Audi A3 2010 retro fit with cruise control?

[marcusiscool]

Hi guys, my first post, just wondering if anyone has gotten their Audi retro fit with cruise control, if so where did you get it done and how much was it?

Thanks guys.


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[kermac]

I retrofitted cruise control to my Mk 1 TT. Found a site online and bought the bits from a mob in the UK. You should find it with a search, if not I'll see it I can dig it up.

Turned out to be a surprisingly challenging installation, mainly because the instructions were less than clear and left out some crucial bits. But I got it done in the end and of course it's a Godsend on Australia's nanny-state roads

[marcusiscool]

How much was the total cost, and well I found the parts, but I'm not sure if its a plug and play type install, or how it goes about? Thanks

[kermac]

How much was the total cost, and well I found the parts, but I'm not sure if its a plug and play type install, or how it goes about? Thanks

It was somewhere around $100 I believe, shipped. However I didn't buy the control stalk because I already had one off a previous car which had gone a bit funny but just needed a good clean up and a light sanding of the contacts. So with the stalk it should still be less than $200.

Definitely not plug and play! First you've got to remember (it's in the instructions but not overly clear) that every connector has a purple (more like puce really) plastic locking device which has to be shunted aside in order to press out the pins. I didn't pick this up at first and had a hell of a time trying to remove them.

Then the business of joining up the inside connector through the bulkhead to the outside one was a lot of fun. I wound up cutting/sawing part of the black plastic framework for the connectors (this is on a TT - A3 could be different) to make a hole large enough to get the inside connector through and mounted in the framework. Not elegant but it works, and doesn't seem to affect the strength of the plastic frame.

But the best part of all was adding extra pins to the connectors into the ecu. You may not have to do this as it doesn't apply to all cars. If you do, here's a couple of tips. The connectors do have a couple of pin numbers on them, but they are really really tiny and located at either end of the rows of pins and once you've spotted them you'll need to count back down the row with a small marker pen to mark the space you're after. My eyesight ain't too good any more and I was JUST able to make out the numbers with my strongest reading glasses, a large magnifying glass and the brightest light I could find. But THEN - when you've located the positions the new pins have to be shoved into, you may discover there's already a blank pin in the spot. I have no idea what it's for other than to make life difficult but it sure succeeds in that regard! The pins are not designed to be removed and I had to use excessive force to push them out from the back but luckily didn't break anything.

The ONLY good part of the whole process was after I'd finished I took the car for a drive and found to my great surprise the c/control actually worked. I'd read all the posts I could find on this process and a recurring theme was that blokes who had gone through the above very difficult process couldn't get the thing to work and it took a lot of time and re-fitting contacts to get the c/c happening.

It was worth it in the end, but it took me the better part of a weekend and after it was all over I emailed the vendor and in a spirit of improving the world suggested how the installation instructions could be improved in places so others didn't make the same mistakes as me (it actually came with two sets of instructions which appeared to be for different cars and were frequently self-contradictory). Needless to say, I didn't hear back...

My advice would be that unless you're pretty handy with car electrics, you either take it to a professional (who might charge several hundred if he hasn't done one of these before) or find a mate who knows his way around wiring circuits. It's one of the hardest and most frustrating jobs I've ever undertaken. But others might think it's a breeze.

Hope that helps

[kermac]

And a couple more tips: You'll need a pin removal tool (best to get a couple - mine didn't work that well. I'd have been better off with a tool with two FLAT prongs rather than round thin ones. And a really tiny one MIGHT have worked on the ecu pins). And you may be lucky with your 2010 model and find the wiper arms come off the driving spindles fairly easily. On my 2001 model, I'd have been stuffed without a wiper arm removal tool (both are available on eBay). They were so firmly corroded on I had to use a shifting spanner on the handle of the tool to get sufficient leverage.

Let me know if you need any further help

[kermac]

The only other tip would be to call your Audi dealer and see if he will retro-fit a c/control for you. I believe there may be factory Audi kits, which may be the only one he's prepared to fit since dealers don't like parts that aren't "official" and covered by warranty. If he is prepared to do the job, he should be able to quote in advance

[marcusiscool]

The only other tip would be to call your Audi dealer and see if he will retro-fit a c/control for you. I believe there may be factory Audi kits, which may be the only one he's prepared to fit since dealers don't like parts that aren't "official" and covered by warranty. If he is prepared to do the job, he should be able to quote in advance

Yeah I was planning on calling the dealership anyway. Thanks for the tip.


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