B8.5 Phone holders/Spotify/Sat nav & MMI Updates

[bristolbaron]

4 months into RS4 ownership and I feel I’ve made a cracking choice in daily commuter. There are a few things I’d love to sort to really make the most out of my journeys:

Phone holder: The options I’ve found so far all seem a bit crap. I don’t want a screen or vent mount, and I don’t trust the type where you wedge a piece of metal down the side of the centre console isn’t going to leave me with squeaks and rattles, so what’s the best option?

Spotify: I miss it! With a phone holder in place, how can I access Spotify from my phone? I have some cables in the glovebox to explore, but I don’t want to leave the phone in there.

MMI/Sat Nav/Gearbox updates: There’s a guy offering these on a Facebook group, Sat Nav update I can’t understand, but what would I gain from the others?

any advice appreciated!

 

[OliNix]

Sat Nav Update: check out the A5OC, they have a whole thread on how to update for free! I do it every update, all you need is an SD card a battery charger (or bravery) and patience.

 

[777GE90]

4 months into RS4 ownership and I feel I’ve made a cracking choice in daily commuter. There are a few things I’d love to sort to really make the most out of my journeys:

Phone holder: The options I’ve found so far all seem a bit crap. I don’t want a screen or vent mount, and I don’t trust the type where you wedge a piece of metal down the side of the centre console isn’t going to leave me with squeaks and rattles, so what’s the best option?

Spotify: I miss it! With a phone holder in place, how can I access Spotify from my phone? I have some cables in the glovebox to explore, but I don’t want to leave the phone in there.

MMI/Sat Nav/Gearbox updates: There’s a guy offering these on a Facebook group, Sat Nav update I can’t understand, but what would I gain from the others?

any advice appreciated!

For the phone holder:

I've tried all sorts in mine, started with the vent mount and the rubber bit that went inside the vent ended up melting and fusing with the plastic, so it's left a nasty stain on the vent. Would avoid.

I then bought a strong dashboard mount, was great until in the summer it left a nasty ring stain on the dashboard that you simply could not remove (it's faded away now that it's been several years).

Finally, I just bought a strong windshield mount, put it to the right of my driver side and an extra long USB-C cable wired carefully to the center console and I've never been happier. I just remove the screen mount when not needed and a bit of isopropyl alcohol to clean the ring mark it leaves.

 

[bristolbaron]

Sat Nav Update: check out the A5OC, they have a whole thread on how to update for free! I do it every update, all you need is an SD card a battery charger (or bravery) and patience.

cheers, I’ve had a look and there’s a range from threads with just a couple of posts to a super complex one which is probably outside of my level of faith in myself!
If there’s a specific thread I can read through I’ll take a look if you could link to it please?

For the phone holder:

I've tried all sorts in mine, started with the vent mount and the rubber bit that went inside the vent ended up melting and fusing with the plastic, so it's left a nasty stain on the vent. Would avoid.

I then bought a strong dashboard mount, was great until in the summer it left a nasty ring stain on the dashboard that you simply could not remove (it's faded away now that it's been several years).

Finally, I just bought a strong windshield mount, put it to the right of my driver side and an extra long USB-C cable wired carefully to the center console and I've never been happier. I just remove the screen mount when not needed and a bit of isopropyl alcohol to clean the ring mark it leaves.

You may be right, although I don’t like a windshield mount the one the wife has in her car is pretty good. My old A3 has one which sat between the vents and was perfect, a shame there’s no other viable option!

 

[OliNix]

I’m going to assume a RS4 has the 3G+ MMI Nav in it (has a slot for a SIM card in between the SD slots).

If it doesn’t please don’t use this link and let me know and I will send you the other link.
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/to...p?posts/1181833/&share_type=t&link_source=app

If you want to re enable the google earth option since Audi stopped supporting it earlier this year, there is a member called Congo (who issues all the free map and FW updates) who has a fix for it. You will have to pay him a small amount, but I can verify it works as I am currently using it. Details can be found here (click on the contact URL at the end of the first post to message him about buying it): https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/to...p?posts/1617047/&share_type=t&link_source=app

 

[ninjag]

For a phone mount I just use one of those vent mounted magnetic discs and mount it in the centre left vent and turn that vent off. All I need to do is hold my phone against it and it snaps on, nice and easy. Coupled with my magnetic charging cable it's a lot safer than trying to insert a regular charging cable in.

Bit like this:

 

[HertS3]

Yeah I miss the Clearmount one on my S3, fit so nicely!
I'm using a vent one which has wireless charging, works OK but sometimes will drop. Would be interested in finding a neater solution

 

[Tatey35]

Coming from an A3 to an A4 I also missed the clearview mount. I hate all the standard vent mounts and find the vents on the A4 to small for them to work properly. I actually went with a cd holder as in the pictures from Amazon. Works really well and is very stable. I always have waze on, so phone is always there but it’s not very intrusive and doesn’t block heater controls or mmi screen.

After about 8 months of use, I had to super glue the ball joint as it became to weak to support the phone, but got the position right and has held strong ever since (and that’s with a big phone)

Previously used a short 20cm cable from the ashtray , but have hardwired a cable since replacing the ashtray.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[HertS3]

That's nice, I've got a CD slot holder in my father in law's Smart Roadster which works well there too.
I've got a vent holder which has a strong clamp so holds quite well.
Just changed the holder for one that electronically closes onto the phone.
A little obtrusive but manageable.
There are landscape holders which I find quite appealing (my friend picked one up on Ali Express for £22) but I'll stick with this for now

 

[jdp1962]

Have you looked at the Brodit pro-clip and phone mount system? I used this for years in my B8.5, and found it extremely good.
Click here for the website. You pick the tailored pro-clip for your car, and then pick from a range of different mounts for your phone. The clip attaches to the dash, the mount attaches to the clip, and the phone slots into the mount. Easy, and can be quite elegant.

 

[HertS3]

Have you looked at the Brodit pro-clip and phone mount system? I used this for years in my B8.5, and found it extremely good.
Click here for the website. You pick the tailored pro-clip for your car, and then pick from a range of different mounts for your phone. The clip attaches to the dash, the mount attaches to the clip, and the phone slots into the mount. Easy, and can be quite elegant.

Seen it before but I nearly had a coronary when I saw their wireless cradle is £90!
Also most of the holders seem to be model specific which is a pain if you change phone.