Retrofit Maxidot?

[dangreenwood79]

Apologies if this has been asked before I have searched the title but not found anything.

 

On my completely standard (1st owner must have ticked NO options) FL 2010 VRS CR Diesel I don't have Maxidot. I don't understand if this is an option in the electronics somewhere that can be activated by VCDS or needs uploading or something or is simply not possible to retrofit?

 

I've bought a bluetooth ELM which reads fault codes but not any options on Carista, I have a wifi one on order to work with IPad but the proper menu options would be better. Is this possible / economic?

 

Many thanks,

 

Dan

[phil5556]

Maxidot can't be activated if it's not there but you can swap your clocks for one with it.

If you can find a set of clocks I think EddieNL seems to be the person to talk to about programming it.

Others will know much more than me.

I don't have it either but would like it. Cost will probably be the limiting factor for me.

[dangreenwood79]

I see, that's been very helpful.

 

Agreed on the cost thing, there are only a couple of things I want to actively change on the default settings which hopefully the Carista app will sort for me. In which case the cost and hassle probably won't be worth it.

[phil5556]

I want it just because I like toys really, but Carista has let me change the things I wanted so I have no real need for maxidot.

There's quite a lot of Carista threads running at the moment, my experience is that WiFi adapter + iPhone is a lot more successful than android and a Bluetooth adapter.

[iaind1]

I'd really like to be able to do this on my car too, mainly for aesthetic reasons - the display on the pre-fl models without maxidot looks like a Golf from 1994. I just cant justify that much cost though and pre-fl petrol clusters seem to be a bit like hens teeth

[Tinbum]

Hi, I fitted maxidot to both my cars and love it. As the instrument cluster has the immobiliser within it the new one will need coding. It can't be done with VCDS so has to be done by a dealer or ask Eddie_NL (He did mine, I sent him my old and new clusters with the keys).

[Phil-E]

Some things to bear in mind when looking to retrofit.

 

The non-maxidot FL clusters looks very similar to the maxidot ones so be careful and check the part numbers.

 

Diesel ones are specific to PD and CR engines so clocks from a PD won't work with a CR engine. and vice versa.

 

Eddie fitted mine too.

 

Phil

[tamiyaandy]

I thought about fitting a full maxidot to mine as it only has a mid-line display, But finding the correct full maxidot seems difficult on the older cars now.

 

Plus with Carista I have all options on that I want so it would only be an aesthetics thing really unless I can find one going cheap!

 

I guess having it coded to the car also corrects the millage to match?

[Phil-E]

I got mine for £50 off ebay. Bargain.

 

And yes the mileage is also set to match the previous cluster.

 

I thought it was worth a go and it greatly improved the look of the dash. Plus I really like the sat-nav instructions on the screen etc.

 

Phil

[tamiyaandy]

Ill keep my eyes peeled Phil, Mine is the old "red" midline display, I am more than confident in removing the cluster as I actually took the unit out and apart not long after I got the car as there was an annoying glittery speck of dust on the screen right were the time display was! ( I know its sad but I couldn't live with it, I'm a bit OCD on stuff )

[softscoop]

Diesel ones are specific to PD and CR engines so clocks from a PD won't work with a CR engine. and vice versa.

 

That's not the case.

 

Eddie can get them to work whichever car it came from.

 

He's even had petrol clocks working on a diesel.

 

 

Edited 28 July, 2015 by softscoop

[tamiyaandy]

Ohhhh... That would be cool, But I will admit I prefer the blue / Red illumination of the older clocks if I'm honest  , plus it would mean all the door switches, Radio, heater controls would look odd as there in Blue/Red and the newer clocks are White?

[Aston_Bodger]

On Thursday I will be paying him a visit to fit my cluster,  as the stealer in the area wont touch the coding of it :(

 

 

 

Trev

[Spannaz]

I got mine for £50 off ebay. Bargain.

 

And yes the mileage is also set to match the previous cluster.

 

I thought it was worth a go and it greatly improved the look of the dash. Plus I really like the sat-nav instructions on the screen etc.

 

Phil

I think I want to put this on the list of "stuff to do"!   However, is there anyway of identifying if its a Maxidot without it being switched on?  I'm just looking at eBay Octavia's being broken for spares, and unless the seller happened to have a pic of the gauges with the ignition on, cant see that they will know what I'm on about if I ask: "a maxiwot mate?" etc..

[softscoop]

You can always tell by the part numbers.

[Spannaz]

You can always tell by the part numbers.

 

Good one

But on the assumption that a breaker doesn't remove many parts until asked to, they wont know the part number I suspect, and there isn't much point in my telling them a number if they haven't removed the item to check it

[softscoop]

Oh I see what you mean. On ebay etc obviously the part number is visible.

The easiest way to check I suppose is to ask if it has a full screen picture of the car with the door open or just a light when one of the doors is open.

If the battery is off then it's a guessing game for the fl as they both look the same.

Edited 29 July, 2015 by softscoop