If you have a 2018 or 2019 Golf, Sportwagen, Alltrack, or GTI in “S” trim or a GTI Rabbit, you know firsthand that the Infotainment system is quite lackluster. The glovebox mounted unit and separate display screen that all other trim levels and previous year “S” trims have is nowhere to be found. Instead, VW equipped these models with an all-inclusive unit in the dash. Sure, it comes with App-Connect and has an SD slot, and the interface looks like the higher end models, but it still screams low-end….at least to me. Besides the lack of factory Navigation, it does not support SiriusXM, it does not support radio station logos, and of course, there’s no possible way to upgrade the screen to an 8” unit.
Luckily, there is something that can be done to fix this. With all the 2015 owners swapping out their MIB1 units for MIB2 units, I figured it would be possible on a 2018 model as well. The good news is, it is possible. The bad news is, it requires a lot more bits and pieces than an MIB2 swap does in a 2015.
The first thing that you need is obviously a 2016-2018 MIB2 unit and Display Screen. There are several options out there….units with NAV, non-NAV units, and some with updated interfaces.
The unit I selected is a 3Q0-035-876-B. It is a NAV unit, pulled from a 2018 Golf R. It has the updated software, so it can display facelifted vehicles in the CAR info screen. I care about details, so this was important to me.
The Screen I selected was a 5G6-919-605-D, which is the new 2018 8” glass screen that the higher-end models have. The “D” signifies a NAV button. If you plan to get a unit without NAV, look for a 5G6-919-605-C. The “C” signifies no NAV button. The stock bezel that comes on 2018 “S” models is the same bezel that comes on the rest of the models, so you do not have to purchase any additional trim pieces, which is nice. You can always get an older “hard button” 6.5 or 8 inch screen, but you will need a new bezel and if you have the Polar Night bezel you are out of luck as VW does not offer that color for the older style screens.
Now, the not so obvious things that you WILL need to complete this conversion….
Glovebox: To physically mount the MIB2 unit into the glovebox requires a glovebox from a 2015-2017. The earlier ones are nicer, as they have a felt lined door and have a lock. They also have the AC vent, which can be retrofitted to your 2018 at the same time. The outlet from the heater box is there on the 2018 model, but capped off with a rubber cap. To complete the vent swap you will need to replace it with a hose, part number 5G1-816-311-A. The glovebox is a pain in the ass to remove, as the center console has to be pulled aft to free it up. I’d suggest pulling the glovebox first, route all your wiring harnesses (more on that later), then installing the new glovebox. It is MUCH easier to route the wiring harnesses with the glovebox removed than it is while it is in place.
Wiring: The Quadlock wiring harness that needs to plug into the back of the glovebox mounted MIB2 unit is located behind the 2018 radio in the center dash. Not where it needs to be for this to work, so you need to purchase an extension harness. This harness relocates the Quadlock connector to behind the glovebox where you plug into your MIB2 unit. These relocation harnesses are available through www.aliexpress.com, as well as locally through www.eztparts.com. This is the harness that I ordered….
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/For-...262d4c4d8W8yRP
This “kit” has some stuff you don’t need and is also missing some stuff you do need, so be aware. The antenna extension harness is useless for this application, as is the microphone and microphone harness…..throw it all out. It does come with the display screen harness, which you will need however.
Because the “kit” is missing some key pieces to make this all work, you need to purchase some additional stuff…..
1. An actual AM/FM Antenna Extension cable that will work with our cars. This is the one that I used….
https://www.rfsupplier.com/diversity...315_p7637.html 90mm is sufficient. Plug your car’s antenna into the extension harness and route it to the glovebox, where you will plug it into your new MIB2 unit.
2. A Quadlock Adapter Plug Extension Harness, which has additional wiring that the “kit” does not come with. This is the one that I used….
