what can I fit to connect my phone

[morpeth clan]

I have the RCD310 fitted, I have the multi function steering wheel with radio and phone buttons, but the phone buttons do nothing as the radio has no blue tooth,
I am used to having a car kit in my work van, so when I give this up I will be in the cali more and will need to connect my phone.
music is sorted as I have the media socket in the glove box, but blue tooth would be easier for Apple Music,
any suggestions for my easiest options ?
perhaps an after market unit with blue tooth ?
VW options if still available would be expensive ? I will check.
if I give VW the VIN number I wonder if they would tell me what is hidden away in case a phone kit was added as a factory option.
thanks in advance

 

[Hapless Hamburger]

Hi there,

I believe you can buy a Bluetooth module for the RCD310 - a Google search brought up a few examples at under £30.
Or replace for a 330 model which has the ApplePlay function?
Cheers

 

[bigmac77]

As @Hapless Hamburger says replace the 310 with a 330. You can straight swap an RCD330 in about 5 mins and they cost around £240. That would my preferred option as you get apple car play and a nice colour screen. The 310 is pretty basic.

 

[MattBW]

You may be able to enable the bluetooth via an OBD device if your radio has the buttons...

 

[MattBW]

Just had a look it may just be the 315 but you never know.

Another alternative to VCDS? (Vag401) Enabling bluetooth for free RNS 315

I've been reading the Carista thread with interest, and enabled the app with an existing ELM327 device I had. I now have auto locking doors which is awesome. However Carista still has some menus missing, namley the Coding one which allows access to media/BT etc. Research suggests I may have...

vwcaliforniaclub.com

RNS 315: Enable the hidden bluetooth carkit | Remko Weijnen's Blog (Remko's Blog)

www.remkoweijnen.nl

Tend to agree though the 330 is a great bit of kit as long as you dont want DAB.

 

[TripleBee]

The RCD 310 won't have the ability of just coding through the OBD as the hardware is not present. That is just a basic radio.
The steering wheel buttons are all the same (read: for full option), but will do nothing without the hardware.
IF it is possible for this unit, you could ask VW if there is a possibility for adding bluetooth hardware to connect to the RCD310, but I doubt it.
Best would be to install something like a Parrot, or have any kind of car audio unit with bluetooth possibility.
Pioneer, RCD 330, Kenwood, JVC, ... Chinese Android unit if you are really desperate.

 

[Hapless Hamburger]

The OP doesn‘t seem to give a duck?

 

[morpeth clan]

You may be able to enable the bluetooth via an OBD device if your radio has the buttons...

OBD device ?

 

[morpeth clan]

Busy week not had time to look at this much yet
My thoughts so far
Probably best to get parrot car kit £150ish
The blue tooth module would give music not phone am I correct
The 310 at least has the parking sensor display
We can use Apple Music on sites with a blue tooth speaker
While travelling we have the cd
The 330 does not have a cd slot from the pics I see
My main concern is my phone when the van becomes my full time vehicle
Shame the first buyer did not upgrade the radio at factory build
Otherwise perfect cali
Thanks for the help with this

 

[morpeth clan]

Hi there,

I believe you can buy a Bluetooth module for the RCD310 - a Google search brought up a few examples at under £30.
Or replace for a 330 model which has the ApplePlay function?
Cheers

These Bluetooth modules
Would it need coding by vw
Be happy for Apple music on the go

 

[MattBW]

OBD device ?

The first link above, is the device I used. Will depend if your 310 has built in BT already like mine did. It basically is a cheap way to code. VAG401 I think I had.

 

[morpeth clan]

In my radio menu
I have Bluetooth source on or off
And BT audio
So does it just need coding to turn on Bluetooth ?
That would just leave me to source a phone kit
Thanks

 

[Crispo]

We installed a 330 - absolutely superb, but missed dab so added a pure highway 400 (£45 on amazon). If only wanting phone/music Bluetooth, the Pure does all of that??!

 

[morpeth clan]

Will have a look

 

[morpeth clan]

We installed a 330 - absolutely superb, but missed dab so added a pure highway 400 (£45 on amazon). If only wanting phone/music Bluetooth, the Pure does all of that??!

I have just looked at it on line
Looks like it’s all I need
Apple Music and Bluetooth for phone
Did not even know about these
Cheers
If I can’t get the Bluetooth on my radio it’s one of these

 

[Mullaghroe]

My last Cali was fitted with a Parrot unit. Must admit it worked really well for phone and bluetooth music.

