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View Full Version : B6 Sat Nav Unit - I want to buy one..!



Pimped-Passat
25-08-2007, 10:25 AM
Experts

In May I bought a new B6. Love it.

However my previous Passat had SatNav, and this one hasn't ('cos I was a bit tight when I spec'd the car out!)

Anyway I have been browsing eBay and there appears to be some units for sale.

So a few questions:

Has anyone bought one from eBay, and was it any good..?
If you have, did you buy it from Poland, Lithuania, etc.. Expericences?
The latest unit appears to be a 1KO 035 198C (apparently it's chrome). Is this the indeed the one to aim for..?
What version of the DVD is the latest..? V4..?
Has anyone fitted one..?
Where does the GPS antenna fit inside the dash..?
How much will the dealers screw me for a brand new one... (dare not phone them..!)..?
Any other things I should look out for...Appreciate your time..!!

Cheers
P-P

mobitune
25-08-2007, 11:24 AM
I've read of guys fitting the GPS antenna under one of the air vents on the dash, the vent still works properly. Not entirely sure where the VW specified location is though!

The guys over at VWnavi* (a more specialised VW satnav forum) may have an answer if you fail to get one here :)

Pete



*mods - feel free to edit this post if this advice is against forum policy

carl s
28-08-2007, 09:57 AM
I've just posted on the VWNavi site to see if the sat nav can be made to use the TMC traffic re-routing messages. I'll let you know if I get any favourable responses!

The factory sat nav is very useful, not quite as user friendly as Tomtom, but more convenient. The fact that it has a traffic announcement second tuner in the unit sitting idle is really annoying, especially as Classic FM broadcast the service here in the UK. I'm told other countries have the facility turned on, just not the UK :(

shudman
01-09-2007, 12:46 AM
Having purchased the inbuilt SatNav with my SEL170, I have to say I am very disappointed. I have the V3 DVD (and I would love to hear from someone with a v4), and I find it very slow and sends me down unusual routes. Unless V4 has changed, but TMC is not enabled on my disk, although it is constantly looking for the signal. If I go to France/Germany TMC is picked up immediately. VW just say the are "negotiating" to get the license. Annoyingly Audi A6's come with Satnav, and TMC does work in those....apparently. Who owns Audi ?
It saddens me to say that I actually now use TomTom on my phone, rather than use the expensive inbuilt system - seems stupid and wasteful....it is just my experience. I would not purchase it again.

carl s
02-09-2007, 08:19 PM
Having purchased the inbuilt SatNav with my SEL170, I have to say I am very disappointed. I have the V3 DVD (and I would love to hear from someone with a v4), and I find it very slow and sends me down unusual routes. Unless V4 has changed, but TMC is not enabled on my disk, although it is constantly looking for the signal. If I go to France/Germany TMC is picked up immediately. VW just say the are "negotiating" to get the license. Annoyingly Audi A6's come with Satnav, and TMC does work in those....apparently. Who owns Audi ?
It saddens me to say that I actually now use TomTom on my phone, rather than use the expensive inbuilt system - seems stupid and wasteful....it is just my experience. I would not purchase it again.


I have the V4 DVD and no, TMC still doesn't work. However apart from the postcode search being 4 digit and not 6, I like the VW system and find the speed fine (better or as good as my TomTom) So my old TomTom stays at home these days.

shudman
03-09-2007, 12:26 AM
Does the V4 version show the route in 3D ?
Does it change the way that the scrolling works ?
Does it change the "avoid congestion in 1662ft" process
Does is allow you to USEFULLY pick out roads to avoid ? (0.1 on M25, 0.2 on M25, 0.1 on M25, 0.1 on M25 hardly helps!!)

Honestly, I cannot see how you could say B6nav is better than TomTom !

Maybe Tomtom will sort something out, with their recent acquistion of TeleAtlas. It always surprised me that TomTom didn't have some kind of deal with car manufacturers

carl s
03-09-2007, 10:36 AM
Does the V4 version show the route in 3D ?
Does it change the way that the scrolling works ?
Does it change the "avoid congestion in 1662ft" process
Does is allow you to USEFULLY pick out roads to avoid ? (0.1 on M25, 0.2 on M25, 0.1 on M25, 0.1 on M25 hardly helps!!)

