind the dash.

If you want to be sure it's not fouling anything, it's easy to take a flash photo from the rear of the radio recess — hold the camera as far back as you can and angle it slightly toward you.

I used a belt & braces method and also fed the section behind the dash through a short length of clear food grade polyester tube — 9mm ID IIRC — which is easily anchored at each end (get it very cheap at Clark Rubber,) supports the coax and ought to remove any possibility of its rubbing where it shouldn't.

Running the coax to the rear, about the worst snag was that the sound damping material behind the upper side trim at the rear had been installed slightly too far back and was blocking the aperture the rear washer hose (and, perforce, the coax) comes up through — this stuff is really tough to get out of the way and it's 3 layers of metal down so very hard to reach. Eventually had to lever the upper trim away, insert a thin metal strip and blindly apply brute force — fortunately didn't damage anything and in the end managed to hold the stuff clear enough to get a probe down from the top.

Haven't finished the install yet as I can't get some of the connector wires ( the ones with number ending in 129 — no stock in Australia, I'm told, and no apparent interest in getting any...) so the car's running around with no lower hatch trim.

Have emailed Jon @ ECS Tuning (from whom I bought the camera unit and coax) re supply but no reply as yet.

Not the end of the world as I got the two really essential ones (for the 4-pin plug on the latch connector, which is pretty much indispensable) and can cut the connector off the camera wires and sweat up a loom for the remainder if I must.

[Pepe]

Being pretty ham-fisted these days, (my hands shake too much for precise work) I looked for a way to avoid dismantling the instrument panel and found I could get the coax cable through quite easily without taking the dash apart or removing the fusebox — if you insert a suitable guide through the larger of the two round holes in the aluminium support behind the fusebox, it will pass neatly through the loops formed by the instrument panel loom and appear in the centre area. You then use it to pull the coax and 12V wire through behind the dash.

If you want to be sure it's not fouling anything, it's easy to take a flash photo from the rear of the radio recess — hold the camera as far back as you can and angle it slightly toward you.

I used a belt & braces method and also fed the section behind the dash through a short length of clear food grade polyester tube — 9mm ID IIRC — which is easily anchored at each end (get it very cheap at Clark Rubber,) supports the coax and ought to remove any possibility of its rubbing where it shouldn't.

Running the coax to the rear, about the worst snag was that the sound damping material behind the upper side trim at the rear had been installed slightly too far back and was blocking the aperture the rear washer hose (and, perforce, the coax) comes up through — this stuff is really tough to get out of the way and it's 3 layers of metal down so very hard to reach. Eventually had to lever the upper trim away, insert a thin metal strip and blindly apply brute force — fortunately didn't damage anything and in the end managed to hold the stuff clear enough to get a probe down from the top.

Haven't finished the install yet as I can't get some of the connector wires ( the ones with number ending in 129 — no stock in Australia, I'm told, and no apparent interest in getting any...) so the car's running around with no lower hatch trim.

Have emailed Jon @ ECS Tuning (from whom I bought the camera unit and coax) re supply but no reply as yet.

Not the end of the world as I got the two really essential ones (for the 4-pin plug on the latch connector, which is pretty much indispensable) and can cut the connector off the camera wires and sweat up a loom for the remainder if I must.

I have a spare 129, 3 131s and a 133. Send me a PM and I'm sure we can sort something out.

[Idle]

I have a spare 129, 3 131s and a 133. Send me a PM and I'm sure we can sort something out.

Unfortunately I can't use just one 129 (minimum 2, so far as I can see) and already have the others, so had to pass on Pepe's kind offer.

Finally had a reply from jon@ecstuning, who sent me a shopping cart already set up, but advised they are unable to airmail the items — it's UPS or nothing, lowest rate $US59.38 (for items that weigh in at less than 40 grams total and would fit comfortably in a DL envelope!)

I can probably source them from the UK, but at this time of year airmail will take a month or more (already have a small packet on the way from there — posted early last month and still not here. Same size package from USA would be here in 5 or 6 days.)

Not real happy about cutting the connector off the camera wires, but it now looks like being a sweatstick job.

My own fault, of course, should have realised ECS could supply all the bits and ordered them with the camera instead of trusting to local suppliers.

[Transporter]

Finally got my replacement VAG-COM cable today (first one was a dud)... et, voila:



By the way, to the OP, it IS possible to have both the RVC and OPS working at the same time, it just requires an extra bit of VCDS coding. You can see it shows an image of the car on the left of the screen above which is just a smaller version of the silhouette you normally see on the OPS screen.

How did you go with it? Did, I miss your How to post?

[Pepe]

How did you go with it? Did, I miss your How to post?

There ws a thread in the electronics forum about it... I haven't gotten around to doing the DIY guide yet. It works a treat, been in for a couple months now and not quite sure how I did without it, makes parallel parking a dream!

[Idle]

I've had mine in for a while and, strangely, I'm having trouble convincing myself to trust it.

Probably 70+ years of turning my head (now quite an effort, BTW) and squinting in mirrors makes the habit hard to break...

Incidentally, for those looking to fit one, for a Mk 6 you don't need all the bits specified in some of the DIY guides.

Here's what's really essential:
1 piggyback fuse adapter ("Carpoint" — I found this on Ebay from UK) which avoids having to dismantle the dash.
Reverse camera and badge assembly P/N VW 5K0 827469 AM ULM (1 Req’d)
Wire Set for Camera P/N VW 5M1970161AC (1 Req’d)
Contact Housing P/N VW 4B0973712 (4-pin for latch connector — 1 Req’d)
Contact Housing P/N VW 3B0972722 (4-pin for Camera Power (1 Req’d, only 3 pins used))
Wire Set VW 000979131E (fits both connectors, 4 Req’d, you’ll have half of one left over.)
A couple of metres of 7.5A wire similar to the power lead that comes with the video lead.
Heat shrink tube or tape (tape is expensive!)
Electrician's tape (good quality, not the rubbish sold in those multi-coloured supermarket packs.)
A drain tube from VW for the camera (ECS have them, I think, they also have the other VW bits) — or do what I did and get a bit of food grade PVC tubing from Clark Rubber.
A decent set of plastic trim tools (if ordering the unit from ECS in USA, they have an excellent set for about $10.)
A nice flexible probe 70cm to a metre long and strong string to pull the cables through from the dash.
Wire cutter and stripper, soldering tools and the know-how to use them.
A few small zip ties are handy, but not essential.
Pliers, a T20 Torx driver, common sense and almost infinite patience.

I started to write a blow-by-blow guide, but it quickly got to 6 pages and still isn't finished, so it'd be too big to post here, I think.

[Transporter]

I started to write a blow-by-blow guide, but it quickly got to 6 pages and still isn't finished, so it'd be too big to post here, I think.

No, it wouldn't. You can start a new thread and post it there as as many posts it takes.
Many people would be interested in that incl. me.

Good luck and thanks for your contribution.