Before you start
Get the code right first time if you can. Most radios allow a set number of tries and then lock themselves for an hour or more — and a few stop for good. If you are not certain of the code, stop and check the serial against the label rather than guessing.
Vauxhall CDR500 / CDR2005
Units: The CDR500 and CDR2005 CD radios
Fitted to: Vauxhall and Opel, including the Astra, Corsa, Zafira, Vectra, Meriva, Combo, Omega and Signum.
Getting the serial first
You need the code before any of this is any use, and the code comes from the serial.
- The serial is not shown on screen.
- Take the radio out with radio removal keys (some have extra screws to undo first).
- Copy the serial from the label: 14 letters and numbers starting GM.
What it looks like: 14 letters and numbers starting GM
Putting the code in
- Hold AS and switch the radio on. The screen shows SAFE, then 10 - - - -.
- Buttons 1 to 4 set each number.
- Hold AS until it beeps.
If it refuses the code: You only get 10 tries before the radio locks for good, so please don’t guess.
Check whether this is the radio you have →
If the code is refused
Nine times in ten it is one of three things. The code belongs to a different radio, because the serial was misread — an O taken for a zero, or a 1 for an I. The numbers went in in the wrong order. Or the radio is already counting down from an earlier attempt and will not take anything until it clears.
Stop before you use up the tries. Read what the display is telling you first: LOCKED, WAIT, SAFE and ERR each mean something different, and most of them just want the ignition left on for an hour.
Badged something else?
The same units turn up wearing other badges — Siemens VDO — and the entry steps are the same. Go by what the radio does, not the name on the front.
Still stuck?
If the code came from us and the radio will not take it, say so on your order page and we will put it right or refund you. That is the whole point of the guarantee: a code that does not work is not a code you paid for.