[tanaysn]

Smart thought for a the article viXit!!
It is indeed annoying to see empty button slots which always makes you wonder "WHY DEPRIVE US" comparing the same models sold internationally with functional buttons.
I have a VW Polo GT TDI and the center console has 2 functional buttons out of 7.
The TSI atleast gets a TC button to fill one more.
A bit annoying!

[viXit]

Crossposting from another thread,
a very beautifully integrated TPMS display in the civic.


Thread: https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-...l-sensors.html (Honda Civic: OEM-like TPMS with internal sensors)

Originally Posted by iTNerd

For my Civic though, I wanted a TPMS that have an OEM look and feel, with internal sensors. My search leads to this from ebay.com - http://www.ebay.com/itm/201384095670...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Ordered a week back with expedited shipping (from Hong Kong) and got it in within 4 days without any custom duty charge. Total cost = 10K INR (approx)

I choose this particular TPMS because of the display module fits perfectly on one of the empty switch slot (driver side). And even the background display takes the blue background color of the Civic console/speedo/odo/AC display and even the DVD player (pioneer). Moreover, there is no tangling wires to the cigarette socket. In short, it gives you an OEM look and feel.



And this is how it looks when installed on the empty switch slot. Neat one, looks a good OEM

It's beautiful how well integrated and OEM this looks.
A must have for All Honda owners.!!

Originally Posted by tanaysn

Smart thought for a the article viXit!!
A bit annoying!

Thanks.
I Know, RIGHT?!

I don't understand how or why it is so difficult to redesign a simple panel or offer switches for projects and DIYs we can perform ourselves .

[Dry Ice]

Nice thread!

If your car is an international seller, chances are you might even find the full button sticker set which has all OE functions marked. But yes, this can easily go the other way as well reminding you daily of what you are missing. That can be depressing. Oh well.

[airbus]

Originally Posted by viXit

Crossposting from another thread,
a very beautifully integrated TPMS display in the civic.

Very nice indeed. If I decide to continue my current car for another couple of years, I will try to opt for a similar TPMS device on a dummy button.

[ts1506]

One of the surprising things when I got my EcoSport last year, was that it had zero blanks. Yes, every single button exists.

It is not even the top spec trim, I have the Titanium spec. The lower ones like Trend and Ambiente does have multiple blanks though.

[akash_v12]

Having owned a Vento TSI for almost 5 years now, here are some of the ideas I have thought about for the dummy buttons.

1. Card Holder - Seems like a decent add-on and since it is present in the Rapid, should be fairly easy to add it into the Vento too.

2. Light Control Panel - As few other BHPians have already mentioned in the thread about this, I'm not going to elaborate much on this one.

3. Hydraulic Glovebox Opener - I might be a bit optimistic on this one, but I believe the system will be a bit complex but might be very much worth the effort.

Also, Great thread idea Vixit! Will surely be a treasure trove for all of us having dummy buttons in our cars.

[viXit]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

Nice thread!

If your car is an international seller, chances are you might even find the full button sticker set which has all OE functions marked. But yes, this can easily go the other way as well reminding you daily of what you are missing. That can be depressing. Oh well.

Thank you

Then the better option would be to stick to doing functional mods that aren't purely for the aesthetics.
Very valid point indeed.
Could do more to make things worse in our head.

Originally Posted by airbus

Very nice indeed. If I decide to continue my current car for another couple of years,
I will try to opt for a similar TPMS device on a dummy button.

Why not go for it anyway?
If it's neatly integrated it would be a great value proposition.

I, for one would be greatly interested in a car
for all the small bells and whistles like that,
Don't we all?

An evergreen example...

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

And I wanted buttons.

Buttons for all kinds of crap. All kinds of things happening around me. I like that. I want to know what the temperature of the dipstick is. Why? I don't know. But I want to know what my engine is doing. And what the humidity level of the air is outside. I like to know that at all times.

Originally Posted by Sam Kapasi

I walk around the car slowly, open the rear door and reach for the umbrella.

It's there.

I grin.

Paisa vasool.

Won't ever get old.

Originally Posted by ts1506

One of the surprising things when I got my EcoSport last year, was that it had zero blanks. Yes, every single button exists.

It is not even the top spec trim, I have the Titanium spec. The lower ones like Trend and Ambiente does have multiple blanks though.

That's pretty impressive.
I really love how Ford works their interiors,
everything from the nice blue backlight to the soft clicking buttons, the indicator sound and good quality interiors.

Do the extra features on the top-spec trim not require buttons??

Originally Posted by akash_v12

Having owned a Vento TSI for almost 5 years now, here are some of the ideas I have thought about for the dummy buttons.

1. Card Holder - Seems like a decent add-on and since it is present in the Rapid, should be fairly easy to add it into the Vento too.

Could you elaborate, please.
I don't understand how it will be integrated into a blank.
Share an image from the Rapid ,maybe?

