A guide as titled. Also available to download as a word document, I'll attach it tonight.

This guide is for installing Remote Central Locking in a Polo 9N with only original VAG parts, no 3rd party rubbish, by StringsOnFire. Thanks go to Greid on the ClubPolo forum for guiding me through the process.

Introduction
After a lot of research, I still couldn’t find a decent Remote Central Locking kit for my car, a 9N Polo 04. I’d seen flip keys before, and decided on getting one if I could, to save pocket space (and they’re cool, dah). The problem is all of the Remote Central Locking kits are cheap, and so are the fobs. Not cool. So I posted on ClubPolo.co.uk about OEM Remote Central Locking, and the day I was about to give up after no luck at the dealers, Greid responded and has since put up with all my questions, having already done the upgrade himself. So this is me giving back to the Polo community. Hope it helps!

Requirements
• Car
o This works on a Volkswagen Polo 9N, 02 - 05. It may work on a 9N3, but I can’t confirm it. If you’re interested, check part numbers and see if they’re the same.
• VCDS-Lite (I paid £13 on eBay)
o Diagnostic Software by Ross-Tech, successor of VAG-COM
o You need a FULL license to make changes (Google is your friend)
o You’ll need a K-Line Diagnostics Cable. Search eBay for ‘VAG-COM’
• VagTacho (I paid £23.50 on eBay)
o This does things VCDS-Lite can’t, such as getting the immobiliser PIN
o Get the cable on eBay (it’s not the same as the VAG-COM cable)
o Versions 2.5 and 3.01 are both fine, but I recommend 3.01, which works for a few more cars and has a better driver (no COM emulation)
• Remote Central Locking ECU (I paid £25 on eBay)
o Part #6Q0 959 433 E
o Mine was used from a Skoda Fabia
• 3-Button Flip Blade Remote (I paid £20 on eBay)
o FOB and flip blade mechanism. Easier to buy as one
o Part #1JO 959 753 DA (MUST be ‘DA’ model to work with the ECU!)
• Transponder for the new key fob (Mine came with the FOB)
o Part AKTP2 on Hickleys.com for £3.50 + VAT
• Key blade for VW Flip key (I paid £6.50)
o Copied from your current key
o Go to www.carkeyhelp.co.uk to have it cut online via digital photo
• Money
o Enough for the above. I paid £88 in total, but only because I’m a Polo noob and had no VAG-COM and VagTacho, and because I’m impatient and didn’t want to wait for a cheap listing on eBay. Greid did the lot for £40. Shop around!

Method
1. Assemble your key fob. I can’t help you much with this; I ordered mine used on eBay, with a new transponder fitted already and the retention pin out awaiting the new key blade, which I then fitted.

2. Make sure VCDS-Lite and VagTacho are both working.

3. Let’s get VagTacho out the way. Plug in to the car and open the application. Use it to retrieve your 4 digit PIN. Select VDO New as the ECU. Add a 0 to the front of it, and you have your immobiliser login. Write it down and unplug.

4. Now lets get the key working with the car. Plug in with VCDS-Lite. These are for the most part the instructions found on the Ross-Tech website, so credit goes there. This process is for matching a key with Immobiliser III in the Instrument Cluster:

1) Measure the car's battery voltage, it must be 12.5 V or higher

2) You can check to make sure a key has the correct transponder in it by: [select] 
[17 - Instruments]
[Meas. Blocks - 08]
Group 022
[Go!]
The value in field 3 must be 1. If value is not 1, the key is not capable of being adapted to Immobilizer. You can check each key in this manner

3) [select] 
[17 - Instruments]
[Meas. Blocks - 08]
Group 024
[Go!]
Any numbers displayed in fields 1-4 represent the time in minutes that must be counted down before the Immobilizer is unlocked. If the fields are all zero, skip to step 5. If the Immobilizer is locked:
[Done, Go Back]
[Close Controller, Go Back - 06]
Do not switch off the ignition! Allow the car to sit for AT LEAST the number of minutes that were indicated by the display in Group 024


4) [select] 
[17 - Instruments]
[Meas. Blocks - 08]
Group 024
[Go!]
Make sure all fields are zero
[Done, Go Back]


5) [Login - 11]
Enter the 5-digit PIN
[OK]


6) VCDS-Lite will validate the data you have entered and return you to the Login screen, where the Login Code will show as "XXXXX".
[Do It!]


7) [Adaptation - 10] 
Enter 21 in "Channel Number"
[Read]
The "Stored Value" is the number of keys currently matched. Enter "new value" of 0
[save].This clears out the old key-matchings. Enter a "new value" corresponding to the total number of keys to be matched, including any existing keys
[save]


8) [Done, Go Back]
[Close Controller, Go Back - 06]
Switch ignition off and remove key

9) Insert the next key to ignition and switch ignition on again. The Immobilizer warning light will light up for about 2 seconds, then go out. Switch ignition off and remove key

10) Repeat step 9 with each key until all keys have been matched

5. You can now drive with your new key. Immobilizer sorted. Now go back into VCDS-Lite, locate and connect to the ECU and write down the ‘Soft Coding’. Unplug from the car.

6. Now unplug your battery, remove your old central locking ECU and replace it with the, erm, replacement. You’ll find it above the driver’s footwell, near the brake pedal. Reconnect your battery.

7. Connect to the central locking ECU with VCDS-Lite. Click "Recode - 07" and enter the soft coding from the old ECU. Now it will work with your car.

8. Click "Adaptation - 10" to change the locking settings, such as auto-lock/unlock and indicator flashing. Exit and unplug.

9. Now time to program the remote.

a. With driver's window down and all doors closed, put the old key in the ignition and turn the electrics on.
b. Lock the driver’s door from the outside with the fob key.
c. Press unlock on the remote, wait a couple of seconds and press it again

Congrats! You now have full VW central locking, not a third party in sight!

Installing_OEM_Remote_Central_Locking_In_A_VW_Polo_9N_02___05.pdf

http://www.numcat.ru/volkswagen/

http://translate.google.com/

Are you sick of not being able to see where you're going at night whilst 4x4s dazzle you off the road?!!

Are gloomy lights affecting your sex life?!!*

If so - FEAR NOT - for this FAQ will help you solve all those gloomy light woes!!

There are 3 stages to gaining more light from those tired old lamps...

1) Cleaning the headlights.

2) Fitting good quality bulbs.

3) Uprating the wiring.

So, where better to start than the beginning...

1) CLEANING THE HEADLIGHTS

If you've never cleaned the outside of your headlights, then your 10-15 year old lenses are probably opaque by now - so give your car a well deserved wash and give those headlights a really good scrub.

However - we're not just talking about cleaning the outside of your lights - we're talking about the INSIDES too!!

You wouldn't think it - but the insides of your headlamps will be quite dirty if they've never been cleaned or replaced. Cleaning them inside will not only improve the projection of light onto the road - but will improve your cars looks considerably!!

The Procedure...

For best results - pick a time when you won't need to use the car for at least 24 hours.

FOR EACH HEADLAMP...

