GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk7 => Topic started by: My other womans a vw. on 06 April 2020, 19:13
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Hello everyone,new member.
Before I start,great forum-loads of good advice and info.
My current car is a Mk 5 golf gt sport 170,this car has been a loyal servant and with 82,000 on the clock,still has plenty of life left in it.
However,I am now in a position to be able to purchase a car i’ve always wanted-a golf gti.
In an ideal world,it’d be a mint mk 1,but I need a reliable daily driver and I think the mk 7.5 golf gti has got everything i’m looking for-looks/performance wise.
What I’m after is a 3 door manual,with very low mileage,the other thing I would like is dynaudio.
I know the last model year of the mk 7 were almost all dsg 5 doors,but they are out there and I am prepared to wait and travel for the right car.
There doesn’t seem to be many out there with dynaudio however,so I am looking into the idea of retro fitting it.
This wouldn’t be a problem,as my current car must be one of the best specced gt sports out there-I bought it with 5000 miles on it and on top of the extras the last owner had specced,I took out the interior and fitted a dab aerial,uprated speakers,rns 315 head unit,multi function steering wheel,full fis cluster,multi media dock-spent a fortune,all parts were new and genuine and sourced both home and abroad.
This brings me onto my question:-
I have been speaking to a Chinese company on Ali-express,who are selling a full dynaudio kit-minus the uprated MIB/head unit.
Has anybody had any experience buying off Ali-express-good or bad?
The parts are genuine and the person I spoke to,was quite helpful,even asking for a photo of the MIB screen,to see if dynaudio was compatible with it.
During my mk 5 retrofit,I had to buy a part from China and insulted the seller by suggesting most Chinese parts were fakes,I apologised and when the part arrived,it was genuine and worked fine.
Sorry for the long winded post and cheers in advance for any replies.
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AFAIK, the physical head-unit is the same on a Dynaudio equipped car as it is on a non Dynaudio equipped car. The only difference in the HU is the software. When you spec Dynaudio you are paying out for an amp, different speakers, a sub and the EQ software.
:smiley:
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Thanks kmpowell,I think some of the questions/replies got lost in translation,but that’s good to know.
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I've bought things from AliExpress before.
Most are fakes - sometimes quite good ones, often not so much. Sometimes they perform as expected, sometimes not.
Would I risk buying something expensive? Absolutely not.
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Personally. I think there are better aftermarket alternatives to Dynaudio. OK, it's nice to have OEM, but it's not as if it is on display.
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Yeah,there probably is better after market alternatives available,but i’ve always been the same with my cars,I won’t look past OEM.
Daft,I know,like you say,it’s not on display-keeping my current car OEM at servicing/MOT time,is costing me a fortune.
A seized calliper replacement recently turned into a nightmare-I was dreading answering my mobile,after the third time!
It’s just something we do and reading this forum,I know I’m not the only one.
The retro kit on AliExpress is £578 plus £78 shipping,then you’ll have import duty on top.
Does this sound reasonable?
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Complete system on eBay for £275
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254548615906
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Seems like a lot of effort. It's not something I would risk messing with, I'd be too paranoid about putting everything back together properly without occuring annoying rattles.
I waited roughly 4-6 month for the right car whilst driving a £400, 20 year old purple fiesta.
Wait, something will turn up in the spec you're after.
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How about a Helix spare wheel mounted amp? This was the official VW aftermarket upgrade, so should remove any concerns about questionable quality of goods from Aliexpress. At £475+VAT installed, it’s cheaper than the cost of the Aliexpress option too (£578 + £78 shipping + import duty) which doesn’t include installation.
https://www.hazzydayz.com/helix-sound-package-for-mk7mk75-golf---supply-and-fit---8861-p.asp
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If it's £475 + vat from hazzydayz you'll find it much cheaper everywhere else. I think they just pluck figures out of thin air sometimes.
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Cheers chaps,all good suggestions/comments.
I am prepared to wait for the right car but I would have no problems retro fitting dynaudio,if that was all that was missing,to make it the ‘right’ car.
Like i’ve said,i’ve done similar before and you do encounter issues,but with forums like this (some of the members knowledge/expertise on here is incredible!)-you can do it.
