Connect iPhone to 2016 mk7

[MosGolf]

My sound system is the standard one. I can connect the audio via Bluetooth but I'm really interested in the satnav showing up on the console. When connecting via USB I get the message 'phone not supported' or something of that ilk.

The first VW dealer I spoke to said it couldn't be done although the 2016 model clearly has that option. The second one told me I would need to buy a software 'key' for £200 + installation time. Maybe that made sense 5 years ago (just) but today it's highway robbery!

I was also told I couldn't update the satnav maps myself by the dealer and I managed to do it without tooo much difficulty, so perhaps I am lucky and there is also a process to update the software so that it sees my phone?

Thanks

 

[SRGTD]

Car Net App Connect was a factory option on UK spec 2016 model year cars (cars built from week 22 in 2015). I think it cost £100 if it was spec’d by the first owner as part of the car’s original factory build. It was possible to get it activated retrospectively and from memory the cost was around £240 - £250. I’ve no idea what’s involved in activating App Connect, but the figure you’ve been quoted is broadly in line with the cost quoted by those on other forums who’ve had this done. Bear in mind it’s pretty much always more expensive to add something retrospectively than it is to spec it from new.

However……….. some early 2016 model year cars have MIB2 infotainment units that aren‘t App Connect compatible (presumably VW were using up 2015 units). if so, then it’s not possible to activate this feature. To see if your infotainment unit is compatible or not, if you press the ‘menu‘ button (I think it’s the bottom right button alongside the infotainment screen) and you have an App Connect’ icon, pressing the button should display a message - something along the lines of ‘App Connect; you can activate this function by purchasing an activation key from your dealer’. I can vaguely remember reading on another forum a few years ago that even on some of the early supposedly App Connect compatible units it still wasn’t possible to active the functionality, although on later units it could be done.

Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s a process you can use to activate App Connect yourself; it needs to be done by the dealer and the purchase of the activation key, although there may be some independent car audio engineers who specialise in VAG systems who have found a way to do this.

In the UK, since the introduction of the mk7 Golf (not sure about earlier models), there’s always been a ‘self serve’ process for VW owners to be able to update Sat Nav maps.

 

[MosGolf]

Thank you

 

[MosGolf]

So plan B would be... How much would it cost to upgrade to a more recent audio unit, say one that accepted both iPhones and DAB+ ...

 

[George Ab]

You need the functional enablement code (FEC) to install app connect. This is what the dealer was calling the "software key". This is a DIY to go from MIB1 to MIB2, but it discusses FEC's and how to install. When I purchased the FeC (VW part number 5G0054830A) it was $208US in 2017 so £200 sounds right plus likely one hour of shop labor. There are people who do it remotely all discussed in the thread. As mentioned, it is my understanding in the UK it was £100 option when the car was new. https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/inde...o-mib2-infotainment-conversion-part-1.343701/

 

[IWMTom]

Plenty of retrofitters can activate this for £100 in the UK. Where are you based?