Just bought a used Bolero unit and had it installed in the car.

But the screen is dull and is difficult to see in strong sunlight.

Ive checked the settings and it is set on "brightest" and changing illunmination to 1 or 2 doesnt seem to make any difference (what ever that does).

Is there any other way I can make the screen brighter? (maybe using VCDS) It's almost like the screen has dulled because the light have been switched on. However turning the lights on or off doesnt make any difference. Neither does having the lights on auto setting.

Is the screen dull becuase I have auto lights?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Also I havent had chance to use it at night so I dont know how bright the screen is at night (will check tonight)

Edited to say: It works perfect at night and is more than bright enough

It's a known issue Mark. There seems to be a problem between the later variant Bolero units (there are two types) and pre-FL cars.

When I first did this upgrade on my petrol Mk2, it was clearly an original revision unit and there wasn't this issue (wish I'd kept hold of that one now!!!)

There seems to be not obvious difference in the units, but my understanding is that the manufacturer of the units changed 2009/2010 time.

So it's the same on mine and evident in the daytime. It doesn't unduly bother me though and the advantages of the Bolero over the Stream far outweigh the small inconvenience.

As you've noticed, it's not improved by lighting position and auto lights is a red herring. It's just 'one of those things'.

Thanks Wardy.

I thought as much and was looking for some confirmation.

Ive played around with all the settings but to no avail.

Looks like its just one of those things that you have to live with.

I checked it last night and its plenty bright enough in the dark just dull during the day light.

Put the 32gb sd card in from my columbus and its slow in cmoparison to my columbus. As it's a newer unit I assume its on a fairly high FW version and this is another "character" you have to live with or drop the sd card size to improve speed.

Again its not the end of the world but theres a difference (as you would hope) between the Bolero functionality and the columbus.

I agree that it's so much better than the standard stream unit. Especially now I have the BT phone kit and updated can fitted as well. Finish's off the L&K spec a treat.

Check the firmware revision, re SD card speed. It shows it in a VCDS scan. Don't assume it's on the latest FW even if it's a newish unit.

As long it's a decent brand card, Class 6 or upwards I'd go for, I'm confident in saying it won't be the card. It doesn't need to shift that much data for an MP3 anyway, so transfer speeds are largely irrelevant and used to fob people off quite frankly. Especially as quite a number of dealers don't seem to be aware that later firmwares and available, and could improve/solve the issue.

On the display, as said it's on usually a bit of an issue in daylight and on a fairly bright/sunny day. Not that often then, you could argue

It's a class 10 SD card and you may be right seeing as it works quickly on my columbus but its slow in the bolero.

Just need to get hold of a more up to date FW for both of them. Can never seem to burn the discs to get them to work without crashing or stalling the update process.

Edited to add: http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/241435-bolero-whats-the-current-firmware/page__st__30

It seems some dealers can update the FW on the unit but most dont know what is involved or even that it can be done.

I use a 16Gb Class6 with an non-updated firmware. With the Bolero organiser application it's acceptable for start-up, with the card nearly full (c.14Gb).

Could do with getting the latest firmware on the unit though

Drove the car during the daytime today and the screen is dull but as you say it's not a massive problem and one that far outweights swapping from the stream unit.

I also noticed that if I press the pwer button to turn the unit off it just mutes the sound and the unit is still on. Is this normal for the bolero?

Did you get a manual with it Mark?

Yep, that's intended. I find it quite useful - one touch for mute, hold for power off.

Hitting the 'phone' button should also mute it IIRC, if you don't have a OEM BT kit wired in.

I didnt get a manual but the seller (a brisky member) did say he forgot and he would post it on. I will remind him

Edited to say: Now got the manual (thanks Paul).

PDF available - which is easier for reference to be honest. My paper copy never leaves the glovebox

In Summary - A newer Bolero unit (2009/2010 onwards) fited in a pre-FL car (in my case Octavia) suffer from a dull screen during the day time. Night time theres is no issue with brightness.

Im trying to find a solution to this dull screen issue. Easier said than done I know but I will keep trying. I'm also finiding it impossible to find a suitable FW upgrade. I cant even frin a a source in Czech.

I noticed over the weekend that although the screen was dull in direct sunlight it was ok for most of the time. However ive used the car today and the screen seems to be duller than it was over the weekend.

I'm trying to determine if theres a pattern to this issue or if something is causing the screen to change between brightness settings. So far eveything ive tried doesnt seem to have any affect on the brightness. Something is acting as the reason for the change in brightness but I cant figure it out....yet.

If anyone wants to add to the list of things ive tried please do. It might help someone in the future.

Turn lights on and off

Turn Bolero on and off - both with engine started and without

Change settings on the Bolero

Turn auto lights off

Turn auto lights on

When I was messing around with mine:

Lights on, dash brightness on max. Headunit out. Dash brightness on min, headunit back in, dash brightness back to max. Made no difference. It seems that the dash brightness control is not a variable resistor wired into the dash (like the good old days), but controls a value within the ECU. (So brightness at level 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Keeping tabs on this thread as I'm hopefully about to buy a Bolero for my pre-FL vRS. From what I've read though, if your car doesn't have auto-lights (like mine) then flicking the side lights on brightens the screen (and I normally drive with my side lights on anyway). Apparently, turning the side lights off again leaves the screen bright?

Read somewhere that someone had found a fix for the VW version of the Bolero - there MUST be a fix for this!