1) Remove the bulbs, including sidelights from the headlamp.

2) Remove the headlamp from the car, as per Haynes instructions.

3) Dilute a small amount of washing up liquid in a jug with some warm water and pour into the back of the headlamp where the bulb goes.

4) Fill the headlamp about half way with warm water and swill it around for a minute or two. DON'T DROP IT!!

5) Pour the water out and repeat with clean water a few times until all the washing up liquid has gone.

6) Leave to dry thoroughly in a warm, dry place - preferably overnight.

7) If you're happy with the results, refit the headlamps to your car.

8) Stand back and admire!! {332}

TIPS:

I found the bathtub was the best place to carry out the cleaning, using the shower to rinse out the headlamp, and also the outside of the reflector. The bathtub is also more forgiving if you drop the headlamp than the kitchen floor!!

Don't be tempted to use any scrubbing tools whilst cleaning the headlamps. The reflector coating is very delicate, and you may find some of it comes loose in the cleaning process anyway. You have been warned!!

Warm water and a small amount of washing up liquid will do - not scoulding hot water with a mass of foam!! Also, if you live in a hard water area - then your 'clean' water may leave marks as it dries.

2) FITTING GOOD QUALITY BULBS

Bulb technology is improving all the time (so the manufacturers tell us) and there is a huge range of aftermarket bulbs available to buy.

There are no right or wrong bulbs, so do your homework and find out which bulbs are right for you. The correct fitment for the Mk3 is H4.

I'm using Philips Vision Plus bulbs which claim to be 50% brighter than ordinary bulbs. These cost about £15 for a pair on eBay. Halfrauds will try to charge £20 EACH - so beware how much you are paying.

Don't neglect those sidelight bulbs tho, especially if you're after that xenon look. The correct fitting for these is 233.

I got some Philips Bluevision sidelight bulbs for a remarkable £2 from eBay - tho that was a bit of a fluke admittedly!!

A couple of good sites for bulbs (other than ebay) are http://www.autobulbsdirect.co.uk and http://www.powerbulbs.co.uk

TIPS:

NEVER EVER EVER touch the glass when fitting halogen bulbs. The grease from your fingers will cause the bulb to overheat and fail prematurely.

If you do accidentally touch them - you will need to use a solvent such as acetone or ethanol to remove all traces of grease.

Sidelights are fine, but if you fit them with a clean rag between your fingers then it'll keep them nice and clean.

3) UPRATING THE WIRING

If you're still not satisfied with the amount of light coming from your headlamps, then you could consider uprating the wiring to provide a bit more power.

So if you who know what you're doing when it comes to vehicle wiring and fancy having a go, read on...

The Procedure...

Now, the following guide is by no means prescriptive, and you may choose to do some things differently. I'm just telling you what I did, and I can't take any responsibility if you screw it up!!

To do things the way I have - you will need...

4 x 30 Amp SPDT 12V Automotive Relay (Maplin Code: N00AW)

2 x Waterproof In-Line Fuseholder (Maplin Code: DR82D)

2 x 15A Fuses

WIRE - nice and thick - must be rated higher than 15A!!!

An assortment of crimp fittings and crimper

Let's take a quick look at the end result first - so we can see what we're aiming for...

As you can see, starting from the positive terminal of the battery, we have a red wire and a green wire running down to two pairs of relays mounted at the front of the engine bay. The existing earth wires are good enough so there is no need to uprate those.

Here I have used two wires and four relays for an extra factor of safety, but this is probably a bit OTT when 2 relays will work just as well (unless you're running extremely high power bulbs).

The bulk of the new loom can be assembled off the car - so, ensuring you have a bit to spare, cut the wires to length and take them inside.

Here is a picture of the part assembled loom...

As you can see, starting from the middle, we have the red and green wire connected to an eyelet ready to be fixed to the battery connector.

Spiralling out about 6 inches, you can see the 2 fuseholders, one for each wire. These should be as close to the battery as reasonably possible to prevent the likelihood of short circuits. Again, if you want to save a few quid then miss these out altogether, but if one of your wires shorts circuits against something, then you will end up with melted wiring at the least, and perhaps an engine fire at the worst!!

Finally, at the ends of the wires, you can see the relays.

I started by soldering everything to minimise the voltage drop - but this is an unnecessary step as it's hard to replicate the shitness of the original setup and it would undoubtedly be easier to replace a relay if they were just connected with spade connectors.

Let's now take a look at one of the pairs of relays once installed in the car...

Hmmm - spaghetti!! What have we got here then...

1 - Dipped beam relay

2 - Main beam relay

A - Dipped beam feed (+ve)

B - Main beam feed (+ve)

C - Original common earth (-ve)

D - Main feed from battery (+ve)

E - Original dipped beam feed (+ve)

F - Relay 1 earth (-ve)

G - Original main beam feed (+ve)

H - Relay 2 earth (-ve)

As you can see, the original main and dipped beam feeds have now become triggers to tell the relay when to switch on and off. New wires, A and B, run from the relay output into the original headlamp connector block.

The H4 terminals are an odd size (8mm), so unless you have any of these, you will need to salvage the old ones. You can release the individual connectors from the block by poking a small screwdriver down the side and releasing the catch.

Do this for the main and dipped wires and cut the connectors off. Remove any remaining insulation and solder the new leads onto the connector. Give the lead a good tug to make sure it's a good joint before pushing back into the block.

The only other thing to do is give the relays themselves an earth. In this case I have made a couple of short leads with eyelets one end, which are screwed through with self tapping screws into the bodywork.

That's about it really!! You just need to test it works - and admire!!

*Performing these tasks may not improve your sex life.

What are HID's?

The best way to describe an HID headlight is to compare it to a more conventional halogen headlight. A halogen bulb consists of a wire filament surrounded by an inert gas. When electrical current is applied to the filament, it glows brightly to produce light. Contrast that with an HID bulb which has no filament, but instead consists of xenon gas, mercury, and metal halide salts. The xenon gas is ignited by an arc of high-voltage current (in the region of 23kV) and the burn is sustained by a constant voltage which is supplied by a ballast.

A standard filament bulb requires a lot of energy to produce light (55W/60W) a HID burner does not require the same, HID ballast in kits come in 35W and 55W formats, as HID's use there power more efficiently 35W is more than enough for on-road use. Most kits sold as 55W dont come anywhere near that rating and have a short lifespan.

HID "look" bulbs will not give you the same type of light as true HID's, many use fancy gases/glass tints to produce a better quality light, some are just a higher wattage bulb, which can cause damage to the vehicles wiring and the lamp housing itself.

What is meant by color temperature?

K (Kelvin) is used when referring to HID's as a way to describe the color temperature of the light output. 4300K is the brightest, most natural white light similar to that of daytime sunlight, and therefore the HID color temperature used most in the OEM automotive industry. When you look at the light coming directly out of an HID headlight, it possesses a bit of a blue or purple hue which most people recognize as the expensive, elegant look characteristic of HID's. For this reason, some HID kit manufacturers produce 5400K, 6500K, 8000K, etc. bulbs that give an even more distinct blue hue but at the expense of overall light output.

