Bosch Highline Software Update
On 29 September 2015, Volkswagen announced plans to refit up to 11 million affected vehicles, fitted with Volkswagen's EA 189 diesel engines, including 5 million at Volkswagen brand, 2.1 million at Audi, 1.2 million at Škoda and 1.8 million light commercial vehicles. SEAT said that 700,000 of its diesel models were affected. In Europe alone, a total of 8 million vehicles are affected.[144] In Germany, 2.8 million vehicles will have to be recalled, followed by the UK, with 1.2 million. In France, 984,064 vehicles were affected, in Austria around 360,000, while in the Czech Republic 148,000 vehicles were involved (of which 101,000 were Škodas). In Portugal, Volkswagen said it had sold 94,400 vehicles with the software.[145][146] The repair may not require a formal recall; in the UK, for example, the company will simply offer to repair the cars free of charge; a recall is required only "when a defect is identified that... could result in serious injury". As the rules violation involved enabling emission controls during testing, but turning it off under normal conditions to improve performance or fuel mileage, it has been speculated that the software update might make cars perform less efficiently and impair fuel economy; according to VW, however, its proposed solutions will be designed to achieve legal EU emissions compliance without impairing engine performance or consumption.[147]
Bosch Highline Software Update
On 18 November 2015, Autoblog reported that the KBA was reviewing a Volkswagen fix for the affected 1.6 diesel engine.[164] On 25 November 2015, Volkswagen said the fix involved a minor hardware modification to the car's air intake system, alongside a software update.[165] This low-cost solution contradicted earlier speculation regarding the possible fitting of new injection nozzles and catalytic converters.[164] In December 2015, Volkswagen said that the affected 1.2-litre and 2.0-litre diesel engines needed only a software update.[166][167] As of November 2015, the KBA had approved the fixes with the first recalls likely to begin in January 2016.[8] According to VW, the measures aimed to achieve legal EU emissions compliance without impairing engine output, fuel consumption, or performance.[147] The simple fixes with inexpensive parts and software were then possible though not available when the engines were developed, because engine technology understanding and intake flow simulation capabilities had matured in the meantime, to address the burning of diesel and air mixtures via intake flow shaping.[168] As of December 2015, due to stricter environmental legislation, fixes for US vehicles were expected to take longer to produce and be more technically complex.[147]
As of February 2016, there were three sizes of affected diesel engines, and more than a dozen variations to the repairs exist, prompting Volkswagen to roll out the recalls in waves for each cluster of vehicle; the first model to be repaired was the low-volume Volkswagen Amarok.[169] Classified as a light commercial vehicle, the Amarok pickup has a higher Euro 5 NOx emissions limit than the passenger cars that are yet to have an available approved fix. German motoring journal Auto Motor und Sport tested two Amarok TDI pickups pre and post software update and found that whilst engine power had remained the same, fuel consumption had increased by 0.5 litres/100 km.[170] This is believed in turn to have delayed the next wave of updates to the larger volume Passat model which had been expected to start on 29 February 2016 due to the further testing of the update by the KBA.[171] Volkswagen confirmed on 11 April 2016 that the Passat recall would be delayed as testing had revealed higher fuel consumption.[172] In 2017 Swedish auto journal Teknikens Värld performed tests on 10 different models and most of them showed a reduction in power output and increase in fuel consumption after having the update applied.[173]
In October 2015, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission announced that it will not be investigating Volkswagen for possible violations of emissions standards, citing that a reasonable consumer would not be concerned about the tailpipe emissions of their vehicle and hence would not be a deciding factor in their purchase.[215] In March 2017, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Audi and Volkswagen issued a voluntary recall for affected cars for software updates and in some cases hardware updates had begun in December 2016.[216] As of January 2018[update], several class action suits were dropped against Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda.[217]
In January 2016, public broadcaster VRT reported on Opel Zafira cars having lower emissions after an update compared to before receiving the update. Opel denied deploying software updates influencing emissions, and the Economic Inspection of the Federal Government started an investigation on the request of Minister of Consumer Protection Kris Peeters.[221]
On 28 June 2016, Volkswagen agreed to pay $15.3 billion[342] to settle the various public and private civil actions in the United States, the largest settlement ever of an automobile-related consumer class action in United States history.[343] On 25 October 2016, a U.S. federal judge approved the settlement.[344] Up to $10 billion will be paid to 475,000 Volkswagen or Audi owners whose cars are equipped with 2.0-litre diesel engines. Owners can also opt to have their car repaired free of charge or can sell it back to the company, who will pay back its estimated value from before the scandal began. Leases can also be terminated without incurring penalty charges. Independent of which options are selected, owners will still receive compensation ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 per affected car. Additionally, should they choose to decline the offer, they are free to pursue independent legal action against the firm.[345] The settlement also includes $2.7 billion for environmental mitigation, $2 billion to promote zero-emissions vehicles and $603 million for claims by 44 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.[346] Volkswagen agreed not to resell or export any vehicles it repurchases unless an approved emission repair has been completed.[342] As of 28 June 2016[update], no practical engineering solutions that would bring the vehicles into compliance with emission standards had been publicly identified.[342] The consumer settlement will resolve all claims by participating consumers against Volkswagen and all its associates, except for any potential claims against Robert Bosch GmbH.[342] Bosch supplied two exhaust treatment components and engine control software.[166] In the case of 3.0-litre V6 TDI engines, Volkswagen suggested it can provide an uncomplicated fix that will bring the vehicles into compliance without adversely affecting performance, a move that the company hopes will avoid an expensive buyback of these cars.[347]
