My current car has an aeb (1999 1.8t quattro) with a few too many miles on it and someone is selling an amb (2003 1.8t) with much less miles for cheap. Does anyone know if my electronics will work with this or will this not work in the first place?

 

It won't be a direct swap by any means. The AEB uses an 058 block, and AMB uses 06A block. They aren't compatible as far as accessories mounting goes, and they use different electrical sensors. Most (if not all) guys who switch to an 06A block on an original-AEB car will also convert to the AWM ECU... but there's a lot more to it than that.

 

Thank you for the reply but I do have a few more specific questions. We have a donor car with all electronics intact.
1.Will the motor mounts interchange?
2.Will the amb auto transmission harness plug into the aeb manual transmission?
3.Will the cruise control and ac controls plug and play?
4. Why is the awm ecu preferred?
I know I will need vagcom to code changes.

 

1) The side motor mounts/fitment will be identical. On the 06A block they changed the way the snub mount works... on 058 the snub mounts to the crossover tube, but on 06A it mounts to a bracket on the oil pan. This could be an issue.

2) No clue, but I would strongly guess not.

3a) Cruise control: AEB is mechanical, AWM/AMB is controlled directly via the ECU. There is a 2nd electrical clutch switch at the top of the clutch pedal that I'm pretty sure doesn't exist on the AEB.

3b) AC: if you're just talking about controls, probably not but I don't know what it takes to make the system work with what's on your car. I can tell you that you most likely need the AWM AC compressor and mounting bracket, probably the AWM AC lines & dryer too.

4) AWM ECU will work with B5 electronics much better than a B6 (AMB) ECU. AMB has immobilizer which B5 lacks, which can be defeated, but still something to contend with.

 

Thanks for the excellent info!