Sunday, May 19, 2019

GTI mkV cargo trunk liner mat

Stupid oil spill on my mat made it very messy...
Trying to clean it but if I need to buy something to replace it, the original is almost $200!?! You can also get them use for $100... These may not be bad alternatives for about $30 (are soft though so gotta put something underneath):

In the junk yard didn't find any :(
Volkswagen VW Golf 5 6 MK5 MK6 Golf GTI R R32 Rabbit 2004-2014 

"Looking for a trunk liner for a VW GTI mk5 2007. If you got any Volkswagen Golf or GTI or Rabbit or R32, from the years 2004-2014 will work."

Sunday, May 12, 2019

Replacing ipod adapter from GTI MKV with AUX in

You are here, so, I'll skip the why :)
The problem is well described here: "Basically the factory iPod adaptor replicates a external 6 disc CD changer to the headunit in the dash. This is why the iPod dock is limited to 6 playlists. In the bottom of that tray the dock is in there is a 12 pin connector that plugs in to a printed circuit board and the dock plugs in to it."
You can't just bypass plug to that connector on the audio pins of the ipod connector.

The CableJive solution looked promising. On one side it plugs to the ipod connector (tricking the controller to think that it is an ipod) and on the other had the aux. But in the page says it does not work well with VW: "Does not work with: ALL factory installed car audio systems 2008 and newer. Any and all factory systems (pre & post 2008) from Volkswagen, Audi, Nissan, Infiniti, Toyota, Lexus, & Mazda "

A basic ipod to aux adapter like this one doesn't seem to work either, based on what they say on the description :(

Found also this one from Avery but it seems to work for VW MDI. I.e., watch because it is not the same and in the list actually there is no VW listed!

The enfig looks like the easiest way There is actually a whole list of products and that is the question, what to buy. It looks like they were using the VWT-AUX ($70). Somehow they recommend the VW1-AUX ($60) but I think the internal connector won't work (see this video). More videos here. BUT now they are recommending the GW1LVWT. I think the difference is that it has the stupid iPod cable WHICH I DON'T WANT. I think all the boxes for the wired version are basically the same and the difference is on the cables. So, for instance, the other version with the VWT-IPDU-AUX includes the USB (and also the aux cable).

The only thing with this approach is that we need to find a way to get the cable out so that we can plug it... But maybe instead of doing it through the top (drilling a whole in a new box) we can do it through the bottom (see how they install the cable from the front switches by the stick to the back).

The other possibility would be to get the BT one. There are two versions for that (one with a full BT box supporting calls...) and the other VWT-BTA-AUX which basically is like the above but has a BT interface cable (and still supports the aux). That is $20 more: $89.99. The AUX cable actually is probably not far from that so I think I'm just going to pay for this... Kind of pricey to remove some thing that I hate from the first day :(.

BTW, it seems that actually this is the manufacturer but their direct price is too high!