By 22 September 2015, Volkswagen had admitted that 11 million vehicles sold worldwide are affected in addition to the 480,000 vehicles with 2.0 L TDI engines sold in the US.[350] According to Volkswagen, vehicles sold in other countries with the 1.6 L and 2.0 L 4-cylinder TDI engine known as Type EA189 are also affected. This software is also said to affect EA188 and the 2015 EA288 generation of the four-cylinder.[351] Worldwide, around 1.2 million Skodas[352] and 2.1 million Audis may contain the software, including TTs and Qs.[353] VW states that Euro6 model in Germany are not affected, while 2015 US models with the same EA288 engines are affected. This suggests that normal-operation measurements that place the EA288 NOx emissions between the two standards' limits were readily available at Volkswagen headquarters in Germany. According to Müller, the 1.2 and 2.0-litre models may be updated by software, whereas the around 3 million 1.6-litre require various hardware solutions, and some cars may even be replaced. The cars are so diverse that many different solutions are required.[354]
Update the PGM-FI software. The MVCI control module update: application version 3.01.40 or later. HDS software version 3.015.033 or later. Before beginning the repair, make sure that both HDS and the MVCI are updated.
Why Try And Hack The Highline Stereo?The main reason for attempting to hack the Highline stereo is to get it using a different navigation software.The sat nav software is bad! I bought my 451 new in 2011 when the Highline had just appeared.Even then, the maps were 2 years out of date. Not to mention the lack of a full postcode search.Couple that with the cost of updated maps and the inability of smart to actually be able to order them.This software has to be replaced to make the Highline stereo a better unit.How Far Have You Got?Thanks to an idea by site viewer Kuba, we have gained access to Windows CE.Any Decent Hackers Or WinCE Coders?If any of you get any further with this and do anything interesting, please let me know.It's only fair to share as many of us are in the same position with this stereo.Where Can I Get The Firmware Files?From evilution.co.uk of course. Click here.If you achieve anything interesting because of the firmware you downloaded here, please let me know.What Can Be Done?You can:Copy from the SD card,Copy to the SD card,Copy to the internal memory,Copy from the internal memory,Delete files,Adjust windows settings,Run WinCE files.Where Can I Get The Hack Download?You can download it here.Highline HackChanging The Startup And Shutdown ScreenThis will be the one that people will try first.Welcome logo (400x234 PNG file with 8bit colour)/ResidentFlash/BP_AM_CR/MainApp/FFS2/Skinning/images/background/bg_blpkt_welcome.pngShutdown logo (400x234 PNG file with 8bit colour)/ResidentFlash/BP_AM_CR/MainApp/FFS2/Skinning/images/background/bg_blpkt_goodbye_handover.pngI would recommend renaming the original files before copying over your custom graphics.How To Use The Hack FileDownload the hack from the link here. Insert an empty SD card and open the main folder.Unzip the file and copy the contents over to your SD card.With everything copied over, eject the SD card and put it in your Highline stereo.Start the stereo, open the face, insert the SD card and close the face.Press and HOLD the volume knob UNTIL THE LIGHTS GO OUT BEHIND THE BUTTONS.Press the volume button again to restart the stereo. You should soon see this screen.Scroll down (you can use your fingers, a stylus or the wrong end of a pen).Double tap the "Windows" folder to open it.Scroll down......until you find "explorer.exe". Double tap this to run the program.The start button and a tab will appear at the bottom of the page. Double tap the FileManCE2 tab to minimise it.You are now at the Windows desktop, you can click the start button and fiddle with settings.Double clicking "My Device" opens up the area similar to "My Computer" on a PC.You will find all of the folders were the data is stored.From here, you can copy and delete to and from the SD card.Pre-install any graphics or applications you want to try onto the SD card using your computer.Obvious WarningIf you delete any files from the stereo or copy over them with something else, you can fuck up your stereo.If you plan to do any serious hacking, back up everything on the stereo to the SD card and save it to a computer.I cannot be held responsible for anything that happens whilst you use this hack.Issues To ResolveThere are 2 main problems that I am going to leave you to try and sort out.Yes, you can run any WinCE sat nav program from the desktop but there is no sound.The sound chips are initialised by the original Highline program. If it doesn't run, there's no sound.You might think that you can add a different sat nav program and rename it so the standard Highline programstarts that instead of the original sat nav. You'd almost be right however, the Highline program is ALWAYS ON TOP.So, no matter what you start, it is always hidden by the Highline menu program so it's unusable.Things To TryOTV put me on to a program called Mio Pocket which is a WinCE multimedia program. It looks interesting.Try forcing programs to be on top so they sit over the top of the standard menu.Try to set up the sound through the PC preferences settings.Maybe try adding new TeleAtlas maps to the original system.