Recoding bluetooth unit - happy to pay for VCDS help

[fredfred]

I bought a newer bluetooth unit (5n0 035 730 d) so that my iPhone 6 could connect. Joy of joys, it worked perfectly when plugged in - EXCEPT that when streaming music, the sound only comes out of the right-hand speakers. I am guessing the unit needs recoding for the Superb. I've put out feelers to some locals from the VCDS map but is this something that could be done if I stick the unit in the post to someone? If so, I'm willing to pay for someone's time to do this. 

 

I've got a 2010 Superb. The new unit came from a Golf at a breaker's yard. 

[LGM]

It'll be your car that needs coding not the head unit  

[fredfred]

Aha. Can a main dealer do it? It has to go in for something else so might be easier to ask them. 

 

I'm near Cambridge, btw. I've pm'd a couple of peeps on the VCDS map who are nearby but I don't think they're active anymore. 

Edited 1 November, 2017 by fredfred

[langers2k]

Might be worth adding where you are too

[Rustynuts]

Did your old Bluetooth module support BT Streaming and did it work correctly? If not, then you may need a new loom as the older modules were only single channel and worked on the drivers side speakers only.

[Eddie-NL]

I've seen this before, it was due to a missing wire from the radio to the bluetooth unit

[fredfred]

3 hours ago, Rustynuts said:

Did your old Bluetooth module support BT Streaming and did it work correctly? If not, then you may need a new loom as the older modules were only single channel and worked on the drivers side speakers only.

 

Yeah, I think this is the issue. I pm'd a guy who lives nearby and he worked out it was exactly this. I need to thread two new wires down from the back of the Columbus to the BT unit to enable stereo sound. See this article: 

http://www.myturbodiesel.com/wiki/bluetooth-9w7-module-voice-control-retrofit-swap-install-and-faq/

I've gone from 9w2 to 9w7 but the cables aren't there to produce stereo sound. 

 

What are my options on a new loom? Can I replace the whole cable rather than fiddling with individual wires? It looks like a massive amount of work to remove and replace the trim and panels on the driver's side in order to thread an entire new thick cable. I can just about see how to get two thin wires down without needing to remove much. 

[fredfred]

So I managed to fit the wires today and all now works perfectly. I wish I'd taken photos as I went but a text description will have to do, together with a few photos of the final threading of the wire. Thanks to all on here for help - not just in this thread but in a bundle of others where I've found little bits of information. 

 

Adding Stereo to a Mono Bluetooth Connection

 

1. Purchased 2 x VW Repair cables 0.5mm / 50cm long from eBay. About £4 each. Yellow cable, can't miss 'em. Part number 000979009. 

 

2. Chopped each cable in half. Found an old lamp cable in the shed, took the blue and brown cables and fitted c1.5m of each between the ends of each cable. So now I had two cables, both c.2m long, each with half of the VW repair cable on the ends. I soldered the connections for strength. You could probably use those block connectors but it would make threading them up to the Columbus more difficult. 

 

3. Best guide I found for how and where to fit the cables was this PDF: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7YrkNOiV5HeT3hoLTNFaUJsczQ/view?usp=sharing

Can't remember where I got it from online but there are photos here on how to fit the ends of the cables to the bluetooth unit and to the rear of the Columbus. Note that the PDF says to disconnect the battery. I didn't bother. There's also a text-only guide here: http://www.myturbodiesel.com/wiki/bluetooth-9w7-module-voice-control-retrofit-swap-install-and-faq/

 

4. Took the big chunky black connector out of the bluetooth unit. Connected one end of the repair wires to the Bluetooth unit. See the PDF for where to put them. It was surprisingly difficult to get the connectors into the tiny slots in the blue connector, particularly the second one. One of them needed me wiggling the end of a tiny screwdriver to enlarge the hole. Are they meant to be this difficult? The ones in the Columbus were much easier. 

 

5. Removed the Columbus unit. I won't give instructions on this as there are plenty around and it's easy to do. Pull it out - it can be completely unplugged if necessary but to begin with, I just pulled it out and rested it on top of the gear stick (on top of a piece of cardboard so it wouldn't scratch anything). 

 

5. Removed the panel on the left hand side of the driver's seat that extends forwards up towards the engine (in the UK - in Europe if you're left hand drive, it's going to be on the right). Long and thin. It's held in by a few plastic clips in the middle and is very easy to pull out. Admire my photoshop skills:

 

 

I then poked around for about 10-15 minutes trying to work out how I could get the wires up through the newly created hole and into the rear of the Columbus. There's a vertical silver post running up the side. I found I could thread the wires behind that and poke them up, and then reach into the plastic housing into which the Columbus fits and retrieve them. It's not easy and if you've never done it before, don't expect it to work first time. 

 

 

6. Took the big chunky connector out of the Columbus. Removed the green unit from it and added the wires (see the PDF again). Connecting these was much easier than with the bluetooth unit. 

 

7. Re-connected the chunky connector. I was expecting this to slot straight back in but it took a while to make it fit. There might be a trick to it but if there is, I didn't learn it. 

 

8. Tested the system to make sure I was finally getting stereo. Success! 

 

9. Carefully worked the Columbus back in, making sure the new cables were not getting twisted too much. 

 

10. Threaded the two wires down inside the space where I'd removed the panel beside the driver's seat. I brought the wires alongside the rails for the driver's seat and then down beneath the plastic cover of the bluetooth unit. The length, luckily, was just about perfect. If I'd known what I was doing at the start, I would have threaded the wires underneath the rails and made it a little tidier, but it still worked. They looked like this in the end: 

 

 

 

And that was it. Fiddly in places, but all good in the end.