Parking sensor retrofit - Passat estate

[randall977]

This isn't as bad as it sounds - honest! I bought a very cheap 4 sensor kit off eBay (very sucessfully fitted to my A3 in the past) however I soon realised there was a problem with these sensors and the estate... My intention had been to carefully measure and cut the sensors into the lower rear bumper and then plug the rest in (easy). However the lower rear bumper curves much more than other VW's of this era meaning the sensors would point down at 45 degrees - no good at all. I certainly wasn't going to put them in the upper part of the bumper - what a bodge! I phoned VW today and ordered the lower rear bumper with sensors built in - increadibly it was only £39 - bargain! So I'm hoping to join the VW sensors into the cheapy eBay kit - cutting and soldering wires if necessary.

has anyone done this kind of thing before on the Passat estate - any tips?

[snapdragon]

It doesn't come with the sensors built in, I have just fitted one last summer, £39 gets you four strange holes. The sensors are £75 each I kid you not!

I fitted a £25 BREES kit of ebay. I'll post a pic tomorrow. I had to cut away some plastic at the back and apply silicone sealer to hold them in.

There is a connector on the rear light cluster (either side) with goes 12v when R is selected, you can make the power cables with mini-lucars crimped on and it plugs straight in.

[randall977]

I thought £39 was a bit too good to be true! I would be very interested to see how you did it, I really don't want to make a bodge - I am happy to make some careful modifications if need be. As far as I can tell all of the eBay kits have the same sensors - about 20mm diameter with a lip - they don't quite look like the VW ones - I guess the lip needs trimming off etc. Alternatively would cutting the new bumper to have bigger holes be a very bad idea? Thanks for your reply

[snapdragon]

Sorry the pics aren't the best, I can't really get my big SLR up high enough to take one from behind...
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You will be fine, the valance has tubes in which the factory sensors are slid into, you just need to mount yours in these and put some sealant in from behind so that filth and water doesn't build-up inside. Take the sensors from the sensor side while the sealer cures. make sure they are all aligned the same within the holes. For the wires, you can make poke holes with a hot nail in the moulding reinforcements and put small cable ties through.
Good luck!:biglaugh:

[randall977]

They look great - thanks for the photo - I will give it a go this w/e. I can't believe VW charge £75 for each sensor - that's outrageous! Will post photos pending fitment, thanks

[wozie]

hi all new to the forum so go easy on me lol are these parking sensors worth the money ? thinking of getting a set ??:confused:

[snapdragon]

Yes, they're great fun!
I just use the chimes, I hid the display in the CD changer rack in the boot behind the trim.
If I had time, I would take apart my display as the backlight turns green/amber/red, and I would solder telephone cable on and run it to the boot light and install 3 bright LEDS in that as a warning.

[randall977]

I fitted parking sensors last week and they are fantastic! My Passat is an estate so I had to buy the modified lower rear bumper (£46), so they point in the right direction.

Removing the old bumper and fitting the new one took about an hour - don't force it as there are hidden fittings in the wheel arch (see Haynes manual). I bought a set 4 sensors with buzzer only off eBay for £12.50 and stuck them in the holes with super glue and silicone - they look great. The elctronics is straight forwards if you have a multimeter.

Very much recommeneded upgrade for £70ish!

[snapdragon]

Nice colour of Passat Randall, I wished mine was that nice blue!

[davebrannigan]

Hi All, I too went the route of replacing the spoiler for one with the sensor mounts and I then bought a Ciba sensor kit off EBAY. Total cost around £80. I mounted the sensors parallel to the mount tubes but find that with the Ciba sensors it often picks up the road. I'm guessing that the beam angle must be quite wide on the Ciba sensors as any slight incline behind or weight in the boot and they sense. Can you advise what sensors you used as if I can find one with a narrower beam angle it may solve my problem. I don't really want to angle them upward any further as they will not sit flush with the spoiler then and could look bad.

Do any of you guys get false alarms?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

B5.5 Estate TDI 130 4Motion

[davebrannigan]

For the benefit of anyone following up with this in the future, I discovered that the electronic module from my Cisbo sensors was duff and after replacement the Cisbo Kit works just fine, as do the Maplin ones (actually made by Nikkai) but they cost a bit more. Just an FYI, the Sensors are interchangeable between theses two versions.

[richard@thebrae]

Hi, I fitted aftermarket parking sensors to my 2001 Passat estate sourced from Ebay at £30 all in for a six sensor kit. Brand is :- cisbo who seem to make and brand them for many companies, spares can be purchased here :-
http://www.parkingsensors.co.uk/dolphin_display_reversing_sensors.asp

I sprayed them to match my car (Inky Blue) two light coats of colour and two light coats of laquer (£10 for paint from the ********) with no detriment to the performance of the sensors.
Fitting was straight forward on the rear as the bumper skin is only held on with self tappers and 6 special scew bolts.
I strongly recommend buying a new set of under body bolts and fixings prior to starting the job. (circa £25)
Where to drill is was determined by a post from Flash2 on this forum, but with hind site i would adjust that slightly for these reasons :-
1) to give a little more safety margin to miss the crash bar under the bumper skin on the outer edges and with the added benefit of giving the outer sensor's a better peripheral view.
The display gives a fairly accurate reading of clearance distance and false alarms are few, and mainly come from from rough ground with protrusions above 3".
I have them on my work car also and find them very usefull, which drove me to fitting them on my own buggy and I am very pleased with the end result and performace.
Ps I have attached a pic. but I dont seem to have cracked howto correctly send me the method please someone.

[stonedagain]

Hi All, I too went the route of replacing the spoiler for one with the sensor mounts and I then bought a Ciba sensor kit off EBAY. Total cost around £80. I mounted the sensors parallel to the mount tubes but find that with the Ciba sensors it often picks up the road. I'm guessing that the beam angle must be quite wide on the Ciba sensors as any slight incline behind or weight in the boot and they sense. Can you advise what sensors you used as if I can find one with a narrower beam angle it may solve my problem. I don't really want to angle them upward any further as they will not sit flush with the spoiler then and could look bad.

Do any of you guys get false alarms?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

B5.5 Estate TDI 130 4Motion
My aftermarket parking sensor kit was far too sensitive, until I painted them body colour to match the bumper. They're fine now!

[richard@thebrae]

Trying to get that Pic. displayed, well I have tried everything, tell me folks is the pic. there? the only way i see it is click edit, then click save, the Pic shows, then disappears next time i enter the thread.

[colour-smart]

Hi Guys, You need to get adjustable sensors, the beam can be adjusted as not to pick up the ground.

We supply our sensors colour coded to factory colour. www.colour-smart.org (http://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/www.colour-smart.org)