Fiscon car phone kits.

[DDg]

I had a Fiscon for 2 years. Then I replaced it with the oem bluetooth unit.

VW oem unit...
1. Lovely clear reception.
2. Far, far less interference / feedback etc both when in use and not in use.
3. The steering wheel buttons all work exactly as they're meant to.
4. All my texts appear on the MFD and can even be read out to you!
5. Nice selection of ring tones

Fiscon...
1. The opposite of all the above!
2. Sounded shrill & unpleasant in comparison
3. The steering wheel buttons don't all work as you expect
4. The MFD displayed a random assortment of texts, they may or may not appear, some came through, some wouldn't, some old ones kept coming back (wtf?)
5. I never got to the bottom of an issue with the radio / music occasionally not coming back on automatically after a call was finished.

To be fair to Fiscon, I never updated the firmware, but in my experience there is simply no comparison. The VW oem one simply works all the time, as intended, sounding better.

You can pick them up on eBay - I think there's a Polish seller (proper business) who sells them for about £200, so it's cheaper than a Fiscon!

http://www.carsystems.pl/bluetooth,c3.html

If you really want a Fiscon, I'll sell you my old one for a ton or something like that, but I'd say you'd be mad not to go with the VW one.

[Ciaran-GTD]

Thanks that's great advice. This sounds like what Im looking for. Ill do a bit of research now and see if there available... Sorry if there as good as u say ill have to pass on the offer.

Wonder do you have to update the Firmware on the oem units and how they work with Iphone 3g/4?


just havin a look here at the spec on the oem unit did u have to  "VAS / VCDS Coding after installation required" ?

[DDg]

Whatever you go for (Fiscon or VW) you'll need to find someone with Vagcom (e.g a dealer or perhaps there's an enthusiastic owner with one nearby) to hook up to the cars computer to tell it to recognise there's now Bluetooth fitted (plug a fancy cable into the port under the dash and check the right box on their laptop - it takes seconds).

Don't know about updates for the oem - but I don't have any reason to. I haven't got an iPhone so I can't state they're compatible, but I think they are.

[p3eps]

I've used the Fiscon kit for the last 2 years and can't say I've had any complaints to be honest.
I have the Mic attached to the door pillar as it did sound pretty rubbish when installed in the light fitting.

The reviews from the people I speak to on the call quality is very positive.  Most say you couldn't tell I was on a handsfree kit at all.

I have an iPhone 4S.  I don't get any of the text messages on the screen, and I don't get the call lists etc either.  I can dial through the MFD or the screen, and I can also stream music from my phone via bluetooth.
I updated mine on my Mac the other day... although it was using Windows!
My steering controls work as expected too.

The ringtone on mine is the same as the one on the iPhone - ACDC - Back In Black!  It just plays it off the phone but through the car speakers.

If I was to get a new one I'd probably go for the OEM one... but I don't think (could be totally wrong?!) that the text message thing will work with an iPhone on it either?

[carl1]

Txt messages don't show with Vw oem bluetooth on MFD with any phone as far as i know.

[Ciaran-GTD]

I have a build in mics in front of the map lights. wonder could I use these?

[p3eps]

4. All my texts appear on the MFD and can even be read out to you!

Out of curiosity - which phone do you use?

[dubber36]

I had a Golf Match courtesy car a few weeks back. That had factory bluetooth and was excellent.

I have a Blackberry. It would give me my phone book and call lists on the MFD, but no texts (I don't think). Everything worked as it should using either the MFSW or the RCD510. Dialling numbers not in your phonebook was a faff using the steering wheel buttons, but with the touch screen in was just fine.

As for sound, people told me that it was perfectly clear, not much difference to holding the phone to my ear, except I sounded like I was 2 feet away from the mic. There was no echo like I get with my old Nokia kit in my Passat.

I think I'll go for an OEM kit when the time comes.

[DDg]

4. All my texts appear on the MFD and can even be read out to you!

Out of curiosity - which phone do you use?

A bottom of the range 8 year old Nokia 'brick' - possibly a '2210'. The oem bluetooth's really good - a clear voice reads out your text message. I was wondering whether this facility was an O2 thing or the oem bluetooth's work, but I think it's the latter.

[Ciaran-GTD]

Lads going to order this oem BT today from http://www.carsystems.pl/bluetooth,c3.html

not to sure which one suits mine. I have white display and multifuction steering wheel but there is two model numbers, anyone know which one to get

VW Bluetooth KIT 5N0035730D
or
VW Bluetooth KIT 3C8035730B
or
there might even be another one and im totally off the ball all together

Thanks
Ciaran