climatronic retrofit?

[IWMTom]

Hi guys, just wondering if someone can describe the procedure for getting the Air vent sensors into place, cable routing etc. Do you need to remove the dash?

I've bought the Aliexpress kit which comes with the 2 sensors and the harnesses, but I have zero experience in dash-stuff on the MK7, my last car being the MK4 (which had climatronic, and why I bought this kit to get away from the basic-b*tch heater controls). Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

The two side panels come out and you'll see the rubber grommet on the vents - the sensors just twist into the hole.

Wire runs from sensor to the panel; just find an appropriate route.

 

[davegsm82]

Excellent, thanks for that, makes me feel a bit better about tackling the job.

One other question, Looking at the replacement unit, the fascia panel appears to just clip out. Is there any real knack to getting the fascia off without destroying it?

Cheers, Dave.

 

[IWMTom]

Excellent, thanks for that, makes me feel a bit better about tackling the job.

One other question, Looking at the replacement unit, the fascia panel appears to just clip out. Is there any real knack to getting the fascia off without destroying it?

Cheers, Dave.

Open the cubby first then just pull the fascia off. Easy peasy.

 

[davegsm82]

Amazing, thanks for the help.

 

[joesid]

If you start the car with the heat on, does it delay the fan until the engine is warm enough to produce heat?

 

[davegsm82]

I've just been out for a quick look at the access to fit the temperature sensors, I removed the dash end panels and had a look around, but I can't see a grommet at either side. I even shoved my hand in the driver's side and felt around upwards to see if I could feel anything like a grommet but from the section of the vent I could feel, I couldn't find anything. Any tips?

EDIT I should add my car is a 2013, which is early production run, could it be that they didn't have the grommets this early on? I've removed the small flip down cubby at the drivers side which means I can get my whole arm in and can feel a lot of the air pipe, still can't feel the grommets

 

[Acadia18]

No I don't have rest working yet, I have bought the air quality sensor, the rain/humidity sensor and the correct fan and am waiting for them to ship. I will install and code and show it here when its done. The one thing I like is the menu control. I didn't realize it had its own infotainment screen to show you where the air is coming from. I am happy with this mod and it was alot easier than most said it would be. As for the passenger side temp control... just leave sync on.

Did you have to do any coding to enable that, or does it happen automatically when you press the menu button after retrofitting the climatronic controls?

 

[carbon_gecko]

Did you have to do any coding to enable that, or does it happen automatically when you press the menu button after retrofitting the climatronic controls?

The coding I did canceled the clean air button since I didn't have my air quality sensor yet. Also the humidity sensor was switched to in active i just manually switch to defroster.

 

[davegsm82]

For those following this thread, here's the video carbon_gecko told me about in another thread, shows the location of the temp sensor which I'd missed.

 

[carbon_gecko]

For those following this thread, here's the video carbon_gecko told me about in another thread, shows the location of the temp sensor which I'd missed.

Thanks I couldn't get the link to work.

 

[TheBobmanNH]

Kind of amazed anyone would want to do this. Never found those automatic systems to work nearly well enough to replace the manual controls.

 

[davegsm82]

Kind of amazed anyone would want to do this. Never found those automatic systems to work nearly well enough to replace the manual controls.

Quite the opposite, goodness it's much better than the manual ones in my experience, it actively regulates the air temperature instead of just selecting an arbitrary heater valve percentage as the engine warms up.

I'm going to make a vague how-to installation instruction, will post a link once I make the thread.

 

[TheBobmanNH]

Quite the opposite, goodness it's much better than the manual ones in my experience, it actively regulates the air temperature instead of just selecting an arbitrary heater valve percentage as the engine warms up.

I get that that's what they intend to do, I just think they do a poor job of it.

My problem is that they all seem to assume your car is the size of an aircraft carrier. Cars are small, the air blows directly onto you in most cases (even when it's not blowing directly onto you, it's pretty close). SO if it's 70 in the car and i want it to be 68, the automatic controls will just blast cold air until the thermostat reads 68. Meanwhile I'm freezing because cold air is blowing directly onto me at max speed. It's easier for me to say "i'm a little warm, i'll turn the thermostat down one click and a pleasant temperature of air will be blowing on me" than "well, I want the car to be x degrees, am I willing to have 100% hot or 100% cold air blown on me while teh car tries to regulate?"

To each their own. I get that some people like to "set it and forget it."

 

[7umberjackZac]

Premium teas sell for $4,000 per 100 grams in China. The analogy is the retrofit of a premium item is not worth the price of good tea.

I passed on anything over the S model because of VW trash Pleather, Leaking Sunroofs and Price. This is on my list of missing features

 

[Acadia18]

Kind of amazed anyone would want to do this. Never found those automatic systems to work nearly well enough to replace the manual controls.

Mine is actually less about function, and more about form. My plan is to retrofit the digital dash, along with swapping to the 8" glass screen, and the capacitive climatronic control unit.

Would love to go to the 9.2" glass screen, but a MIB2.5/MIB3 swap is way more than I would want to pay.