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Upgr...2a342241jPrgNQ
You will use the long white connector and the blue connector along with the wires at pins were you have existing wiring that needs extensions to the MIB2 unit in the glovebox. You will need these parts to add additional wiring to your Quadlock Relocation Harness to make it all work with your car. On the factory Quadlock plug on my car, there were 4 wires in the blue connector that had to be added to the extension harness (2 for the microphone and 2 for the rear view camera), along with 2 CAN BUS wires that come out of the gray connector. These all need to be spliced in with the bits and pieces of wiring and connectors that come with this plug extension harness. Remember….do not cut into the factory wiring. Plug new connectors and splice wires as required AFTER the factory Quadlock. EVERY wire that is in the existing Quadlock, minus the wires from the stock green connector, need to find their way to the new MIB2 unit in the glovebox.
3. A Media In Connection Kit. For whatever reason, the USB port in the 2018 is not compatible with an MIB2 unit from 2016 or 2017. I don’t know why, but I can verify that once App-Connect is enabled, CarPlay will still not function. The Connection Kit that I ordered is part number 5G0-035-222-E. You need the USB/AUX port AND the wiring harness as well. This is a similar kit to what I used….
https://www.ebay.com/itm/CarPlay-AU...271704?hash=item2ad2068f58:g:Zm8AAOSwUpJdSnfC
Unplug your existing harness, but leave it in place and abandon it. If you ever decide to revert back to the stock 2018 radio, it’ll still be there for you. Remove the existing USB port and install the new one and route the new wiring harness to the glovebox where you will plug the green connector into the Quadlock Relocation Harness and the yellow connector into the MIB2 unit.
Antennas: This blew my mind…..the Shark Fin Antenna on the roof of a 2018 “S” model is a dummy. There is absolutely no wiring that comes out of it. It is only there for looks and to plug a hole in the roof. The only antenna for the “S” models is for the AM/FM radio, which is within the tailgate itself. You have two choices here….you can either get separate SiriusXM and GPS antennas and mount them wherever you can catch a signal or you can purchase the correct Shark Fin antenna and cables from “non-S” model cars. I chose to do both.
For low-budget testing purposes, I purchased a GPS antenna from Ebay. This GPS antenna works great and is recommended if you don’t want to go the OEM route…
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-GPS-Sat...72.m2749.l2649
Also from Ebay, for low-budget testing purposes, I purchased a SiriusXM antenna, which did not perform as advertised. When plugged in, 90% of the time I would get a “NO ANTENNA” error message on the MIB2 screen. 10% of the time, the message would go away and SiriusXM would work fine. This is what I ordered…
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SIRIUS-XM-S...72.m2748.l2649
I returned this antenna and purchased one from www.eztparts.com. It worked flawlessly from the get go, no more “NO ANTENNA” error messages. I’d definitely suggest purchasing this antenna over the ebay one….
https://eurozonetuning.com/products/...ternal-antenna
If you choose to go the OEM route you will need to purchase the correct Shark Fin antenna, part number 5Q0-035-507-L-5FQ along with two separate cables that will go from the Shark Fin to the glovebox, routed down the rear pillar and along the passenger’s side rail of the car. The only place I’ve been able to source these cables is from www.rfsupplier.com which is the same place I directed you to purchase your AM/FM antenna extension from. These cables are made to order. You tell them the length, cable type, and connector ends and they build them per your specifications.
The length for both the NAV cable and the SiriusXM cable is 216", this is for a Sportwagen. I'd assume a Golf Hatchback would be slightly shorter, but 216" is a safe length.
The type of cable is RG174 for both the NAV cable and the SiriusXM cable.
The connector end for the NAV cable is Fakra C Right Angle Jack on one end and Fakra C Straight Jack on the other end. The right angle jack is connected at the shark fin.
The connector end for the SiriusXM cable is Fakra E Right Angle Jack on one end and Fakra F Straight Jack on the other end.
The right angle jack is connected at the shark fin.
https://www.rfsupplier.com/customcable.html
And that’s it for additional equipment that is required to add an MIB2 unit to a 2018 “S” model. Please consider this DIY thread as a supplement to GeorgeAB’s “DIY MIB1 to MIB2 Infotainment Conversion (Part 1)” thread, which can be found here….
https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31600
That is where you will find all the information on getting your MIB2 unit to fully function with your car. Topics like Component Protection may be addressed here, but there is PLENTY of information in GeorgeAB’s thread.
