PDC retrofit an easy job

Havank

Member
After I have fitted the armrest was it time to fit the PDC,

Had seen some retrofits on the German Forum, so i thought - why not



The Cobra set is the official aftermark VW solution, so you cannot go wrong

Bought the Cobra PDC from ebay and had a few hours spare on saterday (between cleaning the garden and the wife getting ready for the bbq) so out came the tools (not many tools are needed) and off I went

Bought the spray from Audi (Gbp11) which comes with the colour spray and clear spray



When spraying the PDC just leave them in their transport box, this makes the spraying easy, BUT do not forget to insert the plastic rings, this stops paint getting into the groove.

 
And this is what they look after being painted



So that is done first, so they can dry

Now its off outside and getting the cars kit off, i mean getting the inside upholstery out,

And no we do not need to remove the bumper



First the back upholstery (plastic) only three screws - easy

secondly the black piece of plastic on the top of the bumper on the ouside, this simpy lifts up with a big flat screwdriver, or like me just with your fingers real easy, this gives you ample access to the inside of the bumper to do all the work
 
Unfortunately more trimwork has to go from the inside to get better access to do the wire run, so out come the luggage hooks (just lift the plastic CAREFULLY) en then a bolt comes to light (take out both lugage hooks on the right side (that is if you look at it from behind)

then you can take out the left side upholstery (remember there is still one screw left to take out where the tonou cover goes!!!!)



O yeah you also have to take out the cover for the subfloor, this simply unclips with the bare hands or with a large flat screwdriver

Here you can see the interior trim ready for take-out



Now the trim is removed we can see and have good acces to the arch well to get the cables though


If you go with your hand just below the rear light you will feel a small hole, this most be the hole used to let the air out of the trunk if you close the trunk not to pop your ears, the hole is covert with a small plastic membrame

but it gives direct access to the inside of the bumber and can be used to pull the cables through

 
That is one side of the coat hanger, and here the other side


Then you connect all the cables STAGGERED as not to make a big blob on the coat hanger and very slowely pull them through

I did first one as a tester, but you can do them all four in one go


and here they are all through
 
NOW the scary scary part drilling holes in the bumper - actually its really simply

tools needed, one hole saw of 20mm and a step drill because 20mm is just not big enough - needed is 21 mm

so what to do, define the centre of the bumper (you can use the lock and the rubber of the booth to do this)


all the holes are dead 400mm centre on part from each other (at least so it is in the original version - so i copied that

the holes are centred on the strip and i covered them with masking tape to make the marking and drilling easy, then drill with the 20mm hole saw, EASY does it, then make them a tad bigger with the step drill (JUST A TAD) and then bob is your uncle,

pull the wires through the holes - yes the numbers are important you go from one to four in order



Then put the connecter on the sensor, make sure you do the rubber on it!! and pop them in make sure the little dot is on the top!!!!!!!!, and yes you have to PUSH HARD - so they won't fall out



So from the outside we are done, no back to the inside of the car
 
back to the light -

take off the connecter and find the rear reversin light wire well this is the one on the right looking from insde out (or the blue and brown one - if i recall correctly

on this you connect the red wire of the pdc and the earh i connected on the bolt of the rear light unit


I used a cable clip to connect the red one to the reversing wire



Now we need to find a place for the PDC and ohhh yes next to the battery is the perfect place - as if it was made for it



I put the buzzer behind the cover of the rear light, and there it is loud enough to be heard, and well covered not to be seen!!

so all done, now the setting up part,

Before putting everything back in its place its time to set it up.

the instructions say to get the car close to the wall of 500mm well i had an old matras laying arround so used that. Put it behind the car at a distance of 500 mm then put the car in reverse (NOT DRIVING0 and let the electronics do its work, wait till the beeper goes beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep all the time (about 100 sec - and yes its ear defening) and your system is set up

NOW the part i forgot and it did my head in, WHY DID it not work, because after you finished with setting it all up you have to clip a little blue wire to ensure it is ready for use - this part is very very very very badly discripped in the instructions



but after you have clipped that wire it is working PERFECT and you have fitted yourself a good working PDC

YAHOOO - I am happy

SO IS IT DIFFICULT

NO!!!!

everybody can do it, no skills needed other then to be able to hold a drill and have the nerv to drill holes in your bumper and taking the most of the interior trim appart. other then that easy


I hope this instruction is helpfull

Oh forgot to tell you the PDC was Gbp 48.99

And you cannot tell the difference between original and aftermark, colour match is perfect
 
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Hi Havank.

Thanks for guide. If I get the time I'll turn it into a fitting guide for the site. Note that one thing I did notice when I saw Mike's retrofit is that the factory-fit PDC has the sensors recessed into the bumper so that the sensors sit flush to the bumper. I wonder if it's possible to get this bumper?

Ben
 
I ll be doing this some time soon i have a bumper with holes cut and 2 sensors in (bought from skipton01) also have buzzer. Been looking on ebay and breakers but not come across the original module. Im sure £50 is going to be less than 2 sensors and the module.
 
wel that can be arranged, and yes, it is a anxious moment, when you take the drill to your bumper, but I knew it would be fine :eek: :eek:

but it if you don't feel convident in doing so - let somebody else do it:D
 
Really good job there Havank, this was something I was thinking of doing myself, and now there is a guide for it, it's 100% in the pipeline. :D
 
The cut-outs for the sensors are actually marked on the inside of all bumpers, whether fitted with PDC or not.

The way to get flush mounted sensors is to use the original factory ones and the fitting kit for the old A6 (4B), which attach from the inside.

This does involve removing the bumper but it's horses for courses!

Aslo, the factory version is the only way of getting diagnostic-capable PDC, as it hooks into the CAN bus.

This way, you can troubleshoot the system (find out exactly which sensors are working, or not as the case may be), alter sensitivity, change the beep tone and loudness etc.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Hi Havank

Just wanted to say 'thank you' for this excellent write up....had I not read this I would have removed the bumper to fit my PDC kit (the same Cobra kit you bought). Few points I learned along the way:

# Had Halfords mix the spray can in their store....the match was awful, had to return it & buy a can from Audi - spot on match, and only slightly more expensive.
# On my car I found a rubber grommet, dead centre, about 6 inches down from the boot lock...so I didn't need to remove the extra bits of side trim...phew.
# I also squeezed all the electrics behind the removable panel for the rear light cluster...no visible wires of any kind unless you remove the access panel next to the first aid kit.

Thanks once again.
 
Don't know if Havank checks in here now - as I own his A2! PDC still functioning well and the cars on 65k. It will be staying for quite some time.

Given my recent trips through all the roadworks on the M6 I think cruise control is next
 
Having failed dismally to remove the bumper and now having found this thread, I think I will follow this route of attaching PDC rather than the "full bumper removal" route. Thanks to Havank for originally posting this although I gather he may no longer be following this forum.
 
ok...just realised that the reversing light wire is the furthest to the LEFT looking out from the boot, so in other words it's the wire furthest from the Left wing and nearest to the centre of the car.
 
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pity the picture don't work :( but good job Havank
I also am going to install a Sensor system for my a2

thanks for posting
 
Shame the pictures are missing, I've got some to fit when the weather is better. (A picture is worth a thousand words)
 
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