Ipod Car Kit

K-Dash

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Is it me or have the prices of these kits gone up about £40 a piece?

I swear they were £95 about 2 weeks ago.
 
I purchased mine from my dealer in Novmeber 2008 and paid £85.00. An Audi A3 Accessories Brochure I picked up yesterday, dated October 2008, lists the RRP incl VAT as £100.
 
They have shot right up! i was wanting a dension kit but 1...they are bout £150 and 2....im unsure if they work with ipod touch 2nd gen.
 
They have shot right up! i was wanting a dension kit but 1...they are bout £150 and 2....im unsure if they work with ipod touch 2nd gen.

Personally I think the Audi interface is much better than the Dension and works in a much more straightforward way. Double press the CD key on the radio and you have access to five iPod play lists and the sixth which plays everything.

My wife has recently purchased a new Polo and wanted a cradle for her iPod. We purchased a Dension and I fitted it but we could never get it to work in what we thought was a logical and consistant way. In the end I purchased a VW cradle and interface used in the Polo Match off eBay - normal price £168 for £41.00 - fitted it and it works just like my Audi interface.
 
Well, due to my insane love for music I purchased the GW16 AC2 about a week ago.

Which is the Dension Gateway 100 that displays track information.
I paid an extortionate £140.

Gonna make a start on fitting it on thursday, making that Ipod/ashtray mod.

Bit worried about how to get the cable through the bottom of the ashtray and up into the HU..
 
Well, due to my insane love for music I purchased the GW16 AC2 about a week ago.

Which is the Dension Gateway 100 that displays track information.
I paid an extortionate £140.

Gonna make a start on fitting it on thursday, making that Ipod/ashtray mod.

Bit worried about how to get the cable through the bottom of the ashtray and up into the HU..

Sorry to disappoint but im 99.999999999% sure it wount display the track info.
Should be fairly straight forward to get the cable up to the HU, once the HU is removed and the ashtray and trims above the ashtray you will be able to thread a coat hanger or similar behind the aircon unit etc and attach the wire.
 
which cable would allow the 6cd changer to still work??
 
which cable would allow the 6cd changer to still work??

the cd changer retention cable, available from dension.

i didn't order this as the cd changer is obsolete to me now. but may invest if i decide i can't do withut it.

Matt, i'd read you couldn't get the track info displayed, so i emailed dension.

when giving them my car and stereo info i asked what kit suited my needs of :

.....playing music
.....charging ipod
.....hu control integration
.....track info display.


so dension emailed saying all these things were possible using gw16 ac2.

having never seen this part number stated on any thread i've seen nor on any website i contacted the distributor who have dispatched it to me.

I've only ever seen gw16 ac1.

I fear there is a chance you may be right though.

so on thurssday i will try it, if it doesn't work i shall discuss the matter with dension.
 
I heard that you only need the retention kit if you want to keep your external cd changer, is this true as i have the in dash 6cd changer!

I have just purchased the gw16. think the ac1/2 is the connection type or something cos ive seen au1/2 aswel.

It is true that this model will display track info but only on head units that support this, my syphony ii wont but the reason for my purchase was that it was the only model that worked fully with the ipod touch 2nd gen.

Unfortunately i bought off ebay and it has quadlock connector instead of iso, any idea if i can get the wire with correct connector anywhere?
 
I've no idea about the cd changer thing.

I'd certainly like its functionality to remain but no biggy if not.

I too have also seen au1 & au2 but never ac2 for some reason.

I don't know why your symphony 2 doens't support info display. cos I have symphony 2 with bose and 6 cd changer and when i emailed dension pics of the headunit and my dis they said this item would work.

Again, i don't know about the iso / quadlock thing. i'm not very clued up on i.c.e.
 
From what i have heard, the symphony ii will only display as "track 1, track 2" etc. (no song name, artist etc) again im not 100% though.


Have you recieved your dension kit? if so is there any chance of a pic so i can compare with mine (connections and that). i will do the same if you want!
 
Maybe you are right about the display. but if you are then Mr Dension & I will be having firm discussion.

Ok, i'll take pics tomorrow..
 
Ha!:laugh: I emailed the with a few questions myself but no replies.
Cheers mate i will take some pics aswell after work!
 
DSCF5700.jpg


DSCF5701.jpg


DSCF5702.jpg


DSCF5703.jpg
 
You'd better contact Dension then 'cos you'll never get track names displayed on the head-unit.

Only the GW500 can do that, sadly you can't fit that to the A3!
 
Maybe so.

But if this is the case I will be heavily ****** off, as I bought the item off the back of this email.

What you need is Gateway 100 for Audi Dual CAN ISO (GW16AC2) or Gateway 300 for Audi Dual CAN ISO (GW33AC2) if you need additional USB support. This units will charge your iPod Nano 4G, you can control it with your head units controls and you will see song information on the cluster display.
If you have further questions, please feel free to contact us again. We would be happy, if you would give us a feedback, even if your problem is solved!
Best regards,
Dension Support Team
www.dension.com
 
I think the key word in that email is 'cluster'

You may well get upto 2 lines of 8 letters of text in the DIS area but you wont get anything other than Track 1, Track 2 on the Headunit display.
 
oh I know, it won't be the HU display. But the DIS.
 
