I hope this post helps save someone the four hours I spent locating the connector.
The dealer was kind enough to provide a technical bulletin that showed the location of the pre wired brake controller connector. I dropped the panel under the steering column and contorted myself into a position to look up under the dash. Nothing visible, no connector, no foam cylinder, nada. Next I popped off the fuse box cover, and took out the two screws holding the fuse box in place. It obligingly flopped out of the way allowing a good look under the dash and best of all, no need for a chiropractor afterwards. Still nothing. Another two hours went by scouring the forums for help, looking at the technical bulletin, and skinning knuckles with hand under the dash. Still no joy. Had I not already owned a P3, I would have gladly opted for the RF option at this point, but I knew it had to be there somewhere. Eventually with my hand trough the fuse box hole, I found something with my figer tips completely hidden from view that was soft and squishy, foam like, and on further probing had wires coming out of it. Could this be it? I wiggled and tugged gently and was able to tease the foam out of its hiding place. I was then able to push back the foam enough to see the elusive connector. Oh joy, four hours later I had found it. Some people have described it as just being there dangling under the dash. Others swear they don't have one. I think a lot of cases might be like mine. I think an assembler, robot or human, probably doesn't know about the connector, or what it does, or maybe doesn't care. It then just gets stuffed up under the dash during assembly and sometimes ends up stuck way out of the way. I have attached some pictures that might help others in this same position. For me, if I looked up under the dash to where I eventually found the controller connector, there was a plastic wiring connector, that had a purple flash on it, above which the controller connector had been hidden completely out of view.
Now I need to go buy the VW mating connector and wires to complete the job, because the connector really doesn't have enough slack to allow any other type of connection to be made, and I think chopping the connector off would be a huge mistake. BTW if anyone is looking for a good location for a controller, on the flat dash panel under the light switch ssem to work. Care needs to be taken because behind there is a plastic duct part of the climate control system, and making holes in it accidentally would not be the best idea. Fortunately the left half of the lower dash panel has two screws holding it, one inside the fuse box cavity the other on the bottom edge. Remove the screws and pry it out gently but firmly to disengage the poppit connectors. This panel has a spot just below the light switch where there is about 0.25 inch clearance with the underlying dash panel. It's possible to drill a small pilot hole and insert short (0.375 inch) self tapping screws to hold the mounting bracket. A set square can be used to align the bracket with the left edge of the panel as there are precious few parallel or square lines on the panel to make a good alignment otherwise. When the panel is put back in position the unit will be nicely aligned facing forwards and horizontally even as required by most controllers. The controller is easy to see and operate in this position and even my long legs do not come close to hitting it either entering the vehicle, or sitting with a my left foot on the kick plate. The only possible drawback of this location would be the unit getting splashed by water on a rainy day.
The dealer was kind enough to provide a technical bulletin that showed the location of the pre wired brake controller connector. I dropped the panel under the steering column and contorted myself into a position to look up under the dash. Nothing visible, no connector, no foam cylinder, nada. Next I popped off the fuse box cover, and took out the two screws holding the fuse box in place. It obligingly flopped out of the way allowing a good look under the dash and best of all, no need for a chiropractor afterwards. Still nothing. Another two hours went by scouring the forums for help, looking at the technical bulletin, and skinning knuckles with hand under the dash. Still no joy. Had I not already owned a P3, I would have gladly opted for the RF option at this point, but I knew it had to be there somewhere. Eventually with my hand trough the fuse box hole, I found something with my figer tips completely hidden from view that was soft and squishy, foam like, and on further probing had wires coming out of it. Could this be it? I wiggled and tugged gently and was able to tease the foam out of its hiding place. I was then able to push back the foam enough to see the elusive connector. Oh joy, four hours later I had found it. Some people have described it as just being there dangling under the dash. Others swear they don't have one. I think a lot of cases might be like mine. I think an assembler, robot or human, probably doesn't know about the connector, or what it does, or maybe doesn't care. It then just gets stuffed up under the dash during assembly and sometimes ends up stuck way out of the way. I have attached some pictures that might help others in this same position. For me, if I looked up under the dash to where I eventually found the controller connector, there was a plastic wiring connector, that had a purple flash on it, above which the controller connector had been hidden completely out of view.
Now I need to go buy the VW mating connector and wires to complete the job, because the connector really doesn't have enough slack to allow any other type of connection to be made, and I think chopping the connector off would be a huge mistake. BTW if anyone is looking for a good location for a controller, on the flat dash panel under the light switch ssem to work. Care needs to be taken because behind there is a plastic duct part of the climate control system, and making holes in it accidentally would not be the best idea. Fortunately the left half of the lower dash panel has two screws holding it, one inside the fuse box cavity the other on the bottom edge. Remove the screws and pry it out gently but firmly to disengage the poppit connectors. This panel has a spot just below the light switch where there is about 0.25 inch clearance with the underlying dash panel. It's possible to drill a small pilot hole and insert short (0.375 inch) self tapping screws to hold the mounting bracket. A set square can be used to align the bracket with the left edge of the panel as there are precious few parallel or square lines on the panel to make a good alignment otherwise. When the panel is put back in position the unit will be nicely aligned facing forwards and horizontally even as required by most controllers. The controller is easy to see and operate in this position and even my long legs do not come close to hitting it either entering the vehicle, or sitting with a my left foot on the kick plate. The only possible drawback of this location would be the unit getting splashed by water on a rainy day.
