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DCC Retrofit

Cuzoe

Autocross Champion
Location
Los Angeles
I won't delete this post... but please disregard it, clarified everything in post # 47.

At this point, besides minor attachment hardware, I have everything needed for this retrofit except the dampers/springs which have not been decided on. So I continued with the harness routing and some installation. The DCC module is a 47 pin, level sensors are 4 pin (3 pins used) and all other connections (4 dampers, 3 accelerometers) are 2 pin. All of the 2 pin connectors on the harness I bought are the same... which is not correct.

Accelerometer, alignment tab centered...
IMG_20201010_142903.jpg

All the harness connectors, PN 4F0 973 703 702, offset alignment slot...
IMG_20201010_142957.jpg


The alignment tab on the dampers is offset from the center of the 2 pins. The alignment tab on the accelerometers is centered between the two pins. All the 2 pin connectors on the harness have offset alignment slots, meaning they are the right part number for dampers only. Easy fix, use a sharp blade to "enlarge" the alignment slot on the connectors. It will now connect to dampers or accelerometers. Good thing is there is no place where the two are close enough that someone could get the connectors mixed up and plugged into the wrong thing. Those who have done any MIB upgrades will know a little about fixing connectors with a sharp blade and a steady hand, haha.

Harness connector with (roughly) enlarged alignment slot, I cleaned this up later...
IMG_20201010_142935.jpg


Also... no need to worry about the newly enlarged alignment slot/tab being only the thing keeping these connectors from being secured incorrectly. One end is round while the other is flat so they will, still, only connect to the accelerometers one way. And I did verify the 2 wires are pinned correctly in the harness.

Correct 2 pin connector, with center alignment slot...
IMG_20201010_143016.jpg

These are found on existing crash sensors, PN 5K0 973 323...
Screenshot_20201010-232700__01__01.jpg


I don't know the part number for the black 2 pin connectors with center alignment slots. And the sharp blade method of modification is free and it works... but I'm going to order 3 if these yellow connectors ($14 MSRP but can be found for about $10) to replace the ones that came on the harness. I'll know when I get them but I suspect he pins will swap over no problem.

Pictures will be added, I promise... Done.

I won't delete this post... but please disregard it, clarified everything in post # 47.
 
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replicate

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Downunder
Three wires from the trunk to the dash doesn‘t sound to difficult 😀
Never done that before so a bit intimidating. If there were T harnesses for it (like you can get for canbus access) then it wouldn’t be so bad. But I don’t really want to cut and splice wires on the car.
 

doctor

Go Kart Newbie
Location
VAG
Car(s)
.
@Cuzoe Do you know if DCC has FEC or SWAP codes? I'm starting my journey, put a few things on order but started to wonder if I'm going to need special codes to enable any of this.
That's a question that @doctor would be suited to answer, but as I understand... yes.

I stand corrected, thanks for posting @simaservis1108
Hey guys, I was resting a little far away. I try to answer all of your questions, but sorry for missed messages sometimes ;)

Actually, you don't need the comfort profile for DCC, because if I put a photo like this, it will turn out to be most useful and comfortable than this comfort mode.

What do you think ;)

photo5769671655004681886.jpg


photo5769671655004681885.jpg
 

Cuzoe

Autocross Champion
Location
Los Angeles
That's exactly what I'm looking forward to. The plan is to get all the wiring done in the next 10-12 days, mixed in with working 50-60 hours a week.

I going to have a TON of coding/setup to do. And that part in looking forward to. Figuring out the wiring is fun but actually doing the wiring... I wouldn't be upset if someone handled that, haha.
 

Cuzoe

Autocross Champion
Location
Los Angeles
So... no one was going to tell me about Bilstein B4 damptronics? :cautious::LOL: All this time I just assumed they only offered the B6 and B16 damptronic replacements, neither of which would appear to suit my comfort-oriented goals. The B4's have always been marketed as the OEM replacements but should last a bit longer. Even if they last the same length of time it's a win because they are (slightly) cheaper than OEM. I'm not having any luck finding used GTI DCC dampers that aren't at 35k+ miles and still going for half the price of new. Used Golf R dampers are cheaper but the different part numbers (for the heavier vehicle) suggest they may be stiffer. I'm also thinking that since I don't know what new DCC dampers feel like I'm in no position to judge the condition of any used set I buy. New B4's are probably the way to go.

