Just bought a 2015 Golf TDI / Head Unit ??

It's been a long time, and no I didn't need a third car for us, but I couldn't pass up buying a 2015 Golf TDI with only 9,000 miles on it. It's been sitting since it's modification in December and I leaned hard on the dealer to lower their asking price even further. It was originally listed at $15,900, and they lowered it, and I pushed for more and got it at $14,000 plus tax. I'm happy, super clean car. I've missed my TDI since I parted with my MkIII Jetta TDI 2 years ago just shy of 300,000 miles.

I am sure I will learn about the quirks, I avoided one SEL with a sunroof as I see they are prone to leaks. It's a DSG, never driven one before.

Anyway, to my point for posting, I am looking for options to upgrade to Apple CarPlay. I thought I read on here you can upgrade to a 2016+ head unit. Is that possible? Any links where I can find more info on that and how much do they cost? It has Sirius XM now, what about aftermarket head units? Any suggestions?

i'm looking at Android Head Units on ebay that fit the MK7 chassis. I put a double din android HU in my mk5 jetta about 6 months back, and I was happy with it... (not an audiophile)

I am looking for it for waze, navigation, spotify, AM/FM radio.

The current offerings for the MK7 do not seem to support XM though...

https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31600

Everything you need. Read the first post and then go to the final page and read backwards.

petee_c said:

i'm looking at Android Head Units on ebay that fit the MK7 chassis. I put a double din android HU in my mk5 jetta about 6 months back, and I was happy with it... (not an audiophile)
I am looking for it for waze, navigation, spotify, AM/FM radio.
The current offerings for the MK7 do not seem to support XM though...

Click to expand...

There is no room for a double DIN unit in the MK7. There is only a screen in that space as the hardware is actually in the glovebox.

You can get the full conversion to MIB2 done for about $600 buying the parts off eBay:

• MIB2 Glovebox Unit: 3Q0035844A
• MIB2 6.5" Screen: 3G0919605H (Read that thread as there are different sizes and options.)
• MIB2 Amp: 5G0035456
• USB Aux Hharness: 5G0035222

There are also stores selling full kits pre-programmed for about $1000-$1200 which frankly, isn’t terrible if you plan on keeping the car.

wondering if something like this will fit. I have the base Canadian model....

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Android-8-0...rentrq:072787fa1690a99c60440220ffef59aa|iid:1

(we'll see if ebay links work)

JM- Do you know what the differences are between the MIB1 and 2 amps? I read the thread at Mk7 and Vortex, but must have missed any explanation (other than ease of use with each system).

I would wait another year for wireless CarPlay to be released standard across all models/trims or else you'll be missing an important feature longterm.

hskrdu said:

JM- Do you know what the differences are between the MIB1 and 2 amps? I read the thread at Mk7 and Vortex, but must have missed any explanation (other than ease of use with each system).

Click to expand...

No clue. Some say the MIB2's amp sounds better, which I believe since it's the same amp used in the Dynaudio system.

But AFAIK, it's just one of those things that needs to be changed with the new headunit with no real rhyme or reason. Some do vendors claim to sell modified MIB2 units that can use the MIB1 amp.

JM Popaleetus said:

Some do vendors claim to sell modified MIB2 units that can use the MIB1 amp.

Click to expand...

That's why I was asking. I'm not sure I use mine enough to swap it out, but (her) GSW has (I think) a base system that might benefit from a MIB2, if I could only replace the head unit and keep costs down. Right now she uses her iphone plugged in, but the MIB2 has Apple carplay, or something like that. Maybe the amp and other changes are needed to really improve the base unit sound? Not sure.

I think it has to do with the output voltage and expected channels; things like that.

JM Popaleetus said:

There is no room for a double DIN unit in the MK7. There is only a screen in that space as the hardware is actually in the glovebox.

