[SwissJetPilot]

Does anyone have any experience routing wires from the trunk, through the bulkhead, and into the cabin of a Mk 2 Roadster?

I know which panels to pull, (left trunk liner, left rear seat panel, left door sill panel, left kick panel) but I can't find any decent picture on the internet as to the best way to get wires through the bulkhead. For the Coupe it's pretty straight forward, but the Roadster is a whole different story.

I would think anyone who's installed an amp in the trunk might know. Recommendations, with pictures if you have them, are greatly appreciated.

Also, if anyone has any pictures of the pry-points for the panels mentioned above, that would also be very helpful.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Stiff]

Sorry I can't help but a quick search found this thread which robokn mentions he's done similar. Maybe he can help?
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=672377

 

[JohnnyFarmer]

Hi Swiss, for reversing cam (thanks for your diagrams) I went down the left floor of the boot. But if your glove box is on the right that side might be easier might be easier though I can't definitely speak about what openings you'll have. If you've not got them already worth getting a set of the plastic pry tools - I used a tack lifter as it was my first mod - and regretted it - took ages & I broke q a few fasteners.
The plastic panels behind the left passenger seat are surprisingly resilient & increasing firm pull on the edges either released the panels or revealed the clips to leaver up with screwdriver/pry tool. There are several looms traversing the bulkhead & I did not pass the wire through under direct vision all the way but taped the end onto something resembling coat hanger wire but a little more flexible (if you have any medical mates ask them for something called a 'tracheal introducer' works a treat) there are several large 2-3 cm + diameter holes in the double bulkhead behind the left seat plastic panel to traverse. I went from front to back thought that was easier. Might be easier with two people - do you have a small child you can put in the boot? The pry points are forgiving and I stuck to the floor of the boot for the access holes. Perhaps low light surroundings & torch placed in the L forward recess of the boot. Sorry no pictures - I guess I've used my thousand words. Good luck

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[SwissJetPilot]

Thanks guys - I have a set of pry tools on order from Amazon. From studying the pictures of the panels that are on eBay and various diagrams on the internet, I have a pretty good idea of where the clips are located, so it will be a matter of actually putting pry tool to plastic to see how difficult it really is to remove them.

My wife is pretty tiny (well, pretty and tiny actually) so I will see if I can convince her to climb into the trunk. I suspect that's going to cost me a new pair of shoes for that favor! LOL! :lol:

 

[JohnnyFarmer]

Plenty of space for plugs - through the bulkhead. Might need a bit of jiggling which if you play your cards right you could get for free with the shoes. [emoji151][emoji151]

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[Torac]

Any news on this? In the same boat… Need to pull some new speaker wiring thru the wall where the roof goes.

 

[Jezzie]

6 years on and still no news it seems…
🥴

 

[SwissJetPilot]

This project is part of a reverse camera installation where I need to run wires from the deck lid to the RNS-E. This discussion just covers routing the wires from left side of the trunk, through the bulkhead and to the left door sill. You could do this from the right side too, but if you have a Bose Sound system you have to deal with the Sub-woofer inside the bulkhead. To do this, all you need is a tape measure and some electrical tape.

I started by removing the side panels and the styrofoam blocks from the trunk. Then pulled the plastic panel from behind the seat to get access through the bulkhead.

Extend the tape measure from the cabin, through the bulkhead and into the trunk. Tape the wires to the end of the tape measure and retract the tape measure back into the cabin. Note that the longer tape measures (5-7 meters) tend to be a bit wider and stiffer than the shorter ones.

After all the wire routing was completed, I cable tied the wires to the OEM wire bundle so they didn't rattle around. As you can see in these pictures, you can either follow the route your wires under the door sill or go under the center console. I just found going under the door sill was easier since it was just three wires going to the RNS-E.

Word of caution - when working inside the bulkhead, be careful that you don't accidently dislodge the drain tube otherwise you can end up with water getting inside.

 

[SwissJetPilot]

Routing the wiring from the license plate light camera into the trunk. First, start with this post to remove the deck lid panel -

How To - Audi TT Mk2 Roadster Trunk Lid Panel Removal

How To - Audi TT Mk2 Roadster Trunk Lid Panel Removal

This is useful for anyone who needs to access the spoiler unit, the emergency trunk release cable or is planning a reverse camera install. First remove the two screws in the grab handle, then remove the latch cover and then disengage all 8-clips. Start at the left lower corner and use the...

www.ttforum.co.uk

Once the trunk lid panel and left license plate light have been removed, use some sort of flexible rod (I used a length of hobby 1/4" dia. PVC tube) and pass it up through the grommet opening up towards the top of the deck lid. I would avoid using a coat hanger wire as it may scratch the paint.

Tape the wires to the end of the rod. I prefer painters tape since it isn't as sticky and won't leave a residue on the wires.

Carefully pull the wires through and out. Be sure to help guide them, so they don't get caught or cut on the metal work.

Once the wires have been pulled through the deck lid, repeat this process to run the wires through each of the sections of the trunk/deck lid grommet. I found a long cable tie worked well for this.

Secure the wires to the existing harness with small cable ties. I used yellow ones just to make the project obvious should I need to revisit this in the future.

Location of the lower grommet connection into the trunk -

Continue with this method until you have the wires routed through the grommet and into the trunk area. From here you can continue routing your cables along the existing harness bundle and cable tie them in place through the bulkhead and into the cabin as shown above.

 

[SwissJetPilot]

Trying to run the reverse camera video cable can be problematic due to the size of the RCA jack. To make this a bit easier, and avoid drilling a hole large enough to accommodate the RCA jack, you can replace RCA video cable by using a standard 2-wire (red/black) 20AWG speaker wire and add solderless RCA connectors to both ends after the wires have been routed.

Amazon links -
Connector
Wire

 

[mmedic]

Do you happen to know how you take off the panels in the trunk under the grommet to get access to the wires that are fished through the grommet?

 

[SwissJetPilot]

To remove everything out of the trunk, start by removing both side panels, then remove the rear plastic panel, then lift out the two foam inserts starting with the RIGHT one first. See details in the following thread. Thinking about this again... you may need to remove the rear plastic panel first and then the side panels. TBO I'm not sure sitting at my desk writing this. But once you're back there you'll figure it out.

The side panel clips just pull off. Try to get your fingers as close to the clips as possible and pull at the clip, not between them or you're likely to damage the panel. Just a quick jerk and it will come away. Check that you have all the clips as they sometimes stay in the metal work.

Here you can see where the clips engage with the metal work so you can estimate there they are located on the panel shown below -

 

[SwissJetPilot]

To remove the rear plastic trunk panel, prise the rubber seal away from the edge first, then just reach under the bottom edge of the panel and yank it straight up. I did this by standing on the center line of the car, one hand on each side (about where my hand is shown here) and pull both sides straight up simultaneously. Just a quick, short jerk and it will come away.

The red circles are the clips, the two blue circles are where it rests on studs. Note, ignore the cable ties above the blue circles.

Once the side and rear plastic trunk panels are out, you can remove the foam inserts. Start by removing the RIGHT (Battery side) first. Here you can see how the right side has the female dove-tails, and the left side has the male dove-tails. Note the view below is from the underside of the tray. The trays just lift up and out, there are no clips or anything holding them in place.

The Convertible Top Control Module, located just forward of the battery, is just wedged in place. So you will have to carefully remove it from the foam insert. No need to unplug anything, just be careful as you take everything apart. It goes with out saying, but as a reminder, take all the tools out BEFORE removing the foam inserts.