Nuje
Top Post Dawg
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
- Location
- Island near Vancouver
- TDI
- 2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2002 (swap from 2L gas); 2016 A3 e-tron
There are a few threads existing out there on other forums that go over the steps involved with getting VW's Active Info Display (AID) (aka, virtual cockpit, digital dashboard) into cars that didn't come from the factory that way, but I had a lot of trouble getting specific answers for my situation due to the following:
So, here’s what I was able to piece together, and get a successful outcome, thanks to bbusato at the Ross-tech forum, along with a few others there, the vortex, and golfmk7; Aaron at CascadeGerman.com for the hardware; and a tech at my local VW dealership who was willing to dive into this and troubleshoot a whole pile of stuff that is so totally not in their training manuals or seminars.
Step 1: MIB1—>MIB2
Best I can tell, this is a must-have. No way you can get the AID in your car unless it has the MIB2 head unit installed and integrated.
I went with a hacked unit from APG.org.pl in Poland (and eBay, albeit, Polish eBay); if you piece together your own system from wrecks or OEM and get MIB2 working in your car in some other way, I would assume that the rest of the process would be pretty much the same.
So, starting point was here:
Step 2: AID Install Parts List
Step 3: Take stuff apart.
There are plenty of threads and videos showing how to take apart the dash and remove the MIB head unit from the glove box; pretty straightforward process, provided you have the right tools. Specifically, you’ll need those VW stereo removal keys (2 of them) to get the MIB head unit out and the display (4 needed; might be able to get by with just two, but why?)
Do it on a warm-ish day so that the plastic isn’t brittle, particularly with the trim piece around the centre vent stack and the trim/bezel around the old instrument cluster, as there are some clips there which are stubborn.
…but that’s nothing compared to how rigidly the instrument cluster is held in there. There are two T25 screws at the bottom of the cluster (behind the little plastic trim piece that covers the top of the steering column; it just pulls straight out), and then there are four spring-clips that hold (and by “hold”, I mean “like a death grip!”) the display in there.
There was no way I could pull the cluster out with just my hands, and I was fearful that any more pressure would start snapping things. I got past that by jamming long, skinny flathead screwdriver blades into the spring-clips on the RH side, and it pulled out pretty easily.
The LH side was a bit more challenging as the angle of access was more difficult, but I managed that as well. Putting everything back together, I put some bicycle chain wax lube on the tabs that go into the spring clips, just in case I ever have to take that sucker out again (hopefully not).
Your typical VW instrument cluster connector is on the LH back side of the instrument cluster - flip up the little lever which pushes the connector out of the cluster.
Step 4:
Fish the MOST cable from the back of the MIB2 head unit out the back of the glove compartment, toward the cluster; you pull it behind the display (the only reason you need to remove the display), then into the hole where the cluster will be; the cable I got had about 2” of extra length to it (not a lot), so don’t be too fancy with the path you take with that MOST cable - try to make as straight a line with it as possible.
(2023.01 Edit: Wish I'd had one of these MOST extenders at the time. If you ever want or have to remove the MIB or cluster again, it is SUCH a pain to reach the connector; the extra few inches provided by the extender makes life much easier.)
Step 5: “Installation is the reverse of removal”
And actually, it is. One of the few things I’ve done on the car where putting everything back together goes much faster than taking it apart.
But…
(Step 6)
If you install the cluster at this point, it’ll light up, but you probably won’t be able to power on the car (with my KESSY, nothing but the radio would power on); if you have an insertable key, maybe you get ACC power, but you certainly won’t be able to drive.
So, with the old cluster resting in place (not clipped in), head down to your friendly neighbourhood VW dealer because removing Component Protection (CP), adapting keys, pairing the cluster immobilizer with ECU, etc. requires talking to VW’s servers back in der Fatherland.
(I don’t know that all dealers will do this; I know the guys at my shop quite well, so they worked with me on this, recognizing that it’s not “official” service, and I got to watch the whole process - quite fascinating, actually.)
Step 7:
Let the VW tech do what he do.
The tech at my VW dealer was great - the kind of guy who took his 2007 Audi A4 and made it into a TDI…just ‘cause it seemed like it’d be a fun project - and he was as excited to see how(if?) this would work as I was.
The big hurdle here is that VW’s servers know for a certainty that my VIN was never supposed to have MIB2, let alone a AID, so as soon as we got past the IMMO and key pairing (probably half an hour), there were component protection blocks (that’s my interpretation anyway) on probably half a dozen modules in the car - ABS, CAN Gateway, ESC / Steering, front assist, etc. (basically, everything in red here, from what I remember).
I asked if I’d just be able to clear those with VCDS and he said “Reeeeeally don’t think so.” Some “Basic Settings” stuff had to be done (which I’m sure VCDS could’ve handled), but there were a bunch more that required the tech’s login to VW’s servers to do some “hard” over-rides.
I was there for 2.5 hours, which is a bit longer than what I’ve read other people experienced, but certainly within reason for a process for which there’s absolutely zero documentation.
Step 8: Drive home with your new AID!!
…pull out the VCDS, and commence to do some coding. (Of course, you could also let the VW tech do all of this stuff with ODIS, but at $2/minute, I’m more than happy to do it at home).
