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prn31
09-06-2015, 10:52 PM
For those who haven't seen my posts in the newbies corner where I wrote about the trials and tribulations of finding a late Biscay Blue R36 wagon, I have cut and pasted some of what I wrote there into a dedicated thread on the Passat B4 forum.

So to summarise my hunt. I test drove an MY10 wagon that lasted less than a day on Carsales. I was the second caller and the R36 was sold to the first caller, who posts here. Hi Luongie...

Then there was the Adelaide MY10.5. I made an offer and then the seller decided to keep the car. Seems that he and his wife couldn't agree on a replacement vehicle - so they kept their R36....

In the meantime I was on the trail of an MY10.5 R36 wagon with less than 80K that had been added by a Sydney dealer the previous Saturday evening. No photo or even colour was mentioned, but it had a sunroof, sat nav and power tailgate. It was categorised with the blue coloured cars but I had to get the dealer to send me a photo to confirm it.

We went to the dealer and looked it over before anyone else. The buyer was there and he told us that the blue MY10.5 (4/10 build and 6/10 compliance) and the silver MY09 (wagon) next to it had belonged to directors from the same company. They had both been traded at the nearby Audi dealership the day before. Neither car had been detailed, but the blue R36 was in better condition – plus had more options( MY09’s only option was a powered tailgate) for only $1K more. It also had the dark tint, factory towbar and weather deflectors. The only faults were the driver’s seat bolster which needed repair plus a crank sensor that was going to be replaced. It drove well so we did a deal with 6 months rego (it was about to expire) for the advertised price and I added another 6 months to the price.

That was last weekend and today I picked up the R36 - all detailed and ready to go.

The buyer was pretty upfront with what was done on the car before I picked it.

They effectively replaced the whole bolster - looks pretty good!

They serviced the car - oil and brake fluids, filters plus new front rotors and pads. The rears were good. The other replacement part was the air flow sensor and not the crank angle sensor as previously thought.

The brakes felt a lot better and it drives well - though there are a couple of minor rattles that I need to find.

The other surprise was discovering that it had other options that weren't advertised. It has factory Bluetooth (I presume it is the 9W7) and it has Adaptive Cruise Control with Front Assist - a very expensive option! Sadly there is no DCC or Dynaudio....

Buying from a dealer (an independent prestige one) wasn't my first choice - but I'm happy I did. They have to issue a 3 month warranty so the cars have to be up to the mark - and the guys there knew I was very particular.

The plan is to install an RVC and just enjoy it. So far so good... :smile:

luongie
09-06-2015, 11:26 PM
Hi Paul, hope you're enjoying the new ride!! I'm looking at eventually getting the bolsters repaired eventually - any chance the dealer shared with you who repaired these and the potential costs? Presumably there may be other people who may be interested apart from myself. Cheers

snerlo
09-06-2015, 11:40 PM
Welcome to the 36 club guys. I have personally installed a RVC into my wagon so check my thread out and it'll give you an idea as to what is involved. I have also created several threads on small mods so check them out as well in case you are interested.

kamold
10-06-2015, 08:08 AM
I'm going to have to get a scan of parts from you at some point. Pie in the sky I'd like to retrofit radar cruise some day. Need to know what ABS module, gateway, CECM, CCM etc you have.

prn31
10-06-2015, 10:00 AM
Hi Paul, hope you're enjoying the new ride!! I'm looking at eventually getting the bolsters repaired eventually - any chance the dealer shared with you who repaired these and the potential costs? Presumably there may be other people who may be interested apart from myself. Cheers

The dealer has an upholstery guy they call up to do rectifications - the buyer showed me a couple of cars on the lot where he had worked his magic.

The cost was $290, which is obviously a trade price. I would imagine any good upholstery guy could do the work. Part of my leather was replaced and I think that is easily matched - I reckon the San Remo micro fibre would be another story. The upholsterer was under strick instructions not to touch this material...

prn31
10-06-2015, 10:07 AM
Welcome to the 36 club guys. I have personally installed a RVC into my wagon so check my thread out and it'll give you an idea as to what is involved. I have also created several threads on small mods so check them out as well in case you are interested.