Honestly, I cannot see how you could say B6nav is better than TomTom !

Maybe Tomtom will sort something out, with their recent acquistion of TeleAtlas. It always surprised me that TomTom didn't have some kind of deal with car manufacturers


The answer to all the above is probably "no" although I'm not sure what you mean by some of the questions. Yes the TomTom is a better operating system, and yes the 3D routing is OK, but that's personal preference as I'd rather trade that for having the directions shown in the MFD. But for me the worst part of my TomTom is the fact that It has to be stuck on the windscreen with wires trailing all over the place, and every time I leave the car I have to remove it and hide/take it with me in case some pikey breaks into the car & steals it. (I have lots of friends & colleagues who have had this happen)

Now I know that's not the TomTom's fault, but in today's society it's a sad fact of life and is enough to make the permanent wired solution a bigger attraction than a portable one. In my last car I found myself several times in a situation where I had to make an unexpected detour and had not thought to put the tomtom in the car that day. With a factory satnav it's allways there.

Pimped-Passat
04-09-2007, 09:39 AM
Friends,

I took the plunge and bought a MFD2 DVD (version B) SATNAV with V4 disc from sleezbay. It should arrive by the weekend.

Questions....!

Can the GPS antenna thingy be mounted UNDER the dash, and successfully work..?
Will the satnav automatically pass information to the "FIS" between the speedo and rev counter. I appear to be getting mixed messages about the compatibility, people mentioning you need adaptors or VAGCOM intervention.You help is most appreciated....

Mark
2007 Passat 2.0 TDi Sport (innit)

carl s
04-09-2007, 10:15 AM
Friends,

I took the plunge and bought a MFD2 DVD (version B) SATNAV with V4 disc from sleezbay. It should arrive by the weekend.

Questions....!

Can the GPS antenna thingy be mounted UNDER the dash, and successfully work..?
Will the satnav automatically pass information to the "FIS" between the speedo and rev counter. I appear to be getting mixed messages about the compatibility, people mentioning you need adaptors or VAGCOM intervention.You help is most appreciated....

Mark
2007 Passat 2.0 TDi Sport (innit)

Well done for buying one! All your answers are probably on the vwnavi forum, under the MFD2 section. There are fitting guides on there for Golf Mk5 and from memory their antenna was fitted under the dash just behind the unit. I beleive some of the cars with CANBUS such as the Passat are plug & play.

Pimped-Passat
04-09-2007, 10:23 AM
Carl...

Thanks for the quick reply. I have just been checking out your posts as you appear to be quite "active" on the forum and have a similar car (and questions) as me...!

BTW - How do you know if a car has CAMBUS (or whatever you call it).... Can you decode it from the numbers on the sticker inside the service book..?

Looking forward to getting the satnav, just hope everything goes according to plan.

How do you get on with yours..? I noticed from the pictures of the "tart" chrome you had one installed.

Any tips & tricks..?

Cheers
Mark

carl s
04-09-2007, 11:15 AM
Mark,

The CANBUS system is on all B6 Passats, I believe it refers to the wiring system which is a bit like a local area network in a car. So the units like the lights etc. have a signal going to them to say "turn on brake/fog/reverse etc" which a receiving unit at the light end decodes the signal and then carries it out. On older more tradional cars there would be separate wire running from the light switch to the light itself.

Slightly off topic but it's interesting to see if a car has CANBUS type wiring. If you turn a switch like the mirror folding button for example when the ignition is off nothing happens on a CANBUS system, even when the car is turned back on. It's the act of turning the switch on which send the command to fold the mirrors, not the position of the switch itself. If you did this on an older car when the ignition was turned on the mirrors would dutifully do their thing. Remember it's possible to catch the wiper blades out on most cars by turning the ignition off mid-wipe. Not so on the Passat because the wiper has been given a command to perform complete cycles (rather than just being given power to work) so if you pull the key mid wipe it just carrys on until it gets to the parked position.