Gonna do a bit more research on this Aliexpress-apparently,it’s the Chinese Amazon/EBay.
I also want a bit more info on the company i’m speaking to-Mr Car Store.........yes,that IS the name of the company,doesn’t exactly fill you with confidence does it-but if you look at what they’re selling,it all seems genuine-in the pictures mind you.
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Most things they sell "look genuine" - that is what they do, make things look the same as the real products.
Seriously, you are taking a huge gamble dealing with those guys.
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Cheers chaps,all good suggestions/comments.
I am prepared to wait for the right car but I would have no problems retro fitting dynaudio,if that was all that was missing,to make it the ‘right’ car.
Like i’ve said,i’ve done similar before and you do encounter issues,but with forums like this (some of the members knowledge/expertise on here is incredible!)-you can do it.
Gonna do a bit more research on this Aliexpress-apparently,it’s the Chinese Amazon/EBay.
I also want a bit more info on the company i’m speaking to-Mr Car Store.........yes,that IS the name of the company,doesn’t exactly fill you with confidence does it-but if you look at what they’re selling,it all seems genuine-in the pictures mind you.
I don't think anyone doubts you can do as you've clearly done it before.
How would know that the pictures aren't just taken from another site somewhere?
I think if you buying something sub £100 it might be worth a try but I'd be very wary of spending north of £500. It's your money however so in the end, only you can make that decision.
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If it was me I would take a punt at that ebay listing. Looks good in the pictures. The only head ache would be sourcing the wiring and possibly having to change the plug types but it all can be done with time and patience. Would be a good project actually.
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Was it vw parts you purchased?
Thing is,aren’t most things made in China nowadays?-I agree with you,it would be a gamble.
Vw must have massive factories producing parts in China,maybes this company has a contact who supplies unpackaged parts to them??
There can’t be massive demand for full dynaudio retrofits,so why go to the trouble of producing fakes of numerous components for it-it’s this that has me intrigued,but I am wary and sceptical.
At the moment I’m happy just looking into it.
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I see these pop up on eBay quite cheap sometimes. They need coding too.
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They fake EVERYTHING. Things you wouldn't even imagine were worth faking, things you might think nobody on the planet would buy.
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Hiya Fred,clearly you’ve had your fingers burnt and I appreciate your comments.
Although yours was a negative experience,there must be people on the forum with a positive experience.
They can’t all be fakers,it’s a similar situation for us using EBay-i use it a lot and have had my pants pulled down on a number of occasions,but mostly i’ve had no problems.
Rob,have you seen the kits i’m looking at from China on EBay or were they 2nd hand?
I wonder where companies like ‘KUFATEC’ scource their items from,they probably deal with Chinese companies,buy cheaper and then hike up the price.
Who knows at the end of the day,it’s a gamble-but if they are legit and you like modding/upgrading your car,you could save a lot of money.
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I have a pair of £29 AliExpress DSG Paddle Shifters on my GTI. Chap who lives nearby has the exact same pattern but Racing Line and paid £192. Side by side and in operation you cant tell any difference.
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Fakes come in varying qualities, obviously the more complex the item the less likely it is to be something other than externally visibly correct.
If its a tshirt with the word "Nike" printed on it, they could get that quite accurate.
If its a Rolex watch or a Galaxy S10, not so much... (yes you get faked smart phones...)
On the other hand, sometimes the product that you buy from some Western company is actually just something they have bought from Ali in the first place. The original Alibaba was for Chinese companies to advertise stuff for resellers to buy and that is still used a lot.
But its a gamble.
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Hiya Fred,clearly you’ve had your fingers burnt and I appreciate your comments.
Although yours was a negative experience,there must be people on the forum with a positive experience.
They can’t all be fakers,it’s a similar situation for us using EBay-i use it a lot and have had my pants pulled down on a number of occasions,but mostly i’ve had no problems.
Rob,have you seen the kits i’m looking at from China on EBay or were they 2nd hand?
I wonder where companies like ‘KUFATEC’ scource their items from,they probably deal with Chinese companies,buy cheaper and then hike up the price.
Who knows at the end of the day,it’s a gamble-but if they are legit and you like modding/upgrading your car,you could save a lot of money. Quick look and there was one for £200 on Facebook
It’s the speaker in the spare wheel I’ve seen on eBay. Also seen people selling them on the mk7 gti Facebook page. It’s certainly an easier fitting.
