Retrofit of RVC to MK6 Golf

[Idle]

I must have missed the part in the manual where it says you can run cable by pulling back the carpet?



The manual talks about changing a bulb which requires unscrewing the tail light which you _CAN_ do without removing all the trim.

If you want to run a cable on the other hand you need to remove the trim however with the use of yellow tongue (or similar) enables you to do part of it without removing as much trim (especially the part to the side of the rear seat).



Roadside assistance isn't there to change a light bulb and there is no reason why you would have to change one on the side of the road when there are much safer places you can change them.



VW put plenty of thought into it! It's designed to allow you to remove the tail light not to run cable.

Maverick, I don't wish to upset anyone, but I think we're talking about different cars.

On mine, it's a physical impossibility to move the 'carpet' on either side of the boot without removing substantial amounts of plastic trim.

Further, it doesn't match the picture in the manual, which (I think — the picture does the printers little credit) — shows the carpet peeled down from the top corner below the black plastic luggage hook after grasping it via the slot provided.

On my car this just can't be done, for it has no such slot or indeed any method of gripping the carpet behind the tail lights on either side (there is a small rectangular cutout about two fingers wide in the lower edge at floor level, but it's of no use for moving anything.)

Further, about half way down the tail light assembly there's a section of carpet that wraps under the upright section of the boot lip.

This section is secured to the body metal with a round headed plastic pin, which can't be seen without first pulling the lip moulding away from the body — there are two regular VW spring clips on this, and the carpet is pinned a bit less than halfway between them.

Secondly, the shape of the carpet moulding is such that if one bent it back enough to get a hand through it would at least be badly bent and would most likely crack.

I wish you were closer — I'd happily bring the car over and show you, for I certainly don't want to remove bits unnecessarily.

As to it's not being designed to run cable, I quite agree with you — but access is just that and can be used for any convenient purpose, such as probing with bits of yellow tongue and dragging wires through. This one, however, seems to have been designed to prevent access, not to permit it.

I'll admit I was a bit over the top in suggesting replacing light globes on the roadside (although I do remember a motorcycle cop insisting I do just that (or be booked) on a country road in the days when many cars had but one tail light — and that often no more than a glimmer.)

In passing, I might mention that I've been working with cars & trucks — and lots of other machinery, some of it pretty complex, heavy and even dangerous — for well over 70 years and can find my way through most things.

Maybe I'm slipping a bit in my old age (in fact I know I am — can't manage a full day's work any more), and if I've missed anything here I'll blush prettily and apologise, but as of now dismantling the trim is the only way I can see — even just to change a light bulb.

[AdamD]

Further, it doesn't match the picture in the manual, which (I think — the picture does the printers little credit) — shows the carpet peeled down from the top corner below the black plastic luggage hook after grasping it via the slot provided.

On my car this just can't be done, for it has no such slot or indeed any method of gripping the carpet behind the tail lights on either side (there is a small rectangular cutout about two fingers wide in the lower edge at floor level, but it's of no use for moving anything.)

Hi Idle.

Take a look at this DIY video Golfitup posted of his LED taillight install. It clearly shows how the carpet can be peeled away on his Golf, and mine worked in exactly the same way. It's fair to say there's a lot of resistance in the trim, and it does feel like you're going to tear the carpet at times, but I found it just required some persistence.

In all seriousness, if you can't get the carpet away from the plastic, I'd take the car to your dealer and have them demonstrate it while you watch. That way, if there's been a change to the way the carpet's attached and they do break it, they'll be responsible for repairing/replacing the necessary part(s).

[Idle]

Thanks for the pointer, Adam.

I popped the plastic pin out — which he'd done before making the video —(do use the right tool here (wide right-angle trim tool with V cut) — a screwdriver would be almost guaranteed to break it) then found I had just enough strength to force the corner of the carpet out sufficiently to wangle tools in. It almost beat me, tho', I can't apply the pressure that I could have done a score or so years ago, and it's not a place where I'd care to apply leverage without knowing what's under it.

The right-hand side is further complicated by having the frame for the little cubby hole glued to it — which makes it still more rigid.

This is definitely something that ought to have been better designed (perhaps it's yet another area organised for dealer income?)

In any case, DIY bulb changers should ignore this item in the official sequence, unclip the relevant end of the lip trim, take the pin out and then proceed with caution.

Thanks again for the tip.

[AdamD]

The right-hand side is further complicated by having the frame for the little cubby hole glued to it — which makes it still more rigid.

This is definitely something that ought to have been better designed (perhaps it's yet another area organised for dealer income?)

I agree, it can be mighty tricky. Several times I felt sure I was going to damage something, and it was really only blind faith in the manual, plus having seen Golfitup's video, that convinced me to keep at it. I've since pulled the carpet out a second time, and have noticed it's become much more pliable after the first battle.

Glad to hear you've managed it!

[Pepe]

Finally got my replacement VAG-COM cable today (first one was a dud)... et, voila:



By the way, to the OP, it IS possible to have both the RVC and OPS working at the same time, it just requires an extra bit of VCDS coding. You can see it shows an image of the car on the left of the screen above which is just a smaller version of the silhouette you normally see on the OPS screen.

[Ryan_R]

I was wondering how you were going with this the other day. I hope you get a chance to write up some instructions with photos to sway me to have a go as well

Did you already have OPS or did you add them as well?

[rs73]

damn, can't wait to get mine done... i'm just being so slack... how did you run the coaxial cable from the back of the unit to the fuse box ?
over or under the steering wheel column, and do you need to remove the under steering wheel column dash parts?

[Pepe]

I was wondering how you were going with this the other day. I hope you get a chance to write up some instructions with photos to sway me to have a go as well

Did you already have OPS or did you add them as well?

I'll write it up soon as my hosting provider restores my website (it'll be a bit too big to post in forum...form).

And yeah, it's an R, so had OPS as standard.

damn, can't wait to get mine done... i'm just being so slack... how did you run the coaxial cable from the back of the unit to the fuse box ?
over or under the steering wheel column, and do you need to remove the under steering wheel column dash parts?

Over the steering wheel, the dials/MFD had to come out but once out, you can get pretty easy access to everything down there

[Transporter]

Finally got my replacement VAG-COM cable today (first one was a dud)... et, voila:



By the way, to the OP, it IS possible to have both the RVC and OPS working at the same time, it just requires an extra bit of VCDS coding. You can see it shows an image of the car on the left of the screen above which is just a smaller version of the silhouette you normally see on the OPS screen.

How did you go with it? Did, I miss your How to post?

[Pepe]

How did you go with it? Did, I miss your How to post?

There ws a thread in the electronics forum about it... I haven't gotten around to doing the DIY guide yet. It works a treat, been in for a couple months now and not quite sure how I did without it, makes parallel parking a dream!