Hi all, 

 

I have a 2015 Mk2 Superb Combi Elegance. 

 

Owned about 12 months and my first Skoda, nicely screwed together and so far not missed a beat other than having to replace a seat heater pad and wheel bearing. 

 

What puzzles me about this otherwise great car is the Columbus head unit. When it works it sounds great, but the user interface is poor and it takes an age to start up. To be honest I'd started to hate the thing, it must know as it has now constantly rebooting..... Leave the car for a while and it will work again and is fine, but then on another trip it will have a moment and not start up again. I've concluded it doesn't seem to be able to cope with hot weather. This I think is meant to be the more reliable SSD version!

 

Anyway I've had enough and just want to replace it with something that works and is reliable. Don't care about navigation, I just want it to work reliably and integrate with the rest of the cars electronics fully.....so amplifier under drivers seat, steering wheel controls, Bluetooth hands free, MDI, reverse PDC ect. 

 

So can I degrade and fit an OEM Swing or Bolero unit? Will these units interface with the rest of the cars electronics? The car has MDI fitted, assume these units more reliable?

 

Thanks in advance.... 

You know it's a simple fix for your Columbus, don't you?

I do quite a few of them, and it's generally a day turnaround to get it done and return it to you.

Hi Rustynuts, 

 

Where are you based? I'm in Worcester. It would be nice to get it working properly as don't really want the aggro of replacing it. I can live with it if it just worked reliably. 

 

Is it a question of re-installing the software? Or does it have to come out? 

 

Thanks

Dan

Not to hijack your thread but I too feel the same about the Columbus. 

I just bought a 2011 Superb Elegance and the Columbus system is a big step backwards compared to what I had in my other cars.

 

I'm looking at swapping it to this: https://www.joyingauto.com/joying-9-inch-android-8-1-0-vw-plug-and-play-car-navigation-system-with-4g-sim-card.html

I've put something similar in my Landcruiser and think they are a decent product.

Issue: Joying are saying is isn't compatible with the factory reserve camera. Are there any adapters I can use or do I need to have a second camera fitting (annoying).

 

What has everyone else swapped their Columbus to?  

Seems like I can fit the Joying unit and use this harness: https://www.ebay.com/itm/402256688717?ViewItem=&item=402256688717

 

Has anyone done something similar successfully? 

For me priority is to get the Columbus repaired, or fit something else OEM that is simply more reliable. Don't really care if it is a downgrade step to be honest. If i went for something aftermarket i would consider a Blaupunkt Philadelphia 835 as this looks to stand the best chance of integrating fully with the other vehicle electronics and the manufacturer has some pedigree.

 

Personally l wouldn't fit a chinese no name unit, ebay or Alibaba special as i think that would be more hassle and a step backwards from a reliability standpoint.

 

My car doesn't have a reverse camera, the factory fit ultrasonic sensors are more than adequate. I prefer them as you can look around as well as listen to the sensors.

 

I long for the BMW Business head unit i had in my previous elderly 3 series, OK it lacked any bells and whistles but sounded good and provided 20 years of use without issue.

 

 

On 12/08/2020 at 21:39, dank1973 said:

Hi Rustynuts, 

 

Where are you based? I'm in Worcester. It would be nice to get it working properly as don't really want the aggro of replacing it. I can live with it if it just worked reliably. 

 

Is it a question of re-installing the software? Or does it have to come out? 

 

Thanks

Dan

 

Sorry, missed this.

 

I'm up in North Yorkshire so some journey really. For Freedom members I offer a personal message support system which should be possible to repair remotely, or if you're not particularly confident or competent at doing so then remove & send it to me. Repair and update service costs £45 plus postage.

Hi, 

 

Just posted something in the Audio forum as wondered if this was the wrong place.

 

If you can help me out remotely that would be great. Failing that i will pull it out and send it to you to sort. 

 

Im pretty tech savvy, fitted the MDI system myself and happy with burning ISO files to disc etc. So hopefully it can be done remote with your support.... Thank you for you kind offer. 

 

I will investigate becoming a freedom member now, quicky finding out the info in these forums is worth its weight in gold anyway. 

 

Thanks

Dan

Freedom is detailed here.

Note, full Freedom only, not Lite version. 👍

Just sorted it...... Should be full freedom. 

👍

@dank1973 Did you get this resolved with remote help of @Rustynuts? I have the exact same problem and shipping it from Sweden where i'm based wouldn't be economically viable.

Been looking into either buying a used one (and possibly getting the same problem) or switching to some after marked thing (android) (cheapest way).

A firmware reinstall to the same version luckily solved my problem. 

Hi,

I’m having trouble with my Columbus 9.2" (MHI2_ER_SKG13_P4526, MU1440) in a 2019 Škoda Superb. The system freezes and shows a black screen on startup. I have to wait until the map fully loads (30–60 s) before putting the car in reverse to activate the camera. If I do it too quickly, the unit freezes and shows a black screen, then reboots.

Another problem is DAB radio, which takes almost 1–2 minutes to initialize. The issues have gotten worse after the latest 2025 map update.

Has anyone experienced similar problems? Is it possible to solve them with a firmware reflash?

or is my eMMC going to hell?

@xserces You're posting in the wrong topic. This is a topic about the original Columbus as used in the Superb 2. You have an S3, with a completely different Columbus.

Edited 27 September, 202527 Sep by andrehj