For comparison, most halogen headlights have a color temperature around 2200K which gives them a "dingy" yellowish appearance compared to HID's.

Common Colours:

3000K = Golden Yellow

4300K = Brilliant White (True OEM) - Brightest

6000K = White with slight blue tint (OEM look)

8000K = White with obvious Blue Tint

10000K = Blue - Dimmest

Blue light is more fatiguing to the eyes, both to oncoming traffic and to the driver. The bluer the tint cast on the road and surrounding area, the more quickly your eyes become tired. Some some install HID's mostly for the look. Be aware that most of the 6500K and higher bulbs are produced by inferior manufacturers to capitalize on the marketability of "the bigger number must be better". While most people fit 6500K and higher for the "look" you might be attracting the wrong sort of attention.

What is included with a HID conversion kit?

A typical HID conversion kit includes:

Two bulbs

Two ballasts

H4 Bi-Xenon Conversion kits contain a controller harness to retain the original Hi/Lo function

The ballasts are small boxes (one per bulb) that convert the car's 12VDC into high voltage AC required to illuminate the xenon gas. Usually built into the ballast is the igniter initially required to start the bulb. Some kits allow you to plug directly into your exiting car wiring with a minimum of splicing wires, they use the 12V from the original bulb circuits to power the ballasts. H4 kits use a different harness type, which in most cases take their feed directly from the battery and use a controller (relay) to switch the ballasts on/off and control the Dip/Main function of the bulbs.

Bulb Type:

There is almost a HID bulb to replace every standard bulb (have yet to see a H2 one (bulbs the mk2f grills use))

Most HID conversion bulbs resemble this one (except H4 & H7r):

H7r:

These bulbs are specifically designed for use in reflector type lamps found on new cars, the small shield alters the beam enough to cut down on the beam scattering.

H4 Bi-Xenon (H4-3) conversion ones mostly look like this:

This bulb type uses a shield with a cutout and an electromagnet to move the bulb between the Hi and Lo Positions

NOTE:There are another type of H4 bulb which use a HID for the low beam and a Halogen for the high beam, but due to the offset of the high bulb the beam is often scattered and un-focused, the HID bulb is also a problem as the reflector is normally tow small to be of any use, causing beam scatter and dazzling on-coming drivers. (If your H4 bulb looks like the other type and doesn't have a big reflector then you will be on the equivalent of high beam all the time)

Beam Patterns:

This is how your beam pattern should look against a flat surface regardless of using standard or a conversion kit:

Note:Modern Lamp housings have a step instead of an arc but the principle is the same.

After fitting a conversion kit the beam pattern should look exactly like the standard bulbs, there should be a clear and defined cut-off and edges with little to no scatter or obvious "hotspots" (area of beam pattern with a patch of intense light) Due to the slight difference's in the position of the light source compared to a standard bulb the light might need vertical adjustment downwards to prevent dazzling on-coming drivers.

If you can not see clear cut-off's, re-check the bulb is fitted properly in the holder, if your unable to "focus" the bulb then please do everyone a favor and remove the kit from your vehicle.

Note: Not all vehicle lamp housings are suitable for HID conversions (examples being those found on mk2 Saxo's, Mk5-7 Ford Fiesta's, Honda Civics to name a few) as the scatter and hotspots can be dangerous to you and other road users. The worse lamp housing from personal experience is the Mk2 Saxo they use H4 bulbs, when fitted with HID's there is no defined "beam", just a field/puddle of light which is dazzling to all on-coming vehicles, as the driver you have no useful light output whatsoever, making it dangerous for yourself.

This thread is not to discuss the legality of HID's but to educate those that would like to fit them in the hope they will fit them properly. Its is your responsibility to make sure your conversions are fitted properly and do not blind oncoming drivers or attract unwanted attention to your vehicle

If anyone has anything they would like to see added or something I've missed then PM me.

-(with the ignition off and keys out) press and hold the mile reset button

-turn ignition on

-wait until the display goes like '--'

-turn ignition off and keys out and release button

viola :)

Firstly, we will cover how to remove Mark3 clocks:

PLEASE NOTE THERE ARE OTHER METHODS FOR REMOVING CLOCKS BUT THIS IS THE EASIEST I FOUND

Removing Mark3 clocks

Basic tools required:

Philips head screw driver for removing the steering column shrouds

Radio keys

Long-ish flat blade screwdriver

This method does not require the removal of the steering wheel.

1. Start by removing the radio. This will allow you to reach around the dash into the clock aperture, and unclip the clocks from the dashboard on the left hand side later.

2. Remove steering column shroud. This is held in place by 3 philips head screws. 2 hold the shroud to the steering column, one holds the two halves of the shroud together. It can be a bit fiddly removing the top half of the shroud from the column, but be patient, it will come!

3. Next remove the headlight switch from the dashboard on the right hand side. Using your long flat blade screwdriver, you can reach into the hole that’s been left by removing the headlight switch, and push the spring clips in on the right hand side of the clocks. If you can’t reach the clips, you may have to remove the speaker cover and the speaker and get to them that way.

4. With the radio removed in step 1, you should be able to reach around into the clock aperture and unclip the spring clips on the left hand side.

5. With both sides unclipped, reaching in from the radio 'hole' you should now be able to push the clocks out towards you. As they come out of the dash, you want to angle them face down so you can get to the plug for the next step...

6. Reaching through the steering wheel over the back of the clocks (which should be face down) you can just see the plug holding the clocks in. Using your forefinger and thumb, squeeze the two clips in and pull the plug from the back of the clocks.

7. Rotate the clocks 90 degrees, once freed from the wiring loom. his will now allow you to bring the clocks through the top of the steering wheel.

With the clocks now removed, you can either swap the speedo into some GT/Genesis clocks to spec-up your lesser model, or get to the necessary bulb that has blown.

if you are transferring your speedo over, you'll want to undo the 6 philips screws that hold the dials to the surround. Simply remove the speedo from the 'new' clocks and put your speedo in.

Re-fitting is the reverse of removal, and make sure the plug is thoroughly re-connected, and that the speedo drive is properly plugged in, or you'll have to remove the clocks again!

It is important to note that you do not need to change the mileage on the clocks from a donor car, you can simply transfer your cars speedo into the new clocks, and this saves the hassle of having the mileage verified for MOT purposes, etc.

Late Spec and Early Spec Clocks

During the production span of the Mark3, subtle changes were made. These changes are largely under the skin, but you my encounter one of them when fitting clocks into a late L/M reg Mark3. Basically later Mark3s ditched the two oil pressure sender system in favour of a simpler single pressure sender that covered both high and low pressure (as opposed to the older method which used a sender for high and a sender for low).

When fitting Early clocks (which would use the two pressure system) into a late car, the clocks will trigger the oil pressure warning light and buzzer. This is because they are searching for a signal from the high pressure sender (above 2000rpm when the light and buzzer will trigger), but due to there not being a sender present, cannot find a signal, and triggers the alarm.

