Retrofitting MK7 GTD Dash

Hi all,
I had a bit of curiosity with the dash cluster. I know there are a lot of threads out there with drivers changing their analog dash to the virtual one. I am looking to retrofit a European MK7 GTD cluster with our current TDI ones. Here is the listing and the part number (5G6920970A).
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/VW-GOLF-MK7...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
My question would be is it as simple as plug and play with a bit of coding? Essentially, the dials would be similar and the display would be now colour.
Thanks!

Can't think of any reason it shouldn't work, although I haven't read about anybody doing it. You will need the dealer to clear component protection, adapt immobilizer and pair your key(s). Copy the coding (long coding and adaptations) from your current dash.

Request your dealer do the replacement of the dash just as if you were installing the factory part number. That will get them through CP, Immo and keys but they might not be able to do any further coding since the part number isn't the "right" one for your car. That will get you to a point that you can drive it home and manually enter coding you copied.

Also note that the odometer cannot be changed so will be incorrect. I assume the car it was removed from had more than 100km on it. Once 100 kilometers have been driven a dash is no longer "new" so the mileage can no longer be changed, even by the dealer. All other coding can be done however.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

What are you really gaining by swapping?

Cuzoe said:

Can't think of any reason it shouldn't work, although I haven't read about anybody doing it. You will need the dealer to clear component protection, adapt immobilizer and pair your key(s). Copy the coding (long coding and adaptations) from your current dash.
Request your dealer do the replacement of the dash just as if you were installing the factory part number. That will get them through CP, Immo and keys but they might not be able to do any further coding since the part number isn't the "right" one for your car. That will get you to a point that you can drive it home and manually enter coding you copied.
Also note that the odometer cannot be changed so will be incorrect. I assume the car it was removed from had more than 100km on it. Once 100 kilometers have been driven a dash is no longer "new" so the mileage can no longer be changed, even by the dealer. All other coding can be done however.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. In your experience, would the dealer have any issues with clearing component protection? I've read some dealers will charge or won't even do it at all.

740GLE said:

What are you really gaining by swapping?

Click to expand...

I am converting the car to a GTD as much as I can. I get the sport looking dials and also the colour screen. I believe I can add the lap timer on it too with the colour screen.

I'm not 100% on this but anytime you swap a gauge cluster you run the risk of inaccurate reported mileage that can be added to a Carfax or car's history report. That is if you buy used and not a brand new one.

Drys said:

I'm not 100% on this but anytime you swap a gauge cluster you run the risk of inaccurate reported mileage that can be added to a Carfax or car's history report. That is if you buy used and not a brand new one.

Click to expand...

That's good to know. Sounds like I will less likely proceed with this. Thanks for your response!

Sent from my BBF100-2 using Tapatalk

Dealer should have no issue with component protection, Immo or pairing keys. This is assuming they are willing to help you with a part that does not "belong" on your car. I suspect they will charge you but maybe you find a cool technician/service department.

Note that you will not be able to drive until Immo is adapted and keys paired. To save on dealer labor I recommend removing all trim and unsecuring your original dash at home. You can drive with all of it sitting in place (but not screwed/snapped in). Leave your replacement dash sitting in the car for them. They can pull the car into the maintenance bay, then unplug your old, plug in your new, and then do the coding.

A new dash can have the mileage adjusted to match your existing mileage. Once a dash had 100km (60ish miles) the mileage can NOT be changed. the dealer did not set the mileage when I had the digital dash installed and I didn't catch it. My digital dash reads about 8,000 miles in my car has about 34,000 on it.

Whenever I take my car anywhere for service I show them the invoice from the dealer when they coded my digital dash. I tell them to add that mileage to the mileage that is currently showing on the digital dash. This way when (if) they report the mileage it is correct. Every shop does not report work to Carfax but I always inform them this issue in case they do report. I have not had a problem yet.

The other option is to buy a dash that has more miles on it than your car and then have the dash replaced when you driven reasonably close to that same mileage. You would just have to drive your car until you reach that point. You're only going to have a Carfax discrepancy if a report from a later date shows a lower mileage than a previous report.