Anyway enough of my rambling... The biggest gripe of the VW satnav is the 4 digit postcode search, not 6 like tomtoms. This is annoying but not the end of the world as you have to remember to note down the first line of the address and the postcode when you ask someone for their address. There a lots of finer points about the system like pushing the map button twice to get a bigger map, pressing the buttons on the right hand side to get the menus which hide away by default. The radio is nice as it stores the traffic messages for you and can be set to start saving them a couple of hours before you get in the car in the morning. The system can also show you your GPS settings at any time including hieght above sea level which can be interesting when you're somewhere like the Lake District! And my favourite button of all is "mute" which gets used rather than turning it off!

I'm just waiting for them to turn on the traffic avoidance system which I guess is just a matter of time as Audis now have it.

Good luck with the fitting,

Carl.

fysmd
09-03-2008, 09:51 PM
Hello from a noob.
I have just bought my first VW, a Passat 2.0Tdi DSG Sport and so far am LOVING it.

It has a poor stereo (300) and I'm VERY keen to replace with the satnav device as described at the head of this thread. Lots of questioned still unanswerd from that first post though...

I have a few:
How easy is it to install (really)
Does it make the VW iPod cable better (I'm disappointed that it has no control of playlists, track name display etc).
If not, I assume I can combine with Xlink or other?
Does TMG really not work AT ALL?
Am I likely to break a bit of the dash or leavemyself with rattles?
Anybody know of a good installer? (I'd also like to add cruise and parking sensor).

Pimped-Passat
09-03-2008, 10:37 PM
Hello.... noob

RCD 300 - Yes - it's a bit poor, kinda spoils such a good car...!

Questions - Yes, so did I..! Fire away...

How easy to install - Very. I did it myself, and I was going to pay someone to do it for me for exactly the same reasons you mention. Pop off the facia that surrounds the unit. Grip from under the airbag light and give it a firm pull. Careful you don't unplug the airbag warning light though... I think you have to go back to the dealers for it resetting it if you do disconnect it.... warning on dash comes on.. Then using a torx driver undo the 4 screws and the unit is free.... Pull out the connectors on the back and the unit can be fully removed. If my memory serves me correctly, one of the connectors has like a "buckle" that holds it in the socket... Refit in the reverse order, but you will need to mount the GPRS antenna somewhere. I routed it across to the passengers side and gained access to the end of the dash by removing the cover (the cover that the door closes against). There was a handy ledge that I mounted the GPRS thing onto, securing with a bit of double sided tape... Alternatively you can sit it on top of the dash... I preferred to hide it...

iPod better - Forget it... Still as poor as the RCD300. I am really disappointed with it full stop. In fact I think the performance of the iPod is worse with the MFD2 unit... it takes an age to fast forward, rewind onto the next track... What a waste of such a great screen...! Ahhhhh

TMG - Or whatever its called.... Nope... nothing

Breaking the dash... Depend how heavy handed you are..!

Rattles - None so far on mine.... Although I had it back to the dealers for a squeaky glove box lock mechanism... Common I am told

Installer - None to recommend, but.... Expect to pay £25 - £35 labour.... any more, question it...

Hope this helps

Mark

PS - I risked it and bought the unit from ebay.... so far so good... but be careful



Hello from a noob.
I have just bought my first VW, a Passat 2.0Tdi DSG Sport and so far am LOVING it.

It has a poor stereo (300) and I'm VERY keen to replace with the satnav device as described at the head of this thread. Lots of questioned still unanswerd from that first post though...

I have a few:
How easy is it to install (really)
Does it make the VW iPod cable better (I'm disappointed that it has no control of playlists, track name display etc).
If not, I assume I can combine with Xlink or other?
Does TMG really not work AT ALL?
Am I likely to break a bit of the dash or leavemyself with rattles?
Anybody know of a good installer? (I'd also like to add cruise and parking sensor).

fysmd
10-03-2008, 12:44 PM
Hi and thanks for a very complete (and encouraging answer).
I'm going to go look for somebody I trust(!?) on ebay and get one I think. Can anybody suggest an ebayer to look for?

Another couple of questions I'm afraid:
Will the MFD2 rev C play MP3 CDs like my 300 does?
Will it play CDs (of any type) while navigating?(I heard that some only have a single drive so can do one OR the other)

jeepster1961
10-03-2008, 05:06 PM
hi, can you post the item number of the sat nav unit you purchased as i was looking for one but unsure as to which one to go for

cheeers