Here is a pic of the stock wiring with the radio unit removed from the dash. You can see the Quadlock connector in its original location, along with the App-Connect cable that you will need to abandon, and the AM/FM radio connector that must also be extended to the glovebox.
This is the backside of the stock Quadlock connector. The green connector needs removed from the Quadlock and abandoned. You will replace this with the 5G0-035-222-E, that will be routed to the glove box and plugged into the Quadlock connector at that location. All other wires MUST be accounted for and extended in the Quadlock Extension Harness to terminate at the glovebox. This is where your Quadlock Adapter Plug Extension Harness comes into play. Use pieces of it as required to extend wiring that isn't accounted for in the Extension Harness.
Your car could be different, but on mine....
The blue connector, two wires were for the Backup Camera, and two wires were for the microphone.
As mentioned, the green connector gets removed and abandoned.
The gray connector is for your two CAN-BUS wires and that's it.
The brown connector is all speaker wires which the Quadlock Extension Harness accounts for.
The Main Power and Ground wires are the Thick Black and Yellow(yours will be red unless you have Helix Sound), which are also accounted for in the Quadlock Extension Harness.
This is what the backside of the stock 2018 "S" radio looks like. As you can see that there's a Quadlock plug, an AM/FM antenna plug, and an App-Connect plug and that's it! Compare it to the pic after this one, which is the backside of an MIB2 unit. Note all the additional plugs required. You can now see why all this additional wiring and antennas are required to do this conversion...
And here are a couple of install pics...
The first one shows where the new Quadlock Extension Harness plugs into the factory Quadlock location and is then routed to the glovebox. Also in this pic, to the left of the Quadlock connector, you can see that little black box, that's the "temporary" NAV antenna. This is a perfect location to mount it.
Here we have the business end of the Quadlock Extension Harness, in the glovebox. You can also see the SiriusXM antenna plug and the NAV antenna plug. Don't let the part number of the MIB2 unit confuse you, these are earlier pics of a non-NAV unit that I decided not to go with.
And here are a few pics, as it sits in its current state...
The new 8" glass screen is such a nice upgrade over the 6.5" stock one.
And the MIB2 unit sitting snugly in the new 2016 glovebox. Note the felt lined door, the fully functioning AC vent, and the locking lever (out of frame). All really nice bonus upgrades over the 2018 glovebox setup.
Luckily, there is something that can be done to fix this. With all the 2015 owners swapping out their MIB1 units for MIB2 units, I figured it would be possible on a 2018 model as well. The good news is, it is possible. The bad news is, it requires a lot more bits and pieces than an MIB2 swap does in a 2015.
The first thing that you need is obviously a 2016-2018 MIB2 unit and Display Screen. There are several options out there….units with NAV, non-NAV units, and some with updated interfaces.
The unit I selected is a 3Q0-035-876-B. It is a NAV unit, pulled from a 2018 Golf R. It has the updated software, so it can display facelifted vehicles in the CAR info screen. I care about details, so this was important to me.
The Screen I selected was a 5G6-919-605-D, which is the new 2018 8” glass screen that the higher-end models have. The “D” signifies a NAV button. If you plan to get a unit without NAV, look for a 5G6-919-605-C. The “C” signifies no NAV button. The stock bezel that comes on 2018 “S” models is the same bezel that comes on the rest of the models, so you do not have to purchase any additional trim pieces, which is nice. You can always get an older “hard button” 6.5 or 8 inch screen, but you will need a new bezel and if you have the Polar Night bezel you are out of luck as VW does not offer that color for the older style screens.
Now, the not so obvious things that you WILL need to complete this conversion….
Glovebox: To physically mount the MIB2 unit into the glovebox requires a glovebox from a 2015-2017. The earlier ones are nicer, as they have a felt lined door and have a lock. They also have the AC vent, which can be retrofitted to your 2018 at the same time. The outlet from the heater box is there on the 2018 model, but capped off with a rubber cap. To complete the vent swap you will need to replace it with a hose, part number 5G1-816-311-A. The glovebox is a pain in the ass to remove, as the center console has to be pulled aft to free it up. I’d suggest pulling the glovebox first, route all your wiring harnesses (more on that later), then installing the new glovebox. It is MUCH easier to route the wiring harnesses with the glovebox removed than it is while it is in place.
