I had a Columbus retro fitted into my 08 plate octavia VRS. To get the handsfree on it which was not added at the time of install what do I need to order,

1. what parts do I need

2. do I need a VCDS

Any advice would be appreciated, and is it an easy job for a mechical minded person?

Thanks.

You will need a mic, a bluetooth unit and associated wiring. If you want voice control you will have to alter the wiring a bit or buy a pre-made harness from Kufatec. New they are £49 delivered or cheaper if you know someone with a second hand harness, cough cough.

But for just Bluetooth, you will need a Mic, probably best with OEM for about £15 from ebay and the like, these fit in the overhead console where the ligh unit is.

A bluetooth module, this is where it gets confusing. What type of phone do you have? an RSAP enabled Nokia? or an Android/iPhone (although Android can be set up to do RSAP not sure on iPhone). The difference is an RSAP module will have an external ariel and as such makes the unit you phone and can receive texts on the head unit/maxidot and you can text from the Columbus head unit. So this is the better choice but not the better choice if you don't have an RSAP phone (not many new one about)

So for module choice a module starting with 5KO and ending in something like D will work with iphones/android but you won't get texts on screen, you will get the ability to do bluetooth music streaming from your phone. A module starting with 5NO will give you RSAP ability and will come with a GSM ariel.

Then you just need the wiring for the one you've purchased, you can get everything you need including voice control for abot £165 or buy a complete kit all ready to go in for about £200 + delivery from Poland from carsystems (very good to deal with)

Some links

OEM mic: Here £12

5KO module:Here £79

5KO wiring: Here 38 euros plus delivery (all ready pre-wired for voice control)

5NO module complete kit: Here 199 euros plus delivery ( i think this is also pre-wired for voice control)

5NO cable and mic: Here

5NO module: Here

So you pic the module depending on what phone you have/want. To mount the module just cut the tabs off and velcro to the bottom of the cage underneath the Columbus, take out the climate control for easy access. Then just have it coded with VCDS.

All the parts seem like a mindfield but whatever module you buy just try to get the later ones ending with D or E etc. as I think these all do music streaming. As for fitting yes quite easy, but fiddly, bits of trim to remove and get a wire across the headlining but nothing to hard. The hardest bit is getting all the wiring behind the columbus, its best to get the climate controls out and the top box and go from there.

Edited 19 May, 201214 yr by vrs777

Useful thread this thanks guys.

Question to Vrs777, the 5k0 wiring loom link you mention does not say its compatible with a D unit, have you done this and is it just an oversight on the carsystems website??

Cheers

Adam

Edited 21 May, 201214 yr by adamal

I think an oversight, mine is a D and the cable worked fine, I even bought the wrong cable I purchased a 5NO one but it still works fine.

Cheers, be giving it a go myself too soon, funds permitting.

Adam

.. or just buy a fiscon?

Price though, oem Bluetooth install with voice control came in at £160 or there about. That's with me fitting but it was easy really.

How do you run the wiring for the mic to the interior light? Presumably has to be via the windscreen pillar but bit wary cos of the airbag??

No airbags on mine there, but if you have them just make sure the wire runs behind the airbag. The wire then runs across the headlining, just by the grab handle you can push the wire across the roof to the interior light.

Cheers

thats fantastic, my columbus (see my other post and be wary!) is still not sorted, once it is I shall sort this out. Particular thanks to VRS 777 for the very comprehanisve reply.

Anyone know who in Nottinghamshire can sort out the coding for me.

Well my kit arrived yesterday and I fitted it pretty easily to be honest, took about 90mins.

My Columbus has been in for repair with the dealer so just waiting for that back to test it.

I opted for under the passenger seat so I could easily access the by module in future, and it was relatively simple on taking the glovebox out. I disconnected the battery first to avoid airbag light issues on disconnecting that.

The windscreen pillar removes pretty easily too to run the mic cable, I actually went down from the light rather than up.

The only confusion was the presence of 4 pairs of unused pins in the male quadlock supplied by carsystems. My guess is these are extra speaker connections, perhaps to support the 12 speaker system rather than my 8.