There are a few things you can do to get around this:

Fit some late spec clocks that have the red bar on the temperature gauge, and no temperature warning light. This is by far the easiest method.

Retrofit a high oil pressure sender and run it to pin number 8 on the clocks.

Run an earth to the clocks to trick them, (however if there is a genuine pressure problem, you may not be made aware of it).

Or finally an after-market rev counter.

The good news is that late-spec clocks will fit an early car, as (obviously) will early spec clocks. Just to remind you:

Early Clocks ---> Early Car

Late Clocks ---> Late Car

Late Clocks ---> Early Car

Early clocks are NOT compatible with late cars WITHOUT modification

And… Speedos are transferable between clocks to retain correct mileage for your car.

Hope this helps!

Karl.

What you need!

1x Headlight loom from a valver or 8v with front foglight wires (from the plug behind the front grille)

(please note this can be made!)

1x Vw relay number 53 (part number can be found further down this guide)

1x Two stage pull out headlight switch from a valver/8v with front fogs or ibiza with front fogs

1x Grey/Yellow wire with female connectors for interior switch and fuse box (this can be taken from the donor car also)

2x 8v Foglights (left and right obviously)

6x Fixings for the foglights

(i can make and supply the wiring and relay pm me)

Stage one:

Take the loom and trace the fog plug wires from the rest of it, remove the headlight and indicator wires (just cut the headlight and indicator off at the plug )

so you should be left with one brown wire from one fog to the other then to the loom plug and one white/yellow wire going from one to the other then to the loom plug

Stage two:

Using a really small flat blade screw driver remove the white/yellow connector spade from the donor loom plug () remeber where you took this spade from as you will need to place it in the same slot on your existing headlight loom plug, (you will need to undclip the loom plug on your car by pushing the tab down) then remove the rubber bung from the correct hole on your car loom and insert the spade until it clicks in!

repeat this with the brown wire and spade, into the correct slot!

Stage three:

Now both the fog wires are in the cars loom plug, clip it back on, run the wires and tape them to the headlight wires on both sides and drop the fog plugs down in the bumper!

Stage four:

Remove the grill off the lower bumper, undo the 3 screws that holds the lower bumper up on the top section undo the screw up under the edge of the lower section (part that screws onto wing bracket) on both sides, the lower section will now drop down enough to fit the fogs (it will still be attached to the arch liner)

Stage five:

Fix the fogs to the now visable frame and plug the pre fitted loom in, cut the second section of grille from each side out, if you offer the grill up to the fogs when fittede you will easily see the section you need to cut out, once cut fit back on the car

Stage six:

Now were inside the car, remove the drivers side glove box and plate above the pedals, unclip the fuse box and tip it forwards so that you can see the plugs on the back, now you need to locate 3 blue plugs in a row

now you need to remove the blue plug from the left hand side of these three

now you need the grey/yellow wire that you removed from the donor fuse box and switch

now slot the connector on end of this wire into connector 13 on the headlight switch plug

now tape the grey/yellow wire to the thick bunch running under the dash to the fuse box and plug the other end into the 5th connector hole on the blue plug (should be on the left of a black/yellow wire and above a white/green wire) and plug back into the fuse box

)

Mine has a piece of metal bridging relay socket 10 this needs to come out and a number 53 relay needs to go in there, you can buy the relay really cheap off eBay there's a guy who's selling them at 99p and has 250 of them also if you see any of these relays in the scrappers (53) grab em! I will be doing!

Relay part number is 141 951 253 B

sorry about the blurriness but there you can make out relay 53!

now plug the ibiza/valver etc swtich in and push back in the dash

Stage seven:

Put everything back together and relax coz you have done it!

This involves replacing the standard, OEM wires in the vehicle's electrical system with larger, more capable wires.

The three wires involved are:

Alternator > Battery Positive *

Chassis > Battery Negative

Engine Block > Battery Negative

* This wire must be fused at both ends, within 6" (ideally) of the battery and the alternator. The fuse should be the same amperage rating as your alternator.

These are usually shabby, thin wires that aren't that much use in carrying the large amount of current needed when the ICE is added into a car.

Often the OEM wires are less than 8AWG in size, and this soon becomes the weakest link in the electrical system.

If your lights are dimming with the bass, it is far better to upgrade TB3 than to purchase a capacitor in the first instance.

There are usually two options when upgrading TB3 - you can either replace the existing wires, or run additional wires next to them. Make sure that any additional wires are fastened with cable ties, and make sure that the alternator wire is fused at both the battery end and the alternator end. The fuse should be the same rating as the alternator's output rating (can be anything between 50A and 120A). Make sure all connections are clean - sand the paint back down to bare metal and remember to add vaseline/grease to prevent oxidation.

Here are the wires i joined:

MK4 - Mk5

White - White

Black - Purple

Red/Black - Brown

Blue - Blue

Brown - Blue/Purple

If this information is somewhere around and i have missed it feel free to delete this post.

All you need to do is:

1. Pull the head unit out

2. Locate the RED and YELLOW wires in head unit loom

3. Simply swap them!

This should fix the problem, BUT before you push the HU back in, try turning it on and off to make sure!

Hope this helps!

will

Heres my guide on how to make these simple tweeter pods,

Step 1

Head to your local DIY chain store, mines is Wickes. Go to the plumbing departement, and pick up two pieces of mini downpipe bend, which should look something like this:

Take your tweeter with you, to make sure that the outer edge of it sits on the pipe edge. Doesnt matter if its loose, that can be dealt with later. Note the step where the pipe reduces, this step will locate the finished pod in its mounting hole.

Step 2

Remove your door cards, taking care not to damage any clips. Decide where you will be mounting your tweeters, and make sure the pods will not interfere with the window winders or other pieces of trim.

Step 3

Take one of your pieces of pipe, then mark a line with masking tape, marker pen etc.

Then cut off the excess pipe with a hacksaw, leaving you with this, your first pod:

Repeat this step with the second pipe and you should end up with two identical pods.

Step 4

File the edges of your cuts smooth, and if there are any letters or numbers on the pipe, file those off too. Then sand down the pods in preparation for paint, with fine grade wet or dry. When you are happy, degrease the pods and spary in your chosen colour, using primer if needed. And leave to dry. NOTE: Test the paint first on the excess pipe from when you made the pods, to see if it reacts with the plastic.

Step 5

Place masking tape on the area of the door card you will be mounting your pods. Place the pod on to the tape, and draw around the base of it (which must be the smaller diameter end). Turn the pod over and align the top (wider part), with the circle you have just drawn, then draw around that. Now remove the inner circle by cutting away the tape.

Step 6

Drill a small hole in the centre of your circle, and then using a multi tool - Wizard, Dremel etc. fitted with a cylindrical grinding bit, carefully remove the rest of the material up to the edge of the inner circle. When you are removing material, keep trying the hole for size with your pod. You want a nice tight fit, and if you remove too much, you cant put it back!

