e-Sound system (part 4)
The e-Sound system is working fine, but I still had to intall the speaker in
the front bumper area. I figured that it should be mounted close to the front
right wheel, and according to ETKA it needs two brackets, 5GE 035 205 and
5GE 035 369. I already received these, some time ago. The information still
lacking was how to mount the brackets. Base on information from Elsawin, I
figured that the holes of one of the brackets should probably be aligned with
the bumper bar mounting holes.
I asked another friend with an e-Golf and a factory-fitted e-Sound system to see if he could spot the bracket. Unfortunately, he could not see it from above. So the only way to find out how was to remove the bumper.
Another friend of mine helped me to remove the bumper carefully. He has enough experience, so it was done without any damage. There are plenty of tutorials on YouTube on how to do this, but my advice is to do this with at least two persons. We also found out that the bumper had been removed before, because two screws below the grill were missing.
We could then see how the bracket should be mounted, and it was indeed on the bumper bar, but on the bottom side. Removing the bottom two bolts was sufficient, and ensures that the car does not need to be aligned afterwards. The second bracket with the speaker already mounted was then mounted onto the first bracket
The mounting bracket for the horn was in the way, and I probably needed a third bracket to mount this to the speaker bracket. Since I did not have this bracket, we decided created one from an angle bracket of suffiecient strength. This will suffice for now, and I might replace it someday. I hope I can access it by removing the bottom plate only.
From the photo you can see the yellow wire loop. Until today, I mounted the speaker somewhere close to the ABS pump with a few tie wraps. Because I already prepared the wiring, I simply extended it. I can now remove that wire loop, and crimp the connector one more time. I should be able to do this from within the wheel arch, where I can simply remove the cover.
Some people have asked me why I would want to install the e-Sound system. After all, the benefit of electric cars is that they are silent. As mentioned in the first part, pedestrian warning systems are mandatory in the EU for all new electric cars, so sooner or later all cars will have it. I do believe they improve safety as well, and to be honest: it does not sound bad.