 

[lfm]

Resurrecting an older thread here but where is a good place to source an RCD330? eBay and Amazon seem to have Chinese versions (copies).

I’ve had a Parrot mki9200 for years now but the sound quality when streaming music is not great, plus it takes over all the volume controls when in use. The rcd330 looks like a fair upgrade.

 

[kurienp]

Resurrecting an older thread here but where is a good place to source an RCD330? eBay and Amazon seem to have Chinese versions (copies).

I’ve had a Parrot mki9200 for years now but the sound quality when streaming music is not great, plus it takes over all the volume controls when in use. The rcd330 looks like a fair upgrade.

Call up absolut5 -http://absolut5.co.uk/ and they will be able to advice you of best/alternate options. They know the van inside out and what will work best.


ABSOLUT5 AUDIO LIMITED
Unit 10, Mills Way Centre, Boscombe Down Business Park Amesbury, SP4 7AU
TEL: 01980 624740

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[MeltedGoldfish]

Depends on your budget and what you want.

I spoke to Absolut5 and they were great with some good head units on offer, but they were quoting around £800 for a decent CarPlay Kenwood head unit with various microphones and antennas fitted.

In the end I bought an RCD330 from travelinlite10 seller on eBay for around £240 last year. It is still a Chinese unit (removed from a new car in country to be replaced by a local one - I don’t believe they are copies...) but through a UK seller - which Absolut5 recommended.

Clearly not as good as something like a Kenwood, and had to compromise on not having DAB radio. But microphone is built in so it was a straightforward swap, and does the job for what I needed (just CarPlay).

For info, the parking sensor display works, but I don’t get the heater info come up when I change temperature (no issue for me) and it doesn’t connect to the MFD like the originally fitted one did. I don’t have the multi-function steering wheel, but assume that would work.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[lfm]

Thanks for the input, I was also trying to avoid an expensive upgrade but I think lack of RDS on the FM side might be too annoying for me. I have the more basic 2010 heater/aircon controls so that isn’t an issue.

Maybe I’ll replace the Parrot with something that has better streaming audio quality and doesn’t take over the volume/sound levels control. I think that is half the problem with the Parrot - small cheap amp inside and the older Bluetooth streaming standard.

 

[mountainman]

Blimey! That's all a bit technical for me. I've had my Cali SE for just 10 years now. I was disappointed it didn't have a BlueTooth connection for phone and music. However, the other day, while waiting for a dentist appointment, I started fiddling with the radio menu and like one of the posts above came across the BT on/off option in the setup menu. I thought great, after all this time I have discoverd it does have BT. Switched it on then......nothing :-(

So, do I need an RCD 330? or what would be the minimum to get phone and music? And what is entailed fitting these things?

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Blimey! That's all a bit technical for me. I've had my Cali SE for just 10 years now. I was disappointed it didn't have a BlueTooth connection for phone and music. However, the other day, while waiting for a dentist appointment, I started fiddling with the radio menu and like one of the posts above came across the BT on/off option in the setup menu. I thought great, after all this time I have discoverd it does have BT. Switched it on then......nothing :-(

So, do I need an RCD 330? or what would be the minimum to get phone and music? And what is entailed fitting these things?

View attachment 87991

You would also need to have the VW Bluetooth module fitted for it to work (sits under glove box casing & connector wire plugs into the stereo wiring loom.)

If you wanted to upgrade, you can buy a new aftermarket head unit as Bluetooth is now built into the headunit itself..you would then be able to make phonecalls through the stereo & use carplay etc. very easy to fit.

 

[mountainman]

Many thanks. I see we are talking about £275ish for this? a new say Kenwood head unit.

 

[andyinluton]

You need to go into settings on the MDF display & see if there is a an option to pair a phone there. There are two connections you need to make, one for Phone & a separate channel for media. They can be two separate phones or two connections to one phone.

 

[mountainman]

You need to go into settings on the MDF display & see if there is a an option to pair a phone there. There are two connections you need to make, one for Phone & a separate channel for media. They can be two separate phones or two connections to one phone.

When I switched on the Aux BT my phone doesn't pick up any BlueTooth signal at all. I'll have another look at the MDF display. Thanks.