Hi Snerlo, I looked through some of your posts and see that you bought your RVC from Vincent here in Sydney. I will do likewise and get him to fit it too. Whilst I'm handy with some things, electricals is not my forte plus I think it needs a bit of coding.

I note in your signature that you had an AU XR8. I actually have an AU Series III Fairmont V8 wagon - a rare car. Whilst I love it, it is bigger than I really need now (I bought it for towing but ended up carting a baby around - such is life) plus it is really too thirsty. So it is going on the market shortly along with my Honda Integra (DC2) Type R, which I've owned since new. It's a young man's car not really suited for family life. The R36 is a replacement for both of these - the power of the Fairmont and the sportiness of the Integra - all in one car!

prn31
10-06-2015, 10:12 AM
I'm going to have to get a scan of parts from you at some point. Pie in the sky I'd like to retrofit radar cruise some day. Need to know what ABS module, gateway, CECM, CCM etc you have.

Sure, not a problem - I don't really know what half of those aconyms are.

I've got to learn how to use the Cruise Control before I even attempt to try out the ACC.

One thing that has got me stumped is the OPS. I know all our cars have front and rear parking sensors, but did the MY09 plus cars get the graphical display, which is part of the OPS? Carsales says it is a standard feature but the MY10 brochure say it is an option. All I know is that when I press the P button and put the car in reverse there is no graphical display at all, infact I don't even think the sensors are working? It does have a factory tow bar, but I don't think that has anything to do with it? Any suggestions?

kamold
10-06-2015, 10:34 AM
Might have to check your coding, it should definitely be displayed on the head unit.
Come and see me some time and we can check it out.

tinto
10-06-2015, 10:57 AM
$290 is a great price for bolster repair.
I was quoted $700+ so let it slide.

prn31
10-06-2015, 11:16 AM
Might have to check your coding, it should definitely be displayed on the head unit.
Come and see me some time and we can check it out.

Thanks kamold, I might take you up on that offer - will send you a PM.

I'd also like to change the digital speedo display in my MFD from miles to kilometres, but I can't see how I can change it...

kamold
10-06-2015, 12:21 PM
$290 is a great price for bolster repair.
I was quoted $700+ so let it slide.

I was quoted $280 by a local auto trimmer...mine isn't bad enough to warrant repair yet but I was curious to know for when its completely squashed...

prn31
11-06-2015, 02:56 PM
So this morning I started up the R36, put in reverse and found the OPS graphic display appeared in my head unit for the first time since I bought the car a week ago. Plus the front sensors came into play too.

I'm not quite sure what I did to make this all happen, but I'm relieved as I thought there may be some malfunction or error. Could it possibly have something to do with either the ACC or Front Assist? I've used neither but maybe I've inadvertedly reset something in my MFD?

fluckaduck
11-06-2015, 04:49 PM
$290 is a great price for bolster repair.
I was quoted $700+ so let it slide.


Getting my bolster redone for a lot less than that next week. I'll take some pics then.

kamold
11-06-2015, 05:05 PM
So this morning I started up the R36, put in reverse and found the OPS graphic display appeared in my head unit for the first time since I bought the car a week ago. Plus the front sensors came into play too.

I'm not quite sure what I did to make this all happen, but I'm relieved as I thought there may be some malfunction or error. Could it possibly have something to do with either the ACC or Front Assist? I've used neither but maybe I've inadvertedly reset something in my MFD?
Sounds like gremlins.

b j p
13-06-2015, 10:17 AM
Must be Sydney tax.i paid 150 to get both front seat door side bolsters done

prn31
13-06-2015, 01:41 PM
Mmm, my OPS worked for about a minute this morning and then it stopped working. Must be some sort of intermittent fault with the sensors. Has anyone else had this problem?

kamold
13-06-2015, 01:48 PM
Need to get a full scan on your car to narrow it down. Haven't ever had that happen. Could be the parktronic controller at a guess...