B4 Damptronics, both front and rears are around $340, from various places...
Front: 23-238978
Rear: 20-238988
 

AWD4416

Ready to race!
Location
Texas
Figuring out the wiring is fun but actually doing the wiring... I wouldn't be upset if someone handled that, haha.

haha 😆, you should see my LED headlights retrofit. It’s like VW hired some genius to engineer the car but put a bunch of monkeys to write their technical documents. In just about every retrofit I’ve done so far, I got to got back and verify or redo some of the wiring because of conflicting information on the manuals.

Just put in the actual dampers on order. Found e-acca.com to have the best price on new struts. For the shocks, I figured out the part number and got some used ones from eBay. I figured go new on the front but the shocks get less punishment from the road so went used.
 

Cuzoe

Autocross Champion
Location
Los Angeles
haha 😆, you should see my LED headlights retrofit. It’s like VW hired some genius to engineer the car but put a bunch of monkeys to write their technical documents. In just about every retrofit I’ve done so far, I got to got back and verify or redo some of the wiring because of conflicting information on the manuals.

Just put in the actual dampers on order. Found e-acca.com to have the best price on new struts. For the shocks, I figured out the part number and got some used ones from eBay. I figured go new on the front but the shocks get less punishment from the road so went used.
Nice, what part numbers did you end up ordering? And are you re-using your existing springs?

Parts.vw.com shows the two springs mentioned earlier (for DSG and Manual) plus several other springs (with the color codes) but also says that all of them fit basically everything (except the Tiguan) MQB that is FWD... Golf 1.4T, Golf 1.8T, GTI, TDI, GSW, GSW TDI, Jetta 1.4T and GLI o_O
 

AWD4416

Ready to race!
Location
Texas
Nice, what part numbers did you end up ordering? And are you re-using your existing springs?

So I've looked all over the internet for pictures of GTI and DCC. There was one pictures on the golf7gti board and also on vwvortex. I think I found one on this board but can't find it now.
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=de&tl=en&u=https://www.golf7gti.com/topic.php?t=7045
https://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?6956360-GTI-MkVII-wheel-thread&p=102368450&viewfull=1

The DCC shocks only show 1 data sticker on them with part number 5Q0-512-009-AK (GTI) . If you look this up anywhere on the parts websites, it doesn't show up. Since there is no revision part number for DCC shock I went ahead and took this as a assumption that it is the same part.

As for the springs, I open a thread on the Wheels/Tires/Suspension part of this board and someone confirmed that my springs are DCC capable. You should post up there with your specs to see if someone can do the same for you.
https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/dcc-part-number-help.378810/

There is also this website, I used it to figure out what PR code goes to what. It help me narrow down what springs I needed which ultimately lead me back to think I already have the proper ones. Just needed someone to confirm this for me.
http://www.oemepc.com/vw/part_singl...411/subcategory/411012/part_id/4353814/lang/u


Strut: 5Q0-413-031-FM
Shock: 5Q0-513-045-AK (5Q0-512-009-AK )
Front springs: 5QM-411-105-AC
Rear springs: 5QM-511-115-AB
 

Cuzoe

Autocross Champion
Location
Los Angeles
Those are the same part numbers I found for a manual GTI. If you don't mind, please post the shipping cost for the struts from e-acca. It's pretty crazy that the front struts are less than half the US MSRP price from e-acca. Oddly enough rear shocks from e-acca are more expensive than buying them from a dealer here in the states.

For what it's worth, VW Kerny Mesa has new Golf R DCC struts for $220 🤯 but the GTI DCC strut is still $320, same price as the Bilstein B4 damptronic. They have rear shocks at the same price for GTI/R at $320. That's the lowest price I can find for the rears and it's lower than e-acca.

