...to upgrade head units to either a Bolero or a Columbus on a Mk II fabia 1?

 

Also which one of the 2 would you recommend as being the better deal?

If I do it it would be with a brand new HU as the risks of getting a faulty/bodged repaired unit or a stolen one put me off, mainly.

 

I'm not bothered that much about the sat nav as I don't really go anywhere, I would be perfectly fine going out and buying a cheap sat nav if necessary when I need to use one.

Can't comment on MKII Faba. However, it you're not worried about sat-nav, Bolero will do the job.

 

If you wanted Bluetooth, Amdundsen+ (VW RNS315) is the way to go (and you'll get nav too, not as good as Columbus' nav, but easily does the job.)

 

Bolero is a different shape though, and I don't know if you can get the right shape fascia for it.

 

A VW RCD310 is not a bad headunit, and will drive an MDI kit too.

 

What are you looking to gain by an upgrade? What have you got currently?

At the minute I have the Swing radio with my iPod going through the Aux port because I don't like listening to radio stations and don't like the limitations of CDs, however there's the problem of not being able to change songs without reaching behind me to the iPod, sliding the bar, hitting the other button and searching for what you want, this is dangerous so the only option is to put up with it, what I was after was MDI, but the dealers simply won't fit it and Vasstech can't get the kit so i thought about the radio as another possible option because this has an SD card slot which would be better than using the iPod at all because there's less clutter in the car, you're not using the cigarette lighter socket and I can give the iPod away to someone that will use it seeing as it won't fetch anything if sold.

There's an auto electricians next door to Vasstech that I'll ask about the MDI as well.

MDI can be fitted to the Swing radio.

 

You can usually get the kits off ebay and they are pretty easy to fit then just need a quick VCDS tweak to enable them etc.

 

You could then still use your ipod plugged into the MDI in the glovebox or get extra cables for a USB drive or similar.

 

Phil

When I connected my MDI RCD310 it worked "straight out the box", no VCDS used. Plugging it into my RNS315 however, no matter what I do, no MDI. :S

 

After a quick Google image search, I don't think you'd get a Bolero into a Furby anyway. So the other options would be: Amundsen/RNS315, Columbus/RNS510, or RCD510. The RCD510 is the VW equivelant of Bolero, but you can (if you're lucky) get one that would supoort a reverse camera.

 

Unless you have a large wad of cash to burn, I'd go with Phil's suggestion of MDI. You can drive the iThingys wihout a problem, or you can change the end cable, for about a tenner, and plug in a USB stick instead. If you find a low enough powered pocket hard drive, that would work on USB too, might be a tad excessive though