Well I've purchased a Passat TDi motorway car, and I'm quite happy with it. The standard stereo is actually pretty decent, and comes amplified from the factory I believe. Anyway, I pulled out the VW head unit, and put my DAB52 in its place (plugged straight in), and it did work except the sound was all distorted... Any ideas what that's all about? Maybe the amplifier needs a line-level output or something?

 

I believe some VWs use active speakers... Hang on, I'll STFW...

 

Not the Passat, you'll be pleased to know (At least, not my Bora, which uses the same stereo hardware!)
Sounds more like you've got the speaker connections muddled, and you're powering a speaker or two from a pair of +'ves or something.
Suggest you disconnect the speaker connector and wire it up, one speaker at a time, and see if that helps.

Good luck

 

Bugger, was hoping it would be simple! Cheers