Shout-out again to bbusato for figuring most of this stuff out.
Module 17 (Instruments) - CODING - Long Coding Helper
Byte 2, Bit 0-2: Fuel Tank - Variant 2 as that gave the longest range in my “distance to empty”. Might have to adjust that - see how it seems to jive with my actual DTE.
Byte 2, Bit 3-6: 50 Model: Variant A (this sets what your car looks like in the instrument cluster - 50 is a wagon)
Byte 12: Check the box for Bit 2 - "Alternative Dimming Function active"
Close the long coding helper, save the coding - should be accepted nice and easy.
Module 17 (Instruments) - ADAPTATIONS
IDE02489-Display depiction; adapt from Version 1 to Version 2
(apparently, this enables NAV in the AID screen)
ENG153766-Tube_version; adapt from variant_0 to variant_2
(This determines the look of the instrument cluster dials and fonts - again, I might play around with this to see what I like)
Then head over to…
Module 5F (Information Electr.) - ADAPTATIONS
ENG122230-ENG142097-Dashboard_Display_Configuration-ability_switch_nav_maps; (make sure this is OFF; bbusato had this as adapting to ON, but with that setting, I had no maps in the AID; changing it back to OFF gave me maps in the AID)
ENG122230-ENG122343-Dashboard_Display_Configuration-call_picture; adapt from OFF to ON
ENG122230-ENG127501-Dashboard_Display_Configuration-fastlist_most; adapt from OFF to ON
ENG122230-ENG122338-Dashboard_Display_Configuration-navigation_map_compression_mode; adapt from RLE to H264
ENG122230-ENG127005-Dashboard_Display_Configuration-navigation_map_transmission_mode; adapt from OFF to MOST_streaming
and...
- TDI
- Pre-2016 (came with MIB1 from the factory)
- Canadian (wasn't sure that made much difference)
- Most of the retrofitters doing this seems to be in Europe or Southeast Asia
So, here’s what I was able to piece together, and get a successful outcome, thanks to bbusato at the Ross-tech forum, along with a few others there, the vortex, and golfmk7; Aaron at CascadeGerman.com for the hardware; and a tech at my local VW dealership who was willing to dive into this and troubleshoot a whole pile of stuff that is so totally not in their training manuals or seminars.
Step 1: MIB1—>MIB2
Best I can tell, this is a must-have. No way you can get the AID in your car unless it has the MIB2 head unit installed and integrated.
I went with a hacked unit from APG.org.pl in Poland (and eBay, albeit, Polish eBay); if you piece together your own system from wrecks or OEM and get MIB2 working in your car in some other way, I would assume that the rest of the process would be pretty much the same.
So, starting point was here:
Step 2: AID Install Parts List
- AID Cluster itself (5G1 920 791 A) - special-ordered from CascadeGerman.com
- Bezel / trim piece that surrounds AID (5G0 857 189 B AAH) - the “AAH” apparently is the color - piano/gloss black in my case
- MOST splitter cable- I needed a splitter because the Fender Premium in my Highline (SEL) outputs audio to the amplifier under the driver seat via a MOST bus (bus = connector/pathway); if your stereo (non-premium audio, I would think) just uses straight paired wires to output sound directly to the speakers, then you would not need a splitter, but could get by with just a straight MOST connector cable; either way, you’re gonna need to get a signal over the MOST cable from your MIB2 head unit to the back of the new AID cluster
- EDIT: MOST extender cable (comment below)
- Various plastic pry tools
- VW stereo removal “keys”
Step 3: Take stuff apart.
There are plenty of threads and videos showing how to take apart the dash and remove the MIB head unit from the glove box; pretty straightforward process, provided you have the right tools. Specifically, you’ll need those VW stereo removal keys (2 of them) to get the MIB head unit out and the display (4 needed; might be able to get by with just two, but why?)
Do it on a warm-ish day so that the plastic isn’t brittle, particularly with the trim piece around the centre vent stack and the trim/bezel around the old instrument cluster, as there are some clips there which are stubborn.
…but that’s nothing compared to how rigidly the instrument cluster is held in there. There are two T25 screws at the bottom of the cluster (behind the little plastic trim piece that covers the top of the steering column; it just pulls straight out), and then there are four spring-clips that hold (and by “hold”, I mean “like a death grip!”) the display in there.
There was no way I could pull the cluster out with just my hands, and I was fearful that any more pressure would start snapping things. I got past that by jamming long, skinny flathead screwdriver blades into the spring-clips on the RH side, and it pulled out pretty easily.
The LH side was a bit more challenging as the angle of access was more difficult, but I managed that as well. Putting everything back together, I put some bicycle chain wax lube on the tabs that go into the spring clips, just in case I ever have to take that sucker out again (hopefully not).
Your typical VW instrument cluster connector is on the LH back side of the instrument cluster - flip up the little lever which pushes the connector out of the cluster.
Step 4:
Fish the MOST cable from the back of the MIB2 head unit out the back of the glove compartment, toward the cluster; you pull it behind the display (the only reason you need to remove the display), then into the hole where the cluster will be; the cable I got had about 2” of extra length to it (not a lot), so don’t be too fancy with the path you take with that MOST cable - try to make as straight a line with it as possible.
