MKV Golf Aftermarket Stereo

MKV Golf Aftermarket Stereo

Author
Discussion

gasman1

Original Poster:

7 posts

203 months

Sunday 22nd March 2009
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I am getting a 54 plate 1.9TDISE DSG on Thursday, I have an Alpine X200 in the old MkIV and am keen on fitting it in the new car, but the wiring loom has got me foxed. Apparently there is CAN-BUS loom to the the stereo, which means I need a special adapter. Ive ordered this http://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/connects-ctsvw002-p... which is made by connects2, and says I dont need a seperate wiring adapter, Ive also ordered an aerial adapter and a fascia adapter.
Now what I want to know is, do MkV Golfs come with stalk controls for the stereo as standard, I forgot to check and cant find the info anywhere on the net. Also, do you think this connector will do the job.

VAG1

784 posts

188 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
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not trying to put you off mate but any stereo apart from the oe stuff will look out of place in the car

gasman1

Original Poster:

7 posts

203 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
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A car is a tool to me mate, and I need my ipod for commuting. The alpine is hands down the best solution Ive found to attaching it to a car stereo, so Im sticking with it regardless of whether it looks slightly out of place or not.

mpm1987

755 posts

184 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
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I got mine done the other day. Paid local car audio place £35 to wire it all up.

You need a fascia adaptor, ariel booster, and the CAN bus Wiring loom adaptor, you also need to run a cable to either the fuse box or lighter socket, as the standard headunit doesn't use a ignition live cable.

clonmult

10,529 posts

208 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
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I'm going through something similar at the moment - the OE CD player in the A6 is absolutely dire (although the Bose active speakers system seems relatively good), I picked up an Alpine IDA-X100 over the weekend.

The adapters are a pain in the back end though. I think its £20-£25 for the audioleads connector, you can probably pick those up from a halfords or local ICE installer.

Picked up a blanking plate and harness adapter for the other halfs Fiesta - £15 for the blanking plate and £20 for the harness bit. Stupidly expensive for a bit of plastic and a few wires.

VadMan

46 posts

187 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
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I think i'm right in saying that the SE comes with stalk controls as standard, in which case you'll only need the one cable (the more expensive one), as well as the other bits (facia panel and ariel booster). Also it's worth checking AudioLeads, as it might be a tenner cheaper for the same cable as the one in your link. I was speaking to a mate of mine whos a radio fitter, he says the MKV facia panels look quite good when fitted so hopefully it wont look out of place.

Personally, I'm saving up for a nice double-din unit biggrin

Edited by VadMan on Monday 23 March 19:13

gasman1

Original Poster:

7 posts

203 months

Monday 23rd March 2009
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All the stuff should be coming this week, I'll let you know how I get on.

gasman1

Original Poster:

7 posts

203 months

Wednesday 1st April 2009
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Ok, all fitted, looks pretty decent I reckon. The plastic of the fascia isnt a perfect match, and the cubby hole is unlined, which is a bit cheap, but otherwise OK.
The adapter works as promised, no issues with the ignition.
An airbag warning light has come on though, which is a pain, presume I need to get VW to reset it?

Also, for anyone contemplating this in a golf with the coin tray rather than the extra dash diffuser, you need to take out the rubber mat and you'll find two screws below it which releases this part, the rest of the job was easy after I found that out.

gasman1

Original Poster:

7 posts

203 months

Wednesday 1st April 2009
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Oh, and there are no stereo controls on my model, these are on the steering wheel which I dont have. Whether I needed this particular model adapter Im not sure, but I have read that the normal harness to loom adapters mean no ignition switch, so you need to manually switch the stereo on and off, which would be a pain.

VadMan

46 posts

187 months

Friday 3rd April 2009
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Glad everything fitted alright, any chance of a photo of what the aftermarket radio lookes like with the facia? I'm thinking of swapping mine in the near future as my original radio doesn't even support rear speakers!

va1o

16,029 posts

206 months

Friday 3rd April 2009
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VadMan said:
I'm thinking of swapping mine in the near future as my original radio doesn't even support rear speakers!
Are you sure your car has rear speakers? The 'S' models have the rear speaker grilles, but no speaker underneath, which can cause some confusion.

I don't get why people dig the stock RCD300 sound system so much, its quite a nice unit IMO.

Aftermarket looks a bit like this in a MK5:

Isoproturon1

3,619 posts

200 months

Friday 3rd April 2009
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gasman1 said:
An airbag warning light has come on though, which is a pain, presume I need to get VW to reset it?
Get a fault code reader for £39 from Gendan.co.uk - this will reset the light, is as cheap as taking it to VW, and you can keep it to check for fault codes in the future.

VadMan

46 posts

187 months

Friday 3rd April 2009
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Sorry va1o, that's what I meant smile My MK5 S Spec doesn't have rear speakers at all, but the radio doesn't support them either, so it was never just a case of wiring in a set or rear speakers frown


va1o

16,029 posts

206 months

Friday 3rd April 2009
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VadMan said:
Sorry va1o, that's what I meant smile My MK5 S Spec doesn't have rear speakers at all, but the radio doesn't support them either, so it was never just a case of wiring in a set or rear speakers frown
Hmm thats odd as my SE had the rear speakers, and I'm pretty sure they share the same RCD300 head-unit.


Coupe_Daz

387 posts

185 months

Sunday 5th April 2009
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I'd say the reason the airbag light is on is because somebody has turned the ignition on while having the "passenger air bag off" sign unplugged. simple reset required nothing to worry about

VadMan

46 posts

187 months

Sunday 5th April 2009
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va1o said:
VadMan said:
Sorry va1o, that's what I meant smile My MK5 S Spec doesn't have rear speakers at all, but the radio doesn't support them either, so it was never just a case of wiring in a set or rear speakers frown
Hmm thats odd as my SE had the rear speakers, and I'm pretty sure they share the same RCD300 head-unit.


Yeah, that's a bit strange. I've just checked and it is the RCD300 in mine. However in the sound options the "Fader" option is not actually there. I can only toggle the balance left to right. I'm wondering if it has an output for rear speakers? Any ideas?

va1o

16,029 posts

206 months

Sunday 5th April 2009
quotequote all
VadMan said:
va1o said:
VadMan said:
Sorry va1o, that's what I meant smile My MK5 S Spec doesn't have rear speakers at all, but the radio doesn't support them either, so it was never just a case of wiring in a set or rear speakers frown
Hmm thats odd as my SE had the rear speakers, and I'm pretty sure they share the same RCD300 head-unit.
Yeah, that's a bit strange. I've just checked and it is the RCD300 in mine. However in the sound options the "Fader" option is not actually there. I can only toggle the balance left to right. I'm wondering if it has an output for rear speakers? Any ideas?
I would presume theres an output, but the connections are different to standard DIN radios as its all done by the CAN-BUS. You might be best of asking on uk-mkivs or VWVortex perhaps.

VadMan

46 posts

187 months

Sunday 12th April 2009
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Just so people know I've just had rear speakers fitted to my Golf S. Basically the original RCD300 radio has outputs in the back for rear speakers, so its just a case of wiring everything up. As soon as the speakers were connected the "Fader" option appeared in the menu smile Sounds MILES better now biggrin

VAG1

784 posts

188 months

Sunday 12th April 2009
quotequote all
VadMan said:
Just so people know I've just had rear speakers fitted to my Golf S. Basically the original RCD300 radio has outputs in the back for rear speakers, so its just a case of wiring everything up. As soon as the speakers were connected the "Fader" option appeared in the menu smile Sounds MILES better now biggrin
How much did you pay if you don't mind me asking?

VadMan

46 posts

187 months

Sunday 12th April 2009
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Well, I work at halfords as my second job, and the fitter is my mate so I didn't actually get charged anything for fitting it smile But the general cost is about 40 quid for the speakers (17cm Alpine ones), £20 for the speaker adaptor plates (spacers), some speaker cable. And normally to get everything fitted at halfords would cost £40. Makes a huge difference, the whole sound is so much richer and the extra bass is nice addition.

Edited by VadMan on Sunday 12th April 18:49