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

prn31
13-06-2015, 04:46 PM
Need to get a full scan on your car to narrow it down. Haven't ever had that happen. Could be the parktronic controller at a guess...

Something to discuss with the selling dealer then. I have a 3 month statutory warranty to play with.....

booba
13-06-2015, 04:48 PM
nice one. i have a full rvc kit for passat wagon if you are interested. It was left over from my passat as i wanted to option rvc however the tsunami happened and there was a camera shortage. in the end, they were able to get the passat ordered with camera so it has been spare for quite some time in storage. pm me if interested.

*edit* nevermind, i see you have a source for one, all good.

Also, on the ops issue, if it was aftermarket fitted then the positive connection needs to be hooked up to permanent power, if not then you will have intermittend ops. check ops controller pin 1 to see if it is ignition switched kl30 or not.

prn31
13-06-2015, 05:32 PM
nice one. i have a full rvc kit for passat wagon if you are interested. It was left over from my passat as i wanted to option rvc however the tsunami happened and there was a camera shortage. in the end, they were able to get the passat ordered with camera so it has been spare for quite some time in storage. pm me if interested.

*edit* nevermind, i see you have a source for one, all good.

Also, on the ops issue, if it was aftermarket fitted then the positive connection needs to be hooked up to permanent power, if not then you will have intermittend ops. check ops controller pin 1 to see if it is ignition switched kl30 or not.

Hi booba, I was wondering when you might enter the discussion! I've seen from other posts that you are very technical.

About the RVC, I haven't done anything yet. I was going to source from here:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Genuine-Volkswagen-Reverse-Camera-for-Golf-Wagon-Passat-Wagon-Jetta-and-Tiguan-/151015389360?ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:AU:1123 (http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/705-53470-19255-0/1?campid=5337592361&toolid=10001&mpre=http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Genuine-Volkswagen-Reverse-Camera-for-Golf-Wagon-Passat-Wagon-Jetta-and-Tiguan-/151015389360?ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:AU:1123)

I figured that it was a very good price, he's local and would be able to fit the camera and do the VCDS programming as well. I'm not too good when it comes to automotive electrics. However I will send you a PM regarding your RVC.

As my R36 is an MY10.5 I'm presuming the OPS was a standard item? Or would it have been dealer fitted? I note that the PDC Module J446 is fitted in the right side of the luggage compartment - but I'm not keen to fiddle with it.

Whilst I have your attention, I'm not sure what Bluetooth I have. I'm yet to get all the documentation on my car and wonder whether when my car was originally sold by the dealer (June 2010) would they have fitted a 9W7 factory kit or possibly the Kufatec Fiscon? Is there any way of finding out, without trying to remove the module from under the driver's seat?

Many thanks.

kamold
13-06-2015, 06:04 PM
A vcds scan will reveal all... :)

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fluckaduck
13-06-2015, 06:22 PM
With the bluetooth module, have a look underneath the driver side seat. Mine is located there.

