Hi guys,

I wanted to swap out the media in my 2017 Skoda Rapid for a better one with SmartLink to have Carplay in it. I found one from a scrapyard Rapid, but I have some concerns about it:

Firstly, as you can see in the pictures almost everything looks the same on the back except my original (Swing - Pic 1 and 2) mediaplayer has a black output but the other one (Bolero - Pic 3 and 4) doesn't. Why is that and what does the black output do?

Second, has anyone done this kind of swap and will it work? I know I have to activate Smartlink to have Carplay, but at first I want the head unit to do the exact same things as the original one (rear sensor, read my phone through usb) then I will go to a guy who can activate SmartLink.

Third, the new head unit's cords are cut, will the cords from the original work with those?

 

Are there anything else I should be concered about?

 

Thank you for the help in advance!

 

I dont know the cable thing and other technical **** but I know that you will not going to use smartlink because system will not let you to do that. Component protection will be block you. If you disable CP you can use bluetooth and other things except smartlink. I found a guy from Russia(even you hate them Russians are so good about Skoda because before the ukraine war there was a skoda factory working, a lot of retrofit guy are currently still working in russia. They said SKODA don’t want to do that and MEN2 LG products cant be hacked lack of hacker attentions. 

Update: I’ve installed the unit in, i know about component protection, have a friend at the vw dealer whos willing to deactivate it and still have smartlink working. If you do it yourself with “green menu” in your car, thats how smartlink wont work. If you do it at the dealer or by yourself with a VCDS then it will work perfectly.

My bigger problem is the size. In the picture you think its the same size. Well guess what? The older unit has screws to fix it in, the newer got staples for fixation. Thats why there is an additional frame in there so you can fix the screws for the older one. And by that the newer one wont go in there.

Edited 23 November, 20241 yr by SmartOps

You need to verify your words about Smartlink. These units are not hacked, so there are no green menus in these screens. Secondly, VW can erase the CP but can’t open the Smartlink because it’s a SWaP(software after purchase) and you’re car havent an option when they we’re selling it in the first place. If you already done it, show me you car VIN Number and headunit number, I will contact Skoda Europe for my car immediately. I can get a new headunit for that and open it in Skoda Dealer if that’s the problem. These headunits are scrap because of this reason and you’re the first person has a very different thought about Smartlink

17 minutes ago, SmartOps said:

Update: I’ve installed the unit in, i know about component protection, have a friend at the vw dealer whos willing to deactivate it and still have smartlink working. If you do it yourself with “green menu” in your car, thats how smartlink wont work. If you do it at the dealer or by yourself with a VCDS then it will work perfectly.

My bigger problem is the size. In the picture you think its the same size. Well guess what? The older unit has screws to fix it in, the newer got staples for fixation. Thats why there is an additional frame in there so you can fix the screws for the older one. And by that the newer one wont go in there.

This will work for you. You can cut the frame with small dremel and add new frame parts if you need. 

I was hoping if i take out the screw frame the other one can go easily in. I will get back to you on the smartlink thing next week after i went there.

Just now, SmartOps said:

I was hoping if i take out the screw frame the other one can go easily in. I will get back to you on the smartlink thing next week after i went there.

Can you upload a spesific photo about that frame maybe we can think something else, lets do some brainstorming 

I got the same frame like you in the picture, and it has some other screws on the inside, so i was thinking it can be taken out so the new one can be put in

Update: active component protection got disabled by dealer cheap. They said they have to look into mirrorlink, because they are not sure if the head unit is able to do it (which make no sense, because when i press the app button it says, contact the dealer, so it means it can be activated). Anyways, they will look into it but i dont know the Vin of the original car, so some time later i will pay a visit to them to activate it. Im still struggling with the inner frame and i cant find anything thats a pop in, not a screw in frame.