Polar FIS+

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
My guess many more MQB mk7 are assembled in Europe than mexico, maybe a different vendor/revision supplies the euro plants.

I also see quite a few Seat/Skoda clusters on autopolars site, so who really knows.
 

Grigg3

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2006
Location
Lexington, VA
TDI
05 Jetta wagon, 15 Golf wagon
Been playing with mine some, it's useful.
Still some things I'm not sure about, or need fixing. Coolant temp shows negative, what does ! mean before a parameter, MPG and degrees F options... Much of this could be user error or lack of understanding how it all works, I'm not sure yet.
With the update version I have EGT isn't yet available, but I'm told it will be in a week or few. They are apparently still working out the finer details for this application.

The text does jump around some, which if you're looking at it for a while isn't ideal, but if you're actually driving and just glance at it quickly, otherwise keeping your eyes on the road it's not noticeable. It'd be nice if that were fixed, but then again it's not a big deal.


 

meerschm

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 18, 2009
Location
Fairfax county VA
TDI
2009 Jetta wagon DSG 08/08 205k buyback 1/8/18; replaced with 2017 Golf Wagon 4mo 1.8l CXBB
The PF03 manual says the !prefex means requested or calculated.
 

1854sailor

Resident Curmudgeon
Joined
Aug 10, 2004
Location
Westerly, RI
TDI
2015 Golf SE SportWagen, 2015 Golf SE Hatch Back.
HP says 171 and TQ says 271. Do you have a tune? EGT and DPF temps are key to monitoring regens. You'd think that they would have figured this out by now...

Been playing with mine some, it's useful.
Still some things I'm not sure about, or need fixing. Coolant temp shows negative, what does ! mean before a parameter, MPG and degrees F options... Much of this could be user error or lack of understanding how it all works, I'm not sure yet.
With the update version I have EGT isn't yet available, but I'm told it will be in a week or few. They are apparently still working out the finer details for this application.

The text does jump around some, which if you're looking at it for a while isn't ideal, but if you're actually driving and just glance at it quickly, otherwise keeping your eyes on the road it's not noticeable. It'd be nice if that were fixed, but then again it's not a big deal.


 
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adjat84th

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 13, 2008
Location
Virginia Beach, VA
TDI
'01 Jetta TDI/'15 Golf TDI
The PF03 manual says the !prefex means requested or calculated.
There are SO many calculated values in this ECU, I'd be curious all the channels that are available to choose from when setting this thing up. It takes some time and logging to figure out which channels are the correct ones just in normal VCDS logs!
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
the MAP/MAF is absolute pressure, so the ECU reads 14-35PSI, the calculation takes out the 14.5psi to give you PSIG.

But that coolant value is def not calculated, and makes me shake my head.
 

Grigg3

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2006
Location
Lexington, VA
TDI
05 Jetta wagon, 15 Golf wagon
I don’t have a tune.
The boost is available with or without subtracting atmosphere, that picture is with the correction.
 

Grigg3

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2006
Location
Lexington, VA
TDI
05 Jetta wagon, 15 Golf wagon
I guess so? I don’t remember what the car/engine is supposed to make, but I wasn’t thinking that high.

I expect they’ll get the bugs worked out. Didn’t know they hadn’t until after installing and trying it.

It came with a tiny manual with a few pages in English, not very useful. Part of it may be clumsy translation, part outdated or for a different model car as it didn’t seem applicable. Biggest problem is they give a URL to update it but the address is bad or no longer used. I did figure out how to update from a small button at the top of the Polar website.

Basically the instructions say to install, although not entirely clear, first update software, remove anything connected to OBDII, plug it in, turn on the car, turn off, lock the door from outside with remote and wait a few minutes... good to go.

Zero paperwork on how to set it up, navigate the menus, or what the different parameters mean, not even a list of them.
 
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Grigg3

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2006
Location
Lexington, VA
TDI
05 Jetta wagon, 15 Golf wagon
I've learned a few things about Polar FIS for the MQB.

1, The Folks at Kerma TDI are helpful. So are the folks at Polar, both interested in getting this working well.

2, They're still working out the details and bugs, and they have confidence.

3, Although finally available in my opinion it is not really ready, at least as of July 2018.

4, It takes over the "audio" screen in center of dash.

5, In some few vehicles it only works about half the time. Sometimes when starting the car instead of showing the usual display it shows "audio is currently not available". They're aware of this and working on it.

