I finally bit the bullet and bought myself a VCDS module/cable from one of Ross Tech's UK distributors, having debated for some time about buying a used one from a certain online auction site. I had the engine light come up on the dash last week which was the push I needed to justify buying it.
On plugging the cable in and running an auto-scan, it came back with a fault on the glow plug on cylinder 1. I then bought a set of 3 plugs and made ready to get them changed. I decided to take the car out for a short run to get her warmed up. I fired her up, only to find that the infernal dash warning light went off. Cleared the fault code, ran the auto scan again, no fault found.
So, with a bit of time on my hands, I thought I'd take a look at making some adaptions as listed in the sticky on VCDS options. I haven't gone mad, but now have the following coded;
1. Disabled Stop/Start as it drove me nuts every time it kicked in.
2. Changed the throttle response to the Audi setting. I know some folks have reported they didn't notice too much of a change with this, but I feel it has definitely improved things.
3. Added Quantity to refuel on the dot matrix.
4. Enabled the "off road" display on the head unit-more for a bit of fun than anything.
5. I had wanted to get the fan switch to show the fan speed in auto setting, but drew a blank on that as the bit that needs enabling isn't present and requires changing in the long code as far as I am aware and probably a step ahead of where I'm at in learning how to use VCDS so it'll have to wait.
I may enable the rear lights to come on as DRL's when I get 5 minutes but for now, I'm happy with the changes and I'll wait to see if the engine light comes back on!