prn31
28-07-2015, 02:29 PM
An update.
So prior to going back to the selling dealer to sort the OPS problems, I bought a RVC from Vincent who did a VCDS scan in preparation for coding the camera (a story in itself – outlined in another thread.) It revealed that a front parking sensor had shorted out. It also confirmed that I had a factory 9W7 BT that was installed by the dealer behind the climatronics and not under the drivers seat. Apparently that saves the dealer from forking out for aBT cover….
Speaking of covers, I replaced the amplifier cover ($28) under the passenger seat. Mine had lost a couple of Clips” and had rattled completely off and was loose. We put some foam around the new one to prevent it from rattling. But there is still a rattle – I think the centre console is the culprit.While we were at it I replaced the plastic undertray which was loose and broken off in one section. This cost a not unreasonable $350 to replace.
Anyway the dealer replaced one of the front sensors only to discover it was a wiring problem. However because they had to paint the sensor they also did a touch up on the drivers door.
The dealer also gave me a replacement logbook stamped by the original selling VW dealer, who upon requested provided me with copies of service invoices as well. Looks like the car may have sat around for a while but an inspection (by Volks Muller) confirmed that the kms on my car to be genuine, which is a relief.
As mentioned elsewhere, Greg at Volks Muller fitted the RVC and what a painful job that was. As mentioned above, he also did an inspection and ran a VAS scan – no errors detected. The only issue was that the A/C wasn’tcooling. Greg said to turn the A/C on and off whilst holding over 2000rpm and that might reactivate the system. It seemed to work, but it will be worth getting the system checked over and regassed.
I’ve replaced the Bridgestone RE050As which were badly worn on the inside rears – down to the belt on the left. It turned out to be too much negative camber – 2 degrees! I put on a set of Michelin PS3 from Jax Castle Hill for $169ea, which was a great price. It truly has transformed the R36 – the ride is now tolerable and it just feels a lot smoother to drive.
On the weekend we packed up the family for a weekend in Dubbo (Alfa Romeo Club run) and the R36 performed faultlessly. I got to play with the Adaptive Cruise Control and Front Assist and it was a fantastic system. When we were in the club run convoy with a car always in front, I didn’t need to do a thing! Only once did the ACC warning system activated, which turned off the cruise control. Still you do need to be careful because if the car in front disappears then the ACC may accelerate you too much – not a good thing for intersections…

prn31
29-11-2016, 10:36 AM
It has been a while since I last updated this thread – life gets in the way! A lot has happened to my R36 so I might do this update in a series of not-too long posts, covering the parking sensor issue, my air conditioning maladies and discovering the history of my own car.

Firstly the parking sensors. Not long after the dealer ‘fixed’ the problem with a new front parking sensor the problem reappeared. A VCDS scan showed that there was a sensor (not the new one) shorting out. It was evident that the front bar would need to come off.

I decided to take it to my trusty panelbeater for this repair. He took the front bar off and it soon became evident what had happened. My R36 had been involved in a minor front end collision and the repair had been very poor. Things like brackets hadn’t been straightened properly and there was minor damage on washer bottle and similar, plus my replacement sensor was not OEM, despite what the dealer had told me… But it was the wiring loom that was the main problem. A lot of the wiring had been damaged and had been spliced back together – it was a mess.

The only solution was to replace the front wiring loom. Not cheap at about $450 retail, but the only way to fix the problem properly. Having said that I did have intermittent issues since the repair, but then the bar had to be removed when I had the air conditioning repaired (see following post to come) and now it is perfect.

It just goes to show that when you buy second hand you don't know what misdemeanours have been covered up by previous owners or dealers... :mad:

sports racer
29-11-2016, 12:05 PM
Sometime there's something to be said for driving 25 year old cars - no sensors, fix it by the side of the road with sticky tape and chewing gum, know what every creak and rattle relates to.

I miss those days.

prn31
07-12-2016, 09:00 PM
I bought my car in the middle of winter (last year) and forgot to check whether the air conditioning worked.

I found later that it didn’t and went back to the dealer to get this sorted. I was within the statutory three months/5,000 km so the dealer reluctantly agreed. I left the car at the dealer and picked it up a few days later with the air conditioning working. I didn’t ask for and wasn’t offered any paperwork, I was just happy that it was sorted.

Six months later it was still working – though it was never that cold – but it was very noisy. I had my VW specialist check it out and he diagnosed a faulty compressor. In time I got a quote to replace the compressor and re-gas the system - $1,135.

I then started chasing the dealer to rectify this. Their phone number had been disconnected and later found out that their dealership had been resumed by the West Connex. I contacted Dept of Fair Trading who advised that they were still licenced so I made a formal complaint but FairTrading were unable to contact them. My only course of action was to take it to the NSW Civil & Administrative Tribunal (NCAT).

In the meantime I stopped using the air conditioning in my Passat. With winter coming on this wasn’t too much of an imposition. If I needed to demist the windscreen, I still could but I didn’t push my luck.

In my first submission to NCAT I didn’t quite get the name of the dealer’s company correct, which meant he didn’t turn up. I got a lecture from the Member about this and the evidence I was to present. Because I hadn’t had the air conditioning problem rectified it was actually conjecture as to what the real problem was. I had to resubmit the application and come back in a month.

