Droid friendly MDI cable now available

All Volkswagens with MDI ship with a iPod/iPhone cable, but there are some people like my girlfriend who refuse to see the light and stick to big red for unknown causes (family plan is her excuse) and while I hate AT&T with a passion just as every other iPhone owner  you cant deny the convience of pluging my iPhone into the MDI cable and having a wonderfull all in one device that does it all.

So for the rest of you folks there is a solution, now you can take that iPod cable and donate it to the salvation army or just burn it as a sign of hatred  to the Apple Gods.  If you need help unplugging that unnecessary iPod cable I show you how to replace it in this video. After that head over to your local VW dealer and ask for part # ooo-051-446-A   MDI to mini UBS cable and start to enjoy the wonderful experience us iPhone owners have had for the past 18 months!

P.S. Yes I am an Apple fan boy, Sue me!

Get a longer cable for your Media-IN connector

If you are like me and are frustrated by how short the Media-In (mdi) cable connector is here is a solution: you can buy a Apple approved extension from places like MyMacStore that connects  to the Media-in cable and gives you a 72″ extension, shorter cables are also available.

No iPod? No problem!

Media-IN (MDI) retrofit for 2010 cars without it is now available

So you drove your shiny new VW home only to realize that the car you picked out doesn’t have the cool Media in  MDI box they showed you back at the showroom?  not all cars come with is standard  so if the VW you wanted doesn’t have it here is how to get it.

first thing is to get the interface cable that makes it all work:

Part Number:   5N0-057-342

MEDIA-IN Retrofit Kit for RNS510, 315 and P8 Radios MSRP: $412 installed

This kit comes with all the necesary hardware and wires needed to complete the installation which should take your local VW dealer about 1.5 hours according to VW.  VW also notes that you will need the approiate cable to conenct your decide and that connecting an ipod to the USB port will not work (duh!) as an alternative the MDI cable can be installed without the box in a location of your liking

Here is a full list of available connectors:

000 051 446 A Mini-USB adapter.

000 051 446 B USB adapter (Standard with RNS510MDI in MY 2009).

000 051 446 C iPod (Standard with P8, RNS315, RNS510 equipped with MDI in MY 2010)adapter.

000 051 446 D Adapter for MEDIA-IN to 3.5 mm jack.

NOTE: please consult your owners manual and your local VW dealer before ordering anything to make sure it fits your car. This kit will not work on older radios such as the Premium VII or MFD2 nav. Professional  installation by a VW dealer is required to avoid having any issues with warranty work latter on.