If you get an oil change at 40k on June 1st and then install a dash with 45k on it then get another oil change at 50k (indicated on the dash) nothing is going to be flagged. Now if your new dash has 150k, it still won't be flagged because the mileage is higher but anybody looking over the report will have a question of how you drove 110k miles in a month.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

That being said, if anybody has a car with about 8,000 miles on it and wants a digital dash. Or wants a digital dash and doesn't care about a mileage mismatch... I will sell you mine for EXTREMELY cheap, haha.

The mismatched mileage bothers my OCD so at some point I'm going to buy a replacement and THIS time I know to make sure the deal sets the mileage [emoji2367].

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

Cuzoe said:

That being said, if anybody has a car with about 8,000 miles on it and wants a digital dash. Or wants a digital dash and doesn't care about a mileage mismatch... I will sell you mine for EXTREMELY cheap, haha.

The mismatched mileage bothers my OCD so at some point I'm going to buy a replacement and THIS time I know to make sure the deal sets the mileage [emoji2367].

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

My OCD will kick in too. I doubt that the dash clusters I've seen have seen that mileage I have haha. Maybe I will look at getting MIBII instead haha. Thanks for your insight! I really appreciate the time and thought you put into responses.

No problem, I've learned tge little bit I know from the various forums and the little bit more I know from good and bad experiences at the dealership, haha.

I looked at the pricing for the GTD cluster that you're looking at brand new and it's less than $100 cheaper than the AID. Of course you also have to add about $100 for bezel if you go digital. But if I was going to go new the AID offers a lot more for about the same money. And the later GTD can be optioned with AID so you would still be on the DIY GTD path, a path I'm going down myself, haha.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

Other than the color screen, that gauge cluster looks identical to ours. Not remotely worth tearing apart your dash for.

If you want to upgrade your cluster, just go for the digital cockpit, which is well documented.

Agreed. Seems too much of a hassle. Isn't the virtual cockpit requiring MIBII?

I forgot about that, I had already done MIB II when I started looking at the AID. Then when I did the AID I went from MIB II non-nav to MIB II nav... clearly I enjoy taking the more expensive scenic route.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

Cuzoe said:

I forgot about that, I had already done MIB II when I started looking at the AID. Then when I did the AID I went from MIB II non-nav to MIB II nav... clearly I enjoy taking the more expensive scenic route.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

Seems like that will be more fun. So it's possible to add NAV to a non-NAV model?

Sent from my BBF100-2 using Tapatalk

Short answer is yes. There are options for MIB II retrofit, with the easiest being to buy and plug and play pre-activated unit. The other way involves remote coding by a capable person/company. Either way the dealer won't help you, and doing it again I would probably just go plug and play, but I crossed that bridge some time ago.

My car did not come with nav but did have the shark fin antenna with GPS and had the wiring. At some point VW started fitting cars with only the shark fin needed based on equipment, cost saving I assume.

I think one indicator is having direction show on your dash. Probably the better way is to pull out the unit in the glovebox and see if you have a blue plug. Even if your car does not have the GPS antenna you can put one of the small ones on the dash. Haven't heard of anyone having issues with them and the plug and play kits optionally include them.

I would have thought all 2015+ would have come with a GPS sharkfin due to CarNet needing it. Unless a later revision put the GPS antenna inside the telematics box.

Did some digging to see where I read that. It seems that starting in 2018 the S trim level of other Mk7s lost GPS, Sirius and Carnet so would not have GPS antenna/wiring. SE and above kept these features, which were previously standard. But since we don't have any Mk7 TDIs after 2015 all of them should have the GPS shark fin. Only talking NAR here.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

My S has it definitely as the compass works with gps rather than earlier fluxgate. Compass did not work cause antenna wire wasn't connected.

All of our TDIs should have the GPS since 2015 was the latest year in NAR. Only S trim level Mk7s after 2018 may not.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

Cuzoe said:

All of our TDIs should have the GPS since 2015 was the latest year in NAR. Only S trim level Mk7s after 2018 may not.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

If that's the case, we would only need the head unit to have NAV as we already have GPS hardware?

I believe so. Cuzoe's probably the best one to answer questions on that, though, as he's the brave soul who's undertaking the task of converting his "S" into an "SEL+++".

