Oem and aftermarket parking sensors?

[ab1702]

Does anyone know if I could use oem parking sensors with an aftermarket parking sensor kit?
Reason being is I bought an S3 rear bumper for my S Line quite a while ago and it has parking sensors but my car has never had parking sensors.
When the breakers yard took the bumper off the donor car they just cut the loom for the sensors where it goes from the bumper into the car. I can’t be bothered to retrofit the proper oem rear sensors that integrate with canbus etc so I was just going to get a cheap kit that taps into the reverse cable but I’m struggling to find a kit that uses the same size holes as oem sensors.
The loom is still plugged into the sensors so I wondered if I could chop the aftermarket sensors off and attach there cables to the cables that come from the oem sensors?
Does anyone know if this would work?

 

[NHN]

More than likely no, I would fit the audi kit.

 

[ab1702]

More than likely no, I would fit the audi kit.

I would but I’ve read the old thread what you were part of and I cant 100% understand which cables i tap into the convenience module cables and power cables. If I were to do that I would buy the loom from kufatec instead of making one from repair wires so then I would have to cut the plug off and splice into the can hi/lo cables and the power cables in the back of the car if I’m understanding it properly but I’m not sure which cables these would be. Do you know off the top of your head which cables it would be? It’s a 2009 tdi s line sportback.

I literally can’t be bothered to run it properly and take the loom to the front of the car and plug it into whichever module it needs to plug into and then mess about connecting 2 cables into the fuse box.

 

[George Kost]

Have a read at this post.
Although it is about front and rear PDC and PLA, there are many information regarding the looms.
https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threa...distance-control-pla-park-lane-assist.417456/

 

[thomashud71]

Sorry to bring this up again, but just wondered if a way was found to do this?

I'm in a similar situation having fitted a bumper to my A3 8P with parking sensors, would be ideal to wire up the OEM sensors to an aftermarket kit of the sort to save having to get the modules and coding etc.

Thanks

 

[NateS2]

There are so many different protocols for these sensors its not going to be possible. Unless, by some fluke, you get an aftermarket kit that uses the same Bosch sensors as Audi use. In which I imagine that kit will be as much or more than just buying the modules and Kufatec loom

 

[henkkeumus]

You could do it, but why.

You could use the loom to wire up your aftermarket kit. The wires are only a piece of copper connecting the aftermarking unit to the sensors. However, most aftermarket kits come with hardwired sensors on the loom..

If you have OEM sensors and they cut the loom I would just go down the OEM route. It may seem like a bunch of costy work but that depends if you buy all parts new.. A 4K rear PDC module is no more then a few quid (€70,- here in The Netherlands, take a look at BM-Parts, it's one of the biggest sales companies for (new and secondhand) high-end VAG parts https://www.bm-parts.nl/onderdelen/model-audi-a3-2003 ) you can change the langauge in the top right corner of the website.

I will help you...
PDC Module 4K (4 channels, rear only) - €75,-
PDC Rearbumper loom 4K (4x PDC) - €20,-
With the current EURO-GBP rate this is around 80GBP now.

You already had the 4 sensors in the bumper. Email them to give you a nice quote and I bet they will down their price a bit since you are abroad.
The only think you need to do youself is find a connector and wire 3/4 wires from your CAN-gateway and BCM to the rear. Get a roll of 0,5mm wire for a few quid and look for the connectors on Ali or eBay for a few quid too..

I bet you can get all of this for around 100-150GBP if you do this yourself. If you want to go down that road hit me up through PM I'm happy to help you bud (I'm the author of the topic George posted, did the rear, front en sidesensors for automatic parking also by myself).

 

[George Kost]

Myself at first I installed an aftermarket kit, with power from the reverse light. But had a problem with the sensors when it was super hot here in Greece.
I was lucky that the holes I drilled at first was a bit smaller that the original PDC sensors, so I just drilled a bigger hole for the original sensors.

You can only do the rear as @henkkeumus said. Not difficult.
The only "hard" work is to root 4 cables to the front.
2 cables for CAN, and 2 cables for 12V and Ground (or 1 if you get ground from the trunk), Or use this kit.
Also is is a bit hard to tap the 2 can cables because the Can gateway is in a difficult position under and behind the steering wheel.
You will also need the bracket that the PDC module mounts in the trunk. Because now you have nothing there. (Or you can hold it in place with some cable ties).
And the warning speaker.

If you go the original way, check the thread that henkkeumus created and we are here to help you all the way!

If you decide to use an aftermarket kit, you can search for one that the sensors are larger than the oem, so you drill a bigger hole. But you "destroy" the perfect holes of the bumper.

 

[henkkeumus]

Forgot to say.... You'll regret it once the aftermarket look like **** and you can't go back because you drilled the holes to big in your already factory pre-drilled bumper as @George Kost said.

Nothing beats the OEM look, aftermarket will always look off. And tbf you bought a S3 bumper, do the car good and put some extra love in it mate

 

[thomashud71]

Thanks a deal for the replies guys, I’ll have a look through the attached links and threads, and come back soon