JM Popaleetus
Veteran Member
Creates new thread for the dynamic steering retrofit.
Becomes discussion about seats.
I love this community <3.
Becomes discussion about seats.
I love this community <3.
MK VII Dynamic Steering Retrofit
- Thread starter Cuzoe
- Start date
Cuzoe
Veteran Member
No alignment yet, have one scheduled for next weekend. I still intend to replace the rack but probably not until late summer or fall.
My BCM did not have the pins for heated seats, or front fogs. Had to replace it with a High. I had it done it at the dealer... absolute s*** show that took multiple visits, calls with VW Engineering, a call to a local Audi dealer
. I ordered, from that same dealer, the BCM that ETKA called out for my car. VW only specs highline modules as replacements.
Honestly, if the dealer had just followed the guided function it would have been a one day affair, done in the 4 (or maybe it was 6, don't remember) hours they quoted. That's all I paid by the way. The SA did not even try to charge me the extra time, although it was mentioned at one point (when the car still wasn't done) that they were 20+ hours into it. When they finally said it was ready and I showed up, no SA or Techs were in sight, just the guy running the desk. He had my keys in hand and my car parked by the door, ready for me to get out of there. I will say that they have not responded to my customer surveys or inquiries about missing skid plate screws and rain tray clips. I suppose they don't want me back, haha.
Short version... insist that they follow the guided function. And run an auto-scan/ad-map of everything right before you take the car in, in case you need to prove anything was not completed.
My BCM did not have the pins for heated seats, or front fogs. Had to replace it with a High. I had it done it at the dealer... absolute s*** show that took multiple visits, calls with VW Engineering, a call to a local Audi dealer
. I ordered, from that same dealer, the BCM that ETKA called out for my car. VW only specs highline modules as replacements.Honestly, if the dealer had just followed the guided function it would have been a one day affair, done in the 4 (or maybe it was 6, don't remember) hours they quoted. That's all I paid by the way. The SA did not even try to charge me the extra time, although it was mentioned at one point (when the car still wasn't done) that they were 20+ hours into it. When they finally said it was ready and I showed up, no SA or Techs were in sight, just the guy running the desk. He had my keys in hand and my car parked by the door, ready for me to get out of there. I will say that they have not responded to my customer surveys or inquiries about missing skid plate screws and rain tray clips. I suppose they don't want me back, haha.
When I first picked up the car I had rear tail light errors (as expected because I have Mk7.5 tails), no big deal. Get home and fire up VCDS (save new BCM auto-scan and ad-map) and go to make those changes, but notice that my new BCM adaptations don't match my car's original adaptations, which is weird. I make a few changes then decide I should do some digging. Walk away from the car and the key fobs won't lock/unlock the car. So back to the dealer for them to fix that, also tell them the adaptations have not been done.
This time when I pick up the car I'm concerned so I turn on the headlights, several light errors pop up, front and rear. I had my laptop so I check a few adaptations values and they still don't match my factory config. Tell them to keep the car and fix it. Several days later they call and say the long coding matches and that's all they can do. I say they need to do adaptations (it's clear the SA doesn't know what I'm talking about) but I am told the "guy that's good with this stuff" will be moving over to work on my car next... okay.
Get a call a couple days later and I am told that they need to me to reinstall all my stock equipment (headlights, tail lights, infotainment, dash) for them to troubleshoot the various errors. I tell them I don't want any troubleshooting done, just need them to do the adaptations and that once they match how my car was delivered I will worry about any remaining errors. The tech then tells me that some errors are "just going to be there" since the new BCM isn't the same part number as the one that came in my car. I respond that the part number that came in my car cannot be ordered, and that the part number in there is now the replacement, per ETKA (which they looked up and ordered). They say they'll get with VW engineering and get back to me.
To help them along, I send the html comparison of ad-maps from my car, out of the factory versus the new BCM. At this point I've already done some digging through it and see that among other things, my new BCM adaptations match a car with lighting package, some type of LED tail light, heated seats, fog lights, personalization menu, etc. The tech calls and says he can manually change all the adaptations to match my old ones, using VCDS (since the official VW tool won't let them manually change adaptions, which makes sense). This offer comes with a 6 hour labor charge. I decline on the grounds that adaptations are part of the BCM replacement, and knowing it will likely take more than 6 hours for one person to go through 2,500+ adaptations. I'm now 2 weeks and in, and annoyed, to put it lightly. I not so politely told them to follow the guided function for replacing a BCM, as if a customer's new car had a BCM failure.
The SA wants to have a conference call with VW engineering so I can explain to them what I want done. The SA doesn't think it's something they can do. I can't make the conference call time so the tech says they will call their buddy at the Audi dealership and see if they can help. Next morning I get a call that the car is ready. Go pick it up, adaptations have finally been done.
