Routing USB cable to glovebox

[David Horn]

Hi all,

Just got an 03 Passat TDI 130. Great car but the in dash 6 cd changer is knackered. Not prepared to pay £130+ for a replacement so I decided to stick my Sony headunit in as a replacement for the Gamma radio, leaving the cd changer in place but disconnected.

Having a bit of difficulty though when it comes to routing the USB cable through to the glovebox. I can't see any way to do it without drilling a hole in the radio cage, and I'm a bit loathe to poke my hands too far in because I can see fragile looking solenoids for the climate control.

Any suggestions?

Cheers,

Dave.

[snapdragon]

On mine, I put a small DVD/USB player in the glovebox with a AV lead to the VW Navi in order to play films on it.
I took the glovebox out and adjoined a hole to the existing hole for the glovebox light such that when the light is installed, it grips the cable to stop it pulling through the hole. When the glovebox is out, its possible to feed wires to the back of the radio without much trouble. I think it was held in by about 8-10 torx screws.

[B5Jon]

I also have a usb on my headunit but could find how to get it into the glovebox so I ran mine down the centre console and tuck it up (to hide it) roughly where the passanger seat is, the only thing is tha if I want to add or remove songs I have to move the seat forward to unplug the usb. I was trying to get it to the rear ashtray but couldn't find anyway to route it in to there either, these VW's are well built!!

[David Horn]

Hey snapdragon - thanks for the advice, worked a charm! USB cable now comfortably in the glovebox, and I only snapped off one little plastic lug when removing it. :-)

Does anyone know if the Passat has an amplified aerial? The FM reception on the new headunit isn't brilliant, although being a new car to me I can't really remember what it was like beforehand!

Cheers,

Dave.

[TimboUK]

Hey snapdragon - thanks for the advice, worked a charm! USB cable now comfortably in the glovebox, and I only snapped off one little plastic lug when removing it. :-)

Does anyone know if the Passat has an amplified aerial? The FM reception on the new headunit isn't brilliant, although being a new car to me I can't really remember what it was like beforehand!

Cheers,

Dave.

I am only new here myself, but from browsing the forums I have read that the VW units have an amplifier built in. So you could maybe need an in-line amplifier fittting?