Rcbamm
Active member
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2012
- Location
- South FL
- TDI
- 05 Golf TDI BEW SOLD. 2015 Golf TDI VW boughtback. Own: 15 GSW TDI. 99.5 Jetta TDI
I don’t think I posted about my previous Mk7 iPad dash install before so here it goes.
I did this to my first Mk7 TDI SEL with MIB 1 in 2016. I used an iPad Pro 9.7 with cellular, a secondary radio bezel with AC vents I sourced on eBay and a hard plastic iPad case that I cut and epoxied to the radio bezel to hold the iPad in place. After hours of sanding and painting/polishing the results were what I was expecting with a clean flush tight finish of the radio bezel holding the iPad. The clear coat after polishing was 90% identical to the OEM Piano Black finish against the instrument cluster. You could kind of tell it had a thicker clear coat compared to the Piano Black instrument cluster bezel. But that was only if you looked super close. The stock MIB 1 radio screen, I just disassembled out of its case and nestled it behind the iPad. Further plans were to fabricate a new case for the MIB 1 screen to secure it behind the iPad but I never got around to it. Ended up assembling it all back to stock and sold the car back to VW. The iPad just laid into the modified radio bezel and would stay in place even through hard bumps, however after putting a KermaTDI tune in and launching the car the iPad would pop out. Plans were to implement magnets into the modded bezel securing the iPad from tilting out under launch acceleration. Further plans were to implement a charger for the Smart Connector on the iPad. I think Logitech makes an iPad Pro dock utilizing the Smart Connector for charging. Plans were to buy this dock and use the electronics out of it implementing it into the modified radio bezel so therefore you can put in your iPad and it always stays charged and remove it without worrying about a Lightning Connector. If the Smart Connector charging didn’t work out, the other plan was to add a universal wireless charging patch to the iPad. But I don’t really want to do this because I want a clean iPad when using it outside of the car.
Now I’m onto my newly acquired Mk7 TDI SEL GSW.. I upgraded my iPad Pro 9.7 with an iPad Pro 10.5 and am setting up to do the same thing in my GSW with the 10.5. I measured out the distance from the bottom of the AC vents to the top of the climate control buttons and despite the iPad 10.5 being bigger than the 9.7 it looks like the 10.5 is gonna fit perfectly. About 2mm below the AC vents and lining up perfectly above the climate control buttons. Plans are to fully finish the setup this time making it even better than before due to the fact that I won’t be selling this car for years to come.
Advantages to this:
iPad with cellular is the ultimate user experience when driving. Highest resolution screen in a car and cellular/GPS lets you use all the great apps while driving. Apple Music, Pandora, Maps, Waze, YouTube, iHeart Radio. What ever you want.
It looks amazingly sexy and passengers love it.
When paired to BT, no need to adjust anything on the radio. Especially having the steering wheel controls.
Disadvantages:
It’s a love hate setup. Backup camera is no longer viewable due to the iPad covering the MIB 1 screen.
You have to remove the iPad to make adjustments on the MIB 1 screen.
Volume knob is out of sight. You have to use steering wheel controls to adjust volume.
If you leave your iPad in the car on a hot day the iPad over temps and takes about 5-10 minutes to cool down before you can use it. If leaving the car in the heat for long, gotta remove the iPad, take it with you or stow it away in the car out of the heat.
Bottom AC vent rotary controls have to be removed. Therefore your Girlfriend/wife can’t shut off the airflow when she is cold.
I’m trying to think of more things to list, but I will be updating this thread with pics of the iPad 10.5 install going in my new GSW.
Now onto implementing the iPad Pro 10.5 in the GSW
I did this to my first Mk7 TDI SEL with MIB 1 in 2016. I used an iPad Pro 9.7 with cellular, a secondary radio bezel with AC vents I sourced on eBay and a hard plastic iPad case that I cut and epoxied to the radio bezel to hold the iPad in place. After hours of sanding and painting/polishing the results were what I was expecting with a clean flush tight finish of the radio bezel holding the iPad. The clear coat after polishing was 90% identical to the OEM Piano Black finish against the instrument cluster. You could kind of tell it had a thicker clear coat compared to the Piano Black instrument cluster bezel. But that was only if you looked super close. The stock MIB 1 radio screen, I just disassembled out of its case and nestled it behind the iPad. Further plans were to fabricate a new case for the MIB 1 screen to secure it behind the iPad but I never got around to it. Ended up assembling it all back to stock and sold the car back to VW. The iPad just laid into the modified radio bezel and would stay in place even through hard bumps, however after putting a KermaTDI tune in and launching the car the iPad would pop out. Plans were to implement magnets into the modded bezel securing the iPad from tilting out under launch acceleration. Further plans were to implement a charger for the Smart Connector on the iPad. I think Logitech makes an iPad Pro dock utilizing the Smart Connector for charging. Plans were to buy this dock and use the electronics out of it implementing it into the modified radio bezel so therefore you can put in your iPad and it always stays charged and remove it without worrying about a Lightning Connector. If the Smart Connector charging didn’t work out, the other plan was to add a universal wireless charging patch to the iPad. But I don’t really want to do this because I want a clean iPad when using it outside of the car.
Now I’m onto my newly acquired Mk7 TDI SEL GSW.. I upgraded my iPad Pro 9.7 with an iPad Pro 10.5 and am setting up to do the same thing in my GSW with the 10.5. I measured out the distance from the bottom of the AC vents to the top of the climate control buttons and despite the iPad 10.5 being bigger than the 9.7 it looks like the 10.5 is gonna fit perfectly. About 2mm below the AC vents and lining up perfectly above the climate control buttons. Plans are to fully finish the setup this time making it even better than before due to the fact that I won’t be selling this car for years to come.
Advantages to this:
iPad with cellular is the ultimate user experience when driving. Highest resolution screen in a car and cellular/GPS lets you use all the great apps while driving. Apple Music, Pandora, Maps, Waze, YouTube, iHeart Radio. What ever you want.
It looks amazingly sexy and passengers love it.
When paired to BT, no need to adjust anything on the radio. Especially having the steering wheel controls.
Disadvantages:
It’s a love hate setup. Backup camera is no longer viewable due to the iPad covering the MIB 1 screen.
You have to remove the iPad to make adjustments on the MIB 1 screen.
Volume knob is out of sight. You have to use steering wheel controls to adjust volume.
If you leave your iPad in the car on a hot day the iPad over temps and takes about 5-10 minutes to cool down before you can use it. If leaving the car in the heat for long, gotta remove the iPad, take it with you or stow it away in the car out of the heat.
Bottom AC vent rotary controls have to be removed. Therefore your Girlfriend/wife can’t shut off the airflow when she is cold.
I’m trying to think of more things to list, but I will be updating this thread with pics of the iPad 10.5 install going in my new GSW.
Now onto implementing the iPad Pro 10.5 in the GSW
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