6, It may not be possible to update the software while installed in the vehicle. I tried without success. Yesterday I asked and was recommended to unplug it from vehicle entirely before updating, which is reasonably difficult to do because of the location. I'll try just disconnecting the car battery and see if it'll then update, crossing my fingers.

7, instructions, info, trouble shooting, how to update... all that info is lacking. Like I bought the black box and except phone calls to Kerma and messages with Polar I'm on my own to figure out what to do and how to use it.

8, It needs to be turned off before anything will work for diagnostics, like VCDS. This point is clearly stated in the short instructions.

8.5, Not explained. After disconnecting and reconnecting car battery Polar FIS, even if it was turned off, will wake up and be on. This caused some wasted time and frustration with me by the dealer's service dept when they couldn't update the car after doing the Phase 2 emissions... I had no idea that PolarFIS would turn back on after I purposefully turned it off before dropping the car off.

9, Currently many values have metric units only. I believe more english units will be available in a future update.

10, EGT, at least with version 1.9b5, isn't yet supported. This is the single reason I bought the product, but didn't know EGT wasn't yet a feature. They say this will also be working soon.


Overall I think Polar FIS for the MQB will be great, and I'm looking forward to using it. Glad the manufacturer and Kerma TDI are so helpful and attentive to the issues it still has. I'll be really glad when they get the bugs worked out.
 

JSWTDI09

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2009
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
TDI
2009 JSW TDI (gone but not forgotten)
Thanks for the info.
FYI: Number 8 above has always been true. It was the same with the PF03 in my '09 JSW. CAN bus is not multi-access. Two "computers" can not both talk on the diagnostic bus at the same time. Polar FIS+ uses the diagnostic bus as does VCDS. More than once I forgot to turn off my FIS+ and got communication errors with VCDS. Luckily its easy to fix (turn off).

Have Fun!

Don
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
Thanks!

I'm kinda surprised Kerma doesn't give this kind of warning, information, on their site, could lead to some customers leaving a bit disappointed.
 

Scott02

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 17, 2006
Location
near Youngstown, OH
TDI
Too Many
I've learned a few things about Polar FIS for the MQB.

4, It takes over the "audio" screen in center of dash.

5, In some few vehicles it only works about half the time. Sometimes when starting the car instead of showing the usual display it shows "audio is currently not available". They're aware of this and working on it.

8.5, Not explained. After disconnecting and reconnecting car battery Polar FIS, even if it was turned off, will wake up and be on. This caused some wasted time and frustration with me by the dealer's service dept when they couldn't update the car after doing the Phase 2 emissions... I had no idea that PolarFIS would turn back on after I purposefully turned it off before dropping the car off.

9, Currently many values have metric units only. I believe more english units will be available in a future update.

10, EGT, at least with version 1.9b5, isn't yet supported. This is the single reason I bought the product, but didn't know EGT wasn't yet a feature. They say this will also be working soon.

It takes over the audio screen, but even while not on the audio screen it messes up things that used to be there. For instance, the car originally used to have a volume bar pop up in the MFA when you pressed the volume buttons on the steering wheel. Which was nice to see how loud you were making it, as when you use the steering wheel controls, the volume bar does not pop up on the touchscreen radio. This used to be visible while in any MFA screen, but not now with the PolarFIS plugged in.


To continue a list of things that aren't available or do not work right...
In the advanced setup screen, you cannot change from C to F
In the advanced setup screen, you cannot change from km to mi
It has Long G's but no Side G's
It also sometimes has the "!" value and not the normal one, or vise versa. Boost is a good example, it only has !Boost.

It does not have EGT, nor DPF in, nor DPF out
It only has 5 screens to fill with 4 parameters, where the PF03 had 8 screens to fill with 4 parameters each.

No AdBlue tank fill level, but does have "AdBlue used" but it show no unit, so I do not know what the value means.


One thing that would be nice is to be able to show the EGT limiter value along with the EGT value so you can visually know you're pushing the car to all she's got.
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
I wonder if there is some sort of issue with the single year '15 MIB I, and some of the issues mentioned are worked out in the newer MIB II.

Kerma, loan me one and I'll verify how it works on our Alltrack and report back, and ship it back, I'll pay shipping.
 

JSWTDI09

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2009
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
TDI
2009 JSW TDI (gone but not forgotten)
No AdBlue tank fill level, but does have "AdBlue used" but it show no unit, so I do not know what the value means.
Since it can't (yet) do miles or degrees F., I think we can safely assume that the units are metric - probably mL or L.

Have Fun!

