Hi.

 

I've just updated my Skoda Octavia fora  slightly younger one. Better tax class, slightly less guts. That's my perspective. My missus says she misses the old radio. The old one had a Bolero. The new one's a Swing.

 

I've been scouring the forum for a while. There seem to be tons of options. Ideally, if I could get something which can take more than one CD and preferably can play music off my phone, that would be the business. I don't mind if it's a OEM or Chinese import. I'm not hell bent on GPS, either. Can anyone make any recommendations, please? Is £100 a reasonable budget?

 

Is it fairly easy to mechanically change the head unit? I've done it on other cars, but the Skoda looks quite ... integrated.

 

Once the head unit is changed, then, are there software things I have to do? I had read that I need to find someone who can reprogram the head unit so the EEC dosn't think somene's stolen it.

 

I just know the question has been asked 100 times, so can anyone point me to the idiot's guide, please?

Many thanks.

 

Assuming this is a MK2 Octavia, you can probably fit another Bolero and add an aux in connection for less than £100.

Quote

you can probably fit another Bolero and add an aux in connection for less than £100

 

Help me to understand "probably", please. Specifically with respect to poking about in the software.

 

If I'd thought this was the case, I'd have swapped the radios over before I scrapped the old one.

A Bolero shares the same connectors (40 pin quadlock/double fakra) and physical dimensions as the Swing. You can see this for yourself by comparing https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/223547303940 and https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/143408568176

 

A Bolero might need coding with VCDS or similar after fitting. This will be dependant on what equipment the donor and your vehicle have, the most common difference would be an factory amplifier. There are plenty of members with VCDS who are happy to help but you'd need to check the VCDS list and map to find someone.

 

Ideally find a Bolero that has the 4 digit pin to unlock it. If it doesn't, it'll probably cost £10 or so on eBay to get the code based on the radio serial number.

 

1 hour ago, KDM said:

If I'd thought this was the case, I'd have swapped the radios over before I scrapped the old one.

 

Agreed, with hindsight, this is what you should have done

Thanks for that. I had a feeling I should have kept the radio. I had found the Bolero on eBay for £50-£70 delivered. Thanks for the link.

 

Does "the same connectors" mean they are definitely interchangeable?

 

Actually, you know what? Do you know if it's possible to add bluetooth to the Swing? Is it done by "MDI" (I've seen that mentioned a few times) At the end of the day, if I can play music off the phone, I'd probably not use the CD or SD.

 

Thanks for your valued support on this. I'm sure I just need to get over the confidence barrier and bite the bullet!

My new (to me) Yeti has a Swing radio, would the Bolero fit in its place? What would be the advantage? Screen looks bigger.

 

The Yeti has factory bluetooth because while fiddling with the steering wheel buttons the radio started talking to me about pairing a phone, so I guess that means that you can have bluetooth with a Swing radio in a Yeti at least.

10 hours ago, KDM said:

I'm sure I just need to get over the confidence barrier and bite the bullet!

 

Unfortunately as I've never had a Swing radio in my car so it's hard to answer with 100% certainty. That being said, I'm still at 95%+ certainty I'm correct...

 

10 hours ago, KDM said:

Actually, you know what? Do you know if it's possible to add bluetooth to the Swing? Is it done by "MDI" (I've seen that mentioned a few times) At the end of the day, if I can play music off the phone, I'd probably not use the CD or SD.

 

I believe the Swing MP3 supports BT, MDI and AUX interfaces but not the bog standard Swing. You can tell the difference as the MP3 version says MP3 whereas the non-MP3 Swing doesn't

 

BT, MDI and AUX are different things:

- BT allows bluetooth connections and supports phone calls and music streaming via a2dp (depending on the BT module installed)

- MDI lets you plug in USB sticks, ipods etc and play music from them (format restrictions apply)

- AUX in connection is just a standard 3.5mm jack so you'd connect to the headphone socket on your phone or other device

 

The former two options *should* allow control via the headunit whereas the latter will need you to use the phone to skip tracks etc.

 

All three and their operation are covered in the manual: https://ws.skoda-auto.com/OwnersManualService/Data/en/Octavia_Tour_1Z/05-2011/Radio/Swing/A5_OctaviaTour_Swing_CarRadio.pdf

 

10 hours ago, KDM said:

Does "the same connectors" mean they are definitely interchangeable?

 

As far as I'm aware, yes!

 

I think the pre-FL would have issues with a Bolero as it was never fitted from factory. However, as you have a 2011 FL, it should be absolutely fine after it's correctly coded.

 

Same applies if you wanted to spend more cash and get one of the factory satnav units such as the Amundsen, Amundsen+ or Columbus which are all common retrofits on this age of car. Although, these are a difference shape so you'd also need a new facia and GPS antenna.

 

9 hours ago, J.R. said:

My new (to me) Yeti has a Swing radio, would the Bolero fit in its place? What would be the advantage? Screen looks bigger.

 

Full colour screen so it looks more modern, I think it also adds an internal 6 CD changer (rather than one in the boot), rear view camera support and an SD slot.

 

If I remember correctly, a Swing is a RCD310 and a Bolero is a RCD510: https://www.my-gti.com/719/differences-between-the-volkswagen-rcd-210-rcd-310-rns-310-rcd-510-and-the-rns-510

 

I can't remember what age your Yeti project is, might be worth adding to your profile as I expect you'll have plenty of questions about it