Facelift 2019 Audi A3 2.0 Sline 40 TFSI

[SleAze]

Hey, I just purchased today my brand new Audi A3 Sline + "Sport" package from the dealership.
One of the most important features i wanted was the Virtual Cockpit,
which according to my dealership - can't be locally installed \ upgraded (car is already in my country).

What options do the car most have in order for virtual cockpit to be retrofitted?
Im pretty sure it does come with MMI2 (as its 2019 + 40 TFSI with sline and sport packages),

However the dealership's representative said to me that this car doesn't have Apple Carplay \ Android Auto.
And the steering wheel doesn't have the "VIEW" button.

Can I retrofit Virtual Cockpit without changing anything else except the cluster itself? (and coding of course)
Should I be worried that this car "can't" be equipped \ retrofitted with Virtual Cockpit for a reasonable price \ without replacing half of the car?

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Hmm, you should have Android Auto. It is standard on all North American models since 2017. It might be an option on cars shipped to Israel.
VC is a pricey retrofit and not for the faint of heart it requires coding by a specialist and lots of other bits. There are quite a few threads on this matter on this forum.

https://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/virtual-cockpit-retrofit.299931/

 

[cuke2u]

Israel not on this list unfortunately:
The Android Auto app is currently available in the following countries:

• Argentina
• Australia
• Austria
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• Germany
• Guatemala
• France
• India
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• New Zealand
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Philippines
• Puerto Rico
• Russia
• Singapore
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Spain
• Switzerland
• Taiwan
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Uruguay
• Venezuela

https://www.android.com/auto/faq/

 

[SleAze]

Israel not on this list unfortunately:
The Android Auto app is currently available in the following countries:

• Argentina
• Australia
• Austria
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• Germany
• Guatemala
• France
• India
• Ireland
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• New Zealand
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Philippines
• Puerto Rico
• Russia
• Singapore
• South Africa
• South Korea
• Spain
• Switzerland
• Taiwan
• United Kingdom
• United States
• Uruguay
• Venezuela

https://www.android.com/auto/faq/

I have an iPhone but still the representative said that CarPlay isn’t available on this car aswell

 

[cuke2u]

Copied and pasted but suggests it is available in Israel:
Surprisingly, CarPlay is unavailable in some countries too. In fact, it’s unavailable in the vast majority of the globe’s countries, given that this list is 36 items long and the number of countries currently hovers at 195.

• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Brazil2
• Canada
• Chile2
• China
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Hong Kong
• India2
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy
• Japan
• Malaysia
• Mexico
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Republic of Korea
• Russia
• Saudi Arabia2
• Singapore
• South Africa
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Taiwan
• Thailand2
• Turkey
• UK
• United Arab Emirates2
• USA

But Audi may not make it possible because AA isn't?

 

[SleAze]

Copied and pasted but suggests it is available in Israel:
Surprisingly, CarPlay is unavailable in some countries too. In fact, it’s unavailable in the vast majority of the globe’s countries, given that this list is 36 items long and the number of countries currently hovers at 195.

• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Brazil2
• Canada
• Chile2
• China
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Hong Kong
• India2
• Ireland
• Israel
• Italy
• Japan
• Malaysia
• Mexico
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Republic of Korea
• Russia
• Saudi Arabia2
• Singapore
• South Africa
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Taiwan
• Thailand2
• Turkey
• UK
• United Arab Emirates2
• USA

But Audi may not make it possible because AA isn't?

I think that’s what they are doing - blocking it.

anyways my question is - can virtual cockpit be installed even though my steering wheel doesn’t have the “view” button or does the steering wheel have to be replaced?

 

[larbel]

If you have CarPlay working, you will have Android Auto too as long as you can find the APK to install even when your country isn't supported. For VC retrofit, you don't need to replace the entire steering wheel, you can just replace the button set with the VIEW button.

