How to disable rear parking sensors (ParkPilot)?

I keep a bike rack on my hitch for half the year. I've disabled automatic activation of ParkPilot, but that only applies to when ParkPilot comes on based on nothing but low speed and a nearby object, it does not apply to ParkPilot coming on when shifting into reverse -- that still happens.

So every time I reverse, i get an audible warning that I'm about to hit something when I'm not. I've lowered the volume and the pitch to keep it as unobtrusive as possible, but it's not good enough. Does anyone know what I can do? I'm not too interested in dropping the bumper cover twice a year to plug/unplug the sensors, but I would gladly code it with VCDS if that's a possibility. Any ideas?

Ideally I'd disable only the rear sensors. However, if that's not possible, I guess I'll look at disabling the whole system.

I've read that when adding a trailer wiring module and associated coding, the rear sensors are disabled when the trailer is hooked up. But I have no plans for any of that, being that it's just a bike rack.

Quick update... I played around with all kinds of stuff in controller 10 (Park/Steer Assist). Various coding combinations, an adaptation with "mute" in the name, no luck. And keep in mind that I would consider disabling the whole thing (front and rear beeping) to be a success if we can't target just the rear.

The closest I've gotten is to tweak the Trailer drop-down in the long coding. That does disable the whole thing, but unfortunately it also creates a ParkPilot Error message/icon that takes up the entire MFD (the main display is great though, it shows just the camera). It also throws some DTCs in a couple controllers (the Lane Assist controller was one of them) which, while concerning, is absolutely livable. The MFD error though, ugh.

Any ideas?

Here's a decent solution: unplug the Park Assist module (credit goes to Uwe at the Ross-Tech forums for the idea). I ended up finding a Park Assist retrofit DIY as a means of locating the module to yank it. To save others the trouble: in my car you pull off the access panel in front of the brake pedal (2 screws) and it's the 2 wiring harnesses that point straight up. There's a purple clasp on one. You can then drop the module out or leave it there, and put the access panel back.

The car is pretty happy after doing nothing else! No warnings of any kind, just some DTCs if you go looking. The one thing I noticed was that the MIB text when the reverse camera is on says something like "Limited function available" instead of "Look at your surroundings" (or similar). This text goes back to normal after coding as I'll describe below. If you don't have VCDS, you can stop here and be on your way with no adverse effects as far as I could tell!

To make the DTCs stop, and to fix the reverse camera text:

Module 19-CAN Gateway
Installation List
Uncheck 10 - Park/Steer Assist

Module 3C-Lane Change
Coding - byte 0 bit 0-7
Change from "02 Parking Aid OR Park Steer Assist installed [PR-7X1/7X2/7X5]" to "01 Parking Aid OR Park Steer Assist NOT installed [PR-7X0]"

Module 5F-Information Electr.
Adaptation
ENG122229-ENG117710-Car_Function_List_BAP_Gen2-parking_assist_0x0A
Change from "activated" to "not activated"

Note that after doing this, the reverse camera doesn't appear for a few drive cycles. I can't say precisely what the deal is, but it didn't work in my driveway right after coding or in the first parking lot I visited, but then it worked after that.

I would call this a success and something everyone with a non-trailer hitch accessory (cargo carrier, etc) should do! Keeping the front sensors enabled would be even better, but this is a net positive in any case.

I installed a trailer hitch on my MK 7.5 R (manual trans) yesterday for my mountain bikes and I am having the same problem. Not only do I get constant beeping but if I try to reverse my car actually makes a nasty grinding sound and locks up the brakes. I’m wondering if anybody tried simply unplugging the rear bumper sensors at the harness where it connects to the rear bumper as a solution? Based on the entries above, it sounds like the car learns and adapts if certain hardware is removed..

Hey man, I have the same issue with the beeping whenever I go into reverse with my bike rack on. I looked behind the brake pedal today for something to unplug, saw this:



I unplugged the pink one, thinking maybe you meant to unplug it when you mentioned purple but turns out its for the front sensors.

Am I looking in the wrong place for the rear sensor?

Tom1759 said:

Hey man, I have the same issue with the beeping whenever I go into reverse with my bike rack on. I looked behind the brake pedal today for something to unplug, saw this:

View attachment 216541

I unplugged the pink one, thinking maybe you meant to unplug it when you mentioned purple but turns out its for the front sensors.

Am I looking in the wrong place for the rear sensor?

Click to expand...

That's the correct module. Yank both.

IWMTom said:

That's the correct module. Yank both.

Click to expand...

Thanks, so the rear must be the grey clasp one then? For some reason there's a zip tie on it if you look on the right side in my picture, really odd.

Tom1759 said:

Thanks, so the rear must be the grey clasp one then? For some reason there's a zip tie on it if you look on the right side in my picture, really odd.

Click to expand...

There's nothing odd on your photo. Just remove both plugs.

IWMTom said:

There's nothing odd on your photo. Just remove both plugs.

Click to expand...

Will do, thanks for the reply!

edit - I unplugged it, just so others know it also disables the blind spot monitor. No more beeping though really nice if you have a bike rack on a lot.