(2023.01 Edit: Wish I'd had one of these MOST extenders at the time. If you ever want or have to remove the MIB or cluster again, it is SUCH a pain to reach the connector; the extra few inches provided by the extender makes life much easier.)
Step 5: “Installation is the reverse of removal”
And actually, it is. One of the few things I’ve done on the car where putting everything back together goes much faster than taking it apart.
But…
(Step 6)
If you install the cluster at this point, it’ll light up, but you probably won’t be able to power on the car (with my KESSY, nothing but the radio would power on); if you have an insertable key, maybe you get ACC power, but you certainly won’t be able to drive.
So, with the old cluster resting in place (not clipped in), head down to your friendly neighbourhood VW dealer because removing Component Protection (CP), adapting keys, pairing the cluster immobilizer with ECU, etc. requires talking to VW’s servers back in der Fatherland.
(I don’t know that all dealers will do this; I know the guys at my shop quite well, so they worked with me on this, recognizing that it’s not “official” service, and I got to watch the whole process - quite fascinating, actually.)
Step 7:
Let the VW tech do what he do.
The tech at my VW dealer was great - the kind of guy who took his 2007 Audi A4 and made it into a TDI…just ‘cause it seemed like it’d be a fun project - and he was as excited to see how(if?) this would work as I was.
(Aside: by far, this was the part of the process that made me the most apprehensive, and that I had the most questions that I couldn't get solid answers on. Being that I have a "hacked" MIB2 unit in my car - a car that VW's servers say should not (and maybe CANnot) have MIB2 installed, what was going to happen when the VW servers scanned my car's modules and saw something so..."wrong"? The MIB2 (module 5F) ships from APG with some coding so that it's "hidden" from scans by default; I have to go into the "Green Engineering Menu" (GEM in some forums) to enable it so that I can make the changes listed below. I wasn't sure whether to leave it "exposed" or not - would all of the VW ODIS coding and Component Protection over-rides totally mess up my MIB2 - in which case I'm trying to get remote troubleshooting from Poland - yikes! Or would it leave it alone? I did get one answer from a forum user in the UK who'd done this on his 2014 TDI (same deal - from APG), and he said he'd left his "open", with no issues, so I figured I'd take that chance, too. And as it turned out, same - no issues.)
The big hurdle here is that VW’s servers know for a certainty that my VIN was never supposed to have MIB2, let alone a AID, so as soon as we got past the IMMO and key pairing (probably half an hour), there were component protection blocks (that’s my interpretation anyway) on probably half a dozen modules in the car - ABS, CAN Gateway, ESC / Steering, front assist, etc. (basically, everything in red here, from what I remember).
I asked if I’d just be able to clear those with VCDS and he said “Reeeeeally don’t think so.” Some “Basic Settings” stuff had to be done (which I’m sure VCDS could’ve handled), but there were a bunch more that required the tech’s login to VW’s servers to do some “hard” over-rides.
I was there for 2.5 hours, which is a bit longer than what I’ve read other people experienced, but certainly within reason for a process for which there’s absolutely zero documentation.
Step 8: Drive home with your new AID!!
…pull out the VCDS, and commence to do some coding. (Of course, you could also let the VW tech do all of this stuff with ODIS, but at $2/minute, I’m more than happy to do it at home).
Shout-out again to bbusato for figuring most of this stuff out.
Module 17 (Instruments) - CODING - Long Coding Helper
Byte 2, Bit 0-2: Fuel Tank - Variant 2 as that gave the longest range in my “distance to empty”. Might have to adjust that - see how it seems to jive with my actual DTE.
Byte 2, Bit 3-6: 50 Model: Variant A (this sets what your car looks like in the instrument cluster - 50 is a wagon)
Byte 12: Check the box for Bit 2 - "Alternative Dimming Function active"
Close the long coding helper, save the coding - should be accepted nice and easy.
Module 17 (Instruments) - ADAPTATIONS
IDE02489-Display depiction; adapt from Version 1 to Version 2
(apparently, this enables NAV in the AID screen)
ENG153766-Tube_version; adapt from variant_0 to variant_2
(This determines the look of the instrument cluster dials and fonts - again, I might play around with this to see what I like)
Then head over to…
Module 5F (Information Electr.) - ADAPTATIONS
ENG122230-ENG142097-Dashboard_Display_Configuration-ability_switch_nav_maps; (make sure this is OFF; bbusato had this as adapting to ON, but with that setting, I had no maps in the AID; changing it back to OFF gave me maps in the AID)
ENG122230-ENG122343-Dashboard_Display_Configuration-call_picture; adapt from OFF to ON
ENG122230-ENG127501-Dashboard_Display_Configuration-fastlist_most; adapt from OFF to ON
ENG122230-ENG122338-Dashboard_Display_Configuration-navigation_map_compression_mode; adapt from RLE to H264
ENG122230-ENG127005-Dashboard_Display_Configuration-navigation_map_transmission_mode; adapt from OFF to MOST_streaming
and...
Last edited: