Geeky 986 Boxster question...

After taking my early Boxster out for a spirited drive today with the top down, it reaffirmed my belief that this ratty old Boxster is by far the most fun car I've ever owned. This happy sentiment was somewhat dampened by the discovery that my digital climate control head unit had somehow failed, which brings me to my geeky question of the day.

It's been written (primarily in contemporary car magazines, when they first reviewed the Boxster back in 1997 ) that the digital 986 climate control units were sourced from the Audi A4. It's also common knowledge that the Audi A4 and VW Passat were versions of the very same car. Could, therefore, a three-dial VW Passat climate control head unit be retrofitted to an early 986? Is this a thing? Does anyone know if it's a plug-and-play swap? If so, what year(s) Passat do I need the climate control head unit from? Why? I simply prefer dials to pushbuttons and I think the three knobs will give my Boxster's interior an early GT3 look.

If it's possible I doubt it'd be a plug and play swap, rotary dial/sliding HVAC controls usually use cables and linkages to do their thing while digital ones typically rely on stepper motors and electronics. So you may have to tear the dash apart and do a little surgery if you really want manual HVAC controls.

Wow, I sold my 986s to go back to my old MKI GTI! I wonder if I didn't sell it short but I'm Glad you like yours. I remember the discussion about parts bin raiding but I've not had one apart. Brad will have had his apart or know the innards but he doesn't come around as much anymore, you could email him?

pointofdeparture wrote: If it's possible I doubt it'd be a plug and play swap, rotary dial/sliding HVAC controls usually use cables and linkages to do their thing while digital ones typically rely on stepper motors and electronics. So you may have to tear the dash apart and do a little surgery if you really want manual HVAC controls.

VW would not make a separate cable box, that is something else to engineer and more parts to carry and you have to make room for the cable runs behind the dash. Most likely it is the same HVAC box but a different control head. Assembly is the same, plug it in to the wiring harness and snap it into place in the dash. Everything VW does is geared to rapid assembly, save time on the assembly line, crank out max cars with minimum labor.

Besides, EVERYBODY is doing everything with electronic control heads, no manual cables. That way the control feel is the same for the heat knob and the fan speed knob and the blend knob, since they are all electrical switches (really, probably potentiometers) instead of a switch here and a pot there and a cable slider there.

Now, the fun part. It may be that the control head programming is different and it may not communicate properly on the network. Only one way to find out! Find out what years VW the 986 control head came from, see if they made a manual control in that year range, grab one and see if it works...

In reply to Knurled:

We think alike. That's sort of the plan; I'm going to get a cheap one on eBay or at the junkyard and see what happens .

Solved. I tried $20 Passat controls from the junkyard l, but they didn't fit in the hole in the Boxster dash. A call to Nine-Apart in the UK (and about $100) netted me the correct three-dial Porsche part that should just plug in when it arrives.

Update: the part arrived and did plug in, but the only thing that worked was the fan. Apparently all the other stuff is cable controlled in a European model. My US-spec car has no provisions for the cables, so it's either live with the pushbuttons or take the dash out and do a big conversion. So, pushbuttons it is, then.