In the meantime I went to my VW specialist to replace the compressor. Yes, the dealer had put a new compressor in as stated, but when we pulled the line there was evidence of metal swarf. This was bad news. Not only would the compressor need to be replaced, but also the compressor and TX valve. They gave me a quote of $3,300 and said they would need two days. Bugger.

I got another quote from my trusted auto electrician/airconditioning specialist for about $2,730 and they said it could be done in one (long) day.

I took both quotes to my second NCAT hearing and the dealer did turn up – father and son. We were sent into a room to mediate but neither of us would budge so they set a date for a final hearing where both sides would put their submission to the presiding member. By this time I had upped my claim from $1,135 to $2,730 and I finally received the invoice from the dealer’smobile mechanic. There was discussion about this mechanic doing the rectification – but thankfully this didn’t come to pass (see below.)

The NCAT Member prescribing at out hearing made it clear he didn’t want to hear our case – he wanted us to negotiate a settlement. So we did – I received an order for $1,135. It may not have covered the cost, but it was better than nothing, which if I had lost the case would have been the result.

So to the repair by my air conditioning specialist. It would appear that the mobile mechanic either didn’t see or didn’t care whether there was metal swarf in the system and he hadn’t used R134 gas – they think it was bbq gas or similar. The cost was about $100 under the quote, it was done in a day and I have a sticker in the bonnet that certified what had been done and the date – that certainly hadn’t been done by the mobile mechanic!

It has been a long and expensive journey, but finally I have air conditioning that really works. :rolleyes:

Domatron
08-12-2016, 05:31 PM
I also bought a 2nd hand R36 wagon last year. Was told by the previous owner (private sale) that it hadn't been in any accidents. A month later I found that the tailgate leaked when I went to the car wash. After a bit of ****ing around with a VW dealer I went to a few panel beaters and they all pointed out how the tailgate had been removed and the rear glass had been replaced. But because of private sale no warranty to fall back on. Fortunately that is the only serious issue that I have experienced. The rest have been minor and easily fixed.


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pandas
08-12-2016, 08:00 PM
Did you ever end up getting your driver's side bolster repaired? Would be interested in seeing some before and after shots.

Would love to see other members inputs on where and roughly how much it cost to do :)

prn31
09-12-2016, 08:33 AM
Did you ever end up getting your driver's side bolster repaired? Would be interested in seeing some before and after shots.

Would love to see other members inputs on where and roughly how much it cost to do :)

This was about the only thing that the dealer did a satisfactory job on... :rolleyes:

From memory they told me the trim rectification cost for the bolster was $270 - probably trade price.

prn31
09-12-2016, 08:47 AM
I also bought a 2nd hand R36 wagon last year. Was told by the previous owner (private sale) that it hadn't been in any accidents. A month later I found that the tailgate leaked when I went to the car wash. After a bit of ****ing around with a VW dealer I went to a few panel beaters and they all pointed out how the tailgate had been removed and the rear glass had been replaced. But because of private sale no warranty to fall back on. Fortunately that is the only serious issue that I have experienced. The rest have been minor and easily fixed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The problem is the vendor may not know that it has been in an accident - it may have been a previous owner.

Unfortunately the quality of repairs is not always great. In order to provide a competitive quote or make a bigger margin on the job corners are cut, especially when you can't see the result.

With a private seller I try and get an independent inspection but it isn't always possible with a dealer. A PPSR Certificate will usually highlight any repair work performed under insurance. I didn't do this until after I bought the car because the dealer has to guarantee title and thus I thought such a certificate wasn't necessary. I was wrong.

Domatron
09-12-2016, 11:08 AM
The problem is the vendor may not know that it has been in an accident - it may have been a previous owner.

Unfortunately the quality of repairs is not always great. In order to provide a competitive quote or make a bigger margin on the job corners are cut, especially when you can't see the result.

With a private seller I try and get an independent inspection but it isn't always possible with a dealer. A PPSR Certificate will usually highlight any repair work performed under insurance. I didn't do this until after I bought the car because the dealer has to guarantee title and thus I thought such a certificate wasn't necessary. I was wrong.

