Direct stereo upgrades for Audi A3 2008 s-line with bose?

[Billers1812]

Hi all

So after a few posts and help my car is finally back from the cowboy garage.

Because it didn't cost as much I want to upgrade the concert stereo as I want Bluetooth for music and where possible a decent GPS for the UK.

I want one that qi just directly replace the audi one, that doesn't need fascias and all, I see ones like the link below on ebay, but I'm always sceptical of these in case they are poor knock offs.

Read loads of issues with the wiring for the bose speakers too, so I'm wondering if anyone has any experience of doing this easily themselves, or whether it's worth a professional doing it? Read a lot about it and worried there's no definitive answer.

Any suggestions for stereos would be great also.
Stereo :
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/282746450989

 

[shanusascarabus]

I'd be really interested in answers to this also... picking a 2011 s3 blackline today and the only real let down is the out of date stereo with bose, I was just going to order an all singing and dancing head unit ( pioneer/alpine/Kenwood ect ) but it seems it's not as straight forward as I was hoping

 

[asifa3]

I'd be really interested in answers to this also... picking a 2011 s3 blackline today and the only real let down is the out of date stereo with bose, I was just going to order an all singing and dancing head unit ( pioneer/alpine/Kenwood ect ) but it seems it's not as straight forward as I was hoping

I'm on the market for a new stereo similar to what you guys are looking at to go into my black edition A3 with Bose.
Apparently the Bose speakers need some kind of adapter to get them to work correctly and also an adapter for the steering controls.

Let me know how u guys get on as getting info on ice in this forum is really hard work.

Should be an ice sponsored admin to help out, just a suggestion don't shoot me for it admins

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

 

[Genius]

I bought this one:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/XTRONS-7-Android-7-1-Car-DVD-Player-Radio-Stereo-GPS-HDMI-DAB-for-Audi-A3-S3/183333481400?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Took me around 15/20 minutes to fit it, wiring all came ready to plug and play, set up to work with the rear amplifier.

After reading on the forum thought it would be difficult to get set up right but that must be the older models as this plugged straight in no issues and the sound quality is a massive upgrade over the symphony headunit that was in there.

Still getting to grips with it not installed offline maps yet or set up screen mirroring but got it to connect to my phone as a wifi hotspot and also through Bluetooth for music streaming and phone calls and actually the call audio seems really good without connecting an external mic. As gtood as the factory bluetooth on my previous car (BMW)

Only thing you do need to buy separately is the stereo removal keys they cost around £3 for 4 delivered off ebay

 

[shanusascarabus]

Thanks for the reply matey... really appreciate it.. I too have just moved from a bmw so good to know it's just as good.... was it a perfect fit ??... read one or two stick out a couple of mk5 over standard audi units

 

[Genius]

2 minutes I'll get some photos

 

[Genius]

Here:

So you can see it actually fits perfectly around the top the corner radiuses and both sides, its not perfect central at the bottom but probably 1mm if that, think I could have got it perfect but literally that was the first fitting attempt not bothered to pull it out, if I ever fit DAB or TPMS I'll just click the bottom before the top and think it would go but happy enough with it as is. My brother got in the car yesterday and was instantly impressed by it. It clearly does look better than any double din fascia kit that just looks plonked in the dial and is way better functionally than the standard audi nav unit

And with the reverse camera (£10 off ebay) this took just over an hour as running the cabling to the bootlid was a bit of a ****** but the headunit itself was a doddle plug and play

 

[shanusascarabus]

Yeah that looks spot on..... thanks again mate, I think ill go for one of these... hows the build quality... hear some complain the knobs feel cheap ?

 

[Genius]

Dont feel bad to me, bit noisy when you click them in but actually, you don't do that at all really unless you turn it off whilst the engine is running, otherwise turning them for volume or tuning feels fine, but again something I doubt I'll be doing as just worked directly with my steering wheel controls plug and play. Only had it plugged in 2 days and hardly had the chance to play with it properly but already feels like it could be the best car mod I've ever done............. until I remap it

 

[shanusascarabus]

Perfect... i'm sold, although i think ill go for the 8 core android version 8

 

[Genius]

Yeah I was supposed to get the 8 core version then got confused had a million browser windows open and thought I'd found it cheaper, then realized after it was the older model I ordered.. :facepalm: But still I'm definitely happy enough with it. So whilst I would have paid the extra £40 for future proofing on the same hand once it came couldn't be bothered returning it to get the other

 

[shanusascarabus]

As long as your happy with it mate.... now I better go look at wiring routes for a rear camera

 

[Genius]

As long as your happy with it mate.... now I better go look at wiring routes for a rear camera

I came out behind the glove box (don't need to remove it just push a long cable tie or wire coat hanger through) then up through the void that's opposite of the fuse box on the drivers side.

Then it's easy through the rubbers around the door to the back loosen some of the roof liner pannel joins to feed it and pop the final panel to access the grommet that feeds the boot lid... That's the easy part...

You need to strip all the plastics from inside the boot lid to get access and then it's a nightmare feeding through that rubber boot! In the end I gave up getting it through. I made a hole at each end and then fed it out at the roof end and back in at the boot end (as it's rubber it still creates a good seal around the cable) and cable tied the wire to the rubber.

Then it's easy to feed into the boot, I tapped into the 12v switched from the wiper motor as power (was red and green striped) and there was a nut for a fat earth wire so just loosend and attached my earth there.

Should have taken some photos whilst I was doing it

 

[Badger-a-s]

Looks great, what's the make or model number, the link is dead now? Thanks.

 

[mnemikeevans]

I know this is an old thread but I really like the look of this, I have a Audi A3 s line 8P sportback, I have just purchased a double pioneer stereo which I don’t like the look of. It’s all been fitted by a professional and is all working but I just don’t like the look of it as it doesn’t look OEM im looking for something that connects to iPhone and Android and ideally dab. Anyone know of anything that would meet my requirements? Thanks

 

[Stu.h]

Thanks for this, decided on the octocore Android unit above and also got the hard wired adapter for Apple carplay.
Might have to do a bit of rewiring to get rid of any alternator whine it seems for the rear speakers, but shouldn’t be too bad hopefully.
Haven’t even picked the car up yet