Disable horn when activating alarm?

[scottjay99]

When I lock my Eos, the horn emits a loud honk. Has anyone tried to disable the horn sounding when locking? Really, all I need is the quick flash of the lights to know it's locked. The honk is quite a bit louder and longer than other cars I've owned.

I've asked my dealer to take care of this when it goes in for it's first service next week. They say they are not sure if it can be done, but will try.

[gilesrulz]

I wouldn't take my car to be serviced at a dealer that didn't know how to do this.

If you have an Eos with a MFD (with a compass), you can do it yourself from the menu. The exact menu items are detailed in the manual.

If you don't have and MFD this is easily accomplished with their diagnostic tool.

[scottjay99]

Thanks Gilesrulz, I missed that in the manual the first time through. Problem solved.

[Small5]

this is good for when you're trying to sneak in late night and you dont want the misses to hear you lock your car.

[minnvw]

i agree scott, i thought same as you way too loud, i had a dealer switch it, now just the lights blink plenty to let you know its locked. doug

[just4fun]

Quote, originally posted by scottjay99 »

Thanks Gilesrulz, I missed that in the manual the first time through. Problem solved.

When you were in the setup menu did you notice if there were different intensity levels for the horn? Just wondering, because mine beeps, but it is a very soft beep, not loud or offensive at all.

Thanks

Kevin

[scottjay99]

I didn't see any different levels for how loud the horn sounded. Mine was pretty loud.../

[Shaka]

It can definitely be done. I did this myself to my wife's car with the use of a VAG-COM tool. Visit ross-tech.com for more info on that device.

Anyhow, there is a place that you can change the cars response to a lock or unlock. You have the option to have it blink the lights and honk the horn, or just do one, the other, or neither. This goes for both lock and unlock.

In the case of my wife's car, we have it never honk, and just blink the lights, for both lock and unlock. This feature of turning this on/off works for the Eos, the new Passat, the Mk5 VW... and frankly most recently cars too like the B6 Passat, the Mk4 VW, etc. Its been a function available for some time.

As for how to get to this function -- its in the long coding for the Mk5 and you can refer to THIS thead for more info, and a PDF for coding. Cheers!

[minnvw]

just4 that is the renault that has city horn , country horn, ha ha

[jnhashmi]

Using the diagnostic tool, can you also make it so all the doors and the trunk unlocks with one push of the unlock button?

[EosEnthusiastNB]

If you have the Multifunction display you can do all of these things in the convenience set up menu. It is detailed in the manual.

[PanEuropean]

...and, if you don't have a MFD (multi-function display), you can just ask your VW dealer to customize all sorts of things to your personal preference the next time you have the car in for service. Here are some links to posts in the Phaeton forum that explain the concepts involved (the actual technology will be different in the Eos, because it is a much newer product, but the concepts are the same).

Please be aware that there is a certain etiquette to follow when asking for software changes like this. If the car is already in the shop for pre-delivery inspection, or for some other service that requires the diagnostic scan tool to be connected (e.g. oil change), then it only takes the technician an extra 30 seconds to tweak the preferences. But, if you make a trip to the dealership for the sole purpose of getting preferences tweaked, that 30 second job now turns into a half-hour job - write the work order, bring the car in, hook it up, etc. etc. etc.

So, best karma is obtained when you ask for this kind of stuff to be done whilst the car is already in the shop for some other purpose.

Michael

Programming and Configuring the Phaeton After You Take Delivery
....(What your Phaeton service technician can do for you)
Turn off the seat belt warning message and chime (Dealers may not disable this feature in the United States)
Turn off the "Key in Ignition" warning chime (Dealers may not disable this feature in the United States)
Define preferences for door locking and unlocking behavior
Define preferences for daytime running lights (DRL) (Dealers may not disable this feature in Canada)
Turn off Tire Pressure Monitoring if you install snow tires without TPM sensors
Adjust rear Park Distance Control measurements to allow for presence of a bicycle rack or trailer hitch
Enable remote window operation (up or down) using the buttons on the Key Fob
Change the Language used on the Infotainment Display

Again, note that these are all Phaeton specific posts, but the concepts carry over to other VWs. Only the method of accomplishing the task will be different.