Yes hindsight is a very smart fellow isn't he...


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pandas
09-12-2016, 01:42 PM
This was about the only thing that the dealer did a satisfactory job on... :rolleyes:

From memory they told me the trim rectification cost for the bolster was $270 - probably trade price.

Would you know where they took this too? Has it been holding up for you well for the last few years?

kamold
09-12-2016, 05:42 PM
Cost me about $200 Inc shipping for the new factory seat base foam from Germany. If you rally knew what you were doing with the seat you could probably replace it in a bit over an hour.
Took me and a friend about 3 hours as we were making it up as we went along.
End result was worthwhile.

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

prn31
11-12-2016, 10:54 AM
Would you know where they took this too? Has it been holding up for you well for the last few years?

Sorry, but I have no idea who did it. Kamold's solution seems like the go and I can imagine any good trimmer would have the new foam in there within an hour.

Interestingly enough I owned a Honda Integra Type R with those heavily bolstered Recaros for 14 years and never did any repairs to the seats! Mind you every 5 years I would swap the seats over so that they would wear evenly.... :-)

prn31
13-12-2016, 05:14 PM
I've found a few photos of when I had the front wiring harness (for the parking sensors) replaced last year.


1. The first pic is of the Passat with the front bumper removed. The washer bottle on the left of the picture had taken a bit of a battering and should have been replaced when the previous owner repaired the car - shoddy. Also notice the radar for the ACC.

2. The front bumper removed, with new wiring harness in place.

3. The old wiring harness - plenty of electrical tape and splicing of wires here. No wonder the sensors were shorting out... :facepalm:

prn31
18-01-2017, 09:09 PM
When you spend a bit of time on the forum searching for things R36 specific it’s not hard to go back to the time when our cars were new – 2008 to 2010. It is interesting to read first owners getting excited about the R36s they ordered, what they’ve optioned and how much they paid – in some cases over $80K!

I started reading about one forum member called Dr Block who joined the forum in late 2009. A Lexus IS250 owner from western Sydney, he ordered his Biscay Blue R36 Wagon in November 09 for a 22 March 10 delivery. He optioned Sat Nav, Sunroof, Bluetooth, Dynaudio and Power Tailgate. With two teenage kids he needed a bigger car. Over Christmas he discovered that on the MY10 model that Adaptive Cruise Control was available, a feature his Lexus had. He was able to add this feature to the order at a cost of $2,975 (ouch!)

The first hiccup was discovering that the RVC was no longer bundled with the RNS510 Sat Nav and he was unable to add it to his order. I understand that someone at Volkswagen Australia forgot to tick the RVC box for all the Australian orders and that very few if any MY10s and 10.5s came with the correct Highline RVC. Dr Block was not happy….

Things were about to get a lot worse for Dr Block. His March delivery was put back to May – something to do with a shortage of VR6 engines, or something. Indeed the car hadn’t even been built! What made things worse was that Mr Block had already sold his Lexus in anticipation of picking up of his R36. So now there was a fight with his dealer in South Western Sydney for a loan car whilst he waited for his R36. This took a bit of organising and VWA became involved before our man was able to get his loan car.

Late May became late June (the 30th actually) when Dr Block finally picked up his R36, minus Dynaudio. Somehow this option was left off the R36 and a refund was given.

Dr Block racked up the kilometres in his R36 and was happy with his car. He had originally optioned the basic Bluetooth and upgraded to the 9w7 kit, which was fitted by a VWWatercooled sponsor – he was very happy with the job (more of this later…) And that was about the last time (mid 2012) we heard from Mr Block and his R36. Until now….

