DIY MIB1 to MIB2 Infotainment Conversion (Part 1)

[Cuzoe]

@Lokgolo You will need the USB harness, different pinouts. Yeah no Nav in my Golf (same car as yours) from factory. Since then I retrofitted MIB II without nav, then MIB II with nav, and now MIB 2.5. But the car had the GPS connector (blue) and antenna.

 

[Cuzoe]

Thanks Cuzoe.

I actually came across the answer before you replied so I deleted my post.

I did just take out the MDI port in my car. It main circular portion looks near identical. But in the USB port, there's an additional part that has 2 additional pins. So not a simple plug and play. Although I am curious what each of the pins actually does

Well now if we figure that out we can make some progress on the USB-C port install (same plug, but it doesn't work).

 

[brentgti]

Well now if we figure that out we can make some progress on the USB-C port install (same plug, but it doesn't work).

Working on that one

 

[aegis]

(Edit: I do not want to go hacked if it's avoidable)

Serious question because I'm curious; what would be the purpose of this other than not having OBD codes? I bought my unit from a local guy who (for lack of a better term) 'hacked it' and it hasn't given me any issues or effected the functionality of the unit. Was able to skip the whole dongle rental/scheduling a remote coder and all the costs that come with that.

Just genuinely what to know, not implying that one is better than the other, just interested in the reasoning.
Cheers,

Also just an edit for what it's worth, my unit is a 3G0 035 047 NAR Canada unit just to future-proof a digital dash if I ever want to go that route. Theres a comment here with some P/N's that might be helpful.

 

[madwazzabi]

Thanks Cuzoe.

I actually came across the answer before you replied so I deleted my post.

I did just take out the MDI port in my car. It main circular portion looks near identical. But in the USB port, there's an additional part that has 2 additional pins. So not a simple plug and play. Although I am curious what each of the pins actually does

You should be able to reuse the MDI port, you need an extra 2 pin connector and remove two pins from the outgoing 16 pin connector just for the analog input USB 5V and common. See here for what I did. For the analog input, you'll need an additional 4 cable connector and associated pins from the outgoing 16 pin connector.

 

[Cuzoe]

You should be able to reuse the MDI port, you need an extra 2 pin connector and remove two pins from the outgoing 16 pin connector just for the analog input. See here for what I did.

Nice, I even read that post and responded, haha. And also forgot about it. Too much work for me .

Serious question because I'm curious; what would be the purpose of this other than not having OBD codes? I bought my unit from a local guy who (for lack of a better term) 'hacked it' and it hasn't given me any issues or effected the functionality of the unit. Was able to skip the whole dongle rental/scheduling a remote coder and all the costs that come with that.

Bolded the purpose for you, haha. I can't sleep when there are fault codes, even ones with no functional impact.

 

[Lokgolo]

Does anyone have a suggestion for a wrap that's as close as possible to the brushed metal trim? I'm not fond of black and don't want to buy all new trim...

 

[Lokgolo]

Theres a comment here with some P/N's that might be helpful.

I can't tell you how many times I've referenced that page over the past couple weeks!

I thought I could get away with not replacing the trim, but now see the additional screen space went vertical, which I hadn't considered. I could modify my existing, but I'm confident it'll end up looking like shit after a dremel goes to it.

Almost wish I'd done the 8" glass or gone all the way to MIB2.5 knowing that now, but I like having physical buttons and want to keep it looking "period correct."

 

[Lokgolo]

Well now if we figure that out we can make some progress on the USB-C port install (same plug, but it doesn't work).

This may not be difficult; how many wires are there total?

Traditional USB uses 4 condictors: PWR, GND, Tx, and Rx. Anything extra doesn't make sense. USB-C uses the same concepts, but there's an IC that handles the signals since it's reversible, as well as additional conductors for extra power and data (I think). I haven't had a reason to dive into one yet, but I feel it coming.

Now you've got me wanting to figure it out, I'd love to have USB-C instead of A!

 

[aegis]

I can't tell you how many times I've referenced that page over the past couple weeks!