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Had all my LED bulbs from them and a couple from Wish for both our cars and over 4 years ago. One bulb has failed out of all of them and they replaced it FOC, even sent a pair out so I have a spare bulb just in case.
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I was starting to seriously doubt dealing with ‘Mr Car Store’ after communication difficulties.
They were replying to my questions,but the answers made no sense-obviously a translation problem.
After a while they just kept sending a photo of the full kit each time I asked a question,as though sick of me asking things.
However i’ve seen a car I might be interested in (without dynaudio) and remembered them asking me to send a photo of the touch screen/head unit,so I did.
The reply asked me to go into the settings and find out which MIB version it was,to see if the kit was compatible.
I couldn’t,cause the car isn’t mine,but I thought why would a faker ask that?
You would think they would just say ‘yes its compatible’ and take your money.
Or are they trying to make it appear more convincing,to lure me in-hmmmmm.
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I was starting to seriously doubt dealing with ‘Mr Car Store’ after communication difficulties.
They were replying to my questions,but the answers made no sense-obviously a translation problem.
After a while they just kept sending a photo of the full kit each time I asked a question,as though sick of me asking things.
However i’ve seen a car I might be interested in (without dynaudio) and remembered them asking me to send a photo of the touch screen/head unit,so I did.
The reply asked me to go into the settings and find out which MIB version it was,to see if the kit was compatible.
I couldn’t,cause the car isn’t mine,but I thought why would a faker ask that?
You would think they would just say ‘yes its compatible’ and take your money.
Or are they trying to make it appear more convincing,to lure me in-hmmmmm.
If you know when the car you’re interested in was built, the MIB version in the car should be;
MIB 1; fitted to cars built up to the end of build week 21 in 2015
MIB 2; fitted to cars from the start of 2016 model year production (build week 22 in 2015)
MIB 3; fitted to mk7.5 models.
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It’s a 2019-thanks for that info.
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If they're struggling to even communicate before purchase then imagine after purchase if you did have a problem, it would be a nightmare
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Yeah that’s true,I have asked for part numbers and more photos,which they have sent-eventually.Checked their feedback and it’s good-but not perfect.
You can also pay using PayPal,which gives you some protection.
I’ve been looking into how to spot fake parts,didn’t realise how massive a problem it is.
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Think i’ve just had the answer to my original question.
Went ahead and ordered the full dynaudio kit from Aliexpress on the 12th April.
At first things seemed ok,then just before the processing time ran out I got a message saying the shipping company wouldn’t take the item and did I have friends in China,or could I arrange a private courier.
Like a pillock,I extended the processing time,to give the seller more time to ship-trying to be reasonable due to the impact covid has had on worldwide logistics.
That was the last I heard from the seller,despite almost daily attempts for an update.
Heard some absolute horror stories regarding refunds and feared the worst.
However,cancelled the order yesterday and the money was back in my account today.
Gutted really,cause I wanted the kit,but the complete and total lack of communication,made me pull the plug.
Should have listened to the lads on here,I honestly don’t think i’ll buy anything off there again,I took a gamble that could of cost me a fortune.
‘Aliexpress-good or bad?’
Ans-BAD!!!
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At least you didn't get some piece of crap sent to you. Possibly best outcome really.
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@My other womans a vw.; I’ve not re-read the discussion thread but seem to remember you wanted to keep the upgrade as OEM as possible. Would this fit the bill?
https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/owners/accessories/000051419B/plug-and-play-sound-system-for-spare-wheel-bay
I think you‘d have to sacrifice losing the spare wheel with the Helix plug and play system though as unlike the Dynaudio sub, the Helix unit is too large to fit inside the spare wheel.
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SRGTD,yeah that’s the route i’m looking at now.
Have you had/heard a car with this fitted?
Also there’s seems to be two part numbers for this,both the same bar one ends with A,the other with B.
A bit of searching suggests A is for early models,B for later models-anybody know if this is true?
Fred,i’ll never know if it was a piece of crap-the communication certainly was,but like you say,it was probably the best outcome.
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Have a search on here for Helix - I've seen several people with them on here. Everyone with them seems to like them.