DIY: OEM Ipod dock to AUX-in swap

I've come up with a fairly simple way to turn your OEM ipod dock (which most people consider useless) into a standard Aux-in jack using the OEM parts and locations. The total cost should be <40 dollars for parts.
It fits right into the OEM placement, which all ipod armrests should have:

(not my picture)

NOTE: THIS WILL NOT WORK IF YOU HAVE A PREMIUM7 WITHOUT SILVER BUTTONS

If you have a Premium7, this mod will require a VAGCOM and some simple coding.
If you have an RCD510 or RNS510 retrofitted from a Premium7 (for instance, by following my previous DIY), you will need to remove the head unit and re-wire one of the connectors, but no re-coding should be necessary.

What you need:
OEM VW parts:
Aux socket - 5M0-035-724
Aux socket plug body - 8K0-973-754
Wire leads for aux socket plug ( need 2) - 000-979-009-EA
Ipod plug body - 6Q0-972-736
Ipod plug body wire leads ( need 2) - 000-979-123

Total cost should be around ~40 shipped from 1stvwparts.com or genuinevwaudiparts.com
Tools:
-Soft plastic trim removal tool
-Electrical/fabric tape
-T15 screwdriver
-Wire stripper/crimper
-Wire butt crimps OR soldering iron+solder



For Premium7:
-VAGCOM
For RCD/RNS510 retrofit:
-Un-bent paperclip to remove terminals

Building the harness
Start by collecting your OEM parts. Take the Aux socket and set it aside.
Take the Aux socket plug, 8K0-973-754, and stick the ends of the 2 aux socket plug leads, 000-979-009-EA, into the plug body (so the leads are looped). Press down on the locking part of the plug and cut the loops.



Mark the wires as such:



Now, take the ipod harness plug, 6Q0-972-736, and plug the ends of the wire leads, 000-979-123, into pins 7,9 and 10. These pins numbers are specified on the sides of the connector. When the leads are inserted, snap the locking mechanism into place, and cut the wire loops.
Mark the wires as follows:



Cut the ends of all of the wires to about 5" length from the plugs (so we dont have extra slack to rattle around) and strip the ends of the wires



Insert the matching ends into the crimps and crimp them with the wire stripper tool or pliers. Make sure the wires are firmly crunched into the crimps.



Your harness is done



However, I originally made my harness too long, so I cut the wires to the shorter size and ended up soldering them together, which gives a much cleaner harness



Then, I covered the harness in fabric tape for an OEM look and to minimize rattles, and it was ready to be installed.



Installing the harness
The center armrest cover must be removed. I swapped my ipod-style armrest, for a big-cubby one, so some of the steps are different for mine.

Remove the two screws holding in the rear cupholders:



Pull the cupholder out by rotating the top out of the armrest first



Now, the back plastic part of the armrest with the vents will come off



put your fingers (or a trim tool) in the gap and pull outwards and backwards until the plastic piece comes off





Remove the two screws on the back



Now, remove the ipod dock. You can do this by prying around the edges with the trim tool until the dock pops upward. After the dock is released, there will be a screw towards the front of the armrest that can now be accessed. On my armrest, this is what the screw looks like. It will be in the same place on the ipod armrest

To remove the armrest shell, extend the sliding armrest and pull up the handbrake



The armrest cover should lift off diagonally. I also found it was useful to slide the seats all the way backwards.



Armrest cover off. Yours will have a different vent.



Plug the harness into the old ipod connector



And pull the foam sheath over it



Pop out the blank plate on the front of the armrest from the inside by squeezing the tabs


(not my picture - thanks bubaski)

Thread the other end of the harness through the hole and plug it into the Aux socket. Don't snap the aux socket into the hole yet.



Fit the armrest cover back into place, and reassemble the armrest. You can put the ipod adapter back in, or you can leave it out to have a giant hole under your armrest.
If you want to replace the entire thing with the big cubby version like I have, see the end of the DIY



Snap the socket back into place, and youre ready to move to the next step

For Premium7
Load up VCDS and open 56-Radio
Go to long coding, and change the last digit of the radio coding from a "2" to a "1".
For example,
0010012 (last digit '2') is iPod/CD Changer
Would be changed to
0010011 (last digit '1' is Simple AUX)
Now you press CD, then CD again it will take you to "AUX IN EXT"
(Thanks ChouDawg!)

Now you should be set!

For RCD/RNS510
The aux inputs on the RCD and RNS are different from the Premium7, so if you havent messed with the wiring on the back of the head unit at all, now is the time. See more here.
Remove the headunit as per any of the available DIY's.

Once the headunit is removed, remove the blue plug from the quadlock connector. Slide the black 12-pin plug out of the blue housing.

You need to press on the circled white spot to release the pin from the plug. I held the plug in one hand, the wire in the other and the paper clip in my mouth and pulled the wires out. :iono:



Remove the wires in positions 1,3, and 7 and tape them up so they dont short on anything. In theory, these go to the old external sat tuner under the passenger seat.



Remove the wires in positions 8 and 9.They should be blue and grey. Put the blue wire into position 7 and the grey wire into position 1.
The black wire should stay in position 2.



Now reassemble everything, and enable aux-in in the setup menu, and it should work fine

The next step...

Now, if you're really ambitious, you can do what I did and replace your ipod armrest with the big-cubby armrest. Its slightly more difficult than installing the euro cupholder, but gives you a lot more space. The difficult part is swapping the AC duct, which requires removing the entire center part of the armrest:



-duct, 1K0 864 255 C
-armrest cover, 1K0 863 323 R 71N (versions M or R should work. Please let me know if you order either of these in order to confirm)
-rubber insert, 1K0 863 328 B 71N
-speed nut, N 906 987 03
-screw cover, 1K0 868 887 D 71N

PM me if you need more info

Thats all for now - special thanks to ChouDog, elbobbo, and hybridhondahatch

No replies?

I've been looking into this as well and even posted about this a few weeks back. I don't think you need the second ground wire, but otherwise this is exactly what I gathered. I'm retrofitting the AUX-IN as a completely new feature, since I don't have a CD changer or an IPod dock.

Nice write-up!! Well done. I like it.

4Motioner said:

I've been looking into this as well and even posted about this a few weeks back. I don't think you need the second ground wire, but otherwise this is exactly what I gathered. I'm retrofitting the AUX-IN as a completely new feature, since I don't have a CD changer or an IPod dock.

Click to expand...

For your situation, I would recommend splicing PN 000-051-444-M into the aux-plug part of the connector.

how much to do this for me?

ssunnylee24 said:

how much to do this for me?

Click to expand...

Order the parts, drive up and throw in a 6 pack of beer :thumbsup:

Alright!
I'm going to order parts soon.

siliconcenturion said:

No replies?

Click to expand...

As always a nice write up and exactly what I was looking for. Ordering parts this weekend. Thanks again.:thumbsup:

excellent write-up, going to try this soon.

Did anyone order the center console parts? I'm afraid I may have given the wrong part number for the armrest cover

Did this recently. Easy for me because my iPod cable was a dealer installed option. I just changed the pins on the radio going to the dock cable, and voila.

Your the man!