Upgrade to newer RNS-E - thoughts?

[jbcalvin]

Hi guys,

I retro fitted an RNS-E system with factory bluetooth to my 52 plate quattro a couple of years ago now, however I am toying with the idea of upgrading it to a newer unit as fitted to the current A3, mainly from the point of view of having the LED screen and the ability to use SDHC cards as the new units will handle up to 32Gb if I remember correctly.

Obviously I would need to swap over the fascia's (how difficult is this??) but what is everyone's thoughts? Is there anything else a newer unit would add such as voice control? (I do not have a multi function wheel on the car) Should I go for a specific version number??

Cheers in advance

Steve

 

[cobraBLACK]

I believe the Seat Exeo's one has the exact same fascia as an A4.

 

[jbcalvin]

The Exeo's are a direct fit as it is basically a B7 anyway, downside is they are so rare they are about £300 more than an A3 unit.....

Anyone else got any thoughts on this, especially how hard it is to swap the fascia's??

 

[Woorlord]

............Is there anything else a newer unit would add such as voice control? (I do not have a multi function wheel on the car) ..................

You would need a B7 MFSW for voice control (SDS) as the "talk" button is on the MFSW.
So maybe new slip ring / air bag issues as well documented elsewhere.

2010 RNS-E can not be VIM Hacked - not that you have any video from your sig. and this could offer a few more options if you have the retrofit bug!

 

[IanFM]

I can see this growing arms and legs to include a B7 MFSW! lol

 

[jbcalvin]

Nope, not going down the B7 MFSW route, if I remember correctly they have dual stage airbags and things start to get messy....

Woorlord, not fussed about the Video in Motion side of things, other than bluetooth the only other thing i would consider fitting is a reversing camera.... it's more about having the ability to stick 2 x 32Gb cards loaded with music in for long trips to Le Mans for example, along with the LED screen....

 

[BahnStormer77]

I've got the old RNS-E and I got the SDS-high (full voice control) setup, so it's not the unit that's holding you back, it's the steering wheel controls: you can probably re-wire on of the existing buttons to link to the voice control, if you really want it? I'm tempted by the 32Gb card idea, but 2 x 4Gb cards is usually enough and I have a couple more on order for the more "alternative" music if the mood grabs me... I've got a few 2Gb cards int eh ashtray already, so I'll just swap those over.