New headunit recommendations for 2012 MK6 Golf?

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

Soldato
Joined
16 Nov 2002
Posts
11,301
Location
The Moon
Hi all, I'm going on a roadtrip this summer with my partner through France and her car stereo doesn't have the ability to plug in an aux cable or connect via Bluetooth to play music (first world probs, I know). It's literally just FM/AM radio and CD, dark days.

I was wondering is there any factory fit /standard VW headunit that would go in a MK6 golf for me to just do a straight swap with what is in there ATM, that has at a bare minimum an aux input?

Or is it just going to be easier to get an aftermarket one?
 
I should add I was contemplating just buying one of those FM transmitters that plugs into the cigarette lighter but that's broke
 
It's an RCD-210, in which case you could swap in a RCD-310 which supports AUX as standard
https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/en/connected-services/radio-and-navigation/rcd-models.html

(You can apparently enable Aux on an RCD-210 but it's probably as easy to swap)
http://www.mat-d.com/site/diy-insta...xiliaire-autoradio-polo-rcd-210-aux-in-buchse

Other than that you could look at an aftermarket "oem style" android auto unit like the RCD-330:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234439261603
https://www.golfmk6.com/forums/inde...plus-headunit-with-mirrorlink-carplay.303709/


The higher end RCD-510 / RNS-510 VW units will also fit, but require other modules and significant coding I think.


Some other info in this thread:
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/upgrading-stereo-in-vw-golf-mk6.18764942/
 
Beat me too it. Rcd-210, can get a aux adapter (I did this on my prevous vag and added bluetooth) or change for many other headunits.
 
Thanks @Armageus . The RCD-310 looks to be the best bet. Just looking at the image of it though, where is the aux input as I can't see it on the headunit?
 
Last edited:
robnut said:
Beat me too it. Rcd-210, can get a aux adapter (I did this on my prevous vag and added bluetooth) or change for many other headunits.
Click to expand...
Just reading that link above about enabling it looks like a lot of faff and think a straight headunit swap would be easier!
 
Might as well fit an RNS-310, navigation, bluetooth and AUX in a single unit with no external modules.

You will need a GPS antenna and Microphone if you want to use the nav and bluetooth calling.

I did this to the wife’s 2010 Polo 3 or so years back and the whole install took me 30 mins or so.
 
Armageus said:
It's still an external cable I think that then needs to exit in the centre console somewhere.

As @paradigm says RNS-310 is probably a better option as has it on the headunit

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325095593802
Click to expand...

I see, so I'd have to get the headunit and the extra Aux cable for it. That doesn't seem like too much hard work but the RNS-310 may be better if it's an all in one with nav and BT.

How would it work with getting up to date maps on it? Is it possible to get France maps too?

paradigm said:
Might as well fit an RNS-310, navigation, bluetooth and AUX in a single unit with no external modules.

You will need a GPS antenna and Microphone if you want to use the nav and bluetooth calling.

I did this to the wife’s 2010 Polo 3 or so years back and the whole install took me 30 mins or so.
Click to expand...

How much would the GPS antenna and mic set me back? Having the nav built in would be handy, especially as we're going to France.
 
R.O.S.S.I said:
I see, so I'd have to get the headunit and the extra Aux cable for it. That doesn't seem like too much hard work but the RNS-310 may be better if it's an all in one with nav and BT.

How would it work with getting up to date maps on it? Is it possible to get France maps too?



How much would the GPS antenna and mic set me back? Having the nav built in would be handy, especially as we're going to France.
Click to expand...
A cheap mic will be under £10, and a compatible FAKRA antenna will likely be similar.

Maps are updatable by SD card. It will likely be EU West anyway, which will include France.
 
Unless you really are desperate for Aux I would go for the RCD-330 mentioned above. I actually fitted one of these in my 2010 Octavia as a very similiar upgrade. I needed a face plate adapter for mine as well but it was only another £30 and was a straight swap. Whilst you dont get the aux port (and I effectively lost my factory fitted aux) they can do usb drives or sd cards off the device itself. They support streaming music over bluetooth, and android auto or apple car play. They also have the bluetooth calling mic built in so no need to run a seperate mic cable. Whislt its on the "wrong" side of the head unit due to them being designed for left hand drive I used mine a few times and never had any complaints from the other end. I'm sure it wasnt as good as a factory fitted system but it ultimately did the job.

Unless you are pulling mucis from something unusual I'd have thought bluetooth / android auto / carplay would be a better / easier option than the actual aux cable? Alternatively you can buy a dirt cheap 32GB sd card and just leave it fitted all the time negating the need to plug / unplug anything (that's how I ran mine).

