Bluetooth and a OEM head unit.

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hendo#1

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Having put up with an aftermarket head unit for ages, I managed to bag myself a mint condition, unmarked, perfect working OEM chorus 2 (complete with cassette!) for the grand total of £5.

Fitted it and coded it, its a breath of fresh air after having a head unit with a million functions you don't need.

However I want to stream bluetooth to it. The Xcarlink one seems OK, but at £135 its a bit more than I'm wanting to pay to enable bluetooth on my £5 stereo!

Can anyone who's good with ICE advise on whether these would be any good?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bluetooth...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/YT-BTA-Bl...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

Car has the 6 CD changer in the back, non Bose. Really not fussed about having to keep the CD changer.
 
That first eBay link appears to be good!

Second one appears ( to me ) to be a Bluetooth phone adaptor. Cause of the microphone. Very much could be wrong.

Do report back as I'm currently using a crap iPhone adaptor as my connect 2 has the iPhone 30 pin plug, I'm using an adaptor which doesn't want to stay in so I'm slowing driving myself crazy having to wedge my phone into the passenger seat to hold it steady preventing the adaptor from falling out the phone on roundabouts.
 
I fitted a similar one to the one in your first link to my Symphony I head unit, regretted it almost straight away....a lot of popping and interference through the speakers. Bought a Dension BT Lite in the end and it works perfectly, bit more expensive but it works flawlessly and allows you to change tracks through the head unit which is better than trying to do it through your phone whilst driving. I also fitted the handsfree microphone (it comes with it so why not) and it allows you to answer and end calls through the head unit which is an added bonus.
 
I've a Connects2 kit. Plugs in to the multi-changer plug in the back of my unit.

Streams music off my iPhone and you can skip tracks back and forward using the << and >> buttons on the standard head unit. The >> button also is used to answer phone calls.

It's all totally hidden behind the dash apart from the microphone. The Connects2 box also has a USB input for a phone charger cable which I run to my glove box.

I think it was around £80 but worth it. I can see if I can hoke out the model number if you like.
 
Thanks for the advice. I have decided to go with the connects2 kit, found it for £80 on ebay. The cheaper one just wasn't worth the risk.
 
Please post a link to the one you bought and report back once you've got an opinion upon the one you've chosen.

I'm looking to upgrade mine from the 30pin version I've currently got fitted.
 
I have an Audi A6 C5 2004/5 Allroad with amplified Bose/SatNab/TV original audi stereo
I want to upgrade the stereo to a double din Android OR branded Pioneer/Kenwood etc type unit. not sure which yet

I basically just need satnav, phone bluetooth, DVD and iPod functions. Can anyone please advise me, now that we are in 2017 and the Androids have been around a while, what is considered the best upgrade for my car head unit?
If it's just a personal choice then I will probably go for Android so I have youtube on it and can install new maps easily if needed. But where I am REALLY stuck is in working out how to fit the damn things, what adapters and converters are needed etc. Any help gratefully received. Thanks
 
ah ok, sorry, not too up to speed on forums! will remove it, thanks
 
Trooper said:
Please post a link to the one you bought and report back once you've got an opinion upon the one you've chosen.

I'm looking to upgrade mine from the 30pin version I've currently got fitted.
Click to expand...

So I bought the connects2 one and fitted it over the last 2 nights - the picture of the invoice shows which kit I got. Mounted it behind the glovebox. Ran the microphone upto where it should go in the interior light (that was a bit of a nightmare). Wiring into the back of the headunit was pretty straight forward, they provide an adaptable harness for this (no pics of this sorry). As far as I can tell you would not be able to keep the existing CD changer wired in??

Overall pretty impressed with it, easy to set-up and use. I love the fact I can have a standard looking cassette player but with modern music streaming capability. Aftermarket headunits always look **** in my opinion. Using the standard headunit has also restored a much better, quality sound to the speakers & sub as you would expect it to having been designed to be used with them.

You can change tracks by either the head unit itself or on your phone.

The hands free seems good. If someone rings you it fades the song out and allows you to answer via the headunit. Once your call is finished it will fade the music back in and carry on where it left off.

The connects2 box also has a 5v USB charging point on it, so to make use of this I bought a flush mount USB socket and installed it into my glovebox. Ideally it would have went somewhere outside of the glovebox, but I have a paranoia/hatred of drilling holes in interiors, so its out of sight in there. This is purely a charging point USB, it will not accept or stream data or music.

There is also a AUX input point on the box which I have not used. If you were to use this for music it would take priority the bluetooth connection.

Will see how I get on with it over the next few times I use my car. I cant foresee any issues though.

Thanks for all the advice.

EDIT - the pics were all the correct way up when I uploaded them, no idea why they have done that.
 

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That's nice. Does the Connects 2 box show the track info in DIS? Also, instead of fitting the USB charge point in the glovebox, I wonder if the wire can be run up under the climate control so that if the phone is used as sat nav, mounted on the dash using something like this, it can be hooked up using something like this, so that the cable isn't visible when not hooked up.

Another cool option would be if any it was possible to install a console button (next to ESP/Hazard) with a USB port on it. Does Audi make anything like that? Can you buy a blank button and maybe even do a cut out for a USB?
 
There is no track info on the DIS unfortunately. The connects2 box just replicates the CD changer being there, so you see what is in the image of my radio.

You will be able to buy spare button blanks for the dashboard no problem, and that's quite a good idea but I reckon you may struggle to get any kind of USB plug in one of them button blanks due to their small size. I'd love to be proved wrong though.

I did look at installing the USB socket in the console beneath the HVAC unit but it would not have been very accessible. Somewhere in or around the centre armrest would maybe work...
 
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