APG in Poland is the place where I got the plug-and-play MIB2 for my car, along with the 8" flat-screen display.

Cheap? Not even close.
Worth it? I enjoy it every single time I drive. And I plan on keeping the car until it dies, so absolutely! (See also, Malone DSG tune and Virtual Cockpit / Active Info Display)

I have to agree with the guys above - that Euro GTD cluster is like a 4% upgrade over our stock clusters (and it has MPH as the main numbers - which is faux-Euro as far as I'm concerned ), whereas the Active Info Display is a 300% upgrade. EVERY time I get in the car, it makes me smile.

Again, not cheap, but in my eyes (literally) definitely worth it!

(Edit: Just saw this post in another of the Mk7 threads here, speaking to the MIB2 conversion.)

Nuje said:

I believe so. Cuzoe's probably the best one to answer questions on that, though, as he's the brave soul who's undertaking the task of converting his "S" into an "SEL+++".

APG in Poland is the place where I got the plug-and-play MIB2 for my car, along with the 8" flat-screen display.

Cheap? Not even close.
Worth it? I enjoy it every single time I drive. And I plan on keeping the car until it dies, so absolutely! (See also, Malone DSG tune and Virtual Cockpit / Active Info Display)

I have to agree with the guys above - that Euro GTD cluster is like a 4% upgrade over our stock clusters (and it has MPH as the main numbers - which is faux-Euro as far as I'm concerned ), whereas the Active Info Display is a 300% upgrade. EVERY time I get in the car, it makes me smile.

Again, not cheap, but in my eyes (literally) definitely worth it!

(Edit: Just saw this post in another of the Mk7 threads here, speaking to the MIB2 conversion.)

Click to expand...

I am actually leaning more toward getting the MIBII now. I love the fact that there's plug and play as I don't really want to be dealing with the dealer. I found a place that can do it. Has anyone had personal experience with EuroZone Tuning? https://eurozonetuning.com/products...nt-brain-retrofit-unit?variant=12506051575869

I also might want to get the backup camera too since I'll be in the glove box.

EuroZone is legit and probably the best source for a Plug-and-Play kit in the USA.

My chosen method (remote programming), and international dealers are unreliable, although much cheaper. All-in, I paid $800. I however don't think the $1000 premium EZT charges is that unreasonable considering they're using new parts, warrantying the kit, and doing all the hard work regarding component protection and whatnot.

If you're curious about the DIY route; already linked above, this thread is the holy grail: https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/inde...o-mib2-infotainment-conversion-part-1.343701/

My post specifically has part numbers: https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/inde...conversion-part-1.343701/page-58#post-7362340

I do however think having CarPlay and Android Auto is game changing. I would never want a car without it (or the ability to easily add it) ever again. I personally don't care about the digital dash, especially since it can't mirror CarPlay.

EuroZone Tuning still wants nearly $2,000 for MIB II plug and play retrofit kits . Per their description they are using "like-new condition" parts and you won't get Sirius Radio and/or traffic (which might not matter to some anyway) since they are using Eurospec main units.

If I was going to get a kit from them may as well get the MIB 2.5 for an additional $500. I know $500 is $500 but you're already at $2k anyway. I have several reasons for not supporting EZT but that doesn't mean they don't offer convenience, for a price. My vote is for APG Poland though.

I waffle about my favorite upgrades but adding CarPlay/Android Auto is up there. Like Nuje, I grin every time I see the digital dash, it's awesome. But I'm slowly realizing that my favorite mod is the Door Check Straps from the 2011-2014 Jetta. Entirely uninteresting compared to this thread's topic but increasing the first door stop opening by a few inches, plus adding another stop before full open is fantastic. Especially given my narrow garage and parking lots with ever decreasing space.
https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/diy-door-check-strap-replacement.344003/

Also, don't listen to anything Nuje says, he's a bad influence, haha.

Cuzoe said:

Also, don't listen to anything Nuje says, he's a bad influence, haha.

Click to expand...

Can't remember; have I introduced you to my friends, Mr. & Mrs. Folding Side Mirrors?

