HOW TO: Passat B7 Rear View Camera Install

[vw norm]

It appears that interconnection cable is included in both kits, if it's the long coiled cable in both. It looks like it has the connection to the camera and the pinned end for the back of the RNS unit. Thanks for the confirmation.

You're right, my bad. For some reason I looked at the bottom of the page, not the thumbs under the camera pic. The harness looks to even have a pin installed on the red wire which appears to be for a mini fuse, and a ring lug on the brown ground. The other must be for the reverse signal.

[pbafire]

You're right, my bad. For some reason I looked at the bottom of the page, not the thumbs under the camera pic. The harness looks to even have a pin installed on the red wire which appears to be for a mini fuse, and a ring lug on the brown ground. The other must be for the reverse signal.

The pics wrong, mine did not come with the ring lug. But the rest is correct!

[jettsy]

Still got one left

[fingerofg0d]

The pics wrong, mine did not come with the ring lug. But the rest is correct!

I emailed boldsport yesterday and they replied late last night indicating that their item is a kit and includes both the RVC and interconnect cable. All you have to do is have vagcom to enable it after installing.

[fingerofg0d]

It sounds like from everyone that the $60 option here will work fine and it says it is similar to the OEM part number (not identical) so I just want to be sure it is the one that will work.

http://www.bold-sport.com/store/inde...&product_id=82

http://www.bold-sport.com/store/inde...product_id=144

[jettsy]

The 60 one will work. It has been confirmed to me by several people who have purchased it.

[pbafire]

It sounds like from everyone that the $60 option here will work fine and it says it is similar to the OEM part number (not identical) so I just want to be sure it is the one that will work.

http://www.bold-sport.com/store/inde...&product_id=82

http://www.bold-sport.com/store/inde...product_id=144

First link yes. (their video end in the pic is wrong, it is the blue four line farka) and that one includes the extra wires for wiring to +12, ground and -12. However you want to route, CECM or rear light tap.

That second pic does not have the camera black four pin (not farka... But the other 4pin that mates to the camera end.) Not without repair wire and that other connector.

I found out the hard way, I ordered both.

Get the top link. They picture and older coax video feed, but it is the same circle/4pin farka.

[pbafire]

The second one is more oem then still needs paired with a custom malooshack or other fabricated cable would work)

But why bother when the first is cheaper and has everything already!

[usarmy132]

I will order set from boldsport really soon (as soon my wifeapproves 300$ ) and in addition I will order all the recommend tools for trim and dash removal. So for the reverse wire in the trunk do you know which one that is? And next I just strip it and connect wire from a camera to it and cover with electrical tape? if that's a case I think I can do it. And how do I know which wire goes for fuse and which one for reverse light from the set provided from blodsport?

[pbafire]

I will order set from boldsport really soon (as soon my wifeapproves 300$ ) and in addition I will order all the recommend tools for trim and dash removal. So for the reverse wire in the trunk do you know which one that is? And next I just strip it and connect wire from a camera to it and cover with electrical tape? if that's a case I think I can do it. And how do I know which wire goes for fuse and which one for reverse light from the set provided from blodsport?

Can't help you there, went malooshack and CECM tap on the passat. Did the reverse light tap on the Tig. Really wish I did it that way on the Passatt.

Should be red to red (and fuse), brown to ground, blue to rear tap (I got blue instead of yellow for some reason). But it all checks good!

[vw norm]

The right backup lamp uses a blue/black wire and the left backup lamp uses a blue/violet wire. Grounds are brown. I did some reviewing of the trunk electrical wiring - I believe that the red/blue wire that feeds to the trunk lamp is hot at all times. This comes from the CECM, powers all the interior roof lamps, glove box lamp, and comes from either fuse F12, F29 or F30. When you open the trunk, the switch in the latch tells the CECM to connect the ground from the trunk lamp (brown/blue wire) to ground. The lamp lights since it already has 12V on one side of the bulb that is always on. This wire loom is on the right side behind the carpet. If that is the case, all of the connections needed for the low-line RVC power, reverse and ground are available on the right side of the trunk in the wiring harness that is there, including a factory ground stud on the back side of the wheel well. You just need to unwrap the loom and look for the right color wires. All the more reason to buy that right side hinge cover to run the wires in. Then you can run the video cable up the right side of the car. the left side is quite crowded, and I suspect the right side would be easier.