You can get the full conversion to MIB2 done for about $600 buying the parts off eBay:

• MIB2 Glovebox Unit: 3Q0035844A
• MIB2 6.5" Screen: 3G0919605H (Read that thread as there are different sizes and options.)
• MIB2 Amp: 5G0035456
• USB Aux Hharness: 5G0035222

There are also stores selling full kits pre-programmed for about $1000-$1200 which frankly, isn’t terrible if you plan on keeping the car.

Click to expand...

Very glad to have these part numbers! Do you have any recommendations on stores for the pre-programmed kits?

Once you go to one of those kit sources you're going to see all kinds of options ranging up to $3K. That's when you might decide, like I did, to wait one more year (or do this $600 dollar option until then)

ESmith813 said:

Very glad to have these part numbers! Do you have any recommendations on stores for the pre-programmed kits?

Click to expand...

The MIB2 Amp is 5Q0035456. The one with 5G is MIB1.

It cost me about $900 to upgrade my system to MIB2. About $550 for the parts (Euro spec 6.5" display and headunit from eBay, plus the amp shipped from a salvage yard in Oregon). Then 300EUR for the remote CP removal and FECs install.

aditud said:

The MIB2 Amp is 5Q0035456. The one with 5G is MIB1.

It cost me about $900 to upgrade my system to MIB2. About $550 for the parts (Euro spec 6.5" display and headunit from eBay, plus the amp shipped from a salvage yard in Oregon). Then 300EUR for the remote CP removal and FECs install.

Click to expand...

Are you talking about a display like a Chinese destination NoName or something else? Do you still have the part number or eBay link for what you bought?

This is the place I know where to buy a complete kit for, which is about $1500 for the 6.5" https://eurozonetuning.com/collections/vw-mk7-2015-navigation

But there are a range of larger sizes all the way up to 9.2" ($2500) so by the time I kept upsizing the options I was way out of bounds in terms of budget

Anyway, like I wrote wireless CarPlay should become standard in VWs this year so if you're going to spend $900, $1500, and especially $2500 then just wait maybe one year (maybe less) and do it then. I doubt the price of everything will go up (ie, the $1500 6.5" option will be a standard wireless CarPlay model and the non-wireless version they're selling now is either going to be less expensive or more likely not sold anymore) but I personally would regret dropping $1500 on a 2016 stereo and then seeing something as important as wireless connectivity become standard in the same year as me doing that.

I also looked into aftermarket units and the best one (most features, newest unit) I could find seemed to be Pioneer's AVIC-W8400NEX but that's being replaced by this year's AVIC-W8500NEX. I've read the press release about it but I don't think it's been released yet because it's not on Pioneer's site and my buddy owns a stereo shop and didn't have any.

I talked with my installator and what is possible, you can install a double din radio but you'll need that for 2015:

New dash kit (mat black)
Infodapter (kit from UK)
Little Trimming of the dash behind the radio

Here's the link for the kit:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/CTKVW08L-Black-Double-Din-Stereo-Fitting-Kit-LHD-for-VW-Golf-2013-Onwards/372241917014

Parts and install is more than 700$ locally !!

I bought a nice Kenwood Excelon DDX9904s reference unit that I plan to install.. In my opinion, after reading all the mess that is is to install a oem radio from another car, the Kenwood Excelon is a higher quality unit with 5V clean preout for amps and sub, amazing sound quality parts and DVD multimedia workhouse.

Here's why it is better to do that in my audiophile opinion:
- OEM radio has a EQ that filter the sound and process it before entering the radio
- Oem radio has no subwoofer out, you have to splice speaker wires and you get bad bass quality, high distortion and modified from the source because of the EQ( Eq is not the bass treble mid adjustment)

So you are dealing with processed sound quality that is lower that installing a FRESH Excelon headunit bypassing the glovebox Brain that EQ the sound.

Let me know if you want more infos.

I have bad hearing from my Army days shooting an M60 machine gun so the base stereo does fine for me. No need to spend big bucks for stuff I can't hear anyway. It makes me wince when I read of people spending $1k or more for a better unit. Pairing or phone compatibility is my biggest want. An RNS315 installed and paired with my phone works fine for me at about $200.