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-   -   Driven: The 2011 Volkswagen Passat (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/99403-driven-2011-volkswagen-passat-28.html)

Nice! FWIK, the Passat has a different stalk for the cruise control functions that sits below the indicator stalk. Could you share some WIP snaps (if you've clicked any)? And what are the new cables to be inserted in the connectors? I reckon the ECU remained untouched and the cable was already present from the factory itself? Do share some steps here in brief - really intrigued to know how different the setup is in the Passat. :)

Oh and congrats. Believe me, your right foot is going to thank you during those long drives now.

I dont have pictures but I can tell you what I did. Knowing you really know this stuff, you should get a fair idea.

So basically, the install has two parts:

1. Inside the car

I had to change the steering wheel module as the existing one did not support Cruise. So I removed the Airbag, then the steering wheel, and then the module. You are correct, I had to order a set of stalks also. The new one came with a third stalk for cruise and a lower plastic trim cover.

Its was pretty straight forward to then remove the replace the module as the one I ordered came with Stalks + Module + slip ring all in one, so just pulled out the old one and put in the new one.

The wiring was untouched and the plugs were same except the added cruise control wire. I had to add a single ECU wire to one of the plugs on the module and route it through the dash to the ECU.

2. Engine Bay

This is where it started getting dirty. I removed both the wipers, then the cowl and wiper motor. Sounds easy but was a lot of pain. There was a plastic trim cover (Behind wiper motor) that gave me access to route wire through it. Used a metal hanger to pull the wire out and connected to one of the pins on the ECU. Of course the battery was disconnected all this while.

Sealed everything back and some VCDS magic and voila.

I had put in a lot of planning before doing this. I had ordered the parts about 4 months back and did the Steering column bit then only. I actually also added MFSW to the car, The updated module supported steering buttons as well. (No, My car came with a very premium steering wheel but without buttons, I just had to get the buttons (+ airbag loom) and they just bolted on to the existing wheel). Left the ECU wire tucked inside the car.

About a month back I tried to remove the wipers to connect the ECU wire, but in vain and the whole process looked very scary. That is when I decided to live without cruise.

Then I saw your thread, gained some confidence and did some research. Mentally figured out How I wanted to do it and did it today. Feeling proud. :P

BTW you are the reason, I was able to retrofit foot well lights on my car. Thanks for that.

I hope this write up is helpful. Please let me know if you need to know more. :)

In all I have retrofitted:

1. MFSW
2. Cruise control
3. Footwell Lights
4. Morimoto Elite HID kit.
5. LED license plate lights
6. RCD 510 (Bosch, without Bluetooth)
7. And the highline Start stop button (it doesn't work, just dummy, I wonder if I can make it work after the ignition is on to crank the engine)

Cheers!!

Crazybean,

Thats great - installing a cruise control on your Passat. Is yours a Trendline or Comfortline??

If your Passat is a Trendline, have you tried going up (or down) an incline in CC mode? Would be interesting to know

Hi Gannu, I have a question for you. I am not sure if its psychological but since I have changed my slip ring, I feel the steering of my car has become heavier and it pushes hard to center itself when turning. Can it be because of some calibration issues; i had to calibrate the steering after changing the slip ring and module. Please advice.

Hi rpunwani,

Yes, mine is a trendline. I have been using the CC extensively and it works beautifully. The car maintains a constant speed irrespective of load and incline.I keep the MID on instantaneous mileage which drops over inclines but hovers around 22 at set 100Kmph on flat roads.

When you replaced the slip ring back into the column, were you absolutely sure it was in the centre position and did not rotate by one rotation to either side?

When you replaced the steering wheel back, did you observe the notches on the steering wheel and the shaft to be aligned? Or did you simply insert it back?

The slip ring was absolutely centered (Had two tabs also that go into the steering and the steering wheel perfectly aligned with the grooves and the marking on the rim.

Why do you ask? Slight imperfections should not make the steering feel like a hydraulic unit, which is heavy.

Well, it does. :)

If there is a misalignment in the notches, the steering will give you a different feedback when the car speeds up or while taking turns. Owners have experienced this before only to have the steering wheel removed and replaced back after correcting the misalignment.

I was referring to this one:



If you are unsure about this, why don't you drive down to the service center and let the SA handle it for you?

I had double checked this and the alignment in my case is perfect. Is it possible that things like Steering assist etc. got turned off. If yes, can I use VCDS to enable them again?

The module was actually swapped at the dealership coz I did not have the correct screw driver to remove the module which had a weird screw type.
After the swap there was a steering wheel error that went away with some google and vcds calibration. The VCDS parameters also show 0 degree and matched.

The steering self centers and that is not a problem. I just feel its a little heavier now and has more tendency to self center.

Problem sorted. It was lack of tire pressure.. the front tire had 26 PSi that lead to the heavy steering feel. Got 34 done today its smooth as butter now.

The 97W tires are strange, they practically look the same st 25 and 35 PSi.

I have a question.

How long does it take for your engine to come up to normal temperature?

The temperature gauge's needle always stays at the middle mark when the engine has warmed up to the normal temperature.

I have noticed that my Passat takes significantly longer than my Corollas' (Petrol) to warm up.

The needle reaches the middle mark on the Corollas' after about 7 - 10 mins (max) of driving. On the other hand, even after a 20 minute drive the needle hadn't come up to the half-way point.

The car drives fine and there are no issues with power, economy, etc. I was just curious to know if this is something to worry about or not.

Diesels tend to take a longer time from what I've observed (observations between 1.9 PD engine vs. 1.4 TJet)

My car also takes close to 5 kms of driving to reach optimal temperature. I think what you are experiencing is absolutely fine.

My Passat takes about 10 mins of driving or 4 - 5 kms for the temp to come up to 90 deg C, which is the half way mark. In summer the distance/time is less.

On an entirely different note, I just discovered that the Passat has mood LED lighting in the doors. This was discovered by accident as usually I drive the car with the instrument lighting set to min. One evening when I was waiting for my family to come down, I turned up the instrument lighting to max and saw blue light on the window switches. Lo behold, when I put my head down and took a peek, I saw the LED lighting located on the underside of the faux wooden panel. Check it out if you have'nt discovered it yet

Has anyone upgraded the speakers on the Passat Highline ? The car comes with the RCD 510 which I like and though the sound is decent, good set of speakers will make a huge difference.

I definitely don't want to carry out any modifications; just plug and hear :)

Hi Rpunwani

I have a Passat Comfortline which also has the RCD 510. For me the original system lacked mid-base. I listen to everything from oldies, blues, metal to trance and a majority of my choice of tracks didn't sound nice on the original system so I went to a local car accessories shop and got it fixed by adding to the original setup a sub-woofer and mono block.

On the inside of the left pillar is a connector which splits the audio signal and power to the left front and left rear speakers. They inserted a wire into this connector and ran it to the trunk where they installed a power isolator (400 INR) connected to a mono block and then a sub, that's it! The amplifier is triggered by an power signal from the cigarette lighter located in the trunk.

I'm not a bass head but for some reason the stereo sounds much better, after adding a little bass, than it did before.

Best,
Kunal