Don
 

Grigg3

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2006
Location
Lexington, VA
TDI
05 Jetta wagon, 15 Golf wagon
They've told me they're working on the MPH and F units, and adding the various EGT readings.

After getting phase 2 of the emissions update last week very few values show up, mostly just 0's except RPM and speed. They asked for my engine ECU info, which I sent, and they'll be addressing this in a future update.

It seems most of these issues/problems they're well aware of and actively working to resolve and improve.

Anyone have experience updating the unit while still installed in the car, if even possible?

Grigg
 

JSWTDI09

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 31, 2009
Location
Las Vegas, Nevada
TDI
2009 JSW TDI (gone but not forgotten)
Anyone have experience updating the unit while still installed in the car, if even possible?
It was possible with the PF03 but I do not know about the new one. With the old version, there was a menu/setup option for "update". You chose that option and then hooked to a laptop via USB and ran the updater program. I do not know if the new version has this option (yet?).

Have Fun!

Don
 

Grigg3

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2006
Location
Lexington, VA
TDI
05 Jetta wagon, 15 Golf wagon
Thanks,
Also received the following reply (trimmed a little) and confirmation that the version I’m running is “very old” and the newer one should address several of the previously discussed issues. I’ll find out next week when I have time to update.



Dear Grigg,
For upgrade the unit CONNECTED to the car, you will need to special operation (or not will be detected)
If you upgrade NOT CONNECTED, just only connect to computer and will be detected in few seconds without any problem.

After flash the device, please try again in your vehicle and tell me if all your issues has been solved, if not, come back to me.



I attach here some exhaustive instructions for flashing procedure, please take a look:




For update any of our products with a new firmware, please download and run the UpdaterTool software (link available at top of the website).

PolarFIS disconnected from your vehicle

First of all, for upgrade a PolarFIS device, you must disconnect it totally from your vehicle. If the PolarFIS is plugged, the unit not will enter in flashmode, this means not will be possible to upgrade it (windows just not detect it).
So, we recomend ALWAYS disconnect from vehicle in case not be detected.

PolarFIS connected to your vehicle

By the way, some users leave plugged USB cables (for not dissasemble every firmware upgrade his vehicle), and we prepared a second method for upgrade units that are already plugged.
Here you have the 3 alternative methods:

Method 1)
Disconnect the battery of your vehicle.
After this, connect PolarFIS via USB to your computer.
Method 2)
Extract fuse F12 or F24 (5A value) from your vehicle.
After this, connect PolarFIS via USB to your computer.
Note : For know correct fuse check values for see 5A (this is the correct one).
Method 3)
Connect PolarFIS via USB to your computer.
Navigate into PolarFIS and search option called “UPDATE”.
When appears a message for connect, press OK button in your steering wheel.
Now unit will allow you to connect and upgrade it.

With best regards,
AutoPolar Support
 

1854sailor

Resident Curmudgeon
Joined
Aug 10, 2004
Location
Westerly, RI
TDI
2015 Golf SE SportWagen, 2015 Golf SE Hatch Back.


Thanks,
Also received the following reply (trimmed a little) and confirmation that the version I’m running is “very old” and the newer one should address several of the previously discussed issues. I’ll find out next week when I have time to update.
Dear Grigg,
For upgrade the unit CONNECTED to the car, you will need to special operation (or not will be detected)
If you upgrade NOT CONNECTED, just only connect to computer and will be detected in few seconds without any problem.
After flash the device, please try again in your vehicle and tell me if all your issues has been solved, if not, come back to me.
I attach here some exhaustive instructions for flashing procedure, please take a look:
For update any of our products with a new firmware, please download and run the UpdaterTool software (link available at top of the website).
PolarFIS disconnected from your vehicle
First of all, for upgrade a PolarFIS device, you must disconnect it totally from your vehicle. If the PolarFIS is plugged, the unit not will enter in flashmode, this means not will be possible to upgrade it (windows just not detect it).
So, we recomend ALWAYS disconnect from vehicle in case not be detected.
PolarFIS connected to your vehicle
By the way, some users leave plugged USB cables (for not dissasemble every firmware upgrade his vehicle), and we prepared a second method for upgrade units that are already plugged.
Here you have the 3 alternative methods:
Method 1)
Disconnect the battery of your vehicle.
After this, connect PolarFIS via USB to your computer.
Method 2)
Extract fuse F12 or F24 (5A value) from your vehicle.
After this, connect PolarFIS via USB to your computer.
Note : For know correct fuse check values for see 5A (this is the correct one).
Method 3)
Connect PolarFIS via USB to your computer.
Navigate into PolarFIS and search option called “UPDATE”.
When appears a message for connect, press OK button in your steering wheel.
Now unit will allow you to connect and upgrade it.
With best regards,
AutoPolar Support
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
Hey, I'm pretty impressed google translator did that good of a job for them.

