Premium Rear arm rest Assembly Compatability

[nathanyutaka]

HELLO! Quick question but does anyone know if the premium armrest with the controls will plug n play into the non premium model? I noticed that the wiring is already there.

[djwarner]

The harder question may be where do you find a premium rear seat and/or console? By 2003 Q's were getting to be pretty scarce.

[nathanyutaka]

Sorry, anyone with information pertaining to the main topic?

[qship96]

Never heard anyone on this site attempting it. You may wish to carefully study the wiring diagrams in the factory service manual for models both with and without the feature to see how they differ, same with the HVAC and Audio portions of the manual to gain insight. No offense, but why would you even want to install this,unless YOU are the one riding in the back seat? do you really want your passengers fiddling with the audio volume and switching stations while YOU drive? Not to mention, the HVAC portion of the controls are really lame, as instead of creating a true third independant zone for the rear seat area{like MB/BMW/Lexus/Audi}, it remains a 2 zone system,and the zone controllable from/for the rear seat just happens to be the same zone that blows air for the driver.....in other words, when the back seat person makes it hotter/colder for them......it also changes the drivers zone.

[nathanyutaka]

Never heard anyone on this site attempting it. You may wish to carefully study the wiring diagrams in the factory service manual for models both with and without the feature to see how they differ, same with the HVAC and Audio portions of the manual to gain insight. No offense, but why would you even want to install this,unless YOU are the one riding in the back seat? do you really want your passengers fiddling with the audio volume and switching stations while YOU drive? Not to mention, the HVAC portion of the controls are really lame, as instead of creating a true third independant zone for the rear seat area{like MB/BMW/Lexus/Audi}, it remains a 2 zone system,and the zone controllable from/for the rear seat just happens to be the same zone that blows air for the driver.....in other words, when the back seat person makes it hotter/colder for them......it also changes the drivers zone.

Im more interested in interior work than exterior. its just something nice to have. Thanks for your input

[qship96]

What does interior work vs exterior work have to do with anything?

[nathanyutaka]

Some people put rims, body kit etc. im trying to fix up the interior.

[qship96]

gotcha.

[djwarner]

Hi Nathanyutaka,

I did a little bit of research in the factory service manual and it appears the premium console communicates through the two LANs for audio and AC controls. I believe that without the electronics from the premium console remote switch assembly, you would be fighting an up hill battle. I don't know of any documentation for the audio CANBUS codes. The AC controls are worked through the command center bus.

For the record, I've seen no difference in components for the premium and non-premium controls, so if you can find a premium rear control panel, it would probably work.

[nathanyutaka]

Just a quick update. I got the arm rest in and it was darker than my interior but i plugged it in anyway to see if it would work. Only one of the buttons lit up and none of the controls worked. Thanks for all the helpful info tho.

[Q451990]

Now we know! Sorry to hear it didn't work out...

Heath