This time when I pick up the car I'm concerned so I turn on the headlights, several light errors pop up, front and rear. I had my laptop so I check a few adaptations values and they still don't match my factory config. Tell them to keep the car and fix it. Several days later they call and say the long coding matches and that's all they can do
. I say they need to do adaptations (it's clear the SA doesn't know what I'm talking about) but I am told the "guy that's good with this stuff" will be moving over to work on my car next... okay.Get a call a couple days later and I am told that they need to me to reinstall all my stock equipment (headlights, tail lights, infotainment, dash) for them to troubleshoot the various errors
. I tell them I don't want any troubleshooting done, just need them to do the adaptations and that once they match how my car was delivered I will worry about any remaining errors. The tech then tells me that some errors are "just going to be there" since the new BCM isn't the same part number as the one that came in my car. I respond that the part number that came in my car cannot be ordered, and that the part number in there is now the replacement, per ETKA (which they looked up and ordered). They say they'll get with VW engineering and get back to me.To help them along, I send the html comparison of ad-maps from my car, out of the factory versus the new BCM. At this point I've already done some digging through it and see that among other things, my new BCM adaptations match a car with lighting package, some type of LED tail light, heated seats, fog lights, personalization menu, etc. The tech calls and says he can manually change all the adaptations to match my old ones, using VCDS (since the official VW tool won't let them manually change adaptions, which makes sense). This offer comes with a 6 hour labor charge. I decline on the grounds that adaptations are part of the BCM replacement, and knowing it will likely take more than 6 hours for one person to go through 2,500+ adaptations. I'm now 2 weeks and in, and annoyed, to put it lightly. I not so politely told them to follow the guided function for replacing a BCM, as if a customer's new car had a BCM failure.
The SA wants to have a conference call with VW engineering so I can explain to them what I want done. The SA doesn't think it's something they can do. I can't make the conference call time so the tech says they will call their buddy at the Audi dealership and see if they can help. Next morning I get a call that the car is ready. Go pick it up, adaptations have finally been done.
Short version... insist that they follow the guided function. And run an auto-scan/ad-map of everything right before you take the car in, in case you need to prove anything was not completed.
Nuje
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
- Location
- Island near Vancouver
- TDI
- 2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2003; 2016 A3 e-tron
I was about to make the same comment; love it!!
Cuzoe
Veteran Member
Okay guys, let's talk about another topic while we're in here... RGB ambient lighting (without requirement for facelift BCM)
It's been done here... Golf 7 RGB Ambient Lighting
Who's interested... @Nuje?
It's been done here... Golf 7 RGB Ambient Lighting
Who's interested... @Nuje?
JM Popaleetus
Veteran Member
Nuje
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
- Location
- Island near Vancouver
- TDI
- 2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2003; 2016 A3 e-tron
Nuje
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2005
- Location
- Island near Vancouver
- TDI
- 2015 Sportwagen; Golf GLS 2003; 2016 A3 e-tron
a) Co-sign!
b) Correct; here's the list of parts from the GolfMk7 thread that @Cuzoe linked to:
The kit contains 17 individual lights, made up of:
- 4x Door Trim
- 4x Door Pocket
- 4x Door Handle
- 1x Dash Trim
- 4x Footwells
- 1x Main LED Controller
- 4x Slave LED Controller
- 2x Rear Door Light Diffuser
- 1x Dash Light Diffuser
- 1x Hole Saw (for door pocket lights)
- 1x Drill bit
- Various wiring harnesses
Cuzoe
Veteran Member
Brace yourselves... I'm about to ramble so I won't forget these thoughts...
The original poster from the linked thread installed the main controller in the dash. Which means he tied into infotainment CAN for control. The main controller is basically a bus sniffer that provides mode/brightness/color control when it sees certain CAN messages, configurable with a set of dip switches. If tied into infotainment CAN control is via the MFSW by holding the voice button with a combination of other buttons. The car still recognizes that the voice button has been pressed so it'll listen erroneously while you're performing light control but you may not mess with them much after the "honeymoon" period. No big deal.
The other option, and the way that I plan to install, is with the main module in the driver door, tied into Comfort CAN at the door control module. In this configuration the directional mirror control will control the ambient lighting anytime the mirror switch is in the "0" position, between L and R. I'm sure this switch is less robust than the steering wheel controls but I think it's cleaner again you probably won't mess with it very much once the lights are set to your liking.
I've been annoying the original poster over there with questions to confirm main controller in the door would work. The four slave controllers communicate wirelessly so regardless of your install preference you don't have to run wiring through the door disconnects, which is awesome. And the controller in the dash, whether it's the main like that original poster or a slave like my proposed install, will have either one or two unused pigtails which can be used to add additional RGB lights.
Assuming I can get the AliExpress seller to sell me a couple single RGB LEDs (or better yet, multi RGB looms that use a single pigtail, like the footwells) one could add more RGB lights. For me this would be the cubby and maybe the cup holders if I can find a way that doesn't look cheesy.
These lights are not individually addressable like OEM RGB ambient lighting. So they will all be the same color and the same brightness level. I don't believe that poses any real concern considering this allows us non-facelift Mk7s to add RGB ambient lighting.
