Having just got the Monte Carlo I decide the first upgrade should be the radio to a DAB radio. Seeming it costs £150 just to fit a DAB Module into the Fabia, I am thinking whether to get a vw polo RCD310 radio from ebay, which is basically the same radio as the SWING, with DAB built it for the same money! Is there any reason technically I should not do so? It looks like it should fit. Or maybe I should look at the RCD510 instead but for significantly more money. Any advice gratefully received

You will need a DAB aerial for definate, bare that in mind.

Thanks for that. The only reason to hold back is that the VW RCD 310 has blue illumination which does not match the green illumination of the rest of the interior of the Skoda. I don't think you can change the backlight color in these units. Or can you?

You can change the firmware on the 510 to be whatever colour scheme you want...

I have the RCD510 in my 'Roc and its rather nice

Just had a trowl though the forum and Internet, not found any instruction for that. Can you point at some instruction for me? Thanks in advance.

It was a discussion over on one of the Scirocco forums (either scirocconet or sciroccocentral) but I don't know which ones have DAB or not.

It involved someone over in the Balkans creating a new firmware file you load up with either a boot CD or possible USB/SD card - details are a little foggy!

Hi Philhoward

All I found was a firmware update for the MDI interface, which fixes the ipod issue of not playing the first 2 second of the song! Its very annoying indeed and i will have to do that once i have got hold of a MDI USB cable. However there is nothing i can find related to a firmware update for the RCD 510. There is an update for the sat nav version RNS 510. Is that what you have got?

Just had a trowl though the forum and Internet, not found any instruction for that. Can you point at some instruction for me? Thanks in advance.

He is referring to the start up screen etc, pretty sure you can't change the LEDs that illuminate the buttons up from red to green.

The 510 is the all colour touchscreen version - maybe we're at crossed purposes...

I've got an RCD510DAB in my Octavia and I would like to know if there are any more instructions to update the firmware to allow changing the colour and start up screen but the buttons are a fixed colour SMD so would probably need to be replaced.

The RCD310DAB should be slightly different - looking at the one I put in the Golf, the screen looks to be backlit and so you may be able to change the SMD colour to green - if you bought cheap enough and got it wrong, it would not be as disastrous as wrecking a £350 510DAB.

I think its buried somewhere in here: http://www.scirocconet.co.uk/forum/rns510-firmware-update-t2801.html

plz help ! does the golf 6 multimedia system fit in my fabia 2010 , i just wanna change mine it's too boring !

plz help ! does the golf 6 multimedia system fit in my fabia 2010 , i just wanna change mine it's too boring !

I will get my hand on a rcd510 next week. Looks like a reasonably easy fit apart from the dabs aerial install. Will let you know how's get on

Did you abandon the 310 option? All i'd like is DAB the ipod will work with both if required.

How did you get on?

I got a RCD510 instead. Looks much better than the RCD310 although I don't think it sounded any different

So, will the RCD 510 fit directly into the fabia? I have a fabia pd3 2008 and I wouldn't mind one of these. 

Same question here?

Yep

It sure will. You may lose some maxidot function depending on the age of your car. Likewise you may not have on/off with ignition functionality.

Edit: mine is the RCD310 DAB not the 510

Hi there.

I have an 11-plate VRS fabia.

 

looking to upgrade the Swing HU to a RCD DAB 310.

 

1) Can the red-lights on the knobs be changed to green/white to match the exisiting fabia look and feel

2) What is meant by ignition on/off in post above.

3) What would be best option for an aerial...replacing the existing one, or fitting a windscreen one....any actual links of product would be great

4) What does the 310 actually give me, over and above a DAB

      - I have an amp and a sub....but start to get distortion on the Swing HU at level 17 onwards. Will the RCD 310 improve that

      - I use speaker cables to the amp, no RCAs...does the 310 come with RCA

      - Equaliser ?

      - Ease of navigation ?

      - Bluetooth? if so, what mic is recommended for phone connectivity ?

5) What do I loose with replacing the swing with 310

      - Do I lose access to my mdi interface ?

      - Audio controls on steering wheel

      - VCDS reset ?

 

Cheers

D

1) Can the red-lights on the knobs be changed to green/white to match the exisiting fabia look and feel

Yes if you are handy with a soldering iron and confident with SMDs.

2) What is meant by ignition on/off in post above.

Barrie's unit doesn't power on/off on the ignition. It was also powering off after an hour (like it doesn't have a CANBUS) signal telling it the ignition is on. I think it *might* be due to the Parrot wiring but we haven't got any further yet.

3) What would be best option for an aerial...replacing the existing one, or fitting a windscreen one....any actual links of product would be great

There are loads on dabonwheels.com, VW also sell an aerial from the Polo that is roof mounted (search my posts for more info and a part number somewhere). I have been using a £20 Autoleads film aerial stuck inside the front windscreen which is perfectly fine.

4) What does the 310 actually give me, over and above a DAB

I would imagine very little as I expect it to be the same as a Swing unit

- I have an amp and a sub....but start to get distortion on the Swing HU at level 17 onwards. Will the RCD 310 improve that

- I use speaker cables to the amp, no RCAs...does the 310 come with RCA

- Equaliser ?

- Ease of navigation ?

- Bluetooth? if so, what mic is recommended for phone connectivity ?

All the same as a Swing.

5) What do I loose with replacing the swing with 310

- Do I lose access to my mdi interface ?

- Audio controls on steering wheel

- VCDS reset ?

Nothing, the operation should all be the same.

J0hn: Thanks for the quick and comprehensive reply. From what I understand, the main advantage on the 310DAB is

 - it's part of VAG product line and looks oem. (At least in daytime)

 - provides DAB.

 

I need to work out if that's worth it for me. I was hoping I could get something with better connections and output (RCA, power) so that it would help reduce my stereo hum

I think the first thing you need to do is work out where your stereo hum is coming from.

If you're using some kind of RCA adaptor anyway, have a look at a hum reducer (can't remember what they're called, I have one plugged into my home hifi to reduce the hum caused by ground loop with my home cinema sub).

It's the cheapest OEM DAB unit you will get. Anything else will either not look OEM or cost you £££

You should lose volume control on the steering wheel as the hardware is allegedly different. I did this in my mk2 vrs and I know have to use the headunit volume.

You should lose volume control on the steering wheel as the hardware is allegedly different. I did this in my mk2 vrs and I know have to use the headunit volume.

MilkyBarkID. Not sure of that Other posts say they have sucessfuly got it working....must be a particular setting on VCDS.