Clean up the edges and you should have something like this, a nice neat hole:

Step 7

Push your pods into the holes made for them in your door card and bond them in from the back, with your chosen adhesive. I used silicone sealent, as it was in the house already:

Step 8

Place the tweeters in your pods. If they aren't an exact fit (mine weren't), find a suitable material to pack around the tweeters. This must be sufficient to centre the tweeters in the pods without them moving, and preferably self adhesive. I was lucky, the black sticky back foam pads i had, (No idea where or what they came from) were perfect:

You may have to experiment with different materials to see what works best for you. Leave about 5mm of your chosen material overhanging the tweeter base.

Step 9

Push the tweeters, with there packing, into the pods and stick strong tape ( i used electrical tape) onto the packing material, and then to the inside of the pod, to hold the tweeter in place. If your tweeters came with mounting hardware, this can be modified by bending it to shape so it works with the pods. However if this isnt possible, the tape alone should be sufficient:

Step 10

Re-fit your door cards (not forgetting your wiring), Stand back and admire your new tweeter pods .

I hope this guide can help somebody, even if its just one person, as i took quite a bit of time to create this :-) . Thanks for reading, but if you follow this guide and screw it up, its not my fault, so dont come crying too me

The people that use them tend not to have heard anything better, so have no means to compare them or benchmark them.

There are a few facts about 6x9's, which need to be known:

They attract thieves.

They are incompatible with subwoofers that occupy the same airspace.

They drag the soundstage back, making the majority of the sound come from the rear of the car, which is unnatural, and sounds wrong in a large majority of cases.

They are usually mounted on a very weak baffle (i.e. a flimsy parcel shelf), meaning the sound they produce is not high quality.

They are not an essential ingredient in the ICE scene, despite what your mate Bazza might think.

6x9's that are slung on a parcel shelf, and that have a sub underneath them will not sound good.

The 6x9's will be 'beaten' by the air movement that the sub creates, and this will lead to them producing distorted sound.

Boxed 6x9's on a parcel shelf, although relieving the problem of airspace competition, will drag the soundstage back, making all the sound come from behind you. This has a negative effect on the imaging in the front of the car, and makes the music sound unnatural.

The money spent on 6x9's could be much better spent on a decent set of component speakers for the front end, and if the front end is right, the rear passengers will not need something behind them to enable them to hear the music.

6x9's are aimed at the common spotty irk who knows no better than to sling a pair on his parcel shelf. Don't fall for the marketing hype.

In 99% of cases, 6x9's have a negative effect on the sound as a whole, not a positive one.

Full stop. End of.

Brands to avoid, and brands to aim for.

The following is a list of good and bad brands to look out for or avoid when you're out ICE shopping.

Maybe you've seen something in a shop, and it's a brand you've never heard of before?

Check here and see which list it's in!

The Good (A-List)

A/D/S

Alpine

AudioControl

Becker

Blaupunkt

CDT Audio

Celestra

Clarion

Crystal

Diamond Audio

Digital Designs

Directed Audio

DLS

Focal

Genesis

Helix

Hifonics

JL Audio

MB Quart

Nakamichi

Orion

Phase Linear

Phoenix Gold

Pioneer

Precision Power

Rainbow

Resonant Engineering (RE)

Rockford Fosgate (RF)

Sinfoni

Soundstream

SPL Dynamics

TRU

US Amps

Viper

Xtant

Zapco

The Good (B-List)

Fusion

Infinity

JBL

JVC

Kenwood

Lightning Audio

Mac Audio

Magnat

Maystar

Vibe / Fli

The Bad

Aiwa

Audiobahn

Berolina

Boschmann

Boss Audio

Crunch

Goodmans

Lanzar

Longmill

Megavox

Mutant X

Purple Mosfet

Pyle

RM Audio

Shark

Sony

Toxic

VRX

... and the Ugly

SPLx

Renegade

Remember that this list is not exhaustive (please PM me with any additions/omissions), and that certain manufacturers, although listed above, have different strengths in different areas.

Right,

First off you'll need some tinting spray. You can get it from most motorfactors for around £10-15. I got mine of ebay for around £15. Nice big 400ml can so can do a few sets of lights with it.

I was going to take the lights off the car but I didn't really see the point as I though it could be done well enough with them on the car. So first off I where all the raised markings were on the lights. In the picture below you can see the Hella marking roughly in the centre of the light and in the bottom corner you can see a circle with some writting in it.

Once you've found all these bits crack out the 240 grit (I wouldn't use anything rougher to be honest, 240 seemed to be perfect).

Sand down all the bits that are raised. It will look like your knacking the lights but don't worry, they should be fine. The plastic will turn satin when you sand it so if there are any glossy bits on it you haven't sanded down far enough. You don't need to do the entire light with 240 grit just the bits that are raised.

Once you've done that should look a little something like this..

Because you end up with bits that are really rough and satin and other bits that are still smooth like factory I gave the whole light a go over with some 600 grit wet and dry (with warm water with a little drop of soap). It still looked a bit rough after this so I gave it a once over with some 800 grit aswell (again with warm water). The light looked nice and smooth but with a light key.

After this I gave them a quick clean with some spirts and left it to dry for a bit. Once it had dried enough I cracked on with masking. I think I spent more time on masking than anything else. Making sure I got it right.

Once it was all masked up it was read to paint. So I put a nice even coat of red on top and let it dry for a while. Looked a bit thin so I gave it a once over again and it came up perfecto. Removed all the masking and it looked a little something like this. Looks a bit orange in the pic but when you see it in person it looks like a perfect match with the stock red bits. Not sure why its come up orange in the pics.

If you wish to finish them off with some laquer thats up to you. I don't have any laquer knocking about so there gonna stay bare for now but that will mean they will probably need doing again at some point. Laquer should protect them I'd image.

In total cost me nout cause I had all the bits lying around. But call it £15 for the spray (which will do at least 5 sets of lights I reckon) and about 99p for the masking tape. Newspaper can be picked up free from a multitude of places.

Nice cheap way to mod your lights

I want to start out by saying that I BY NO MEANS class my self as an I.C.E expert. What I am doing in the following is sharing how I made my door pockets. I am not saying that this is the best or easiest way to do it, nor am I saying the speakers will perform their best in the door pockets I made. I am just showing a few interested people how I did it.

After looking into getting a semi decent audio set up in my car I decided that the tiny speakers in the dash weren't going to be good enough for the whole front so I decided to fit some components in the door pockets.

As after all. It is a fairly long door pocket and there are plenty of cubby holes everywhere else!

My first step was to offer the speaker up to the door pocket to see how much they overhung. The door cards have to be removed to get the pockets off as they are screwed through the back. It's easy enough to get them out. Just take off the door furniture, the 2 screws at the rear and undo the clips. With the cages on the speakers are not that much bigger than the pockets so i decided it wouldn't look too bad if i made a decent enough job of it.

Next job was to find some tube that would be about the same size as the speaker, this way hopefully it wouldn't look like the speaker was just bodged into the pocket, it would look like the pods were actually incorporated into the door cards. My only requirement for visuals was that it looked as standard as possible.

