Hi,

I am upgrading my friends ŠKODA superb Columbus headunit to a new one. The issue I’m having is that I’m not sure how to code it myself and I’m not sure if it has an amp or not for seller pre-coding.

All he wants is a unit with CarPlay in it that is OEM.

I have two here which I will link:

First

Second

The first option is already unlocked and the person can pre code it for me, however, we are unsure if his car has the amp or not and so the seller cannot pre code it without knowing that.

The second option is not unlocked so I will have to patch it (I patched my own unit in my polo but I’m not sure if this will be different) and code it which I have never done.

I am also aware that we will have to buy a pq to mqb adapter, and then also buy a usb port that supports CarPlay so we can wire that in somewhere too.

I would like to know if his car has the AMP and whether anyone knows what the best unit would be to upgrade his one? I have attached two pictures, the first one is his current units software, the second is the sound system details page from an obdeleven scan. The sound systems module has an ID of 47.

Thank you in advance.

Take the unit that is unlocked as the other unit requires SMD soldering skills and extra tools to unlock it. Tell the seller to code new unit for Sound System . Remember tyo cut out the plastic supportive trim in the radio unit bay (in the middle, at the bottom back) as in this place there is USB socket in the new unit. Remove address 37 from gateway installation list. I recommend to install new USB/AUX port in the armrest (replace AUX with USB/AUX combintaion).

1 hour ago, pab567 said:

Take the unit that is unlocked as the other unit requires SMD soldering skills and extra tools to unlock it. Tell the seller to code new unit for Sound System . Remember tyo cut out the plastic supportive trim in the radio unit bay (in the middle, at the bottom back) as in this place there is USB socket in the new unit. Remove address 37 from gateway installation list. I recommend to install new USB/AUX port in the armrest (replace AUX with USB/AUX combintaion).

Thank you, I have informed the seller.

Is the plastic piece you’re talking about inside the cavity after I remove the unit?

Also removing address 37, in the gateway long coding page on obdeleven I only have these options (in screenshot). Here is the code as well:

35 33 03

I do have module 37 listed as navigation in control units though.

Yes, the plastic pieceis inside the cavity after you remove the unit.

Exactly, and you have to remove 37 when new unit is installed as it does NOT have built-in OEM sat nav.

1 minute ago, pab567 said:

Yes, the plastic pieceis inside the cavity after you remove the unit.

Exactly, and you have to remove 37 when new unit is installed as it does NOT have built-in OEM sat nav.

Alright, thank you! One last question. Does replacing the Aux in the armrest require removing the center console as I’m not sure I want to do all that, so I may wire the usb/aux port I get to the glovebox if that is the case. Also, is the wiring for the aux port the same as what I would use for the usb aux port or will I have to wire from the armrest to the new unit?

Get USB/AUX port with harness and wire it from the new unit to armrest. There is no need to removing the centre console, just pul apart the front part from the passenger side and wire the harness along the console to the back. Remove the rear clock assembly - this will give you the access to the current AUX port so you can remove it and replace with AUX/USB (after extending the hol;e - a sharp knife is good enought to make it).

Just now, pab567 said:

Get USB/AUX port with harness and wire it from the new unit to armrest. There is no need to removing the centre console, just pul apart the front part from the passenger side and wire the harness along the console to the back. Remove the rear clock assembly - this will give you the access to the current AUX port so you can remove it and replace with AUX/USB (after extending the hol;e - a sharp knife is good enought to make it).

Alright thank you. I bought this part.

I will update if there are any issues or if everything works! Thank you

Yes, that's what you need

46 minutes ago, pab567 said:

Yes, that's what you need

This is his glovebox, if I put the new aux with usb in can I cut the expand the hole to the side of the aux port in here?

Yes, sir

16 hours ago, pab567 said:

Yes, sir

Hi, sorry for another quote. Is this pq to mqb adapter going to work? I heard if it’s the wrong one steering wheel controls don’t work.