You then get the benefit of apple car play / android auto which I imagine would meat your updated maps requirement?

I was really impressed with mine and other than once having to do a factory reset, that reset it to it's native chinese language (getting out of it was interesting given my inability to read chinese) it was great.
 
BinnsY said:
Unless you really are desperate for Aux I would go for the RCD-330 mentioned above. I actually fitted one of these in my 2010 Octavia as a very similiar upgrade. I needed a face plate adapter for mine as well but it was only another £30 and was a straight swap. Whilst you dont get the aux port (and I effectively lost my factory fitted aux) they can do usb drives or sd cards off the device itself. They support streaming music over bluetooth, and android auto or apple car play. They also have the bluetooth calling mic built in so no need to run a seperate mic cable. Whislt its on the "wrong" side of the head unit due to them being designed for left hand drive I used mine a few times and never had any complaints from the other end. I'm sure it wasnt as good as a factory fitted system but it ultimately did the job.

Unless you are pulling mucis from something unusual I'd have thought bluetooth / android auto / carplay would be a better / easier option than the actual aux cable? Alternatively you can buy a dirt cheap 32GB sd card and just leave it fitted all the time negating the need to plug / unplug anything (that's how I ran mine).

You then get the benefit of apple car play / android auto which I imagine would meat your updated maps requirement?

I was really impressed with mine and other than once having to do a factory reset, that reset it to it's native chinese language (getting out of it was interesting given my inability to read chinese) it was great.
Click to expand...

That 330 unit does appeal however its substantially more than picking up a second hand VW unit for around £80-90ish inc the extra GPS and mic cables.

Music would just largely be streaming from Spotify, Soundcloud or Mixcloud, all of which are available on Android Auto.

I do love Android Auto and use it all the time in my mum's car and love the built in nav and messaging etc. My original idea was to look for a headunit that had that. But then I figured I was adding unnecessary expense and to keep it cheap by trying to replace with another factory unit. However it will make the whole nav experience a lot nicer and has all of the bluetooth calling etc built in, and we could charge a phone through it too whilst connected which is another bonus.

Maybe I should just punt the extra to it. Would the RCD-330/360 be a straight swap for what we have or would we need any other fascias/cables etc?
 
Jeez its a bit of a minefield looking at those RCD330's. There's so many different options.

Whats the difference between a 330 or 330Plus? Do I need a Desay or Noname version? Do I need extra connectors for steering controls?

:confused::confused::confused:
 
R.O.S.S.I said:
I was contemplating just buying one of those FM transmitters that plugs into the cigarette lighter but that's broke
Click to expand...
can't you fix that ?
I used to use fm transmitter which was part of a Nokia phone , and providing it's mount was close to radio it was fine,
look like you can pick up highway brand combined dab,bluetooth receiver + fm transmitter for ~£50 from amazon - if it doesn't work to a good quality return it.
 
I had a really cheap (£2.62) FM transmitter that simply plugged to the 3.5mm headphone socket of my iPhone of the period and you simply set an FM frequency and tuned your car radio into it. No cigarette lighter connection required.

Only thing was the rechargeable battery only lasted about 1.5 hours before needing to be recharged via USB. It was ok for me as I only drive one hour once a week.

You can probably get similar more expensive ones with better battery life that don’t need a cigarette lighter connection.
 
R.O.S.S.I said:
Jeez its a bit of a minefield looking at those RCD330's. There's so many different options.

Whats the difference between a 330 or 330Plus? Do I need a Desay or Noname version? Do I need extra connectors for steering controls?

:confused::confused::confused:
Click to expand...


If I remember correctly the best is the 330+ noname. I'm 99% that what I put thought it was for a skoda at the time.

Faceplates depend on what you currently have in place, I had a bolero unit in my octavia and I did need a repalcement face plate, if I'd had the newer colombus it would have fit immediately. If it looks the same shape, you are probably good, my old unit was quite obviously different. Mine needed no cable adapters and everything just worked on the swap. The only problem I had was that I didn't have a reverse camera, but my car had it enabled in it's odbc settings meaning the headunit switched to a blank image whenever I went into reverse, I could have had it coded out but it was so minor I just lived with it.

I remember being the same and looking for ages worrying if it would work or not, and in the end my experience was great, it really was just "plug and play". Perhaps I just got lucky though, and of course all my experience is from a Skoda but sat the end of the day they share an awful lot of the same stuff.

I'd definately suggest its worth it for carplay / android auto alone.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom