Which Bluetooth Kit - Audi OEM or Kufatec Fiscon?

[kaedo]

I have just bought an used A3 Sportback black edition from an Audi Dealership. Part of the deal I struck with the dealership was to have an Audi Bluetooth kit installed. Audi arranged for a third party installer to fit this today at my work as they didn't have time to do it before I collected the car (a week wasn't long enough apparantly). The installer fitted a Fiscon kit despite me asking if it was definately a proper OEM kit. Unfortunately I didn't find this out until I came back out of work when he called me to say he'd finished.

Now to begin with I was a bit annoyed that after stressing several times to both Audi when I was buying the car and the installer when he arrived that I wanted the OEM kit I've had the FISCON kit installed. I was more annoyed that when I scroll through my contacts I get multiple entries per contact in the DIS - one for each of the phone numbers they have. However there is no way of telling which number is which. Can anyone confirm you can tell which number you are about to call? i.e. if I have a contact John Smith with home number, mobile, work, fax I can call John Smith - Mobile. At the moment I just get 4 John Smiths in the DIS! Please tell me the Audi kit is a bit smarter than this!!!

The final straw was on driving home tonight from work. I now have a whistle related to engine speed when the radio is on (even on but muted). It's not really loud but it's there and annoys me. One of the reasons I chose the car was as it had BOSE. Now I have a crystal clear whine through lots of speakers. It didn't do it before, any chance that if I swap the FISCON for the Audi OEM kit my problems will all be fixed?

Thanks for reading my rant!

 

[itsmeagain]

I would get him to remove it and install an OEM kit. I was gonna buy the Fiscon version but decided against it and fitted the OEM one. Never had any problems at all, it syncs with my iPhone and Blackberry

 

[sub39h]

take it back to the dealer and get them to sort it out. all the better if you have it in writing.

 

[Rhyso]

With the Audi kit if you've assigned the type to the phone number then it will tell you which one is which. I have several numbers for a couple of contacts but am able to tell which one is which as the type is displayed so it shows. e.g

Name / Type
Adam / M for mobile
James / H for home
etc etc

 

[gynads]

sorry to hijack this thread, but i will anyway! does any of you guys know how much it is to retrofit the OEM Audi bluetooth kit? supply and fit etc

 

[VWAddict]

I bought my retrofit kit on eBay from the carsystems.pl people. -The communication was pretty poor, but the piece itself was good, other than the mic contacts being installed backwards.

Took a while to sort it out, but eventually it all works perfectly. I had to solder some stuff, and it took a good chunk of an afternoon with all the faffing about, so I don't know that I'd do it for any mates for less than about a hundred quid in British money...

But now that it's in, I'm very happy with it... and yes, my contatcs list says stuff like "Angelina Jolie /M", "Angelina Jolie /H", where there's more than one entry under the same contact. -If there's just the one, it says "Jennifer Aniston", for example.

 

[sub39h]

I bought my retrofit kit on eBay from the carsystems.pl people. -The communication was pretty poor, but the piece itself was good, other than the mic contacts being installed backwards.

Took a while to sort it out, but eventually it all works perfectly. I had to solder some stuff, and it took a good chunk of an afternoon with all the faffing about, so I don't know that I'd do it for any mates for less than about a hundred quid in British money...

But now that it's in, I'm very happy with it... and yes, my contatcs list says stuff like "Angelina Jolie /M", "Angelina Jolie /H", where there's more than one entry under the same contact. -If there's just the one, it says "Jennifer Aniston", for example.

you wish

 

[gynads]

how much did you pay if you dont mind me asking?

 

[Smoothie]

i installed the OEM bluetooth with my RNSE, bought it on ebay brand new cant remember the seller but the mic contacts were back to front like VW addict which is a common thing cant remember the reason! Think it cost around £300 but mine is installed to factory specs, the mic hidden behind map lights and bluetooth module is under passenger seat carpet, copied my mates factory S3 exactly

 

[kaedo]

Rough idea I think it's about £400 for the OEM and about £200 for the Fiscon. I know Audi put the Fiscon down on the sales order at £170 (mates rates with the fitters?) I suspect the price difference in the kits is considerable and there is a bit more work to do with the installation of the Audi kit (seat out etc).

 

[Smoothie]

Rough idea I think it's about £400 for the OEM and about £200 for the Fiscon. I know Audi put the Fiscon down on the sales order at £170 (mates rates with the fitters?) I suspect the price difference in the kits is considerable and there is a bit more work to do with the installation of the Audi kit (seat out etc).

yea mate that could be right, also is the fiscon module plastic? i know the OEM Audi is metal module

 

[kaedo]

Can I ask what symptoms were exhibited by the mic be installed with the polarity wrong? Just so I can look out for it when mines installed if it's a common issue.

Thanks,

 

[kaedo]

yea mate that could be right, also is the fiscon module plastic? i know the OEM Audi is metal module

Not sure as it's behind the head unit and I haven't actually seen it. Plus the mic is external and pokes out of a bit of trim on the 'A' pillar. I would guess it would be a block of plastic about the size of a mars bar.