At $220 new I'm really tempted to try the Golf R OEM front struts. I don't see any way to determine the difference between the GTI and R struts/shocks. The weight difference between models is being accounted for with the different springs (even the small difference between manual/DSG of the same model).

In other "news" the four pin plug that I bought to plug into the rear level sensor is not correct. From earlier in the thread, I mentioned that the DCC harness I bought expects that your car already has this sensor, connected to the headlight range of module. Anyway, the four pin connector that I ordered was part number 4B0 973 712. The one I should have ordered is 4b0 973 712 A. The A part number has the slot. I'm not going to "fix" the level sensors by cutting the alignment tab so I ordered the correct connectors.

4B0 973 712 A on the left (correct), 4B0 973 712 on the right (incorrect)...
IMG_20201011_145830.jpg


Next order of business, anybody got a part number for this boot?
IMG_20201011_145908.jpg
 

AWD4416

Ready to race!
Location
Texas
The prices for this stuff just don’t make sense. I’m assuming COVID is at play (scarcity). This is the third order I’ve had with e-acca, shipping is $76 but usually they reach out if there is a discrepancy. Also got the strut bearings from them as they were also half the price. Total price is at $517 if it helps.

I was having a hard time with what I wanted to do and getting a good price. Ultimately I decided on OEM vs the B4 (which I was looking at) because I read a few bad reviews on them on some UK sites. But everyone usually has a different experience. Also didn’t want OEM struts and Bilstein shocks. Lastly, just asking as I didn't look hard enough, do B4 have model specific part numbers or is it a general Golf part number? After seeing OEM using model specific parts, I figured it’s all tuned to the experience they want you to feel based on weight and height. Was actually looking for the TCR part numbers but didn’t find enough info.
 
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Cuzoe

Autocross Champion
Location
Los Angeles
Bilstein tends to do a single part number. The standard Golf isn't (to my knowledge) available with DCC and Bilstein's product finder only shows damptronic parts for the GTI/R. Also, the Golf has 50mm struts vs the 55mm of the GTI/R so Bilstein couldn't spec the same part for all of them even if they wanted to.

Their struts/shocks are a one-size deal for the GTI/R though. From what I've read, the parts are generally specced for the "lighter" of the cars so it might be a better match for the GTI. In my mind this makes sense as it would be slightly "soft" on the R but if specced for the R it could be very uncomfortable on the lighter GTI. They might also split the difference which would give you slightly firmer on a GTi and slightly softer on the R. In any case my concern is only that B4 damptronic comfort = OEM comfort and not like theB6 where (from what I've read) B6 damptronic comfort = OEM normal.

I would like to blame Covid for the prices but I think it's just weirdo VW stuff. The discounts from various places fluctuate but I have yet to see VW change MSRP on a current part.
 

replicate

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Downunder
This may help, or may not. To the best of my research, a 4 door DSG DCC GTI CS runs GTI PP dampers and R springs. Quite a sporty ride while not being uncomfortable (to me).
If it were me I’d choose Bilstein. Should be superior quality and rebuildable. OEM once they wear out are junk.
 

replicate

Go Kart Newbie
Location
Downunder
Hey guys, I was resting a little far away. I try to answer all of your questions, but sorry for missed messages sometimes ;)

Actually, you don't need the comfort profile for DCC, because if I put a photo like this, it will turn out to be most useful and comfortable than this comfort mode.

What do you think ;)

View attachment 188378

View attachment 188379
What witchcraft is this? That the MK8 DCC settings?
 

AWD4416

Ready to race!
Location
Texas
This may help, or may not. To the best of my research, a 4 door DSG DCC GTI CS runs GTI PP dampers and R springs. Quite a sporty ride while not being uncomfortable (to me).

Just making sure I got this right. A Club Sport uses GTI dampers and Golf R springs?

I’m assuming it ends up being lower that stock GTI height.
 
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