I am contemplating putting reversing sensors on my B5.5 passat estate as Mrs. Locoboy is driving it more these days and her posh Audi has them and she has become reliant upon them!

I have not investigated them before but the ones i have seen definately look very 'aftermarket' I.e chunky and shite!

Dont get me started on the ones that clip onto or behind your rear number plate!!!! (spew)

I dont mind removing the bumper and cutting holes in it and having the sensors coded to match.

Does anyone have any experience of nice flush fitting OEM look sensors.

Pros and Cons (and pics) welcomed.

Thanks

4 SENSOR REVERSE PARKING SENSOR WITH DISPLAY SCREEN | eBay

These don't look too bad and it says they can be painted.

Thanks but I dont want a screen, having a screen in the car just looks really crap IMO!

Generally you don't need to remove the bumper to fit them, simply drill the hole and push through, and the wires are brought into the car via the spare wheel well just be careful to clip the wiring clear of the exhaust tail pipe. Any after market sensors you find will be proud of the bumper by 3mm or so.
Don't bother with internal distance displays they are just a distraction, on my car I just have the buzzer on the rear parcel shelf fitting the buzzer in the rear of the car makes more psychological sense if you are reversing.

Only buy a kit that includes a hole saw as an exact fit for the sensor is vital..
Getting a good reliable electrical connection to the reverse light feed and earth point is vital, best solution is a soldered tap connection to the reverse light feef as ScotchLocs are useless on a modern tintop's thin gauge wiring'

To get aerosol paint to stick to the sensors you need to under coat them with plastic bumper primer.
The Veba brand is probably the best quality but to be honest the week link is always the sensors which are much the same quality across all brands.
If buying a cheap kit it is best to buy two complete kits, that way you will always have the correct spare sensors as they can cost as much as a full kit to buy.

Worth looking for write off car with OEM ones fitted?

These days OEM reverse sensors aren't simple add on wiring many are onthe Can-bus and wired through the body control computer.

I just removed a Dolphin front and rear sensor system from my car, and replaced it with a amera and rear view mirror which incoperates the screen I never relied on the sensors. Pity you didn't post a couple of months ago it went for a fiver on ebay.

I've still got 4 black sensors in my front bumper so, if you get a Dolphin system and need more sensors you can have them for the postage and 4 rubber grommets.

I bought 4 sensor kit from Maplin in their sale. Easy to fit and works fine.

My previous car had a camera (screen was built in as a general display and sat-nav), which I found extremely good. I have been considering one for my wife's car. I was planning on replacing the stereo with a DVD player with flip out screen, so that no screen was on display unless reversing or alternatively replacing the sun-visor with one containing a screen.

Steelmate pts 400 available from the shelf in popular colours and about the smallest i stock and fit these kits

Thanks for the replies,

I have a tow bar fitted so I will need to make sure that they wont be affected by the location of the bar.

I am not keen on any screens or LED displays as they just shout NON OEM, just an audible buzzer is good enough for me.

GOJO Where are you?
What would you charge to fit that kit to my 2003 Passat estate?
What price could you supply the kit to me for?

Thanks
Col

Reverse sensors are generally not affected by tow bars.
On systems with lurid displays you don't need to fit the display anywhere visible as long as you can hear the beeper. On my own Veba system the display is disconnected but as the beeper has its own wiring it works perfectly well with out it.

My own system has a home made addon, a couple of red 12v LEDs wired in parallel with the beeper so they light up when the the beeper is working.
The LEDs are discreetly fitted to the inside of the housing for the high level brake light ie facing forward so they are visible in the internal rear view mirror or when looking backwards over the seat, see pictures.






[Edited on 28/6/12 by britishtrident]

[Edited on 28/6/12 by britishtrident]

I bought a set from ebay that came ready painted the correct colour ( just gave him the Audi paint code ) 1/2 a day to fit and was very happy with them It did get upset by the tow bar but rarley used it so just unboled the swan neck.

a couple of times rain seemed to upset it, but on the whole worked really well on my A6 so much so that wife wants a set on her Cmax

ATB Agriv8

The Veba system I looked at on eBay states not suitable for steel bumpers. Is this the case
with all of them ? I've a steel bumper on the Connect into which I'd like sensors.
Gojo, how does the PTS400 cope ?