Also, Cuzoe's no better; he has me seriously looking at the park distance sensors and blind spot assist. If AliExpress shipping times weren't now being measured in epochs, I'd probably have those on the way.

Not only do I already have folding side mirrors on my car, but I have second set of folding side mirrors with blind spot assist wiring and aspherical glass with the indicators in the dining room, with a set of "frosted" dynamic turn mirror signals to go in them. My wife knows but don't remind her.

And for a moment of on-topic discussion, amid our collective bad influence pushing the OP to go MIB II (in preparation for their eventual AID)... I ordered everything for a gloss black trim conversion. The AID bezel doesn't come in S brushed "aluminum" so my gloss black bezel is currently wrapped in a vinyl that's close in color but not perfect. It was my first time wrapping anything and some of the edges/corners are starting to show as much. Ordered a combination of parts from dealer service centers and AliExpress... and in moment of shame I have paid for FedEx shipping. Luckily everything is from the same seller whom I messaged for a better rate on combined shipping than what the website offered on its own.

Everything from AliExpress was ordered on Tuesday and tracking shows it in Kentucky today. Estimated delivery shows it will arrive before the parts from the VW here in the states even ship, haha.

Cuzoe said:

Not only do I already have folding side mirrors on my car, but I have second set of folding side mirrors with blind spot assist wiring and aspherical glass with the indicators in the dining room...

Click to expand...

Must be busy dining room - having to install blind spot assist mirrors.

I have to concur on the trim conversion to the piano black if you're going with the AID (after the MIB2, of course). Every time I see that dull grey plastic...oops, I mean "brushed aluminum" plastic...I just cringe. It's like the stock seats vs. the sport seats....once you've had the latter, it's tough to go back to the former.

JM Popaleetus said:

EuroZone is legit and probably the best source for a Plug-and-Play kit in the USA.

My chosen method (remote programming), and international dealers are unreliable, although much cheaper. All-in, I paid $800. I however don't think the $1000 premium EZT charges is that unreasonable considering they're using new parts, warrantying the kit, and doing all the hard work regarding component protection and whatnot.

If you're curious about the DIY route; already linked above, this thread is the holy grail: https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/inde...o-mib2-infotainment-conversion-part-1.343701/

My post specifically has part numbers: https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/inde...conversion-part-1.343701/page-58#post-7362340

I do however think having CarPlay and Android Auto is game changing. I would never want a car without it (or the ability to easily add it) ever again. I personally don't care about the digital dash, especially since it can't mirror CarPlay.

Click to expand...

Yeah I was looking at the reviews and I heard a lot of positives ones. Might consider going with them. But first, I'll look at APG Poland too.

Cuzoe said:

EuroZone Tuning still wants nearly $2,000 for MIB II plug and play retrofit kits . Per their description they are using "like-new condition" parts and you won't get Sirius Radio and/or traffic (which might not matter to some anyway) since they are using Eurospec main units.
If I was going to get a kit from them may as well get the MIB 2.5 for an additional $500. I know $500 is $500 but you're already at $2k anyway. I have several reasons for not supporting EZT but that doesn't mean they don't offer convenience, for a price. My vote is for APG Poland though.
I waffle about my favorite upgrades but adding CarPlay/Android Auto is up there. Like Nuje, I grin every time I see the digital dash, it's awesome. But I'm slowly realizing that my favorite mod is the Door Check Straps from the 2011-2014 Jetta. Entirely uninteresting compared to this thread's topic but increasing the first door stop opening by a few inches, plus adding another stop before full open is fantastic. Especially given my narrow garage and parking lots with ever decreasing space.
https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/diy-door-check-strap-replacement.344003/
Also, don't listen to anything Nuje says, he's a bad influence, haha.

Click to expand...

Are those the only two places that does the MIB retrofits with plug and play? How was shipping from Poland? Were they using FedEx or UPS?

I ordered mine from APG on July 23 and had it by August 1 (maybe even quicker - I was away when it arrived).
Can't remember who they used for shipping...maybe DHL? And I don't recall having to pay any import duties or taxes (of course, I was away, so it would've been my wife who received it, but I don't recall any additional charges).