Yes, that’s right! I own Dr Block’s R36! :banana:

As I’ve mentioned in past posts, the history of my R36 has been a bit murky. The logbook was lost and it took a while before it was “discovered” who the original dealer was and I was able to get the service invoices. Yes, that’s right the dealer was from south western Sydney. My R36 was first registered on 30 June 2010 (6/10 Compliance and 4/10 build.) It has the all the options that Dr Block described, including the rare Adaptive Cruise Control. It also has the 9w7 Bluetooth stuffed behind the RNS510 instead of in a carrier under the drivers seat – no, the installer actually did a crap job… :mad:

Dr Block hasn’t been on VW Watercooled since 2012. He said that it was his intention to changeover his R36 wagon when it was 3 years old. The last service at the original dealer was in November 2012 and I presume it was sold soon after. I have been tempted to PM Mr Block – I’m not sure he would be keen to hear from me as I suspect there things that he wouldn’t want to tell me, which may well be why he stopped communicating on VWWatercooled…

I’m happy that Dr Block optioned up his MY10.5 Biscay Blue R36 Wagon with all the goodies including ACC. It’s just a bummer it didn’t come with an RVC (which I’ve since retrofitted) or Dynaudio. Nevermind….. :facepalm:

prn31
21-05-2020, 12:20 AM
So it has been over three year since I last contributed to my own “build” thread. I suppose in that time not a lot of interesting things have happened to my R36. I just keep putting the kms on it and keep up the servicing as it approaches 150,000km.

I did replace the original Sachs dampers with Bilsteins B8s at the 130,000km mark back in October 2018, see here:
https://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/f234/r36-oem-suspension-106737-2.html?highlight (https://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/f234/r36-oem-suspension-106737-2.html?highlight)

In February 2019 I replaced the PCV Valve myself, and started a thread here: R36 PCV Valve Replacement (https://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/f234/r36-pcv-valve-replacement-125847.html)

What I had been steeling myself to do was the Dynaudio retrofit. Part of the reason is that my R36 was actually ordered with Dynaudio but when it arrived it wasn’t fitted and the owner was refunded the ($2,000) cost of this option. My car was meant to have Dynaudio.

I had read Nermal’s Dynaudio Retrofit guide, which was plug and play, see here:
R36 Dynaudio Retrofit Guide (https://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/f78/r36-dynaudio-retrofit-guide-96586.html)

I had also seen Kamold tackle the same retrofit but without the benefit of plug and play, see here (page 13 to 15):
Kamold's R36 (https://www.vwwatercooled.com.au/forums/f234/kamolds-r36-101704-13.html)

Unfortunately my MY10.5 fell into the non-plug and play scenario. I was potentially looking at a lot of grief here… It took me a long time to get my head around this. If I got a Dynaudio system out of a MY10.5 would it be plug and play? Would a complete new Dynaudio wiring harness be the answer? Could I buy the Dynaudio speaker trims and attach those to my existing door trims? The answers were no, no and very doubtful.

I did come across a complete Dynaudio system from a wrecked MY10.5 wagon south of Sydney. The price which included all the speakers, amplifier and all important door trims was fair. Unfortunately one of the rear door trims was damaged in the t-boning accident that wrote off the car and some of the brackets that held the all-important Christmas tree clips had broken. I managed to get another old door trim as a spare.

My panel beater Ron is old school. He can turn his hands to anything. The door trims required some plastic welding and one needed quite a bit of rectification to get it right. In hindsight it would have probably been easier (and cheaper) to swap the Dynaudio speaker grill onto my good existing door trim. I guess, you live and learn.

I was going to drill out the old speakers and pop rivet inthe new Dynaudio speakers but I ended up leaving that to Ron. We also replaced the driver’s door mirror while we were at it – I had smacked the original absentmindedly reversing out of the garage one day. S@#! happens…

We put the front door trims on but left the rears off as I grappled with reason for needing crossovers in the rear. Kamold in his write up kind of breezed through this part of his build. Not knowing audio speaker theory I made contact with Kamold and did a lot of Googling before I finally figured it out. Here goes.

The original Blaupunkt amplifier has only 8 channels for 10 speakers. The rear Blaupunkt bass speakers have a very basic crossover, really just a resistor that powers the rear Tweeters. The rear Dynaudio bass speaker doesn’t have this so you have to build your own crossover, or if you are really keen you can thread the four wires out of the amplifier into the rear tweeters. As this would be a mammoth job, I chose the former.

