rns-e or one of the non genuine copies from ebay

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millwrx

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looking to upgrade to a satnav unit in my a4,seen some on ebay but all the extras need to be brought as add ons with the rns-e,the none genuine ones seen to have it all built in already,is anyone have one of these fitted that can tell me what these are like?
ebay item
260602263057

cheers
 
I wouldnt mind one of these, looks ok, would like to hear from someone who has allready got one though.
 
They do look quite good but i suspect the are cheap chinese tat. Also the dvd software isn't included but he will tell you where to get it rings alarm bells for me. If it was my money i'd get a well known brand one from the likes of Pioneer or Kenwood.
 
he emailed me today to say all of the wiring etc is included,and the unit uses tomtom westren europe software which he sends you a link to be able to download it for free,seems to be a really good deal over the genuine audi one as it has all the extras which you have to buy already built in,the only thing which it doesnt do is display it on the lcd screen between the clocks,would like to hear from someone that has brought one already relly before i decide
 
Sounds quite good but defiantly need a review before paying out that much.
 
Seems alot to me, i have a kenwood media system in mine genuine garmin sat nav,dvd, full ipod control not just a playlist like the genuine audi ipod lead (which i still have fitted just not used), the only bolt on i would need if required is the tv tunner and bluetooth module, i paid around the same sort of money although the model has now been superseeded but very pleased with it's performance and looks good too.

003.jpg
 
just found via youtube some working clips and links to people that sell them,its made by autoradio,too honest by the looks off it i think its well worth the money,
 
If your happy with the deal then go for it. Does it come with facia surrounds?
 
millwrx said:
he emailed me today to say all of the wiring etc is included,and the unit uses tomtom westren europe software which he sends you a link to be able to download it for free,seems to be a really good deal over the genuine audi one as it has all the extras which you have to buy already built in,the only thing which it doesnt do is display it on the lcd screen between the clocks,would like to hear from someone that has brought one already relly before i decide
Click to expand...
So you have to dowmload a pirate version of TomTom? quess they will be out of business when TomToms legal dept find out. Can you buy a legit version for it?
 
no,he surplys the info on where to download it,but the ones like tomtom are pay ones i think,there are links to others that are free like some of the ones on the iphones apps etc,to be honest i would rather pay the £44.99 for the tomtom software download,due to what i will save buying all the add on boxes for the rns-e,will see when it comes,it uses a samsumg processer and has some really good reviews from what i have found.
 
millwrx said:
just found via youtube some working clips and links to people that sell them,its made by autoradio,too honest by the looks off it i think its well worth the money,
Click to expand...

Could you post a link so i can have a look,
 
will89 said:
Could you post a link so i can have a look,
Click to expand...

just go on youtube and put in autoradio and theres a few,or click one of the links above as one of those has a demo video
 
how did you get on with this millwrx???

i just ordered one last week, and was wondering how you got on with fitting etc, and whether you like it??

cheers

steve
 
hi,still havent had time to fit it all in,from what i have found so far its not just a simple plug and play,first thing is that the aerial dosnt seem to pick anything up when installed with the adaptor they include in the kit,as the audi aerial had a habbit of losing stations anyway i have brought one of those sreen mount aerials(good quality one)to completley bypass the audi one,the other thing was that when it was all pluged in everything works apart from the right rear speaker,not sure why that was as it used to work with the audi headunit,as the fronts are powered of the headunit which is 4x45w i deceided to run my own speaker wires to the backof the car and on to the blue connector block for the amp and run the rears off the headunit aswell as its more powerfull and better balance to the front,now at this point the sub will still work as audi intended but as i had to take the rear panels off to get the new wires though i deceided to go the hole hog and remove the audi amp and sub and buy a MTX audio 8" active sub tube and full amp wiring kit and run that off the preout off the back of the headunit,or may connect it off the high level wires from the audi wiring block,as the mtx tube tube takes both,will be putting it all in this weekend as i'm sick of not having a radio,lol.i know they say it should just plug straight and work but when i ordered it i thought it wont be that simple,the main reason i went for this over the audi one was you get a true all in one headunit with out the need to buy loads of add on boxes which i think is alot of money,and the quality of the radio is really good,doesnt look cheap or tacky,
 
all fitted and i can say that its defo worth the money,did have to rewire the back speakers to the headunit,and i also put a screen mount aerial in to bypass the audi one,also got rid of the standared sub and amp anr replaced it with a MTX active tube,really great sound,just need to work out how to use it now.
 