I thought I could get away with not replacing the trim, but now see the additional screen space went vertical, which I hadn't considered. I could modify my existing, but I'm confident it'll end up looking like shit after a dremel goes to it.

Almost wish I'd done the 8" glass or gone all the way to MIB2.5 knowing that now, but I like having physical buttons and want to keep it looking "period correct."

Agree with the matte choice over glass. They may look a bit more modern but the gloss black trim and glass screen gets greasy/dirty real quick.
Also a tip for when you get the new trim; your old trim will have tiny rubber grommets that go on the end of each plastic barb, these are to reduce cabin rattle. Make sure when you pull your existing trim you try not to lose as many of them as possible (they fall off easily), because you will need to transfer them to your new trim. I put a small dap of epoxy in them before re-fitting them onto the new trim.

 

[Cuzoe]

Keeping the car looking period correct is relative I think, MIB 2.5 was factory on 2019/2020 e-Golf Premium package. Of course, having added digital dash, Mk8 steering wheel touch buttons and soon touch climate control to go along with 9.2" all touch everything will be "the feng shui" in my car. That being said, from cost perspective the 8" matte screen is tops for me. And it's both wider and taller than the 6.5" matte screen. I cannot imagine there's any way a Dremel could enlarge the opening and not look... like you enlarged the opening with a Dremel .

The 8" matte trim comes in brushed metal though, so you don't have to wrap anything unless you're picking up a different color 8" matte trim to save some coin (assuming it's cheaper). It's only the 8" glass and 9.2" glass trim that does not come in brushed metal (granted Ali express now has these, a close but not a perfect match).

As far as the USB-C... I suspect all of us giving it some thought think it should be easy. Yet due to time and/or laziness we haven't got it working or fully figured out why it doesn't work. I think the question comes down to the IC, as mentioned. Assuming it's in the port we have to figure out how to get our radios to talk to it. If VW did something weird and it's in the radio then our radios don't have it. I suspect the former. I would like the USB-C port only because I like tinkering. In truth I leave the AA Wireless dongle plugged into my USB port all the time so having USB-A is a complete non-issue. Even if we got USB-C to work (using just PWR, GND, Tx, and Rx) we're not going to get any fast charging.

 

[Lokgolo]

The cheapest matching brushed metal trims I can find all include the vents, which I don't need, and cost ~180 and up. I'll ask one of the ebay sellers if they're willing to separate the vents.

@Cuzoe, where did you get the wrap you used for your AID trim? I'll still need that to wrap whatever trim I end up with.

 

[Cuzoe]

@Lokgolo It was from Amazon but I don't know which one I used. I ordered at least 10 different colors all at the same time. It wasn't a perfect match and I couldn't deal with that so converted to all black interior trim.

That conversion was sooner than I had planned but would have happened anyway since I eventually did interior RGB lighting and those trim pieces only come in black.

Here's the post of mine. Pictures don't show on my phone, not sure about in a browser...
https://golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/what-did-you-do-to-your-mk7-today.316916/post-6574855

 

[bobloblawGTI]

Keeping the car looking period correct is relative I think, MIB 2.5 was factory on 2019/2020 e-Golf Premium package. Of course, having added digital dash, Mk8 steering wheel touch buttons and soon touch climate control to go along with 9.2" all touch everything will be "the feng shui" in my car.

OT, but did your TDI come with Climatronic or are you retrofitting that first and then doing the touch climate panel? Afaik there's no touch-version of the non-automatic Climatic system :\

 

[Cuzoe]

OT, but did your TDI come with Climatronic or are you retrofitting that first and then doing the touch climate panel? Afaik there's no touch-version of the non-automatic Climatic system :\

You are correct about no non-Climatronic touch controls. I am doing the half retrofit, although I will be adding both vent temp sensor and the sun sensor. I've also got a decade box setup to test some things to get it running fault free even without the flapper motors. Full climatronic retrofit is not out of the question, parts aren't crazy priced. Just don't have the time right now... 1 year old, thinking about another kiddo, and likely moving if that happens.