 

[SleAze]

Thanks for all the answers.
Can someone help me out with all the part numbers I need to buy to get a fully working virtual cockpit retrofitted to my car?

 

[AlS3BE]

Thanks for all the answers.
Can someone help me out with all the part numbers I need to buy to get a fully working virtual cockpit retrofitted to my car?

I think your problem is coding, potential parameterisation(sp?) and component protection and you need to cut away at the instrument cluster surround for it to fit.
It’s not a plug and play job. You need someone that knows what they are doing to get it all working and get you the right parts.
I kinda looked into this before I got mine as there was a few decent spec cars available without vc but decided to get one with as it was too much hassle.

 

[SleAze]

I think your problem is coding, potential parameterisation(sp?) and component protection and you need to cut away at the instrument cluster surround for it to fit.
It’s not a plug and play job. You need someone that knows what they are doing to get it all working and get you the right parts.
I kinda looked into this before I got mine as there was a few decent spec cars available without vc but decided to get one with as it was too much hassle.

isn’t the cutting part only relevant to pre facelift cars? As mine is a brand new one from the dealership (getting it on January)

I wanted to add it on purchase but dealership said it wasn’t an option on the regular A3, only on the RS3 / s3 with additional cost

the only guy I know who does this retrofit in Israel wants around 5500$, I thought perhaps if I get the parts on my own and only pay him for the work - it will be more cost efficient

 

[AlS3BE]

isn’t the cutting part only relevant to pre facelift cars? As mine is a brand new one from the dealership (getting it on January)

I wanted to add it on purchase but dealership said it wasn’t an option on the regular A3, only on the RS3 / s3 with additional cost

the only guy I know who does this retrofit in Israel wants around 5500$, I thought perhaps if I get the parts on my own and only pay him for the work - it will be more cost efficient

not 100% sure on the cutting on fl dash looks different to vc so would expect some modifying. vc is around £1k on its own for a new one. $5500 is around £4200 so pretty expensive. I would have expected it around £2k-2500 but that could be the lack of specialist and availability of parts in your country.

 

[DJAlix]

isn’t the cutting part only relevant to pre facelift cars? As mine is a brand new one from the dealership (getting it on January)

There are two types of dashboard, standard and virtual cockpit. If you have an analogue instrument cluster then you WILL need to cut your dash.

Go see Hi-Led. Hadar has done loads of these and knows what he is doing

 

[SleAze]

There are two types of dashboard, standard and virtual cockpit. If you have an analogue instrument cluster then you WILL need to cut your dash.

Go see Hi-Led. Hadar has done loads of these and knows what he is doing

Hi-LED was the guy I was talking about in the replies above^^ which asks for around 5500$ which is insanely high in my opinion

my friend retrofitted virtual cockpit in his seat Leon 2018 and it costed him 1100$ (not hi led’s work)

even though I know he is by far the most professional retrofitter in Israel, this is in my opinion too big of a price difference

 

[DJAlix]

Hi-LED was the guy I was talking about in the replies above^^ which asks for around 5500$ which is insanely high in my opinion

my friend retrofitted virtual cockpit in his seat Leon 2018 and it costed him 1100$ (not hi led’s work)

even though I know he is by far the most professional retrofitter in Israel, this is in my opinion too big of a price difference

Seat, Skoda and VW virtual cockpit retrofit = waaaaaay more simple and cost effective that Audi. There is much more work and indeed parts involved for an A3 retrofit so you cannot compare, example:

VW Golf = swap clusters, swap trims, run a cable, fit media system, swap USB port, code, done.
Audi A3 = cut or replace dash, change steering wheel, change trims, change steering column trim, run new cables, new media system + controls, swap centre console storage compartment, install new USB ports, code, done.

People don't seem to realise just what's involved in these retrofits and also what the cost of new parts are. an MMI2 High unit from Audi is approx £2k on its own. You are also paying for experience. A number of people are offer these retrofits now, using remote shrives, and for the most part everything is coded incorrectly.