Autopolar FIS+ Advanced Install

[The_Hawk]

This thread has been replaced/merged with this one, please follow this link now:
Auto-Polar FIS+ Advanced - Complete Guide

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It all started with this thread and the idea of an inbuilt digital boot gauge.

Essentially it's talking about the AutoPolar FIS products (I warn you that if you click this link you will want one, consider yourself warned):
Autopolar Official Web site


Now the install instructions looked pretty straight forward, drop a cover panel above the pedals and plug in the module... simple enough right... NOPE. Those instructions are designed for a LHD car not RHD, it's also not a 118TSI so I'm not sure if it's different on the GTI, but here we are). EDIT: Confirmed that GTI is in the same place, looks like it's a RHD thing then and everyone will be stuck with this process.

So after removing the knee air page, the air vents above the pedals and the panel on the drivers side I've discovered that the CANBUS plug I was looking for was not anywhere near either of those locations... in fact you have to access it from the engine bay.


It turns out the module and the plug I was looking for is buried right up just behind the rain tray. Luckily I have had to access this panel before so was somewhat prepared for what came next.

My total time end to end including some testing and a lot of screwing around was somewhere between two and three hours. The real time should be something like 1.5 Hours since you will know what you're doing.

NOTE: Before I started taking photo's I had actually pulled everything apart so these photos were taken putting everything back together and will be shown in reverse order to show you how to pull it all apart.

So let me start.

It all started when the FedEX man delivered this this afternoon:


They say you should plug it into your computer with the supplied USB cable and update it's firmware, especially if you have a vehicle with a white display as it needs to be updated before it will work with the newer cars. It says it only supports Windows with IE7+. Firing up my XP Machine and going to their website saw the upgrade done pretty easily. Sorry I didn't grab any screen shots of this bit.


Read the instructions, it's worth checking the stock location mentioned in here because that would make install more like 15 minutes. If you can't see the plug they are talking about in about 5 minutes it's probably safe to say it's in the same location as mine.
NOTE: If a GTI owner can confirm if the plug is in the same place as mine I will remove this step.


Start by opening the bonnet:



You need to remove the wipers, rain tray and wiper motor.


Remove the plastic covers on the wiper assembly with a flat bladed screw driver, be careful not to mark them up.


Remove the nuts holding the wipers in and the wipers themselves:


Then pull the rubber along the front of the tray gently off:


And the foam pieces on each side. Note that there is a cable clipped to the drivers side as pictured, unclip that as your next step is to remove the plastic tray.






The plastic tray has a lip which clips into a grove along the bottom of the window. Gentle pull up and it should come loose. It does take a little force but it will come loose:





You will have to bend it slightly to remove it from between the bonnet hinges.
(again make sure you have unclipped the wire on the drivers side).


Next you want to remove the wiper motor assembly itself. Two torx screws and it will come loose. It takes a little angling to get it out of it's hole, but it should come free easily.




Now under that wiper you should see a neat little plastic panel. (Ignore the rubber pipe in mine... like I said, I have been here before).



Three nuts and the panel lifts out to reveal a bunch of wires and a little plastic box:


It's this box with the red plug you want!

It's at this point I remembered they recommend disconnecting the battery before doing any more work... so do that.

It's also about now that I realised that if I was going to mount this box in this location that any future upgrades might just be real PITA. To get around this I have permanently attached the supplied USB cord and run it down into the space behind that little cubby on the right of the steering wheel... that space is getting rather full for me...







A couple of cable ties to neaten it up and it's there whenever I need to do a firmware upgrade. (of course this is only useful if you have a laptop).


Back to the engine bay and it's simply a matter of plugging in the cables and installing the box into the space behind that panel.




You can now re-connect the battery and test it all works including a test drive. After that it's simply the reverse order to get everything installed back how it should be.


In my case I don't have an "additional" menu item, rather this new menu has taken over the Phone menu... BUT don't worry, pressing the phone button the multifunction steering wheel bring up the old menu as does making or receiving a phone call.



I haven't had a big play with it yet, but I do have a short video:

[IN2VWS]

Cool.
How do you get additional/other info on the display?

[tigger73]

great write-up

[readerr0r]

Cool.
How do you get additional/other info on the display?

Thats the what the Polar FIS does yo

[IN2VWS]

Sorry, my mistake. I thought it was the FIS+ advanced unit.

There is quite a bit of data that you should be able to see according this comparison chart:

[readerr0r]

Sorry, my mistake. I thought it was the FIS+ advanced unit.

There is quite a bit of data that you should be able to see according this comparison chart:

Oh I mean the Polar FIS+ Adv, only it supports the white screen as detailed in the thread linked at the start of this tutorial

http://www.auto-polar.com/index-sear...e_news.php.htm

[Ryan_R]

Thanks for the write-up

Wondering if there's any differences for you since you've got the cabriolet...

Also did you go into VCDS - 19 CAN Gateway - Installed - and tick 75 Telematics? I thought it was this step that gave you the extra screen instead of overwriting the Phone menu.

[readerr0r]

Thanks for the write-up

Wondering if there's any differences for you since you've got the cabriolet...

Also did you go into VCDS - 19 CAN Gateway - Installed - and tick 75 Telematics? I thought it was this step that gave you the extra screen instead of overwriting the Phone menu.

That's only for Red Screen cars. Remember they only released the White Screen firmware last week so the specifics in the tutorials are old. On white screens it emulates the BT and automatically adds it to the CAN Gateway (If you don't have BT) when it boots up - no need for VCDS.

[The_Hawk]

Yep no VCDS used by me, it installed itself

Like I said it sits in the "phone" menu, but the normal menu is still accessible by hitting the phone button on the steering wheel.

[IN2VWS]

Am I missing something?????
In these vids of a Golf 6 with white screen, there is alot more info and options:
Polar FIS+ ADVANCED PF03 White & Colour MFA working on Golf 6 GTI Tacho Premium - YouTube