Wiring: The Quadlock wiring harness that needs to plug into the back of the glovebox mounted MIB2 unit is located behind the 2018 radio in the center dash. Not where it needs to be for this to work, so you need to purchase an extension harness. This harness relocates the Quadlock connector to behind the glovebox where you plug into your MIB2 unit. These relocation harnesses are available through www.aliexpress.com, as well as locally through www.eztparts.com. This is the harness that I ordered….
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/For-...262d4c4d8W8yRP
This “kit” has some stuff you don’t need and is also missing some stuff you do need, so be aware. The antenna extension harness is useless for this application, as is the microphone and microphone harness…..throw it all out. It does come with the display screen harness, which you will need however.
Because the “kit” is missing some key pieces to make this all work, you need to purchase some additional stuff…..
1. An actual AM/FM Antenna Extension cable that will work with our cars. This is the one that I used….
https://www.rfsupplier.com/diversity...315_p7637.html 90mm is sufficient. Plug your car’s antenna into the extension harness and route it to the glovebox, where you will plug it into your new MIB2 unit.
2. A Quadlock Adapter Plug Extension Harness, which has additional wiring that the “kit” does not come with. This is the one that I used….
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Upgr...2a342241jPrgNQ
You will use the long white connector and the blue connector along with the wires at pins were you have existing wiring that needs extensions to the MIB2 unit in the glovebox. You will need these parts to add additional wiring to your Quadlock Relocation Harness to make it all work with your car. On the factory Quadlock plug on my car, there were 4 wires in the blue connector that had to be added to the extension harness (2 for the microphone and 2 for the rear view camera), along with 2 CAN BUS wires that come out of the gray connector. These all need to be spliced in with the bits and pieces of wiring and connectors that come with this plug extension harness. Remember….do not cut into the factory wiring. Plug new connectors and splice wires as required AFTER the factory Quadlock. EVERY wire that is in the existing Quadlock, minus the wires from the stock green connector, need to find their way to the new MIB2 unit in the glovebox.
3. A Media In Connection Kit. For whatever reason, the USB port in the 2018 is not compatible with an MIB2 unit from 2016 or 2017. I don’t know why, but I can verify that once App-Connect is enabled, CarPlay will still not function. The Connection Kit that I ordered is part number 5G0-035-222-E. You need the USB/AUX port AND the wiring harness as well. This is a similar kit to what I used….
https://www.ebay.com/itm/CarPlay-AU...271704?hash=item2ad2068f58:g:Zm8AAOSwUpJdSnfC
Unplug your existing harness, but leave it in place and abandon it. If you ever decide to revert back to the stock 2018 radio, it’ll still be there for you. Remove the existing USB port and install the new one and route the new wiring harness to the glovebox where you will plug the green connector into the Quadlock Relocation Harness and the yellow connector into the MIB2 unit.
Antennas: This blew my mind…..the Shark Fin Antenna on the roof of a 2018 “S” model is a dummy. There is absolutely no wiring that comes out of it. It is only there for looks and to plug a hole in the roof. The only antenna for the “S” models is for the AM/FM radio, which is within the tailgate itself. You have two choices here….you can either get separate SiriusXM and GPS antennas and mount them wherever you can catch a signal or you can purchase the correct Shark Fin antenna and cables from “non-S” model cars. I chose to do both.