Another limitation is that the footwell lights in this kit won't behave like OEM footwells. This is only a concern if you have retrofitted them, as I have. Right now my footwell lights come on full bright when any door is opened, and they are on anytime the parking/headlights are on (brightness control by the dimmer knob). That being said I'm running RGB footwell lights, with color control by one of those silly remotes, which I keep in the glovebox. So I will just pick matching colors, keep my OEM like footwell functionality, and not have to run the footwell wiring from this kit.
Although I could instead run the footwell wiring/LEDs from the kit to light up the hatch area and my under floor amp rack. No one would ever see this unless I had the hatch open and/or floor up and it was dark outside but knowing they are there will make me happy. I'm practically moist with excitement.
The original poster from the linked thread installed the main controller in the dash. Which means he tied into infotainment CAN for control. The main controller is basically a bus sniffer that provides mode/brightness/color control when it sees certain CAN messages, configurable with a set of dip switches. If tied into infotainment CAN control is via the MFSW by holding the voice button with a combination of other buttons. The car still recognizes that the voice button has been pressed so it'll listen erroneously while you're performing light control but you may not mess with them much after the "honeymoon" period. No big deal.
The other option, and the way that I plan to install, is with the main module in the driver door, tied into Comfort CAN at the door control module. In this configuration the directional mirror control will control the ambient lighting anytime the mirror switch is in the "0" position, between L and R. I'm sure this switch is less robust than the steering wheel controls but I think it's cleaner again you probably won't mess with it very much once the lights are set to your liking.
I've been annoying the original poster over there with questions to confirm main controller in the door would work. The four slave controllers communicate wirelessly so regardless of your install preference you don't have to run wiring through the door disconnects, which is awesome. And the controller in the dash, whether it's the main like that original poster or a slave like my proposed install, will have either one or two unused pigtails which can be used to add additional RGB lights.
Assuming I can get the AliExpress seller to sell me a couple single RGB LEDs (or better yet, multi RGB looms that use a single pigtail, like the footwells) one could add more RGB lights. For me this would be the cubby and maybe the cup holders if I can find a way that doesn't look cheesy.
These lights are not individually addressable like OEM RGB ambient lighting. So they will all be the same color and the same brightness level. I don't believe that poses any real concern considering this allows us non-facelift Mk7s to add RGB ambient lighting.
Another limitation is that the footwell lights in this kit won't behave like OEM footwells. This is only a concern if you have retrofitted them, as I have. Right now my footwell lights come on full bright when any door is opened, and they are on anytime the parking/headlights are on (brightness control by the dimmer knob). That being said I'm running RGB footwell lights, with color control by one of those silly remotes, which I keep in the glovebox. So I will just pick matching colors, keep my OEM like footwell functionality, and not have to run the footwell wiring from this kit.
Although I could instead run the footwell wiring/LEDs from the kit to light up the hatch area and my under floor amp rack. No one would ever see this unless I had the hatch open and/or floor up and it was dark outside but knowing they are there will make me happy. I'm practically moist with excitement.
Cuzoe
Veteran Member
Still contemplating the subject of this thread... but continuing with other things. At some point I may have mentioned making an attempt to install the structure borne sound actor (unpopular, I know). Anyway, though I would share that I have not had success yet, and may never.
The wiring for this thing is easy, power/ground, drivetrain can high/low to the module and then pos/neg to the speaker from the module (mounted to the frame at the base of the windshield). The folks at VAG retrofit and coding described it to me as a "dumb" module. It has a dataset and software but otherwise just works or doesn't. No coding, and a single adaptation for volume.
Initially I bought a module removed from a GTI and got a fault for either Incorrect Engine Type of Incorrect Vehicle Type. I can't really remember but I think it was incorrect engine type. So I went through "struggle" of sourcing one removed from a GTD, kind of a pain because the part numbers are the same so all the listings say GTI/GTD. Anyway, got the seller in Spain to send me the VIN and picture of the car it was removed from. Still a no-go, ugghhh. Although the error is now, for sure, Incorrect Vehicle Type. To be continued, maybe...
The wiring for this thing is easy, power/ground, drivetrain can high/low to the module and then pos/neg to the speaker from the module (mounted to the frame at the base of the windshield). The folks at VAG retrofit and coding described it to me as a "dumb" module. It has a dataset and software but otherwise just works or doesn't. No coding, and a single adaptation for volume.
Initially I bought a module removed from a GTI and got a fault for either Incorrect Engine Type of Incorrect Vehicle Type. I can't really remember but I think it was incorrect engine type. So I went through "struggle" of sourcing one removed from a GTD, kind of a pain because the part numbers are the same so all the listings say GTI/GTD. Anyway, got the seller in Spain to send me the VIN and picture of the car it was removed from. Still a no-go, ugghhh. Although the error is now, for sure, Incorrect Vehicle Type. To be continued, maybe...