 

[Smoothie]

Can I ask what symptoms were exhibited by the mic be installed with the polarity wrong? Just so I can look out for it when mines installed if it's a common issue.

Thanks,

if they are the wrong way around then the whole system will work etc and be able to make/answer calls but the other end of the line will not be able to hear you as the mic will not function

 

[Smoothie]

Not sure as it's behind the head unit and I haven't actually seen it. Plus the mic is external and pokes out of a bit of trim on the 'A' pillar. I would guess it would be a block of plastic about the size of a mars bar.

well the OEM kit is too big to go behind the glovebox or headunit so it has to go under the seat, most people fit it just under the seat when retro-fittig but as said factory fit is under the carpet which is what i did with mine

 

[VWAddict]

yep... you can answer calls, dial, initiate calls, but the mic is basically silent as if it's muted. -That means that you hear them, but they hear silence.

Also, you can't store names, or have it do voice recognition. -With the contacts backwards, it's as if the mic is unplugged (it's an electret, so it takes its DC power down the same wire, and reverse-connecting the terminals makes it not work).

To be honest, I've since heard of lots of people with this problem; all buying from the same place. -I contacted them but heard nothing back, so I bought a DIFFERENT electret mic insert from a local electronic component supply store and eventually discovered what the problem was. -I was stunned to discover that they obviously don't check them before they ship them out, or don't apparently care that much about fixing such a simple issue BEFORE something gets sent halfway around the world (I'm an easy 4000 miles and several time zones away).

If I had to do it again, I'd get it factory installed since the cost in US$ is about $600 factory-fitted. -At $400 plus shipping, plus the hassle of fitting it -even if I value my time at zero dollars- if I were buying a new car I'd specify Bluetooth from the factory and save the hassle.

But -if you are patient and handy, you can do it yourself and save some dollars, so long as you're prepared for the mic being mis-wired!

Keith

 

[kaedo]

yep... you can answer calls, dial, initiate calls, but the mic is basically silent as if it's muted. -That means that you hear them, but they hear silence.

Also, you can't store names, or have it do voice recognition. -With the contacts backwards, it's as if the mic is unplugged (it's an electret, so it takes its DC power down the same wire, and reverse-connecting the terminals makes it not work).

To be honest, I've since heard of lots of people with this problem; all buying from the same place. -I contacted them but heard nothing back, so I bought a DIFFERENT electret mic insert from a local electronic component supply store and eventually discovered what the problem was. -I was stunned to discover that they obviously don't check them before they ship them out, or don't apparently care that much about fixing such a simple issue BEFORE something gets sent halfway around the world (I'm an easy 4000 miles and several time zones away).

If I had to do it again, I'd get it factory installed since the cost in US$ is about $600 factory-fitted. -At $400 plus shipping, plus the hassle of fitting it -even if I value my time at zero dollars- if I were buying a new car I'd specify Bluetooth from the factory and save the hassle.

But -if you are patient and handy, you can do it yourself and save some dollars, so long as you're prepared for the mic being mis-wired!

Keith

Or use it as a haggling point in negotiating a deal on a used Audi like I did and make sure they fit the kit that was agreed at the time!!!

 

[Smoothie]

Or use it as a haggling point in negotiating a deal on a used Audi like I did and make sure they fit the kit that was agreed at the time!!!

lol keep us posted with how you get on mate

 

[kaedo]

Well I've been living with the Kufatec kit for a couple of days. Seems to work ok except for the difficulty in working out which number for each contact I'm ringing. Couple of annoying things though. A whistle through the speakers related to engine speed (almost like turbo whistle). Today it wouldn't sync with my contacts and the other annoying thing is that the default ringing volume makes me leap out of my skin the first time some one calls me when I've just got in the car.

The installers are coming next week to swap it out for the proper Audi kit - will report back and let people know what the differences are. I'll try to get some pictures of both as they display in the DIS too.

 

[VWAddict]

... A whistle through the speakers related to engine speed (almost like turbo whistle).

That's what's known as 'alternator whine' and often comes from a ground loop, though not absolutely always...

The not-syncinc contacts thing happens with some phones with the Audi one also sometimes... clearing your recent call history on the phone usually solves the problem.

Keith

 

[Smoothie]

I was going to post this to show the type of kit that someone reading this thread and wanting bluetooth would be looking for as it the same OEM one that i purchased

But i just goes to show you need to read the Ad very carefully, at the bottom it says please note for an A3 you will need to extend the wiring, which basically means that they are sending out the same kit for an A3 A4 A6 as both the A4 and A6 bluetooth modules locate behind the glovebox whilst the A3 is under the passenger seat as there is no room behind the glovebox and therefore requires a longer wiring loom to run from the MIC behind the reading light down the pillar and across the sill to the passenger seat and then back up behind the dash to the RNSE

of course not hard to extend the wires with a bit of soldering, but for £300 it better be plug and play

AUDI RNS-E BLUETOOTH HANDSFREE KIT FOR A3 A4 A6 TT on eBay (end time 06-Nov-10 18:34:17 GMT)