Before we got that far I had to make up the adaptor harness. It had been a challenge for Kamold and didn’t look like an easy exercise for someone like me. Without any soldering skills this was always going to be farmed out. My friend Ron suggested the local auto electrician Tony who used to work on car audio and was quite a methodical kind of guy. In the meantime I had bought the correct connector from out of Hong Kong – Kamold had taken apart his existing amplifier, but I didn’t want to touch it as it was another part that could get damaged.

First up I needed a pin map/diagram and Kamold kindly sent me his spreadsheet. I gave this to Tony who looked at it for a day and then asked me to come by for a chat. He couldn’t make head of the pin map and spreadsheet though he had put tape around the new connector and numbered the pins. I said I would number the wires on the green and grey Dynaudio plugs – that turned out to be quite an intricate job. But I figured it out. Kamold said we didn’t need to feed a wire to the fusebox like he had, which was a relief.

Tony soldered all the connectors and heat-shrinked them. The challenge was fitting this cumbersome adapter harness onto the physically bigger Dynaudio amplifier all within the tight constraints of the area under the passenger seat. One problem we encountered was that the original connector had been damaged. It still worked if you were careful but we took no chances by securing it closed with a cable tie. It was all a tight fit with the amplifier cover but we checked to see if it would catch with the electric seat mechanism and it cleared it ok.

Next was the rear crossovers. Tony had sourced two NOS (new old stock) Hertz 300W crossovers and was told to just connect the output from the crossover onto the power wires to the bass speaker and let the crossover power the amplifiers. That way the crossover wasn’t splitting the bass speaker and tweeter with the possibility that the former could overpower the crossover. Well it kind of made sense to me.

Ron then fitted the rear door trims using brand new Christmas tree clips (he insisted) which I think for the four door trims cost $130 – not cheap, but then no rattles either.

The final step was to do the correct coding and the piece deresistance, the “Welcome to Volkswagen - Sound by Dynaudio” splash screen. Again Kamold came to the rescue. I’m a novice OBDeleven user and I eventually managed to long-code the Dynaudio into my RNS510. But there was no Dynaudio splash screen. Turns out that when Kamold loaded the 5238 firmware onto my RNS510 some years ago he also gave me a custom Volkswagen R splash screen. To get the Dynaudio splash screen, I had to download 5238, copy it onto a disc and reload onto my RNS510. But guess what? As 5238 is a later firmware I also got the later “Welcome to Volkswagen Sound by Dynaudio” splashscreen used on MIB equipped Mk 7 Golfs and B8 Passats. Nevermind…

Was it worth it? Well, it hasn’t been a cheap or easy exercise. But thanks to Ron, Tony and especially Kamold, we saw it through to he end. Still it looks like a factory set up and the sound out of those speakers is pretty amazing. Like nothing I’ve ever experienced in a car before. So that is a yes... :thumbsup:

Passat R36
21-05-2020, 10:41 AM
Great work!

Plug and Play is for 2008 model, later model VW changed the connector.

Maybe you can make the convertor harness to sell, lol

kamold
21-05-2020, 01:30 PM
Well done!
These sorts of things are all the more satisfying because they aren't a simple plug n play exercise.

prn31
21-05-2020, 03:53 PM
Great work!

Plug and Play is for 2008 model, later model VW changed the connector.

Maybe you can make the convertor harness to sell, lol

The 38 pin connector cost me $47 from Mouser Electronics out of Hong Kong. Air postage was more than half the cost. Sure if I bought in bulk it would be a lot cheaper but I don't really plan on going into production....

Having said that, I’m sure that as these cars get older more second hand units will come onto the market via Ebay or Gumtree – quite a few early R36s and Highlines were optioned with Dynaudio. It is a worthwhile upgrade to do but as a purist it has to come with the Dynaudio speaker door trims. Now if I can only get that original Dynaudio splash screen loaded… :cool:

sn809
24-05-2020, 12:08 PM
Its great to get the history of a car. Good detective work.