VW Golf Handsfree Install

Overview:
With a new law being passed November 2004 which makes it illegal to talk on a mobile phone whilst driving unless a handsfree kit is install I wanted to find the best solution for my VW Golf Mk4.

The Phone :
First I had to choose a phone that would last me since most car kits are expensive and specific to the phone. I chose the Sony Ericsson T610, mainly because of it's bluetooth capabilities.

The Handsfree Car Kit:
I looked at many websites offering a complete kit including installation for between £250 and £300. However most of these only included a glass mount antenna. I wanted to use a three-in-one antenna (GPS, GSM, FM) replacing the current FM antenna on the roof. After calling a few installers none seemed to think the T610 could be connected to an external antenna, I knew for a fact that it could because I had spoken to Sony Ericsson support about it. This put me off paying a company to install the kit for me and decided to do it myself.

I bought the following kit from Freedom Mobiles:

Ericsson Original HCA-20 Handsfree Carkit
Ericsson Original HCC-20 system cable for T68 & P800 carkit
Ericsson Original HCH-33 Car Holder for T610
Ericsson Original HCE-12 Antenna Adaptor Cable for car holder
Ericsson Original HCE-16 Advanced Music Mute

I ordered a ProClip from Handnav to attach the Ericsson holder to the centre console:

ProClip-652808

I decided to buy the above items and would buy an external antenna at a later date as I wanted to get the system up and running as quickly as possible.

The Handsfree Install:
Next came the task of installing the above components which left with many questions. I posted to some newsgroups and forums to get help.

Microphone Position
I mounted the microphone on the top of the pilar next to drivers window. The microphone has velcro on the other side and sticks well. The cable can be easily fed down the pilar and into the dash. I used a thick piece of copper wire to tape the end of the cable to and pull through to the centre centre of the dash.

Control Box
I mounted the control box under the ash tray, it fits but it is tight. I was thinking about mounting it further back on top of another metallic box but after finding out that it is the airbag control unit I thought it was best to keep away from. I used the information in the Haynes manual to remove the central trim. To access the area beneith the ash tray it is necessary to take the armrest off, unscrew the plastic surrounding the handbrake, move it back slightly and this allow you to unscrew the main bottom part of the centre console relatively easily. If you are careful and do this slowly you shouldn't break anything. However I can not stress being careful enough, the plastic clips are very britle and if too much force is applied they will break easily.

To connect power to the control box I used a small ISO extender (on the cables going to the radio) which I cut into and attached terminal blocks to the power wires. Be sure to get the ignition and live wires the right way round, I made doubly sure with a circuit tester as you can never rely on the colour of the wires.

I used the advanced music mute cable to connect the control box between the speakers and the radio, another wire also goes directly to the radio telling it when to mute. The number of wires soon builds up, be careful not to let any get too close to the climate control / airflow controller as there are unprotected cogs which the wires could get caught up in. I recommend taping them down.

Holder
I attached the holder to the proclip by drilling small holes in the proclip and used the screws provided. The proclip was easy to clip into the centre console (mounted just to the left of the radio), the result is very good. The cables run neatly down and disapear behind the centre console.

I am pleased with the result and the kit works well.

The Antenna
I had to do a lot of research to find distributors of three-in-one antennas. These type of antennas replace the existing antenna on the roof of the car and replace it with one that is suitable for GPS, GSM and FM. Seperate cables come from the antenna for each type of signal. In fact I ordered one from Nemesis GB and after a couple of months of it being on order I decided it was not acceptable to wait any longer and cancelled it. I then found a company called TDC and I was in contact with a helpful person called David Taylor. I wanted to connect the GPS cable to a Socket Bluetooth GPS receiver which I use for Satellite Navigation on my IPAQ. We went through what cables I would require and after a lot of thought I ordered the following:

1 X 602 338 001 GPS918 GPS/GSM/AM/FM Antenna
1 X 823 391 001 VW adaptor cable
1 X 823 122 017 GSM extn cable 4 metre 
1 X 823 915 005 GPS extn cable 5 metre
1 X CA-FP-FP FME-FME adaptor

After another month of waiting I received the package but unfortuantely had been sent the wrong antenna, it took another week to get this sorted. It was all becoming a bit too much hassle.

It turned out I didn't require the FME-FME adaptor. I did however require a power wire to connect the antenna to the positive. I found suitable wire available at Halfords.

So on the 3rd April I attempted to install the Antenna. I was able to carefully pull down the headlining to gain access to the existing antenna. The rear side panels also detached with a bit of leverage and unscrewing some of the lower trim in the boot. I planned to run the GSM and GPS cables down the left pilar and along the bottom of the rear and front doors to behind the glove box. The VW adaptor cable was meant to connect the antenna to the existing FM cable running to the radio which I found actually runs along the roof and down the front right pilar.

Unfortuantely the adaptor did not seem to be correct, the end of the adaptor (3) which was to connect to the existing FM cable (2) had exactly the same female type of connector and so obvisouly would not connect together. I have contacted David Taylor at TDC regarding this and he has contacted the supplier. As far as they are concerned it is the correct adaptor but as you can see from the photos it is clearly not. I am now at a dead end, if anyone has any idea what the connector (1) I need is called please let me know!

(1) Connector from existing VW Antenna	(2) Connector from VW FM Antenna cable

(3) VW Adaptor to connect to exisitng FM Antenna cable (same as 2)

Underside of roof above headlining. The bolt in the cut out area is the bottom of the existing antenna.