Vw rcd 300 mp3 chrome pack cd player

[DAVE NIC]

Hi. My experience here might be of interest to those of you who have this MP3 single CD player model in your VW. I just bought a '57 Pearl Black Passat TDi 140 Sports saloon & she's a beauty (black heated/electric leather sports seats, front & rear sensors, heated front windscreen, auto hold, cruise, Highline multi function trip computer, front fogs, multi function steering wheel & rear window sunblind). I was chuffed that she had the single CD MP3 player as I could cram about 10 or 11 hours of music onto one data disc to play in the car instead of just the usual 70 minutes from a standard audio disc that most CD players play. The car has an i-Pod connector built in in the glovebox too but seeing I don't own any Apple gear it ain't much use.

Anyway, I duly spent a few hours ripping & burning some of my modest audio CD collection to my laptop using Windows 7 & after burning 6 MP3 CD-R discs couldn't wait to try them in the RCD 300 MP3 player in the car! However upon inserting in the CD player..... disaster........... every one of the six now CR-ROM data discs came up as 'ERROR' on the display.

I binned the 6 ASDA brand discs thinking there was a problem with them or the way I had ripped and /or burned them on the laptop. I checked that the CD player played normal audio CD's okay which it did so back to the drawing board on the laptop. Re-ripped & burned a few CD's in MP3 format again to some new VERBATIM blank discs. By chance, when I tried the MP3 CD data disc this time the RCD 300 had been on for a while so was nicely warmed up & hey presto the MP3 CD discs I created worked no problem.

I have found in my case anyway that the blank CD-R's seem susceptible to the cold & they have a tendancy not to operate in low temperatures like we have up here in Northern Scotland at the moment. As long as they are at a minimum temperature or the RCD 300 itself is at a certain temperature to warm the disk then they will play ok - I think it may have something to do with the special dyes used on blank CD-R discs. Perhaps condensation is forming on the cold CD-R disc & this is preventing the laser in the RCD 300 unit reading the disc until it has evaporated.

So if you find that your MP3 discs don't work in your RCD 300 MP3 player don't despair - it could be temperture related as well - give it another go after the unit has been on for a few minutes or the car has heated up the interior.

Hope this is of some use if you have come across this problem too.

[Isambard]

I always "burn" MP3 to RW discs, use good quality ones, def not cheapos.

If any errors you can always re- write them.

I realise that CD's are now relatively cheap, and I had a large quantity of RW surplus to requirements.

[ToMBoY_C]

CD's?? What are they?!?

All about the SD cards now

[rapport25]

CD's?? What are they?!?

All about the SD cards now

And flat batteries

[DAVE NIC]

CD's?? What are they?!?

All about the SD cards now

Hi, you are way ahead of me, I didn't know there were units available now that accepted SD cards to play music in the car. Who makes such a unit that would fit the '57 model Passat ? By the way I thought your steering wheel conversion to the R36 wheel was pretty smart - was it a lot of hassle converting it ? I have a multi function wheel & may go down the same route. Did you buy a new wheel or pick up a second hand one ? Cost ?

Cheers.

[DAVE NIC]

I always "burn" MP3 to RW discs, use good quality ones, def not cheapos.

If any errors you can always re- write them.

I realise that CD's are now relatively cheap, and I had a large quantity of RW surplus to requirements.

Hi thanks for the advice - I will give some C-RW's a try & see if they are more reliable inthe cold weather in the RCD 300 MP3 player.

Cheers.

[rapport25]

Hi, you are way ahead of me, I didn't know there were units available now that accepted SD cards to play music in the car. Who makes such a unit that would fit the '57 model Passat ? By the way I thought your steering wheel conversion to the R36 wheel was pretty smart - was it a lot of hassle converting it ? I have a multi function wheel & may go down the same route. Did you buy a new wheel or pick up a second hand one ? Cost ?

Cheers.

Toms wheel looks pretty cool. I hope you are going to join the take the mick out of tom boy . Us Sport owners must stick togther you know

There are many aftermarket head units on e bay and unfortunately they are known to drain the battery. You can also buy a VW headunit that takes sd cards and its touch screen. You can even buy one with a free view tuner built in.

Hth's Rappy.

[DAVE NIC]

Toms wheel looks pretty cool. I hope you are going to join the take the mick out of tom boy . Us Sport owners must stick togther you know

There are many aftermarket head units on e bay and unfortunately they are known to drain the battery. You can also buy a VW headunit that takes sd cards and its touch screen. You can even buy one with a free view tuner built in.

Hth's Rappy.

Hi Rappy, thanks for the info - bet the VW unit costs an absolute fortune ! I'll stick with my prehistoric MP3 CD player as the quaity is excellent & good enough for my old ears ! Have to admit I am chuffed to bits with my Passat B6 Sport - handling is great with the lowered suspension - not too hard but not too soft. I have a 2001 B5 Sport Estate TDi PD 130 as well & its built like a tank, possible better than the B6 but doesn't handle as well - too soft & steering is a bit heavy but still a great car, actually feels quicker than my B6 - probabaly because it is noisier !! Cheers.

[adstalker]

I read in your thread that you have the Ipod connection in the glove box. Is that just the lead or is it the built in one.

If its the lead, then it is just an adapter extension piece which can be removed and replaced by a USB version.

With the USB version, you can use an 8GB memory stick. I think they are about £20-25 from VW (not sure on the actual cost as when I got my car I got VW to put in the MMI and provide me with both the Ipod and USB extension pieces as part of the deal).

Let me know if you want any more informtion.

Hope this helps.

Anthony

[DAVE NIC]

I read in your thread that you have the Ipod connection in the glove box. Is that just the lead or is it the built in one.

If its the lead, then it is just an adapter extension piece which can be removed and replaced by a USB version.

With the USB version, you can use an 8GB memory stick. I think they are about £20-25 from VW (not sure on the actual cost as when I got my car I got VW to put in the MMI and provide me with both the Ipod and USB extension pieces as part of the deal).

Let me know if you want any more informtion.

Hope this helps.

Anthony

Hi Anthony. Thanks for the information & advice. I have decided to go down the 3.5 jack plug route & the car is going in to VW dealer next week to have the dead i Pod cable (not built in one) removed & replaced by the 3.5 jack plug so I can plug it into my mobile phone or iPod or any other MP3 player with a 3.5 jack plug socket. See link here to Blaupunkt. http://www.bluespot.co.uk/car-audio.aspx/oem-auxin-vgx4. Cheers, David.