Confirmation of locking behaviour (beep, light flash, shotgun blast, etc.) is accomplished in the same manner as preferences for door locking and unlocking behavior.

Michael

[Shaka]

Michael,

FYI ... from what I have been told, the Touareg and Phaeton have a far more powerful and advanced MFA system. Controlling certain things such as DRL may be accessible in the Mk5/Eos MFA, but more complicated functions such as honking when locking may not be available in these "lesser" cars in the VW lineup. I've never heard of any way to turn on/off a honk/flash option in the MFA on a Mk5, but I do recall seeing that in my A8L Audi. Just thought i'd share..

Ari

[PanEuropean]

Hi Ari:

I'll bet you a latte that it's actually the other way around - because the Eos, Golf V and Jetta V vehicles are so much newer than the Phaeton and Touareg, they probably give the technician and owner far more choices than those two 'Turn of the Century' vehicles did. In addition, the Eos, Golf V and Jetta V vehicles all use long coding for controller configuration, which by itself presents the opportunity to have literally hundreds of different configurations per controller.

Plus - it's against the law for a vehicle to make a noise when you lock or unlock it in Germany, so, we know 'for sure' that it must be possible to turn the confirmation noise off.

Michael

[EosEnthusiastNB]

It is very possible to turn off the honk, I have done so...as well as setting my car up for 1 touch door and trunk unlock. All of this was done from the MFD options area, no need for VAG-COM or a visit to the dealer. Now I do have a 2.0T Lux package but I would bet the Sport Package has it too. For those without the MFD I would expect the only option would be VAG-COM or the dealer.

[Shaka]

Quote, originally posted by PanEuropean »

I'll bet you a latte that it's actually the other way around

..and you may very well be right. I just recall that the DRL option on my Touareg required VAG COM coding first before it was able to be shutoff. I also recall that once recoded, you could turn the DRL on/off thru the MFA. On the flip side, I am 99% sure when my wife got her Eos a few months ago we used the VAG COM to disable the DRLs, but hte option was never on the MFA.

Again some of this could also just be how the coding is. None the less, I do not drive the Eos daily, she does. So my driving it is limited to our trips around town on the weekend, and I spend more time enjoying the 2.0T than worrying about MFA features and the likes. So I'll pass on the latte, and just say you are probably right.

[lonerthx]

I have the honk enabled on locking, and one thing to be aware of is that there is another aspect to it sounding.

One time I locked the car and the horn didn't sound, I tried it 3 times and nothing, went back to the car, opened and closed the doors and tired again. Still no horn.

I then noticed that the trunk hadn't closed properly and was open enough that it couldn't close itself automatically. Pushing it down slightly caused it to lock and the horn sounded straight away.

[PanEuropean]

It's pretty easy to get used to looking for the 'light blink' as a confirmation of locking. The Golf I keep in Switzerland flashes the lights to confirm successful locking and arming of the alarm - I don't have much difficulty switching back and forth between listening for the chirp (from my Canadian VW) to watching for the flash (from my Swiss VW). It's just a matter of habit, nothing more.

The audible confirmation is useful in North America, where we spend a lot of time parking in huge shopping mall parking lots or in the driveways of our single family homes. In the rest of the world, there is a greater liklihood that an audible confirmation will be heard by others (in multi-family homes, or in the downtown areas of villages), hence the reason why the audible confirmation is either disabled by default or prohibited by law.

It's also interesting to note that the 'panic button' on the key fob is only provided in North America. This feature is unheard of on any car (from any manufacturer) outside of North America.

Michael

[mark_d_drake]

Quote, originally posted by PanEuropean »

It's also interesting to note that the 'panic button' on the key fob is only provided in North America. This feature is unheard of on any car (from any manufacturer) outside of North America. Michael

How the hell do Europeans find thier car in the Parking lot at EuroDisney without a Panic button. I always assumed this button was soley to prevent one from panicing when one is unable to find one's car in one of those huge parking lots....

[lonerthx]

I forgot to mention that in the case I outlined above the lights did in fact blink and the alarm indicator was flashing to show it was activated, but no horn sounded due to the trunk being open.