All in all though don't be put off by the apparent complexity of the wiring installation. With the kit in vrs777's post above it really is pretty simple and provides a very reasonable OEM solution.

Thanks again for the info.

Adam

Ok so I got my headunit back and it all works pretty well. However, I don't have correct functioning voice control, it just can't seemingly hear me speaking the commands.

Now I've definitely clipped the microphone into the headunit rather than the bluetooth unit and I've coded using VCDS to ensure telephone 77 is selected in the CAN gateway 19 section and also voice control is active within the navigation 56 section. I couldn't code the telephone 77 with the short code to activate it in maxidot as the module requires long coding, and I think from what I have read it is not possible to get a pre-FL maxidot to recognise this module. However, I have ensured that long coding has voice control activated.

Any thoughts? Perhaps my microphone is damaged (it did seem a bit flimsy when I installed it), but it does work for normal conversation. Or is there another setting on the headunit I need to input?

Any thoughts gratefully received.

Thanks

Adam

If it works for conversation it will work for voice control. What firmware do you have on your Columbus?. And double check your wiring, i mixed the car systems leads up when I first installed it and had to swap the two white/clear connections around (me being too excited with the install!)

TBH the voice control is very good but a bit of a novelty! it needs to recognise postcodes via voice to be really useful, but saying that if it can do it you will want it enabled just so you can shout at your head unit once in a while

Edited 12 June, 201213 yr by vrs777

Thanks mate. I definitely did that wire swap you are on about as I noticed your other post where you said you'd got them the wrong way around. Firmware is 381x which I think is more recent than 266x, so at a loss really. And I do want it working just cos it should!

Reckon its the Mic as the voice keeps saying pardon so it is presumably getting too weak a signal from my voice. Might get another to rule it out as they are pretty cheap on eBay.

You are correct in that a newer module won't display in the older Maxidot's (mine doesn't) not sure why it wouldn't work, you may need to check with someone local to you and see if they can see any coding/wiring or module issues that has a similar install. It sounds like you've done everything correct and you have all the correct bits in place.

Reckon its the Mic as the voice keeps saying pardon so it is presumably getting too weak a signal from my voice. Might get another to rule it out as they are pretty cheap on eBay.

It might be, I can't remember if mine said that though when it was wired the wrong way round. I can't remember if she said pardon or the unit just went straight back to the media source it was on without her saying anything.

Just done a quick google and someone has fitted a similar system to a Golf and when the voice control isn't wired up or wired incorrect the unit will ask for a voice command and when one isn't given the unit will say "Pardon"

Edited 12 June, 201213 yr by vrs777

Hmmm, I defo wired the Mic to the Columbus but that meant switching the connections as they were originally supplied from Poland with 2 of the white connectors left hanging. Perhaps I still got it it wrong. Bugger those big connectors are a nightmare!!

Vrs777 when you clipped your connectors the right way for voice control, did you connect the remaining two aswell? I assumed they should be linked to get Bluetooth module the neccesary inputs too?

Vrs777 when you clipped your connectors the right way for voice control, did you connect the remaining two aswell? I assumed they should be linked to get Bluetooth module the neccesary inputs too?

Yes so they were all connected, no loose white/clear connectors. That's where I went wrong the first time and just connected the one from the mic into the carsystems loom and had the spare connector, I thought it was for something else instead! doh.

I managed to get the large multi connectors over the top of the cage so they sit in the void next to the cage between the glovebox, but yes it's very tight in there.

Edited 13 June, 201213 yr by vrs777

Thanks mate, that´s what I did too.  I´ve checked and the wiring is fine so I´m gonna have another look at the coding and if that is ok, replace the mic I guess.

Cheers

Adam

Turned out it was the mic, I had screwed the light fixing back up and the screw had gone through the co axial cable leading to it, causing a short. Feel like an idiot but a bit of wire and electrical tape fixed it easily enough.

Something to be wary of if trying this yourself!!

Glad you sorted it, now you can start shouting at the stereo!

The SD card voice control is quite good, say "selection" then "scroll up/down" for easy navigation, but it's still a bit of a gimmick tbh.