Hiya guys, sorry if the questions have been asked before.

I'm just in the process of buying a 3C8 035 730 A rsap BT unit from a lad off eBay.

My car is a 60 plate FL vrs with maxidot, climatronic and the bolero unit.

1. I've read a few issues with bolero compatibility, is it an issue with this unit?

2. Car systems offer a short and long cable for installing either under the driver seat or behind the dash, which is easier and more convenient?

3. Is there anything else I need to know before doing the installation? I'm aware that it needs coding.

Many thanks, Stu.

Hiya guys, sorry if the questions have been asked before.

I'm just in the process of buying a 3C8 035 730 A rsap BT unit from a lad off eBay.

My car is a 60 plate FL vrs with maxidot, climatronic and the bolero unit.

1. I've read a few issues with bolero compatibility, is it an issue with this unit?

2. Car systems offer a short and long cable for installing either under the driver seat or behind the dash, which is easier and more convenient?

3. Is there anything else I need to know before doing the installation? I'm aware that it needs coding.

Many thanks, Stu.

 

1. No compatibility issues with the Bolero.

2. I found it easier behind the climatronic controls.

3. Considering you have the Bolero, you won't have a factory installed overhead mic.  So u'll have to route a mic up the a-pillar and to the overhead console. The factory installed Columbus with voice activation has this already.

 

a writeup and pics of my installation here.

1. No compatibility issues with the Bolero.

2. I found it easier behind the climatronic controls.

3. Considering you have the Bolero, you won't have a factory installed overhead mic. So u'll have to route a mic up the a-pillar and to the overhead console. The factory installed Columbus with voice activation has this already.

a writeup and pics of my installation here.

Cheers JR, already had a read of your thread, very informative thanks! Bugger about the mic though, it looks awkward as hell. I'm guessing one of the connections from the aftermarket loom goes off to the mic?

Okay, so I took the dash apart today to get a quick idea of what is going to be involved here. I took the below photos:

 

 

 

 

 

So the dash is split into two with a divider, the top half housing the stereo and the bottom half the climatronic unit with a reasonable space behind it.

 

So I'm guessing the BT unit goes in that available space, then route the cable up and behind to the Bolero unit?

 

Also, when I plugged my Bolero unit back in, it asked for a code which then disappeared after about 5 minutes - I'm guessing the car eventually recognised the unit?

 

Finally, how do you route the microphone cable behind the glovebox to the A pillar and then how do you get from the A pillar to behind the light fitting? Seems quite a bit of work is involved there. Many thanks, Stu.

I used some 2.5 twin and earth wire to route the mic, this is how I did it

Remove passenger side dash trim, it just pulls off, then I pushed the wire in through end panel over top of glovebox until it came out at the back of where the unit is going to be, then taped the mic to it then gently pull it back through, easy job up the A pillar then it just pushes inside headlining, you need to remove the light which as 2 Torx screws then you will see a small piece of black square foam , remove the foam and that's where the mic clips into.

Car systems Mic wires need swapping over for the bolero they then snap together but are the wrong way round for bolero

Thought the mic wire plugs directly into bt unit, not the bolero unit, could be wrong

Now I am confused!

Well after a long, long afternoon, the BT unit is installed and wired.

 

The microphone was the easy bit, like JR said the most difficult part was the routing behind the dash.

 

Just need to get it coded now, could be a while before I can get that done though.