Help with head unit removal....

[WelshWoody83]

Hi guys, dont know if you can help me or not but i have a huge problem. Ive been wanting to upgrade my head unit for a while and came accross a Navigon touch screen/DVD.Sat Nav all in one job for £495 so I jumped at the chance. This without a doubt is THE single biggest mistake of my life !!!
Not only is the unit complete and utter crap, ie it fels like it was made for LIDL the rear speakers wouldn work, there was a constant hissing noise, the cup holder was being crushed and wouldnt work. Now I want to get rid of it, after having it for the whole of 2 days and it wont come out!!!
You slide in the removal keys and nothing...its like they have snapped off or something but the keys dont do a think. Its killing me to do it but Ive stripped the dash appart trying to release it and no joy at all, just cant get to the clips... Ill post some pictures up too to show you but apart from definately getting an RNS-E I would like to say to everyone...DO NOT BUY THIS CRAP!!!!
oh and does anyone have any suggestions? if not Im going to go out with a dremel on the weekend and physically cutt the head unit out...

 

[PH1L]

my unit wasnt that bad, fitting was terrible till i get the revised brackets it did get jammed in, i got plastic wedges and picks out bent the oversprung cage springs right in, they were totally ****** after but i get the thing out, the replacements that i got sent free of charge are much better, but you still get what you pay for

 

[WelshWoody83]

Hmmm...Im taking it to a garage tomorrow but may just say get it out any way possible as long as the car isnt damaged... I know what you mean about getting what you pay for, just wish I went straight for the RNS-E, this one seemed to have so many extra features though...ah well

 

[PH1L]

i was / am (i have rns-e in my s3 which i will have on the road in a couple of months) quite happy with it once you get the new brackets and get used to it, its a ****** good unit tbh but i with they'd made the casing for the unit a little better, id have paid extra money for it to fit a little better

 

[crypric23]

What the hell is that head unit ?
Dumb question but have you tried when pulling on the release keys pushing them slightly outwards when you pull?
Ie : The keys on the top & bottom left , pull out while pushing the keys towards the left door , and vica versa on the right side keys, pull out while pushing them towards the right hand door.

If that makes any sense at all!

On my Rns if i tried pulling the keys out strait on it would not release the head unit , but pulling them out at an angle it would slide out with no problems at all.

Also i would always do one side then the other , rather then trying to do the top then the bottom.

Worth a try.

 

[WelshWoody83]

Thank you for your advice but when you put the keys through the front of the unit there is nothing at all for the tools to hold onto as the clips behind have somehow snapped or bent out of position. The head unit is called a Dynavin, if it worked as advertised it would have been awesome, but unfortunately its a pile of crap.
Ill put pictures up of the damage once its removed..

 

[crypric23]

i would suggest going to halfords and buying various different removal keys then ( for different cars ) , just getting ones that will stay in enough to pull it out.
As if its broken just get it out from the front , as you have little hope of getting it out from behind , + its never a good move removing all the interior bits you have unless its really required in my experience due to creaks after putting them back .

 

[WelshWoody83]

I have now removed the unit, drilled through it, Ill put pictures up in the morning. I had the Head unit keys that came with the unit itself, The keys for the genuine Audi head unit and a set of "European" car keys from Halfords, none of which worked. The dash is all back together and the origional head unit is back in. No creaks, rattles or anything luckily. Think Im going to bite the bullit, buy the RNS-E and have it installed profesionally as I can have the recoding done the same time.
Thanks for your help throughout this ...
Chris

 

[Pii]

Congrats woody. Glad it all worked out for you.

 

[WelshWoody83]

These pictures show whats left of the unit and the brackets that were broken causing all the trouble...

 

[danA3T]

Glad you got it out mate, stick all the bits in a jiffy bag and return it to the seller... "urm I think I've changed my mind..."

 

[robby]

blimey
guess you can't send it back for a refund now - that must be an expensive mistake buy

 

[WelshWoody83]

Yeah a £490 mistake, in all fairness though Ive been offered a partial refund of £300 which Im going to take, but on the other hand it was never fit for use and should never ever had been perminently locked into place but unfortunately the shody build quality meant breaking it out was the only option.

 

[crypric23]

£490 wow.
At least you should be getting a rns for around £300 now days as they are really dated, i sold one last week for £290 ( black dials though ) saying that the chrome one can go as far back as 5 years.

 

[WelshWoody83]

Really? The reason I went for this one was because the cheapest I could find an RNS-E with chrome dials was £699. If I could have found one at the price you said I would have gone for it...

 

[Ads]

You do realise that Navigon's all come with a hidden 'secondary release button' for extra security. The unit cannot be removed using the keys alone.
But before drilling the unit to death I guess you read that bit of the manual and the button didn't work.

 

[PH1L]

really where is the button, im curious?