ny luck with it Mill? also pics of it fitted? cheers
 
millwrx said:
all fitted and i can say that its defo worth the money,did have to rewire the back speakers to the headunit,and i also put a screen mount aerial in to bypass the audi one,also got rid of the standared sub and amp anr replaced it with a MTX active tube,really great sound,just need to work out how to use it now.
Click to expand...

Any pics of it fitted and working?
 
will take some and put them up 2moz night if i get time,been having a play with it tonight and it really is spot on,can't see why anyone would buy the genuine audi one over this,it does everything and more with no extra boxes or expense,the bluetooth phone section is relly easy to use,the picture on the freeview and dvd is really clear,have not loaded any gps software yet as i need to try and copy it over from disc to mirco sd card,the unit will store up to 5 full cds in its hardrive,very handy,takes around 10mins to copy a 14 track cd,also plenty of options to adjust all settings,and also plug your iphone in to it or transfer via bluetooth pictures or music,
 
wires on the right are because i have the steering cowl off as the next thing is to fit my cruise control and module and then try and code it with my full vagcom kit i have just brought,also even tho in the pics the set looks like a different colour to the dash its not,must be something to do with the flash,
 
Do you have a separate aerial for the freeview? if so where have you installed it? Looks quite good, the colour difference is probably due to the rubberized coating that Audi use not reflecting the light
 
yes separate aerial,i have mounted it on the lefthand side of the dash,doesnt look too out of place,got the gps working now and have fitted the colour wireless reverse camera,really happy with the system,i am a mechanic by trade and have found this set pretty easy to install,i have fitted extras like the amp wiring and the sub install in the boot etc but as a hole its turned out tobe a very good setup and the sound and picture quailty is very clear,would give it the thumbs up to anyone that wants to buy one.
 
Where did you get it from in the end? you put different links up. What sat nav system did you go with in the end?
 
Sorry to keep bringing this thread up, but does anyone have a rough idea of how much this should cost me to have installed?? I went to a company near me that specialise in car installs etc and they quoted me £250 a day and said it will prob take 2 days. I thought this was a bit steep??

My car currently has a single din concert system and they reckon it could be a pain to install as they would have to cut up the dash amongst other things.

Was also thinking of maybe doing it myself with the help of my mechanic mate, however it does look a tad complicated and i want it to be perfect and look like it came out the factory.

Anyone got any ideas??

cheers

Steve
 
2 days ! I retrofitted a geniuine RNS-E into a B6 saloon including a single DIN to double Din conversion in about 6 hours.....
 
blucoop said:
Sorry to keep bringing this thread up, but does anyone have a rough idea of how much this should cost me to have installed?? I went to a company near me that specialise in car installs etc and they quoted me £250 a day and said it will prob take 2 days. I thought this was a bit steep??

My car currently has a single din concert system and they reckon it could be a pain to install as they would have to cut up the dash amongst other things.

Was also thinking of maybe doing it myself with the help of my mechanic mate, however it does look a tad complicated and i want it to be perfect and look like it came out the factory.

Anyone got any ideas??

cheers

Steve
Click to expand...

Where are you located ?
 
Did you get the pdf i sent?, if so it's a pretty good step by step guide but will admit it looks alot worse than the job really is
 
Yeah got it cheers mate, much appreciated.