[usarmy132]

The right backup lamp uses a blue/black wire and the left backup lamp uses a blue/violet wire. Grounds are brown. I did some reviewing of the trunk electrical wiring - I believe that the red/blue wire that feeds to the trunk lamp is hot at all times. This comes from the CECM, powers all the interior roof lamps, glove box lamp, and comes from either fuse F12, F29 or F30. When you open the trunk, the switch in the latch tells the CECM to connect the ground from the trunk lamp (brown/blue wire) to ground. The lamp lights since it already has 12V on one side of the bulb that is always on. This wire loom is on the right side behind the carpet. If that is the case, all of the connections needed for the low-line RVC power, reverse and ground are available on the right side of the trunk in the wiring harness that is there, including a factory ground stud on the back side of the wheel well. You just need to unwrap the loom and look for the right color wires. All the more reason to buy that right side hinge cover to run the wires in. Then you can run the video cable up the right side of the car. the left side is quite crowded, and I suspect the right side would be easier.

Thank you great info. I will try it. Can you explain about factory grounding stud on the right back side. Not sure where that is. And stoped by dealer and they have no parts for right hinge cover. Part # I provided for 2013 model can not be ordered/found in the system yet.

[vw norm]

Remove the black fasteners that hold the carpet in place by 'unscrewing' the center portion with a T20 bit (it will back out) and once it is out about 1/2", simply pull the whole pin out of the hole. Don't push too hard as you're unscrewing it, or it will push back in. To reinstall, simply put the pin back into the hole and then push in the center portion with your thumb. Pull back the carpet and you should see the wiring loom running down the back side of the right wheel well and along the pinch weld on the left side by the urea tank filler. On the back side of the wheel well structure, you'll see a acorn head nut holding several brown wires down. This is the ground stud. All the OEM grounds throughout the car are studs welded to the structure, with an acorn head nut holding whatever wires are there down. There is one in the engine compartment on the right side near the coolant tank, and another behind the battery for the main ground. This will help you to familiarize yourself with what to look for. I got a 2012 hinge cover to match the left side from Keffer VW. The part# is listed in the trunk LED thread.

[markitzero]

I emailed boldsport yesterday and they replied late last night indicating that their item is a kit and includes both the RVC and interconnect cable. All you have to do is have vagcom to enable it after installing.

I ordered the kit from Bold Sport and it should be here next week. Hopefully I will be able to confirm this next weekend.

[usarmy132]

So connected vagcom cable. And I see different byte then the one listed. When I activated it and change gear to reverse my 510 unit gets black screen. Just order my camera today. Is that normal what I see?

[pbafire]

So connected vagcom cable. And I see different byte then the one listed. When I activated it and change gear to reverse my 510 unit gets black screen. Just order my camera today. Is that normal what I see?

Yes normal. Ross tech updates labels here an there, but that's the right byte/bit area.
What you are seeing means it is coded correctly then. It's just missing the video feed and power. Your VCDS work is done! ( I did that too on both my installs, did the camera handle swap out then VCDS before getting help with the wiring about a week later ...much easier with two sets of hands for those steps)!

[jettsy]

[markitzero]

Time to tear into her.

Big thumbs up for the bold sport. Ordered last Thursday night and in my hands early Monday afternoon.

[usarmy132]

Time to tear into her.

Big thumbs up for the bold sport. Ordered last Thursday night and in my hands early Monday afternoon.

I ordered last Friday. Hopefully some time this week. Will you install from a fuse or will try a trunk?

[Dieseldog12]

The camera i bought from Jetstsys showed up, looks great! Ordered up the cable (plus tpms switch for my 2010 jetta, boldsport had a killer price) everything should be here some time next week. Now I gotta find me some vcds!

[jettsy]

The camera i bought from Jetstsys showed up, looks great! Ordered up the cable (plus tpms switch for my 2010 jetta, boldsport had a killer price) everything should be here some time next week. Now I gotta find me some vcds!

enjoy

[Aleremb1]

Finally mine is in place....awesome. Image is great, even at night. Only thing bad is that I don't have the grid to guide me, as my system is a Kenwood. But love it.

[markitzero]

Just completed my RVC install. Ordered the Bold Sport kit about a week ago and got around to the install. Thanks for mpistone for the reference points and insight. I started at the trunk and went forward.

Trim comes off easy...


Loosening the metal plate on the back of the handle releases it....


I choose to ground in the trunk lid and the metal plate that secures the handle and camera worked great. I used a ring adapter and shrink wrapped it.


Installed. You can see the ring adapter on the left screw.


Zip tied the video, power and trigger to the existing harness.


I used a wire tap to get the 12v trigger from the backup bulb.


Now I just need to get the 12v power and video wire to the front of the car.


I cut a slit with a razor blade and pushed both wires through.


Ready to go up front.


Trim pulled. This required removing the backseat lower cushion which was just pulling up on the front and them working it forward. It was tight but a little pressure toward the back of the cushion released it.


Cushion out, trim off. Time to go forward.




Inevitability this is where in the project I stopped taking photos.