The tube I used was from B&Q warehouse. It needed to be about 6” to match the size of the outer diameter of the cage. I found some that looked like 6” but the price label said it was 110mm which is clearly not 6” but knowing what B&Q is like, it took my verniers with me and sure enough my suspicions were right – the 110mm tube was in fact 150mm. So £3.48 later I had a 500mm length of 6” corrugated tube.

Next job was to cut away the door pocket where the tube would be. I did this by carefully drawing around the speaker cage as this is the same size and easier to keep still. Then i use a haxsaw to do a series of straight cuts making sure i left a small amount of meet inside the line. I then finished it off with a really savage wood file to get it to the line.

I have separate tweeters so I then cut the hole for them with a hole saw of the correct size i conveniently already had. Once I was happy with how they sat in the pockets/cards i held the tubes to the pockets with some tape from the front.

I then made the inserts for the tubes which they speakers screw to. I think MDF is best for this but i used 25mm thick ply as i already had some square boards from an old set of speakers I made. I drew around the tube this time and cut to near the line with a coping saw. It's important that these are a really good fit in the tube as it has to seal for the speaker to sound good. Again using a file taking off a small amount at a time i got them closer to the line and then stopped once i managed to get them inside the tubes. They were very tight which i was glad about. I sealed them in with no more nails. Some on the outside of the wooden ring and then some on the back sealing it to the inside of the tube.

The next job was to fit the tubes to the pockets. I wanted my speakers to fit flush so I cut I think it was 60mm lengths(3 corrugations) and then cut a small amount away from the top and front so that it could go back further. I have separate tweeters so I then cut the hole for them with a hole saw i conveniently already had. Once I was happy with how they sat in the pockets/cards i held the tubes to the pockets with some tape from the front.

This way i knew they wouldn't move but also it would stop and excess filler paste coming out of the front creating more work sanding down. I used fiberglass paste, It worked very well but it's quite messy. I hadn't used paste before but believe me it's MUCH easier than trying to lay up using sheets and resin. It's literally a case of mixing the hardener in and then applying to the back to seal it in.

I did it in stages as it set quite quickly with the amount of hardener I used so I didn't have to time to do both of all of them in one go. The first layer was like bonding the tube to the pocket and then after that I built up the layers until they were flush with the back to stop any possible vibration. Once it set i just got all the rough edges off and made it look a bit neater.

After first lot -

I then applied a layer to the front filling the small gap due to the tube being corrugated. I decided to use a layer of fiberglass filler on the front as i didn't want it to crack and i decided it would seal it much better than filler.

Once i was happy that it was all sealed up I started sanding the fiberglass back and then applying filler. Depending on how fussy you are this could take all day. I was thinking about removing the pattern on the pocket as where i had smoothed with the filler would not have the pattern but I decided against it as at the end of the day, its only a door pocket, not bodywork!

Once I was happy with how they looked I gave them the first coat of plastic primer. This really gives you an idea of how bad your filler looks so I then set about a few more layer of filler. Once i was happy with that i then did another few coats of primer.

Then, I drilled the holes for the speakers, it's advisable to do it before you paint the top coat as if you scratch it you have to do it all agian! I also had to fit the crossover boxes. They conveniently fit behind the tube in the door card out of sight but still accessible.

Then, once that was all done I sprayed it all with matt black. The filler doesn't look perfect but it's good enough for me!

I extended the wires from the dash speakers. I ran them behind the dash and then under the seal and drilled a hole near the bottom of the door and put the wire through a grommet, peeled back the sticky back plastic to get my hand in to find the wire and then cut a small hole in it and and dirlled one in the back of the door card to post the wire through. Then it was all assembled properly. Job done.

Materials used – Plastic tube – B&Q £3.48

Fiberglass Filler – Halfords/motor world etc- £10(it is a big pot)

Bodywork Filler – Already had some but Halfords etc £4.99

Plastic primer - Halfords/Motorworld etc - £3.99

Matt Black Spray Paint – Halfords/Motorworld etc - £5.99(large can)

Total Cost - £28.48

End result -

Before -

After -

So, you want to fit central locking do you?? Well this FAQ should give you some clues on how best to install it. It only covers the 2 doors mind.

For a FAQ on the hatch - check elsewhere in the FAQs section.

THE KIT

Here is the kit I used. It's a 2-door kit which cost around £15 on eBay. Click here to search ebay, or here for the same product on the company's website.

Alternatively, Maplin sell a similarly priced alternative.

FITTING THE ACTUATORS

Before you even think of fitting your new central locking kit - READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!!! {322}

I will be telling you to ignore most of them - but for god's sake - don't get two thirds of the way through the installation only to find that the window won't open anymore - NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Possibly the stupidest thing I've ever done on my car, maybe even in life. I sat there in shock for a good five minutes once I realised!! {3}

Anyway - the first thing to do is to remove your door cards - as per Haynes manual instructions. Then, carefully peel back the plastic door liner. Alternatively, peel it back recklessly and follow my other FAQ on replacing the shitty door liner - which keeps the rain out by the way - or rather it doesn't after 10-15 years!!

With the door card and liner removed - you should aim to install the actuator about here...

As you can see, the top screw for the actuator comes very close to where the trim clip for the door panel goes - but that can be trimmed down easily enough to fit back in if needs be.

With the location determined, you need to make up some linkages to operate the lock pin. Now, included with the kit are some rods and little screw on couplings to connect the rods straight to the door pins, but bear in mind this is a universal kit - and we can in fact do a much neater installation.

If you look up inside the door - you may, if sufficiently contorted, see a little white lever. If you feel it, you will find there is a small hole through it. This is where I hooked my linkage up to...

Bending the supplied rods is difficult unless you have a bench vice - so seek out some suitably stiff, yet more flexible wire to make the linkages with. An old wire coathanger fit the bill for me, and I even used some of its curves to gain the right effect.

Making the linkages this way involves a bit of trial and error, but the result is worth it. Just be sure they won't flex or disengage over time.

As it says in the instructions, make sure the actuator and lock are both in the down position. This is tricky on the driver's side, as you have to trick the door into thinking it's closed to get the lock pin to go down.

Oh, one more thing - if you have GT or G40 seats - don't sit on your bolsters whilst you do the work!! {322}

WIRING

Getting wires into your door from the cabin is a bit of a mission, or a stroke of genius depending on how you do it.

My method was to take the doors off, drill through the doors and drill through the A-pillar.

If that sends you screaming in terror - then there is an alternative...

What Steve of the Concept-e brothers (cheers for pic steve!! ) has done here is to run some wires through a length of plastic braiding and up behind the doorcard. I think it looks quite neat - and in retrospect I almost wish I'd done it that way to save the hassle of taking the doors off!!

Nevertheless - if you're going for an arguably more factory look - you could go for the harder option...

What we've got here are the wires passing through some heatshrink tubing from a hole in the A-pillar to a hole in the door. The tubing is protected from the raw metal by a gromet each end, cut to fit around the tubing and then into the hole.

