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The battery drain hasn’t been an issue. I think that was a problem on some of the mk5’s. This was just plug and play. So far, no issues.

@@mattscavethank you so much, will be doing this upgrade this week!

@@mattscave also, did your head unit come with an adapter that has a little black box? Canbus simulator. I just plugged mine in with the original wiring harness, and it turns on even with the car off. Don’t know what your work around was or is. Really worried that it may drain my battery.

@@Helghan23 No, it didn't come with the canbus adapter. It's designed to work with the mk6 stuff, including the Beetle. All VW stereos turn on with the car off, even my mk7 and my mk4. It should turn off when you open the door. IIRC, they stay on for 1 hour and then shut themselves off. I think the canbus adapter was only necessary for some of the earlier cars. I've had the stereo in for almost 6 months with no issues of battery drain.

@ I can sleep better lol, thank you, I was extremely worried man. You’re awesome man!! Thank you!

Hi Louis! I appreciate the kind words. The backup light wire is the blue/black wire (if I remember correctly). The backup camera included wiretaps to snap right onto the wire. They worked well and made short work of the whole thing. So far, the camera and RCD-330 have been amazing upgrades to the Beetle. My wife really appreciates both. Hope your installation goes smoothly!

I'm working on it! I've been chasing a fueling issue for the last year or so - The pump and injectors are rebuilt, yet it's having problems drawing fuel. Thought it might be a leak, but I can pull vacuum on the lines without issue. I'm working to put together a video on the issue just because it's interesting and baffling all at once. Watch this space for some stuff soon...

Actually, looking at my convertible, it "looks" a little simpler...but need to try and track down a video for it (you mentioned finding one somewhere)...

I took a week to do the whole thing, working on it a little at a time. It's not that complex, but there wasn't any DIY's anywhere on how to install this thing. Good luck with the install. It's worth it in the end!

@@allenadkins2240 Yeah, I found a DIY on the convertible on youtube, but because it doesn't have the headliner it wound up being different. Also, he didn't go through the side channels, but rather under the center console to get the wiring to the front.

Nope, it looks and acts exactly like it did before. The only difference is it has a hidden backup camera now!

Yep, they work great. You long press the microphone button on the steering wheel to get Siri.

@@mattscave awesome thank you!

Any app that is supported in CarPlay will show up on the home screen. That said, you aren't watching videos while cruising down the road, are you??

@@mattscave 🙏🏻🚗

@@myakegley3076 it took a lot of planning and work to get this thing installed! I wish there had been more available to help out, but boy there was just nothing! The blue wire did suck. 😂

@@papago87 the only cables that are plugged into the rear are the quad lock connection and the antenna. The one that I purchased also had the external usb port installed which was plugged into the rear. If you’re installing the camera, the blue connection in the quad lock is replaced with the one from the camera. You also tap the orange wires for the canbus in order to have the moving lines on the back image. Hope this helps!

I ordered all of it on rcd330.com. The camera was an additional $150 over the cost of the head unit. I paid a little extra on the head unit to be able to remotely relocate the USB port instead of having the cable sticking out of the dash. Total cost on both the camera and head unit was around $560-ish. The chinese camera uses RF instead of digital for the video signal, so I'm not sure if it's compatible with the USA head units. Good luck!

I'm so glad the video helped! It was so hard to find anything on installing these cameras into the Beetle that I wanted to try to put *something* up to help. Glad you were able to get it running. It's been GREAT having the camera on the Bug, as you can't see squat when trying to back up!

@@mattscave Yeah not much out there! Glad I gave it another go and saw this video to motivate me to try again!

I ordered the head unit and camera from rcd330.com. Both together were just over $550. Everything I needed was included, other than various tools required for installation. The whole install took about a week. When I'd get to a spot I wasn't sure about, I'd sleep on it. Sorry there isn't much of a parts list, but it really was just the camera, head unit, and tools. I think the important tools are the trim removers (I got a huge set on Amazon for $20) and the wire fisher ($10 at harbor freight). The convertible will probably be somewhat easier as you don't have to go through the headliner. Good luck!

I picked up the RCD-330 and backup camera from rcd330.com. Total cost on both was $568 shipped. I'm about to release another video detailing the rear camera install as well.

Thanks! I'm actually about to release a video detailing the installation of the backup camera as well. I could not find much of anything on that install, so I'm hoping this will help people in their own installations.

Thanks! Yeah, I've had her for so long she can't leave. I'm going to have the body freshened and make her mechanically sound and just drive her to shows and events. I will need to put AC in her at some point (Ugh, Florida), but otherwise she's still in pretty decent shape. Thanks for the kind words!

Cool! There's something about these cars that's just really fun. Sometimes I think I'm a little nuts and should have sold it years ago, but I dunno, I kinda like the idea of driving around in a refreshed Rabbit! Good luck on your restoration!

@@mattscave I never paid much attention to them until I bought one and now love them. It being diesel really sold me on it. Thanks it’s coming along slowly but surely.

@@lostinbossiercity the diesel is actually a cool part. When I was in college, diesel was a dollar a gallon. I’d fill the rabbit for $10 and drive it for over 400 miles. Talk about cheap transportation!

Yeah, I've had VWs my entire life. The Rabbit was my 'first car' that I ever owned, though I did drive a 1978 VW Bus when I was 16 for a little while. I got tired of not having heat in the winter, and the Rabbit felt like a huge upgrade. I've had 3 Golfs (mk1, mk4, and mk7) - all diesels. My wife decided she wanted a Beetle at one point and we found that little TDI manual one for a really great deal after dieselgate. It's been a really great vehicle.

Thanks for the kind words! As for the Enterprise, you should check out my other channel (Matt's Model Shop) where I've detailed a 1/350 scale Polar Lights Enterprise refit build. It's a ridiculous number of videos, but it's one helluva kit! As for the Rabbit, yeah, I've toyed with putting a turbo diesel in it, but this isn't going to be a primary vehicle ever. It's mostly a member of the family, and will only be driven to car shows/etc. If I find a great deal on a 1.6L TD, you bet I'll pick it up, but for what I'm after, the NA engine will be fine. The AC is mostly because it's dangerous without it around here. If it starts pouring rain, it fogs up in the car something fierce! AC is a must. The Bug only has 45K miles on it, and it doesn't get driven a ton. It's the wife's car and she mostly drives to the theme parks and back. My mk7 sees most of the driving in the family. If the Bug starts having issues with the emissions equipment, we'll visit whether we want to pothole it or just fix it and keep it as is. Thanks for stopping in and checking out the video! I'll be adding more as I go, plus some of my other silly interests. This channel is going to be a catch all for things that I enjoy. The Rabbit just happens to be one of those!