Basically it required removing the trim near the hood release. That was tricky as the dead pedal wanted to come with it and what I learned after some yanking on it is that the dead pedal is secured with a screw and will not come off without removing the trim where the hood release is and removing the screw. Once that is done it's just a matter of routing both wires up near the fuse box. I went the add-a-fuse route and taped into an unused fuse port. Like mpistone I wasn't really interested in removing the stock fuse box and used these add-a-fuse devices plenty in the past for radar detectors.



Next was removing the trim around the radio and climate control. I simply lifted from the bottom near the airbag light and carefully released the clips. I did not use a tool on this but rather just felt each clip release and carefully worked the trim off. Once it was off 4 screws held the radio in and removing those allowed me gain access and pull the video cable though, connect it, and reinstall radio and trim. It should be mentioned that I did not disconnect the battery and I did not get an airbag warning light for removing the trim and disconnecting the passenger airbag light.



Used my VAGCOM to enable the camera function and run codes.

A few things that I stumbled on...

1. After doing the VAGCOM and recoding you need to reboot the radio by holding down the two arrow keys and the eject button until it reboots. I missed that and wondered why it wasn't moving to the rear display function when put in reverse.

2. The wire tap in the trunk for the reverse trigger. I hand pressed this wire and due to the gauge of the stock wiring it didn't penetrate the jacket of the wire. Using a set of smaller pliers to press the connection more securely solved this problem. A zip tie around it and the wiring loom secured it.

Hope this helps. It was fairly easy all things considered although I have contorted my body that way in the better part of almost two decades and felt my age in doing so.

[BudPytko]

Nice work - The prob you had with the ground wire is why I SOLDER all connectors, then run the shrink wrap up and over the connector.... usually it's still hot enough to start the shrink process. Then I turn on the heat gun.

What was the final cost if you don't mind saying?

[markitzero]

Nice work - The prob you had with the ground wire is why I SOLDER all connectors, then run the shrink wrap up and over the connector.... usually it's still hot enough to start the shrink process. Then I turn on the heat gun.

What was the final cost if you don't mind saying?

I was really trying to minimize cutting factory wiring and that's why I used the wire tap. Agree that soldering is superior. The kit was $250 from boldsport with $25 in shipping and I spend about another $25 in other adapters, tape, zip ties, wire taps, and add-a-fuse. $300 complete. Granted, I already had the VAGCOM.

[BudPytko]

So this is the UPGRADE kit? I see that it's $99.00 now. Didn't realize you HAD to already have the
park assist installed to install this.....

[markitzero]

So this is the UPGRADE kit? I see that it's $99.00 now. Didn't realize you HAD to already have the
park assist installed to install this.....

this is the kit that i installed...

http://www.bold-sport.com/store/inde...product_id=165

[BudPytko]

Ahhhh...I didn't see that one on the site. Good deal...... Ill be watching your install and hope you add how it actually works for you. All I gotta do is talk Mama into it.....

[usarmy132]

Just installed my camera. Had to run ground wire all the way from a fuse box . Have air bag warning light on. So in order to remove air bag warning light I need to run auto-scan and clear history? Will it come back again after unconnected battery in the future? In addition I would like to say thank you to mpistone for original post, VW norm for providing additional info about colors for reverse light in the trunk, and jettsy for providing camera at great price.

[jettsy]

[Verebs1]

For those of you who have a camera, I still have 2 harnesses available.

[jbrattdi]

Great! Job very nice write up thank you very much .

[hhead]

Much thanks to the OP on this install! Clear and easy to follow instructions, made this a breeze.
For me, the hardest parts were getting the door and trunk trim panels off. Funny you mention the trunk as being the easiest. Four of the clips stayed in the trunk when I went to removed the panel. Trying to use pliers to remove them, two bent to hell and just wouldn't come out. Off to buy new clips!
For the CECM pin removal, I bent a staple in a u shape and it fit perfect for the holes. I also used Maloosheck's harness. Nice quality piece!
Again props to the OP for posting.

[pbafire]

Much thanks to the OP on this install! Clear and easy to follow instructions, made this a breeze.
For me, the hardest parts were getting the door and trunk trim panels off. Funny you mention the trunk as being the easiest. Four of the clips stayed in the trunk when I went to removed the panel. Trying to use pliers to remove them, two bent to hell and just wouldn't come out. Off to buy new clips!
For the CECM pin removal, I bent a staple in a u shape and it fit perfect for the holes. I also used Maloosheck's harness. Nice quality piece!
Again props to the OP for posting.

From doing both a passat and Tig ... Two different ways... CECM route is a PIA!! Reverse light tap, ground anywhere and back of radio or other +12 source is the way to go!

[harivas]

Today I ordered the Bold-Sport Kit for $199.99, yesterday was $249.99.