While messing around with the coding to resolve some self inflicted fault codes I came across something interesting in the start authority module AKA the kessy module.
The long coding showed bits that could be enabled for rear handles so I enabled those and re scanning the module it gave fault codes for rear handles (Of course there were no rear handles connected) so I assumed (wrongly) that if I fitted those this would work.
Stupid me didn't investigate any further and launched fully into retro fitting Kessy rear handles.
The Golf platform was never offered with kessy rear handles from factory but the Passat B8 was and since the handles front / rear are the same it should be easy. The TDI being wrecked had kessy also so in reality the parts would be free.
Removed the front handles and stripped the door harnesses to harvest the kessy loom and connectors, an additional antenna would be needed at the base of the back seat and since both internal antennas are the same I just used the front one from the TDI. There's even factory holes for it to clip into, MQB platform I guess.
At this point one could ask why go to all this effort since it's not much hardship to unlock the front door first or heaven forbid get the key out of your pocket. There's a simple answer, because you can. These things don't always have to make sense.

Anyway, prepped the handles and painted them white with left over paint from the repair.
Removed the rear door cards for the 4th time to strip down the door harness and add in the kessy wiring. Pretty much used everything from the TDI and only had to extend the wiring to the kessy module as all of this was of course front door parts.
Antenna installed as well and wiring run forward.

Quote from: 80 Vert on April 27, 2025, 11:40:41 AM

Does this change just the colour scheme on the infotainment and virtual cockpit? It doesn't change the ambient lighting in the door cards etc right? I played around with this on my R, but pretty sure they are just fixed white LED's. Unlike the Mk8 which you can set the ambient lighting colour for the whole car.

Definitely wasn't 90 lines of code in OBDeleven! There is actually a pretty good and active OBDeleven forum which I use fairly frequently for coding. There are various threads about 'cool things to unlock on XX car'. Might be on interest.

I could never get the speed sign recognition working on mine. Is it working on yours? I've only seen it work on an NZ new car with NZ navigation. So it made me wonder if it didn't work because I had Japanese maps and maybe it used camera/GPS together to get speed limit information.

Was the DRL activation easy? I've had a 2017 Mk7.5 and a 2018 Mk7.5. The 2017 was easy, flick it on via a couple of settings in central convenience. The 2018 onwards models have a control module in the headlight, it took quite a bit more work. I can't remember the steps but it took me a good few days of troubleshooting to crack the code.

Mk7.5 is peak Golf I reckon, great platform, styling, and balance of tech vs. tactile controls.

Yeah it just does the cluster and head unit, the door ones stay white in my case.
I had to set 3 RGB colours to get 1 of the background colours to work so yeah 3 x 30 colours was 90 lines of code to change. With VCDs at least.
Traffic sign recognition works but it's a bit hit and miss really as we don't seem to use the round speed signs all that much anymore. It does pick up the overhead LED ones on the motorway too.

DRL was pretty easy, took a bit of mucking around but figured it out. I've lost count of how many changes I've made and stuff I've activated but the car is 100% fault code free which is pretty cool.
I agree. I much prefer it over the 8, Nicer place to be without a stupid screen to navigate.

With the rear handles installed and all the wiring run forward I had a look at my wiring diagrams to see what pins I'd need to connect to.
It was at this point I realized this wasn't going to work as the diagram with the 32 pin module had no provision for rear handles......bummer.
Other cars like Passat (And very late Golf, like 2020 in some countries) had another module with a 40 pin connector where this retrofit would be possible.
Doing further research online many said it couldn't be done because of having to program the keys for the remote access via Odis and Odis would reject this due to the module not belonging in that car.
Things were starting to look pretty bleak but reading more I found 2 people that claimed to have done it successfully with a new module and some trickery to get Odis to adapt the keys. One of those guys gave me a bit of a rundown how to do it and even shared the dataset I would need for the new module.
I decided since I'd come this far I'd give it a go, Aliexpress had new modules for cheap so I ordered one and got that on its way.

Thinking more about it I made a decision to build a T32 to T40 adapter harness in case things went wrong and I ended up with a bricked car I could then just put my old module back in, clear the codes and carry on.
New connectors were also on Aliexpress so once those arrived I made the adapter harness. (No rear doors connected yet)
Plugged the new module in and flashed the dataset, easy as. Made some coding adaptations which it accepted so all was looking good.

In theory all that was required was to adapt the keys but to my utter surprise the lock / unlock on the key already worked so I tried starting the car and it started up fine.
Shut it off and closed the door, kessy lock worked so nothing further required. The new module must have got its information from the BCM and cluster automatically. Win!
Tucked the new module and my menagerie of wiring away temporarily and drove the car a couple of days carrying the old module just in case but all was well.
Now the difficult part, repining the T32 to T40 connector permanently which is very difficult to get to under the dash.
Lots of cursing and many many hours later everything was in place and rear handles now added which work flawlessly.
I think in the end it was the fact I used a brand new module that made this possible, love the fact it works and I actually use it quite a lot.

Ahh....kneepads. Must be a blessing on the concrete floor when working awkwardly under the dash.


Keep meaning to buy me some.

Yeah a lifetime on cold concrete floors has taken its toll.

Time to update the rear badge to suit the new front one, had read that the MK8 camera badge / flip handle is interchangeable with the MK7.5 one which would be a very easy solution and they even provided a part number for it.
Got online and ordered one but managed to screw that up not checking the suffix after the number and with no picture on the site I ended up ordering the wrong one which was for an Arteon as it turns out.
What arrived was a 2 piece badge, the chrome outer with a gloss black inner separate from each other. No way to attach it to a camera, 75 bucks wasted.
Anyway, not to be put off and not willing to waste more money on a silly badge I set out to just make this one work since it was more or less the same diameter and it was already here.
Removed the rear camera unit and took it apart, removed the 7.5 badge and did a little (A lot) grinding to make the other one fit. Glued the new one on with plastic epoxy and let that set over night. You'd never know.