Replacing Bolero (RCD510) to VW RCD330g/340g Plus with CarPlay, Andoid Auto and MirrorLink

[bahrur]

The stock bolero headunit (RCD510) in my Yeti Elegance TDi 4x4 (2012) in 2018 has become too dated, sluggish, with unresponsive touchscreen, and more importantly the lack of media connectivity options (e.g., USB, Bluetooth, Maps, Carplay, Android Auto, camera) in this age is pure sacrilege. I wanted a simple OEM upgrade that gives me ability to make and receive calls, allows me navigation via google maps and play music - all from my phone, while still retaining functionality of my steering wheels and Optical parking etc. 

 

I found the solution in RCD330g/340g Plus, OEM units for VW cars for Asian Countries (China/India). 

 

What do I get with RCD330g plus over the stock RCD510 Bolero?

• 6.5" HD grade touch screen with 800 x 400 resolution, compared to low resolution of just 480 x 234 in RCD510.
• Better responsive and brighter touch screen.
• Inbuilt bluetooth capability to make calls or stream audio off from your phone. On RCD510, you will need to purchase dedicated bluetooth module, which itself cost more than the RCD330g headunit.
• Supports addition of an aftermarket reverse camera.
• Smartphone integration with the headunit via Carplay, Adroid Auto and MirrorLink connection. 
• Navigation via Google Maps or Waze (via Carplay or Android Auto)
• Individual sound/volume settings for media playback for Bluetooth, USB, Aux, SD

 

However, there are few quirks. The RCD330g plus retains almost all existing operations/features of RCD510 except for Climatronic information. And if you have dedicated bluetooth module attached to your RCD510, the address book is no longer available in MFD (MaxiDot) with RCD330g. These are the few drawbacks you will have to sacrifice when upgrading to RCD330g. For me, these are redundant features which I hardly use anyway.

 

RCD330g at night time

 

I bought the headunit and all the required components from AliExpress:

 

Headunit - RCD330g GREEN, NoName (6RD 035 187B)

Cost around $200 and has stock green backlit matching the climatronics  panelon the dash. I also wanted the possibility to upgrade the firmware to support any changes to CarPlay, Android Auto in future and hence opted for the NoName variant, which runs linux OS instead of Win CE based Desay Units. Do note that, Desay based RCD330g units only support Carplay and not Android Auto. If you want Android Auto, you want to opt for the NoName units.

Link: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/RCD5...AbTest=ae803_5

 

The headunit comes with 2 free gifts which are:
* Fakra Antenna Adapter (one with white ends)
* AV Camera Adapter (one with blue and yellow ends).

NOTE: If you want to add a camera to your unit, you will need to remove the old blue jack from the quadlock and insert this AV adapter blue jack instead. And this will connect (yellow end) with the camera.

Fascia Trim
The original bolero (RCD 510) have a wider trim fascia that don't fit with RCD330g. Hence you need this trim too.

Link: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Faci...65843c00vJadD7 

NOTE: My Yeti comes with Auto AC. The above trim is for Yeti with Auto AC. If you have manual AC, the trim is slightly different.

 

Rear Camera
I bought an aftermarket good quality rear camera with Sony CCD for around 22 USD.

 

Link: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/for-...43244c4dVZc5u6 

Delay Timer
This is required to induce a 10 sec delay into the RVC (for non-OEM cameras). Cost around 3 USD. 

 

Link: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Car-...43244c4dVZc5u6 

Installation
Installation is hardly a 5 mins job. The quadlock socket of the stock RCD510 is the same that is used in RCD330g plus. So, it is just a plug and play job. All you need to do is remove the original trim with a plastic removal trim kit (or with a expired/old credit cards) to avoid leaving scratches.

 

Once the trim is removed, you will need to again remove the inner rectangular trim that surrounds the headunit, to expose 4 T-20 screws. 

 

After a simple swap of RCD330g, first time start:

Media: You can change the source to SD card, USB, BT Audio or Aux.

Phone: Supports Voice operation too. Incoming call is shown in MFD (Maxi-Dot) too, but I can't seem to make the steering button (right side) work to accept the call. Possibly some options in VCDS that I need to look at. For now, had to accept the call from the HU.

 

App: The HU supports Android Auto, Apple Carplay and MirrorLink. I had tried Android Auto (Samsung Galaxy s7 edge) and Carplay (iPhone SE) and works seamlessly.

 

Carplay: The very intuitive landing page

 

And yes, Apple Carplay finally supports Google maps and that makes expensive inbuilt/dedicated GPS redundant and useless.

 

You can pinch the screen in the HU to zoom in and out. However, voice commands via Siri don't get directed to Google maps, but to Apple maps which is unsupported in India. So, what you get is a message 'Not available'.

 

CarPlay > Music

 

CarPlay > Messages

Siri can read the new/unread messages for you.

With Android phone, you have the option of connecting either via Android Auto or Mirror Link:

Android Auto > Landing page

Android Auto > Maps

Choice of either Google maps or Waze.

Setup:

 

 

 

 

 

Connecting Rear View Camera to HU

This is perhaps the only complex part of the installation and took a greater part of time. RCD330g supports connection with any aftermarket AV camera which is excellent as OEM (RGB) cameras are very expensive. Just remember to get a decent one. I got a sony CCD one for around Rs 2K. The camera came with 5 or 6 metres cable.

 

 

Connection diagram (courtesy from Aliexpress seller):

 

Just wiring the camera cable from dashboard to rear took a good 2 hours, ripping off plastic trims on dash, sides, trunk and rear. And then as per the diagram above, we connected E and F to reversing lamp using Crimp Locks to avoid slicing/cutting of wires. Power to the camera is delivered from ACC (cabin fuse box). The head unit already comes enabled with VCDS coding, so if you don't have VCDS cable, no worries 

 

Picture quality is simply fantastic, so is the wide angle. You can even adjust the picture/video brightness, contrast and Hue. Lastly, by default the camera don't show the guiding lines. To show the lines, you need to cut the small wire in the camera unit.

 

 

Optical Parking System (Park Assist)

 

I won't have gone for RCD330g unit if it didn't support the park assist (OPS) of my car. Many had reported their OPS don't work on RCD330g and that was possibly due to older or lower variant CAN Gateway. Mine was higher one (7N0 907 530 H) and hence no need to upgrade my CAN gateway. Only then I ordered the head unit.

 

I got VW Jetta as the OPS image. With VCDS, I tried changing to Skoda Yeti, but all I can get was the Polo (hatch). And for now, it is good enough for me.

 

To switch to camera, click the small button on the top left corner.

Edited 21 November, 2018 by bahrur

[Urrell]

This looks more like an advert to me + most if not all of the links not working.

[SajidSim]

This is a very useful topic, I need your help on 2 counts. 1. The links of Ali Express have expired, so please guide me further on the kind aftermarket camera plus the delay timer that I need to purchase 2. I have a base Swing stereo on my Yeti and I am upgrading that 2 340g Plus from Shalinder Chaudhary hope this will work.