The camera really makes it look shit - but it goes pretty much unnoticed in real life. The small amount of rust visible on the hole in the door shows how important it is to treat the raw metal with a touch of paint. This pic was taken a day after the hole was drilled!!

Anyway - with the hardest two bits done - the rest of the wiring is a cynch!! Just find a power source, in my case the stereo wiring made good sense, as would the cigarette lighter as these probably come under a single fuse for ancillaries.

HINTS AND TIPS:

If you're after remote central locking, there is an option to buy a remote from the company that supplied the kit, or alternatively, use the two trigger wires to connect to a compatible alarm system.

To make one of the actuators passive, connect only the green and blue wires. If done on the passengers side, this means that if a passenger pushes down the lock-pin as they get out, it won't cause your door to lock. Remember the driver's side lock-pin is not meant to go down whilst the door is open, so you'd do best to wire it this way.

To get the wires and connectors through a small hole (10mm), you will need to tape the wires together in a staggered configuration, and remove the bindings further up the wiring loom.

THAT'S ALL FOLKS!!

Like those games where say they give you an imaginary 500k to spend on the stock market.

I'm crap when it comes to ICE but I know I like nice sounds.

I already have a good head unit, well I hope so it was 380 quid so now I need some speakers and stuff to go with it.

The game is you have a £1000 limit and you need to buy me the best system you can(not including head unit becuase I have one). So go forth and shop and come back telling me what to buy

Should have just PM'd Foxie though he seems to know his stuff.

Clicky

Oh and its over 6mb, so right click and save as its ment to bloody link argh

Amplifiers, headunits and speakers come with two power ratings, generally.

A max/peak/PMPO power rating, and an RMS power rating.

The first rating is a ridiculous abstraction. A subwoofer rated at 1000w peak will not be able to take anywhere near 1000 true watts before it dies.

These power ratings are used to woo the public into buying the product, and for no other reason.

If you ever see any of these ratings, discount them immediately, and look for the RMS value, which tells you the power the item will take/supply over a sustained period of time.

For example, Alpine Type-R subwoofers are rated at 1000w peak, but only 300w RMS. If you were to put 1000 true watts through the sub, as the ratings appear to indicate, the voice coils would cook within seconds.

As a further example, Alpine V-Drive headunits quote a maximum power output of 60w x4 - in reality this is around 28w RMS x4. The larger figures are there because they are more impressive to the customer than the real-life reality figures.

Don't let yourself be misguided - always match RMS values to RMS values

1) First make & name a new folder calling it Garmin Streetpilot I3 or similar.

2) Download Garmin Streepilot I3 Firmware 2.7 to the above named folder.

http://www.garmin.com/support/collection.j...ct=010-00434-00

3) Download Garmin POI Loader to the above named folder.

http://www.garmin.com/support/collection.j...ct=010-00434-00

4) Download Garmin USB Drivers to the above named folder. (This is not always required). http://www.garmin.com/support/collection.j...ct=010-00434-00

5) Download POI Edit to the above named folder.

http://www.poiedit.com/

6) Next make & name a folder on your computer calling it Garmin I3 POI’s & Safety Camera Data or similar.

7) Download the latest POI’s to this folder.

http://www.maft.co.uk/garmin/download.htm

8) Download the latest Safety Camera Data to the same folder.

http://pocketgps.co.uk/uksafetycameras.php

9) Connect your 13 to your computer using the provided USB cable.

10) Next make & name a folder Firmware 2.60 or similar then unzip the I3 Firmware 2.60 to this folder.

11) Open the above folder then on Updater.exe & it will automatically download this file to your I3.

12) Disconnect your I3 from your computer.

13) Install GARMIN POI LOADER to your computer.

14) Connect your I3 to your computer using the provided USB cable.

15) Your I3 should automatically open the GARMIN POI LOADER but if not open manually & then select NEXT & it will search & find your I3.

16) Now select NEXT again then on BROWSE to find the folder you made & named earlier where you downloaded your latest POI’s & Safety Camera Data to and then on OK.

17) You can now change the distance & speed to feet and mph if required.

18) Either leave at Express which downloads your POI’s & Safety Camera Data automatically or change to Manual where you can choose to alter the proximity alerts to suite your individual needs.

19) Now select NEXT & it will now download to your I3 if you chose Express, or you can alter the proximity alerts of each POI as you keep on selecting NEXT, if you chose Manual.

20) Once downloaded disconnect your I3 from your computer.

21) For future Firmware updates follow instructions 2, 9, 11 & 12 only

22) For future POI’s & or Safety Camera Data follow instructions 14, 15, 18, 19 & 20 only.

23) Place I3 in car, switch it on, choose your destination & drive away.

24) Finally keep coming back to POCKET GPS WORLD FORUM to read up on anything new in the world of the GARMIN STREETPILOT I3. http://www.pocketgps.co.uk/modules.php?nam...=viewforum&f=96

if you cant follow that, you should REALLY hurt yourself..

An amplifiers gain control determines at what voltage on the pre-outs the amplifier makes it's maximum power. It is simply a means to allow different headunits/processors to be connected to the amplifier - it is not a volume control, and should not be used as such.

There are two ways to set the gain on an amplifier - one is the easy way, which is shall detail here, the other is the more precise way, but it requires the use of an oscilloscope and a series of test tones.

Wire everything up so you're ready to go.

Start with the gains at zero.

Play a track that has some clear vocals in it (for front speakers) or some deep bass (for subwoofers), and leave it on repeat.

Increase the volume on the headunit to a little off full volume - this is to avoid sending a clipped signal through the RCAs. For example, on my Alpine headunit, at 35/35, the output signal becomes clipped - at 33/35 it doesn't.

Slowly raise the gain on the amplifier until you can hear audible distortion.

Back down a touch.

Listen to the track all the way through. Are there any distorted notes? If so, back down a little more with the gain until the whole track is crystal clear.

Job done.

Get yourself a beer (NB: Don't drink and drive!).

If you find that after doing this your system is a little quieter than you were expecting, then you need to be looking at getting a more powerful amp, altering the position of your speakers, or sound deadening.

Raising the gain any more won't do anything but harm.

Impedance

Impedance is measured in ohms ( Ω ), and is the AC equivalent of resistance in DC circuits.

It is important to anyone in ICE because it is the impedance of the circuit that determines the power output of any amplifiers.

Basically, it is how much the circuit resists the amplifier's attempt to push power round. A drop by half in impedance means it is twice as easy to get power round, so you get (roughly) double the power. A doubling in impedance means you get half the power, etc, etc.

For example, an amp that does 50Wx4 @ 4Ω will generally do near 100Wx4 @ 2Ω, but only 25Wx4 @ 8Ω.

All in-car amplifiers are stable to 4Ω, and generally down to 2Ω also. However, not many are stable down to 1Ω, so it is essential to be careful when wiring your speakers.*

The only exception to this is regulated amps - these are amps that maintain the same power output in spite of the impedance of the circuit. Certain JL amps..etc.. are regulated, amongst others, so watch out for these, these are usually known as "Class D"

* This is when the channels are unbridged. It is important to note that most amps are only stable down to 4Ω once bridged.