Not sure if im gonna give it a go yet, nothing i do ever goes smoothly!! :crying:
 
can anyone please tell me what the two items ive circled in the pic below are??

I didnt seem to need either in my install and im wondering if thats why i cant get any radio or tv reception at all.

cheers

steve

DSC00922.jpg
 
ok so it appears no 1 is a twin fakra to iso aerial adapter. Now my car seems to have an iso aerial not a fakra anyway so i shouldnt need that then right???
 
blucoop said:
ok so it appears no 1 is a twin fakra to iso aerial adapter. Now my car seems to have an iso aerial not a fakra anyway so i shouldnt need that then right???
Click to expand...

How did you get on with this mate? And how much did you gusy end up paying after import tax etc? (**edit** that's if you got them direct from china)
cheers
Nj
 
Last edited:
audi upgrades
Had to wire in a new aerial mate. Got a blauplunkt one off ebay. With regards to the head unit itself i got mine from a uk supplier on ebay so no import charges.

Personally I wouldnt buy it again though. Now ive got it sorted its quite good but it was a hell of a lot of hassle getting everything to work. And theres still things i cant work out how to do. Also there is no "random / shuffle" feature on the usb /sd card playback which is proper annoying and i find it very hard to get any digital tv signal despite forking out another £50.00 on a powered booster aerial.

All in all it depends if youd rather spend more money on a genuine rnse with all the add ons and be completely happy or save yourself a few hundred quid and compromise.

Also the colour match of this unit is not 100% to the audi dash as its made from different material and reflects light differently.

Hope that helps mate!!
 
don't know if it makes any difference but i came across this on ebay 260748655117. still a second hand one but looks more like the rns-e.
 
blucoop said:
Personally I wouldnt buy it again though.
Click to expand...
It was always going to be a gamble and likely to have a few trade-offs. If it's any consolation, the RNS-E is far from perfect itself, even after you've spent more than twice as much on all the add-ons, it is still missing a lot of features that you now probably take for granted (I'm guessing you have: touch screen, full post code search, SDHC card compatiblity at least).
All in all it depends if youd rather spend more money on a genuine rnse with all the add ons and be completely happy or save yourself a few hundred quid and compromise.
Click to expand...
Nobody is ever COMPLETELY happy ;) Despite being a 8yr old design, the RNS-E costs more, but at least it looks 100% "right" in a B6/B7, even if the features are now a little dated.
Also the colour match of this unit is not 100% to the audi dash as its made from different material and reflects light differently.
Click to expand...
Was always likely to be the case: looked a bit like that in the photo's / adverts.

Since freeview wasn';t aroudn when the RNS-E came out, the digital freeview+ in the RNS-E is provided by a 3rd party device that doesn't integrate perfectly: controls are relayed to the RNS for most basic functions fairly well though, with the only real omission being hte AV line in switching and the record funcitonality.

That said, I've been really pleasantly surprised by the reception quality, with then I do have a diversity tuner with two aerials (one behind each sun visor).

edit: if you're really unhappy with the video playback, but have a video line in, you could always look to get something like the Ampire freeview tuner, but remember that it is unlikely to have an established way of integrating with the satnav, so you're likely to be left using the remote for most features...
 
blucoop - it's really good to hear feedback from someone who's given one of these units a try.

Paul, I saw that one on ebay too. I think it's a newer version of those coming from China. I have a contact that I bought vcds cables from before and have got other bits and bobs from him so had considered trying to do a group buy on these head units at something like 350 each but I doubt there'd be 10 A4 owners wanting to simultaneously have a go.

I think in fact that I'm most likely to go for a kenwood or pioneer double din unit because features are more important to me that the head unit looking 100% OEM. Quite honestly I won't pay hundreds on a sub par head unit (RNS-E) just so the odd person who sees inside my car can appreciate that the head unit looks like it was installed in the factory. I'd far rather have great features at a reasonable price and keep an eye on the satnav while the kids watch wall-e in the back on screens.
 
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