5655_21.jpg


this is mine, everything is the same apart from the blue (quadlock) connector at top left of pic. i need the same as the one in your pic with male and female mini iso connectors!

with them connectors you are able to keep he in dash 6cd changer!!

i am unsure about the DIS showing artist, song etc. just know that the symphony II will not display on hu. (will have to look into that!)

does anyone know what the small yellow connector is for? it plugs into back of hu next to ariel.:uhm: (on original car wiring, nothing to do with dension)
 
Personally I don't think any Dension unit will display other than CD1-Track1 in the DSI display on an A3.
 
Perhaps it only works with the RNS-E unit in the set-up as well. When I asked a Dension dealer about a couple of months ago they said none of the Dension units would do it with my Symphony II. Mind you they could be wrong - quite often these so called 'specialists' don't know very much about what they are selling.
 
True, maybe only works with rns-e.

I did email (as he requested) a pic of my headunit and my DIS so if he is wrong then in my eyes he has no excuse.

We will hopefully find out tomorrow if it does display because i hope to be fitting, although i am having trouble sourcing the radio removal tools.
 
Get some after pics when its finished, i wouldnt mind seein what this looks like! Im thinkin about gettin an Alpine Ida X100 with the ipod ready, unsure about where to put it...
 
I wouldn't bother gettin tools off eBay unless they are the genuine audi ones! I bought some crappy ones and it was a nightmare but eventually got it out! Yeah post some pics up and let us know how you get on.
 
I wouldn't bother gettin tools off eBay unless they are the genuine audi ones! I bought some crappy ones and it was a nightmare but eventually got it out! Yeah post some pics up and let us know how you get on.

I bought some in Halfords and were useless. Too long for a start. When I tried to take my Symphony unit out there was no way I could get them to release it properly. So I spoke to my dealer and he said, pop along and we'll take it out for you. The technician had a set of the genuine VW/Audi keys and he pull in out with no trouble at all.

When I had to take the radio out of my wife's Polo recently to an iPod kit I phoned tried to buy a set of the genuine keys but neither her VW dealer or my Audi dealer had any in stock. I was going out that day to Peterborough so I phone Peterborough Audi and they said - Just call in, we've loads of them laying around in the workshop, you can have a set for free. How's that for service.
 
Hi guys just seen this thread, I have been wanting ipod for a while in the car but want to keep my changer working too.

I would love the info on the DIS too, quick question I have a retrofit oem changer and retrofit RNS-E so obviously quad lock on the rns-e

If i got the cd renention kit, where does it hook up, does it hook up changer side or head unit side.

Also any reccomendations where to get the kit from, I dont use ebay, so thats out of the question unfortunatley

Cheers

Chris
 
Chris, would you not be better saving your money and just making use of the SD card slots on the RNS-E? SD cards are cheap as chips nowadays, you might need a few to contain all your tracks, but at least you'll see track info on the RNS-E and on the DIS.
 
Yeah I do use the sd cards, but i keep misplacing them.

I have just priced the kit up and nearly 200quid for the retention cable and ipod kit is a bit much for me at the moment, just paid for a service and my car insurance is due at the end of the month,:crying: so I think i best pass for now
 
:happy: - know that you mean, that's the problem with the cards being so small!

K-dash - I hope it does work, but it does seem quite a steep jump in price (I paid £90 for mine) just to get track info in the DIS.
 
all the dension kits seem pretty steep in price now! the older models have been discontinued so hard to get a hold of!

i wasn't aware of the DIS info but my reason for purchase was that its the only one that is fully functional with the ipod touch 2nd gen!

still looking for a mini iso connector like in K-Dash pics, if anyone knows where to get one let me know please! then ican get my install started and will post pics up on completion!!:salute:
 
:happy: - know that you mean, that's the problem with the cards being so small!

K-dash - I hope it does work, but it does seem quite a steep jump in price (I paid £90 for mine) just to get track info in the DIS.

Agreed, but i didn't buy it for that specifically.

It was just a case of wanted the product and my luck being what it is the price goes up just before i buy it.

If the DIS don't work its ok, but I have proof that this guy sold me this product telling me it did work and if it doesn't he has mislead me therefore Some money back please Mr Dension. :yes:
 
Fair enough then mate - at least you've got a case to go back to them.
I'm really happy with the Dension kit and I'm sure you'll be as well once you're up and running.
 
managed to get a mini iso harness! ordered last night so will hopefully be here either tomorrow or sat! will post pics and let you know the outcome!
:arco:
 
Here is my DIS after installation.

AND I KNOW MY CLUSTER SCREEN NEEDS A CLEAN.

P260209_1238.jpg


P260209_123801.jpg


P260209_1252.jpg


P260209_125201.jpg


It would seem it does display all the relevant track/album/playlist/artist info. Not brilliantly but enough to a.) look good rather than track 1, 2 etc. and b.) makes so much easier to find what you are looking for quickly and safely.

Only advice for anyone fitting, make sure you attach the ground (little black cable) or this will not work.
 
Looks quite good mate, does it plug into the Head unit or do you need to run a cable to the DIS?

Also did you keep the CD Changer, if so where does the retention kit fit in? Head unit side or CD Changer side?

Thanks

Chris
 
A very simple plug and play.

I didn't retain the Cd changer funcion, but it looks to me to be simple.

Don't go near the dis. just one connection to the hu and thats pretty much it.
 

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