iPhone 5 and MDI

[eddy_30]

Just thought i would share some experience on getting an iPhone 5 and the VW MDI working that i have been through

So, started out with a CD change in the armrest and my version A head unit in a 2007 Ed30.

Purchased an armrest MDI from Eddie-NL, all good, great service btw 

fair amount of fiddling to get the new loom all the way back to the armrest, needs to follow down the drivers side not the passenger side.. just opo out the CD changer with some stereo keys and its much easier.

pop the head unit out and attach the new loom, all connected...

Then the fun started....
bought a Lightning to 30 pin converter off amazon, iphone 5 would charge, but not be recognised as a MDI source.. damn... 

went back to the old iphone3GS, put some tunes on and it connected ok, oh well i though, at least i've got some noise, i can work it out later.
Went on a long drive and discovered the music quality was at best sh*te. high pitched background noise seemed to distort really early, even at low volume.

did some googling. Ah! there's a pin switch that can help if the original loom was set up for a CD not MDI, something to do with the AUX ground cable being swapped..
lets give that a go, popped the head-unit again, swapped pins 2 and 3 like it said, seemed to be ok sat no the driveway.. put it all back together, went for a drive.
Nuts, even worse..

did some more googling, found out if yu change the AUX input level to low/med/high it makes a difference about the MDI connection being pre-amped/artificial volume increase..
tried that, a bit better. still not very good tho..

popped the head-unit again, swapped the pins 2 and 3 back to where they were.
tried with the iphone 3gs, brilliant.. great sound, steering wheel control, the works...

now for the iphone 5...
bit the bullet and actually went to an apple store and purchased the official Apple Lightning to 30 pin adapter (to be honest that what i thought i bought off amazon) and gave it a whirl..
all working perfect..

so moral of the story.... first try the AUX input, then make sure you buy a decent cable converter, the cheaper ones might look like they work, mine charges power ok from and old charger cable, seemed to sync ok with the macbook/pc with the old usb cable, but doesn't do the audio out properly.

So they do work, might just need the tweak in the menu screen, but get a decent cable.

Now off to get the bluetooth retrofitted and all this has been a waste anyway.... 

[jamie_uk]

with the adaptor in and ur phone does the arm rest go al the way down or does it stick up a bit now ?

[skard]

Iphone5 + Lightning adapter = lid not fully closing, can live with it until a new interface comes out

[eddy_30]

i put the phone in the cup holder so i can see if it rings...

next time i go to the car i'll put it in the phone slot in the MDI console thing and let you know.

[eddy_30]

forgot to reply to this thread....

if i put the iphone in the arm rest receptacle with the 20cm adaptor attached, then the armrest does indeed close...