3. Hydraulic Glovebox Opener - I might be a bit optimistic on this one, but I believe the system will be a bit complex but might be very much worth the effort.

Only a matter of time before someone motivated enough does it and posts a thread.
It would be a really, really cool thing to have. I believe Tesla cars have something like that.
Not very functional considering something like not being able to open the glove box in case of a dead battery or something like that. The germans are known to over engineer and do stuff like that. haha.

OT: I like to wander and visit car workshops near my house. There's this place which has a few F10 5 Series and an S65 and cars like that.
He had to clean the hard water stains off the wheels of an F10 and had to be able to rotate the wheels in order to do that.
But because if the car is off. The gearbox goes into P and locks the wheels, he had to put the car On and Put the gearbox in N for about an hour just to clean all the wheels properly. So much for all that engineering.

Also, Great thread idea Vixit! Will surely be a treasure trove for all of us having dummy buttons in our cars.

Thank you very much

Well, that's what I hope for!

[mmxylorider]

I'd used couple of the blanks in my Xylo to setup
1. Toggle switch for bull bar mounted Hella Lamps
2. Toggle for highway horns that I had installed separately. Within the city I used the stock horns.

Other ideas that come to mind are, with the advent of dashcams, a control switch for the power to such devices. If I recollect, someone used one of the blanks to get an extra couple of USB charging ports. That's so much useful.

[viXit]

Originally Posted by mmxylorider

I'd used couple of the blanks in my Xylo to setup
1. Toggle switch for bull bar mounted Hella Lamps
2. Toggle for highway horns that I had installed separately. Within the city I used the stock horns.

Are these louder horns?

, someone used one of the blanks to get an extra couple of USB charging ports. That's so much useful.

Could you share pictures?
Pics pics pics we want pictures!

[viXit]

My brain wandered off to @iliketurtles’ amazing thread and I Suddenly remembered another amazingly practical and beautiful use case for a switch on a blank.

It was difficult to paraphrase and remove from the quote some of the amazing amazing sentences penned down by him.
But for the purpose of conciseness,
Here goes...

Originally Posted by iliketurtles

Attachment 1867188

Where the OEM setup barely uttered a murmur, this baby was straight piped, and it now babbled away no end......

where the wife adored the car, but couldn't stand the bark of the exhaust. "Get rid", she said, but I was loathe to just revert the car to its stock form. And so, cunning, devious me started to explore ways to have my cake and eat it too.......

I decided to install a valvetronic controller so as to make the car sound like sinner or saint at the flick of a switch...... Just goes to show that where there's a valve, there's a way.
The controller itself is a simple thing. It's installed on the B pillar, easily reachable from my driving position.



It's wired to the exhaust, and runs off of USB power via a controller in the hood that manages the value. Leave it shut, and peace reigns nigh. Leave it fully open and you can announce your arrival to the world.

Edit:This one should ideally have been on the first post but I couldn’t remember.

[akash_v12]

Originally Posted by viXit

Share an image from the Rapid ,maybe?

Here you go,



Moreover, upon thinking more I feel something like a DRVM in the RCD series and something like 8K OPS front parking sensors which many BHPians (Sharan1988 and many others) have done.

[mmxylorider]

Originally Posted by viXit

Are these louder horns?



Could you share pictures?
Pics pics pics we want pictures!

Yes - Much louder to compete with the truck horns on highways. Worked pretty well.

On the USB thingy, it wasn't my vehicle so no pics. It however is not a straightforward DIY.

[Gannu_1]

The Polo, Rapid and Vento comes with a host of blanks on the dash below the center vents.

It is a little interesting. It all started out with the Trendline model having just the Hazard lights button at the center:



Then the Highline model came with the rear windshield defogger switch; one less dummy panel:



Then the DSG variants came with the ESP switch; another blank button gone:



I had installed front parking sensors in my car so I got rid of one blank:





And that's pretty much it for India.

The outermost blanks can only be replaced with the seat heating switches which makes sense only for cold countries. Like Russia for instance, where it comes as standard:





And the front windshield heater switch (second from the right). Sometimes some cars come with a Passenger Airbag decativation switch too. Like this:



You can get these switches from Aliexpress too if you're keen to replace them. E.g. - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32997924327.html And connect them to the dashboard lighting system just for the lights and no practical functions. Or for some specific lights or functions to turn on as they work just like any other switch.

Not a fan of stickers though. Looks a bit cheesy.

[brraj]

You can use NFC tags aswell to fill up the empty space, Google for more..

[Shrey_1520]

Hello,

I have a installed front parking sensors on my Nexon and its switch(on-off rocker) is loosely fixed next to the steering wheel. It keeps coming off and suspends itself :(

Would it be possible to use one of the blanks on the Dashboard Fascia to install push on/off switch for this purpose? I could not really find such a individual switch when I was searching online. Any suggestions/help greatly appreciated.