For low-budget testing purposes, I purchased a GPS antenna from Ebay. This GPS antenna works great and is recommended if you don’t want to go the OEM route…
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-GPS-Sat...72.m2749.l2649
Also from Ebay, for low-budget testing purposes, I purchased a SiriusXM antenna, which did not perform as advertised. When plugged in, 90% of the time I would get a “NO ANTENNA” error message on the MIB2 screen. 10% of the time, the message would go away and SiriusXM would work fine. This is what I ordered…
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SIRIUS-XM-S...72.m2748.l2649
I returned this antenna and purchased one from www.eztparts.com. It worked flawlessly from the get go, no more “NO ANTENNA” error messages. I’d definitely suggest purchasing this antenna over the ebay one….
https://eurozonetuning.com/products/...ternal-antenna
If you choose to go the OEM route you will need to purchase the correct Shark Fin antenna, part number 5Q0-035-507-L-5FQ along with two separate cables that will go from the Shark Fin to the glovebox, routed down the rear pillar and along the passenger’s side rail of the car. The only place I’ve been able to source these cables is from www.rfsupplier.com which is the same place I directed you to purchase your AM/FM antenna extension from. These cables are made to order. You tell them the length, cable type, and connector ends and they build them per your specifications.
The length for both the NAV cable and the SiriusXM cable is 216", this is for a Sportwagen. I'd assume a Golf Hatchback would be slightly shorter, but 216" is a safe length.
The type of cable is RG174 for both the NAV cable and the SiriusXM cable.
The connector end for the NAV cable is Fakra C Right Angle Jack on one end and Fakra C Straight Jack on the other end. The right angle jack is connected at the shark fin.
The connector end for the SiriusXM cable is Fakra E Right Angle Jack on one end and Fakra F Straight Jack on the other end.
The right angle jack is connected at the shark fin.
https://www.rfsupplier.com/customcable.html
And that’s it for additional equipment that is required to add an MIB2 unit to a 2018 “S” model. Please consider this DIY thread as a supplement to GeorgeAB’s “DIY MIB1 to MIB2 Infotainment Conversion (Part 1)” thread, which can be found here….
https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31600
That is where you will find all the information on getting your MIB2 unit to fully function with your car. Topics like Component Protection may be addressed here, but there is PLENTY of information in GeorgeAB’s thread.
Here is a pic of the stock wiring with the radio unit removed from the dash. You can see the Quadlock connector in its original location, along with the App-Connect cable that you will need to abandon, and the AM/FM radio connector that must also be extended to the glovebox.
This is the backside of the stock Quadlock connector. The green connector needs removed from the Quadlock and abandoned. You will replace this with the 5G0-035-222-E, that will be routed to the glove box and plugged into the Quadlock connector at that location. All other wires MUST be accounted for and extended in the Quadlock Extension Harness to terminate at the glovebox. This is where your Quadlock Adapter Plug Extension Harness comes into play. Use pieces of it as required to extend wiring that isn't accounted for in the Extension Harness.
Your car could be different, but on mine....
The blue connector, two wires were for the Backup Camera, and two wires were for the microphone.
As mentioned, the green connector gets removed and abandoned.
The gray connector is for your two CAN-BUS wires and that's it.
The brown connector is all speaker wires which the Quadlock Extension Harness accounts for.
The Main Power and Ground wires are the Thick Black and Yellow(yours will be red unless you have Helix Sound), which are also accounted for in the Quadlock Extension Harness.
This is what the backside of the stock 2018 "S" radio looks like. As you can see that there's a Quadlock plug, an AM/FM antenna plug, and an App-Connect plug and that's it! Compare it to the pic after this one, which is the backside of an MIB2 unit. Note all the additional plugs required. You can now see why all this additional wiring and antennas are required to do this conversion...
And here are a couple of install pics...
The first one shows where the new Quadlock Extension Harness plugs into the factory Quadlock location and is then routed to the glovebox. Also in this pic, to the left of the Quadlock connector, you can see that little black box, that's the "temporary" NAV antenna. This is a perfect location to mount it.
Here we have the business end of the Quadlock Extension Harness, in the glovebox. You can also see the SiriusXM antenna plug and the NAV antenna plug. Don't let the part number of the MIB2 unit confuse you, these are earlier pics of a non-NAV unit that I decided not to go with.
And here are a few pics, as it sits in its current state...
The new 8" glass screen is such a nice upgrade over the 6.5" stock one.
And the MIB2 unit sitting snugly in the new 2016 glovebox. Note the felt lined door, the fully functioning AC vent, and the locking lever (out of frame). All really nice bonus upgrades over the 2018 glovebox setup.
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