I know I'm hardly the first, but I've just replaced my Bolero with a Columbus in my 2010 Octy and am well chuffed! Got the Columbus for £400 + £14 next day delivery from eBay, plus new fascia trim for £56 from Skoda. The Columbus was second hand but it's the LED model with a manufacture date of Oct 2012!

The whole install took about 30 minutes, including removing the top box and vents so that I could get the antenna in (stuck magnetically to a piece of steel to the side of the vents). And I've never done anything like this before. Only tools I needed were a T20 Torx driver and a couple of bicycle tyre levers. The hardest part was actually removing the quad lock from the back as there was precious little spare cable.

It took about 5 minutes of driving for the compass to orientate itself correctly but it's all working perfectly now. Very very happy. Climate and OPS all worked straight off.

Just got to code it now.

So, anyone else thinking of doing this, I must say it was well worth it (well, unless the eBay seller comes along and nicks it off me again...)

It is an easy modification and one well worth doing, I love my Columbus and it has surprised me how much I actually use it, before I had sat nav it was doing things the old fashioned way!!! But, why bother when modern technology does it for you!!! The screen etc is in a class of its own compared to the Bolero, overall it looks 100 times better!!

How much better is the columbus than the amundsen+?

Couldn't say how much better it is but loving the amundsen + in the blackline. Sat nav is instant, sd card reading instant, blue tooth works a dream and dab is very very good.

£56 for the facia trim!!! Im shocked its that much considering the single din facia trim is £20

If my trim had been something like matte black, it would have been a few quid. As it's some kind of cross-hatched silver effect that is apparently a licence for Skoda to print money...

Hmmm... May have to move the antenna... Not getting a great fix. However, it did at least show me just how good the dead reckoning was - the map was correctly following me for a good couple of minutes through my housing estate with no GPS fix. Impressed.

My aerial is just stuck on bar above glovebox. Few screws to remove box and job done. Always get full fix

Quick question - is/was there a guide to fit the Columbus and what (if any) VCDS coding is required?

I'm waiting for a trim removal kit to get the top storage box off to fit my GPS antennae, never thought of using tyre levers - do you just lever the storage box straight up?

John

For the top storage box I just lever the bottom edge with my fingers, moving along to release the fixings.

You could use a plastic tyre lever for a bit more purchase though, yes.

Hmmm... May have to move the antenna... Not getting a great fix. However, it did at least show me just how good the dead reckoning was - the map was correctly following me for a good couple of minutes through my housing estate with no GPS fix. Impressed.

That's strange, it sounds like you have put your GPS antenna in exactly the same place I have put mine - the vertical metal bar to the left of the head unit 'box' accessed via the (removed) top box.

So far I am getting a rock solid and virtually instantaneous fix - I think it said 10/12 satellites when I checked.

I originally aimed for the horizontal bar that runs across the back behind the top box, but it didn't seem to be steel as the magnetic aerial wouldn't stick to it - and it was anatomically impossible to successfully get a zip tie in there!