Replacing Infotainment Control Unit

[Deceased]

Hi,

 

Can anyone detail what is involved in replacing my broken infotainment control unit with one taken from a scrapped kodiaq?

Is the pairing only able to be done by a dealer or can other garages do it?

 

Will the replacement unit detect my car options automatically if it can be paired?

 

Should I replace the display from the scrapped car also to keep the units together?

 

Regards

 

Colin

 

[varooom]

Independent garages should be able to sort it they have ODIS software and GeKo access, check around locally and compare prices.

Edited 13 September, 2022 by varooom
Spellink

[Teir]

By all means ask some dealerships and independent garages and see what they say - it will probably depend very much on the expertise that they have. I can't really imagine a dealer fitting a used infotainment unit though, but I could be wrong. The cheapest route may be to go with a specialised VAG retrofit company - this is the type of thing they would be doing regularly. They could source the unit for you also. If you're buying a used unit yourself, make sure you match part numbers exactly - there are about 6 slightly different models of the Columbus headunit for your era of car (although most of them were never available in the UK, so it's less of an issue if you're buying from a UK breaker).

 

There's no need to change the screen, as long as you're replacing the headunit with the same type. 

 

Infotainment headunits have component protection on them, so you can expect to be charged £80-100 for removing that, in addition to the labour charges. If you're getting quotes from people, ask if the quoted price includes that charge. Some retrofitters may hack the component protection rather than remove it. This would be cheaper but less preferable, as the component protection errors will still show up as error codes when/if the car is scanned (they won't have any other effect though, so this may not bother you, especially if you don't have an extended warranty). 

 

 

[Deceased]

Thanks for your thoughts.

No warranty hence the dealer wanting £3000 to replace the unit.

I'll check around for someone local to the Glasgow/Kilmarnock area.

 

Regards

 

Colin

[Teir]

£3,000 - yikes.

 

It's worth noting as well that some sellers on eBay will offer 'plug and play' units, where you supply your VIN and they code the unit to correspond to your vehicle. They also patch the firmware to add the correct FEC codes (which enable specific functions like Android Auto etc), and to bypass the component protection, as I mentioned above. All you have to do, theoretically, is take your glovebox apart and swap the units. If you go this route it might be worthwhile investing in something like OBDeleven, so that you can tweak any bits of coding that aren't quite right afterwards. May not be necessary though, depending on how good a job the seller does. 

 

@pab567is the resident expert on infotainment retrofitting - he might even be able to make you up a plug and play unit. 

 

[Yogi-Bear]

@Deceased - might be a daft question, but what exactly is broken about the unit? I’m guessing it’s not even remotely fixable, given your question!

[pab567]

@Deceased what is your unit? If you are not sure pls share on PM so I can check

[Deceased]

@Yogi-Bear The issue is that when you select telephone, it just sticks at the screen "starting telephone" and doesn't go any further. Pic attached

@pab567Images of unit

 

[varooom]

Did/was you able to load a firmware update if available for it?

[pab567]

I bet NAD (modem/BT) module is broken. What is your location?

[Deceased]

@pab567I'm in Kilmarnock, Scotland

In setup wizard on unit, when trying to connect phone, the Bluetooth shows on my phone and pairs using passkey but doesnt then show the green tick in the wizard so i think bluetooth module partially working

[Deceased]

@varooomAny idea where i would get a full firmware to try flashing it with? only updates i can get are maps and radio stations

[varooom]

3 minutes ago, Deceased said:

@varooomAny idea where i would get a full firmware to try flashing it with? only updates i can get are maps and radio stations

Me or @pab567 though he is saying it could be hardware fault earlier.

 

Hold down Menu/Setup key to see what current Software Train is installed 

[Deceased]

@varooom@pab567 Software Train is MHI2_ER_SKG13_K4524

[varooom]

9 minutes ago, Deceased said:

@varooom@pab567 Software Train is MHI2_ER_SKG13_K4524

MHI2_ER_SKG13_P4526

MU 1440

 

Is the available update

[Deceased]

@varooomCan you advise where I would get said update?

 

Found it on mibsolution.one - is this a reliable source?

Edited 4 October, 2022 by Deceased

[varooom]

7 hours ago, Deceased said:

@varooomCan you advise where I would get said update?

 

Found it on mibsolution.one - is this a reliable source?

In theory yes.

Did you still need this file?

[Deceased]

@varooomIf you have it I would use it in preference to the web one.

[varooom]

Just now, Deceased said:

@varooomIf you have it I would use it in preference to the web one.

Yup, will send over in a moment (it'll be faster than mib server)

[Deceased]

@varooom@pab567Failed flashing the LTE section. Guess its broken after all.

[varooom]

At least it was ruled out.

Hopefully you can get it sorted.

[pab567]

Told you from the very beginning this module (modem) is broken...

[Deceased]

@pab567 is the module replaceable. Can solder if required.

[pab567]

It can be replaced, soldering is NOT required

[Deceased]

@pab567Where would i get a replacement module? rough cost? Any help appreciated.