I have recently completed a full upgrade from Sync 1 to Sync 2. It was much more work than I ever first imagined but it is 100% worth it.
For anyone considering doing this, you need to be confident with wiring, ideally soldering but you could use connectors. There are a number of the pins that are in a different place on the Sync 2 54 pin connector to where they are on Sync 1 54 pin connector, plus the Sync 1 module is in a different place, it’s above the glovebox. On Sync 2 it’s mounted on the back of the touchscreen. There is a conversion cable on Amazon (pictured) that I used but even that wasn’t long enough and I had to extend it. However, It did make the pin swaps a lot easier because I didn’t have to remove the pins from the plugs which is the trickiest bit. I cut the wires, extended them and did the pin swaps at the same time.
There is a lot of work involved and it really pays to do your homework before starting, there's a lot of info on the various forums about doing the upgrade. A lot have done this in a Focus but it's very similar in the Kuga. One thing to get your head around is the names of everything. When you read up about it you’ll hear references to APIM (touchscreen), FCDIM (your small screen), ACM (CD player/radio unit) & FCIM (Fascia button panel). You will also need to have the right media hub, it has to have an SD card slot so you can add the map card (if you upgrade to Sync 3 you won’t need the SD card slot as the maps are stored on the unit).
It is possible to use the cd player/radio unit from Sync 1 and a lot that I have seen for sale come with it, mine did. At first I stuck with the original one from my car but I had problems with the Bluetooth so I ended up swapping to the unit that came in the package I bought. You can get it to work with the unit from the Sync 1 but it will need more programming to work fully in conjunction with the Sync 2.
There are a number of parts that you will need to source which are different between the 2 systems. The cd player/radio unit needs to be lifted up and repositioned above the screen so you need a bracket for this, I found them hard to come by and had to buy one direct from Ford. The top dash cover is different, it’s longer and has a slot in it for the cd player, again not easy to get hold of the complete unit. Mine came without the mesh and the small front part but I did manage to get hold of both bits eventually.
Another thing to be aware of is that there’s a considerable amount of reconstruction to the inner dash and what I mean by this is with a saw! All the original mountings for the cd player need to be removed to allow the touchscreen and new fascia to fit. It is quite a task and not for the faint hearted. It also means that you can't go back to Sync 1 without changing the dashboard.
Once the unit is in and in, you need to do some programming with both Foccus and Forscan software, I had to play around with a few settings to get the parking display to work.
Anyway, if anyone is considering this you need to ask yourself, ARE YOU INSANE!!!
If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
For anyone considering doing this, you need to be confident with wiring, ideally soldering but you could use connectors. There are a number of the pins that are in a different place on the Sync 2 54 pin connector to where they are on Sync 1 54 pin connector, plus the Sync 1 module is in a different place, it’s above the glovebox. On Sync 2 it’s mounted on the back of the touchscreen. There is a conversion cable on Amazon (pictured) that I used but even that wasn’t long enough and I had to extend it. However, It did make the pin swaps a lot easier because I didn’t have to remove the pins from the plugs which is the trickiest bit. I cut the wires, extended them and did the pin swaps at the same time.
There is a lot of work involved and it really pays to do your homework before starting, there's a lot of info on the various forums about doing the upgrade. A lot have done this in a Focus but it's very similar in the Kuga. One thing to get your head around is the names of everything. When you read up about it you’ll hear references to APIM (touchscreen), FCDIM (your small screen), ACM (CD player/radio unit) & FCIM (Fascia button panel). You will also need to have the right media hub, it has to have an SD card slot so you can add the map card (if you upgrade to Sync 3 you won’t need the SD card slot as the maps are stored on the unit).
It is possible to use the cd player/radio unit from Sync 1 and a lot that I have seen for sale come with it, mine did. At first I stuck with the original one from my car but I had problems with the Bluetooth so I ended up swapping to the unit that came in the package I bought. You can get it to work with the unit from the Sync 1 but it will need more programming to work fully in conjunction with the Sync 2.
There are a number of parts that you will need to source which are different between the 2 systems. The cd player/radio unit needs to be lifted up and repositioned above the screen so you need a bracket for this, I found them hard to come by and had to buy one direct from Ford. The top dash cover is different, it’s longer and has a slot in it for the cd player, again not easy to get hold of the complete unit. Mine came without the mesh and the small front part but I did manage to get hold of both bits eventually.
Another thing to be aware of is that there’s a considerable amount of reconstruction to the inner dash and what I mean by this is with a saw! All the original mountings for the cd player need to be removed to allow the touchscreen and new fascia to fit. It is quite a task and not for the faint hearted. It also means that you can't go back to Sync 1 without changing the dashboard.
Once the unit is in and in, you need to do some programming with both Foccus and Forscan software, I had to play around with a few settings to get the parking display to work.
Anyway, if anyone is considering this you need to ask yourself, ARE YOU INSANE!!!
If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.