Glad to know Kerma is shipping old revisions to their customers.
 

STOKTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
May 31, 2016
Location
Ohio
TDI
2015 Golf MK7 TDI
I have been in contact with AutoPolar directly since the day Kerma offered it for the MQB platform. AutoPolar just released a new revision that supports mine, as well as other none supported ECU's. I was also informed that now we simply select which type of screen we have (white, multicolor, virtual) and the text is now left margin? Will test all this tonight after work.

(info from last message received last night)
- Improved text align of the parameters on screen

- Created new config menu for cluster types. Now you need to select your cluster here:
PATH: VISUALIZATION -> SCREEN -> ADVANCED -> FIS OPTIONS
OPTIONS: WHITE FIS, COLOR FIS and VIRTUAL COCKPIT

- Solved issue with message "AUDIO IS CURRENTLYNOT AVAILABLE"

- New ECU references added:
03L997030L
5K7907115B
1104L997022N
 

kermaGSW

Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2016
Location
avon
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagen
Thanks STOKTDI i just received this message this morning as well.

Customer registration has to be added to perform any current updates on the PolarFIS. Unfortunately I cannot do the recent update in house on the recent MQB Polars.

When we send out a PolarFIS we ask to register the unit first and then perform the most recent update on autopolar.net
 

1854sailor

Resident Curmudgeon
Joined
Aug 10, 2004
Location
Westerly, RI
TDI
2015 Golf SE SportWagen, 2015 Golf SE Hatch Back.
I'd be interested in seeing a video of the screen in operation once you have done the update.

I have been in contact with AutoPolar directly since the day Kerma offered it for the MQB platform. AutoPolar just released a new revision that supports mine, as well as other none supported ECU's. I was also informed that now we simply select which type of screen we have (white, multicolor, virtual) and the text is now left margin? Will test all this tonight after work.

(info from last message received last night)
- Improved text align of the parameters on screen

- Created new config menu for cluster types. Now you need to select your cluster here:
PATH: VISUALIZATION -> SCREEN -> ADVANCED -> FIS OPTIONS
OPTIONS: WHITE FIS, COLOR FIS and VIRTUAL COCKPIT

- Solved issue with message "AUDIO IS CURRENTLYNOT AVAILABLE"

- New ECU references added:
03L997030L
5K7907115B
1104L997022N
 

Grigg3

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2006
Location
Lexington, VA
TDI
05 Jetta wagon, 15 Golf wagon
Glad to know Kerma is shipping old revisions to their customers.
Not exactly.
Instructions are to update it before installing, which I did. Now a few weeks later there are several newer revisions.

I’ve had trouble updating it in the car and just received instructions on how to update without removing it.

Pleased so far with support from both Kerma and AutoPolar.
 

STOKTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
May 31, 2016
Location
Ohio
TDI
2015 Golf MK7 TDI
I’ve had trouble updating it in the car and just received instructions on how to update without removing it.
Willing to share? I have just left my lower dash trim off this entire time and I really miss that little drawer we have below the headlight switch lol
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
Not exactly.
Instructions are to update it before installing, which I did. Now a few weeks later there are several newer revisions.
I’ve had trouble updating it in the car and just received instructions on how to update without removing it.
Pleased so far with support from both Kerma and AutoPolar.
Sounds like those that bought initially when "MQB is now supported" were still buying a beta version. Glad to see Autopolar is sticking with supporting all the different combinations of ECUs/Clusters, still positive!
 

STOKTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
May 31, 2016
Location
Ohio
TDI
2015 Golf MK7 TDI
Got home last night and their "Online Updater" did not have an option for the V0.1.9 firmware that contains the "fixes". Just waiting for them to add it real quick and then I can hopefully use the $300 device I paid for hahahaha

AutoPolar has been great with responses etc. Since they are across the water, I normally get a response while I am sleeping but it is always the same day.
 

Mike in Anchorage

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2009
Location
Anchorage, AK
TDI
2016 Touareg Lux, 2015 Golf Sportwagen SE, new 4 Sept 2017;2009 VW Jetta TDI Sportwagen (Ruby) sold to VW on 22 SEP 2017
Still hoping to see that EGT, my primary reason for buying one, is out and working well for the majority of users. Thanks for any info.
 
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