Here it is

On 15/02/2026 at 17:02, pab567 said:

Yes, sir

Hi,

I have just realised that the microphone will not work as it's not wired into the mib (I think, I haven't installed it yet). After some research I see that the microphone is underneath the drivers seat and is not wired into the old headunit? So in order to have it work with the harness, I need to plug a new microphone into the mib unit. Will any of these options work?:

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Thank you for all your help

The microphone is NOT underneath the drivers seat. It is located in the light panel between driver and passneger, just the cable goes either directly to BT module that is located underneath driver's seat or to the Columbus unit and then from the Columbus unit to the BT module. Post the picture of QuadLock plug that goes to Columbus, from the cables side, focus on green plug so I can see the version you have.

On 16/02/2026 at 10:41, Abs3601 said:

Hi, sorry for another quote. Is this pq to mqb adapter going to work? I heard if it’s the wrong one steering wheel controls don’t work.

Here it is

Yes, it will, but you may also need to put some extra wires - post the picture I asked above so I can give you more details.

Hi, are these photos okay?

14 hours ago, pab567 said:

The microphone is NOT underneath the drivers seat. It is located in the light panel between driver and passneger, just the cable goes either directly to BT module that is located underneath driver's seat or to the Columbus unit and then from the Columbus unit to the BT module. Post the picture of QuadLock plug that goes to Columbus, from the cables side, focus on green plug so I can see the version you have.

Here is the exact unit

Yes, that's exactly what was needed! And I have good news - the microphone first goes to the unit and then from the unit to BT module underneath driver's seat so all you have to add are two wires from green 12-pin plug (multi-pin connector 3) to blue 12-pin plug (plug B) in new Quadlock plug (old pin 1- new pin 7, old pin 7 - new pin 1). You don't need to re-wire old AUX as you have new USB/AUX harness for MIB STD2 PQ.

27 minutes ago, pab567 said:

Yes, that's exactly what was needed! And I have good news - the microphone first goes to the unit and then from the unit to BT module underneath driver's seat so all you have to add are two wires from green 12-pin plug (multi-pin connector 3) to blue 12-pin plug (plug B) in new Quadlock plug (old pin 1- new pin 7, old pin 7 - new pin 1). You don't need to re-wire old AUX as you have new USB/AUX harness for MIB STD2 PQ.

Hi, that’s great news thank you so much!

So would I have to buy the connectors for the harness and then take the wires out of the old quad lock and put them into connectors and then into the holes in the new quad lock on the harness?

This is the one we bought, I’m pretty sure it’s the same as the one on eBay (that one got cancelled)

You can either take the wires out of the old quad lock and put them into connectors and then into the holes in the new quad lock or add two cables bewtween old quadlock socket and new quadlock plug as I indicated above.

2 hours ago, pab567 said:

You can either take the wires out of the old quad lock and put them into connectors and then into the holes in the new quad lock or add two cables bewtween old quadlock socket and new quadlock plug as I indicated above.

So if I get two cables and put them into the holes from the old quad lock side then put them in the correct places on the new quad lock it’ll work? The issue is I don’t have the blue or green connector for this. The quad lock just has two empty slots where they are. Am I misunderstanding this? Is there maybe a different harness I can buy?

4 hours ago, pab567 said:

You can either take the wires out of the old quad lock and put them into connectors and then into the holes in the new quad lock or add two cables bewtween old quadlock socket and new quadlock plug as I indicated above.

Would this harness work?

Link

Fu..ing expensive.. I can prepare one for youfor less than half a price... or, if you already bought another, can send you two cables and blue connector...

1 minute ago, pab567 said:

Fu..ing expensive.. I can prepare one for youfor less than half a price... or, if you already bought another, can send you two cables and blue connector...

Hi,

Would you be able to make one for me? I will pay of course. It would be much appreciated. The car has the upgraded sound system with the amp and I seen that the one I sent you says it’s not compatible with the sound system. Will the one you can prepare be compatible?

Thank you so much

Sure, I will send you PM.

All you listed are compatible with Sound System, it's the question of coding only.