These instructions are written with OEM foglamps in mind. However, before I fitted these to my car I had a set of universal lamps on with custom brackets. If anyone would like information on how to fit non-OEM lamps there is an e-mail address at the end of this guide. My advice is though, to go for the real thing in the first place. Although they cost more, they fit better and, unlike the lamps I got, they don't rust away after six months.

First up, a soldering iron is really handy. Most of my friends have one, but it's not something everyone has in their tool box. Very handy tool indeed I hasten to add. Much recommended. You will also need a crimping tool.

Step One

Begin by removing your grille. Starting at either end carefully push the centre part of the tabs down and withdraw the grille from the slam panel. Now locate the retaining bolts which are in the recess in front of the radiator, underneath the numberplate. There are four more bolts which need to be removed, these are underneath the grille. Finally there are two clips which hold the bumper on at the wheel arches. These have a central tube roughly 3mm in diameter. Push this out with a small screwdriver then remove the rest of the retaining clip. Carefully unhook the bumper from the wheel arches and withdraw it from the front of the car to reveal the cross member behind.

Now that the bumper is removed it is easier to cut out the foglamp blanks on the front bumper. There's a raised bit in the middle and a "moat" around the edge. Carefully cut the raised centre away with a sharp craft knife, try not to apply too much pressure as you will score your bumper if you do. Once you've done this neaten the edges up with some sand paper or a file.

Once the bumper is ready, locate the four holes which the fog light brackets mount onto. There are two each side, square holes in the crossmember. Bolt the foglights in place and tighten them up firmly so that they don't wobble.

Step Two

The next step is the wiring loom. This is where it gets more complicated. If you want the lamps for show only, and non-functional, you can simply re-attach the front bumper and you're done. Personally though, I don't see the point in fitting foglamps that don't work. It's not particularly difficult to make your own wiring loom either.

These parts can be bought at a scrap yard (my local one gave me them free though!). You need to two of these clips, plus a male connector which clips into them.

The female connectors can be taken from any Mk3 Polo, they are found in front of the fuse box. The male ones are more tricky to get hold of. These can be found in an '89-'94 Passat (or a Corrado) just behind each headlight. Don't bother with the female connector you will find attached to it though, leave that behind. Make sure that you get around 3-4" of wire as well on each clip. That makes the rest easier.

Next, find your local Maplins or equivalent electronic parts supplier. Maplins are very cheap (plus if you're a student they do discounts if you take your student card with you) and have everything you could need. Buy the following.

- 10m of brown wire (this is 39p per metre)

- 10m of black wire (this is also 39p per metre)

- a waterproof inline fuse holder Click here

- a pack of ten 15A glass fuses (£1.09)

- a 30A relay Click Here

- Ring connectors for the battery terminal

- Fully insulated female spade connectors for the relay terminals

- Shrink wrap, gaffer tape or electrical tape

- A pack of cable ties (optional)

You should end up with spare wire from that, but having that much allows you to make mistakes without having to go back and get more wire.

Cut a length of black and a length of brown wire roughly 3.5m long. Now cut another length of each 2.5m long. The shorter length is for your passenger side foglight, the longer length is for your driver's side one. Don't make this too short as it has a long way to go.

Now do a third set of black/brown wires which are roughly the same width as your car, slightly longer is better than slightly shorter remember. Put these aside for now, this is the wiring for your relay.

Keep any excess wire separate to avoid confusion!

Remove the insulation from the end of all of the wires you have just cut, do the same with all of the clips you got from the scrap yard. Then warm up your soldering iron.

Step Three

Take the longest black and brown wires and one of the female connectors. Cut a 4" length of shrink wrap and slide it over the wires. Solder the black wire to the yellow/white wire coming off the connector and the brown wire to the brown wire on the connector. Wait for the solder to cool, then insulate the bare wire with electrical tape. Finally slide the shrink wrap over the electrical tape and run the soldering iron over it to shrink it.

Repeat this with the shorter length of wire and the other female connector.

What you should have by now is two female connectors, each with a length of black and brown wire soldered to them.

Make sure that these are not tangled at all. Now twist the bare end of the brown wires together (the end without the connector) and slide some shrink wrap over the wires. Then solder this to the brown wire from the male connector off the Passat and insulate with the shrink wrap.

Twist the bare ends of the black wires together and crimp a female spade connector onto them. Crimp another female spade connector onto the black wire from the Passat connector and your basic loom is ready.

Put the loom to one side for now, ensuring that it does not get tangled. Pick up the black and brown relay wires cut earlier. Split the black wire into two pieces and carefully strip the wire. Crimp the fuse holder between the two lengths to make the wire whole again. Finally crimp a ring connector and a female spade connector on opposite ends of the black and brown wires.

Step Four

Now you are ready to fit the loom to your car.

Remove the plastic cover from the scuttle panel for better access and locate your car's foglight loom plug (the white plug in front of the fuse box). Plug the Passat connector into this and run the wires to the foglights, be careful not to get the driver and passenger side wiring mixed up.

Run both wires underneath the washer bottle and past the coil. Now run the passenger side wiring down into the inner wing and plug the white connector into the back of the foglight. The driver's side wiring can be held in place using the metal clips undearneath the grille, run it across the front of the car following the factory headlight wiring and then down into the inner wing behind the headlight. Plug in the other foglight.

Now take your brown relay wire and connect it to the battery negative terminal using the ring connector. Do the same with the black wire. Run the wires back to the fusebox side of the scuttle panel.

You should now have four female spade connectors ready to be plugged into the relay. Plug them in as follows:

Relay Pin 30 -> Battery positive terminal (black relay wire)

Relay Pin 85 -> Battery negative terminal (brown relay wire)

Relay Pin 86 -> Black wire from Passat connector

Relay Pin 87 -> Black wires to the foglights

Finally put a 15A fuse in the fuse holder and you're ready to test your hard work!

Before doing so, check that all wiring is clear of any moving parts. Use cable ties to tie up any loose wire and where possible use original wiring loom clips to hold your loom in place. If these clips are missing, simply cable tie your loom to the wiring loom. This should stop the wires becoming tangled/damaged in moving parts as well as making the whole installation look more factory.

To test your wiring loom turn your electrics on with the ignition. Turn your headlights on (dipped or main beam, doesn't matter) and push the foglight switch under your head unit in half way. Your front fog lights should now be on, but your rear one should be off. Push the foglight switch in fully and both the front and rear lamps should be on.

Don't worry if they're a little dim, that's how they're meant to be (!) Polo foglights, although expensive, aren't very bright.

Please note this installation will not allow you to run your foglights with your sidelights like Saxo-driving Barry boys do. This is as VW intended.

Also, if you drive around with your foglights on when it's not foggy the Police view this as dangerous as you can dazzle other road users. You're unlikely to blind anyone with Polo fog lights, but that doesn't mean you won't get pulled!

Any questions, feel free to e-mail me at SpearmintCoupe@aol.com

Have fun!

Alex Grant

(thanks due to Steve_O for help with the relay wiring)[/b]