My A6 3.0TDi Avant bit of a rebuild and repair thread.

[Crossmax]

Is the trim on the rear tailgate hard to remove B5NUT? Have to replace the 3rd brake light on mine..looks like a pig of a job!

 

[B5NUT]

No it's straight forward enough, make sure you removed the 4 well hidden screws on the lower trim panel before you try and remove it, it's well clipped and it's feels like your going to break before it gives way! once the lower trim is removed the upper bit is easy, remove the 2 lower screws and unclip working from the bottom of each side to the top.

 

[B5NUT]

finally started to fit the FL front-end parts, and have to say the adjustment nuts for the headlights are one of the worst conceived parts on the car, I've got elsawin and followed the instructions but it makes no sense whatsoever..... Think I'll be spending the next few days sorting out the aliment. If anyone has any tips on how these stupid nuts work it will be most welcome.

First hard to strip the old front-end off the car so was left with this,

I have fitted a new FL crash bar and FL air intakes

To make the bumper easier to remove and refit I've removed the side bumper mounts/clips. I've also got the wheel arch liners lose

For the headlight adjustment I've started off with only the outer bolts, the middle one, I'll adjust when I happy with the overall alignment.

So far I'm happy with the result the overall result, and the paint match is not bad seeing at the old panit is nearly 10 years old.

I was also a little skeptical on the gloss back grill but I now starting to like it. The biggest bonus of the FL is the removal of the stupid S-lIne badge on the old grill, I always hated that badge on the front, but it could not be removed without leaving the mounting points on show...

 

[Markjb]

Looks good. Will need to change the grill on mine one day as it is a nasty grey colour and for me spoils the look of the car considering it's a "Special Edition" model. The Black one looks great B5NUT. Did the job take long(excluding the aligment nuts)?

M

 

[Gavin0478]

I feel your pain with the bumper and lights as when i was changing the bulbs in my old A6 which in itself is a nightmare job one of the bulb clips sprang off and lodged in the bottom of the headlight meaning i had to take the whole front off.

 

[B5NUT]

Not had a chance to look at it today, problems at work. So will start again tomorrow afternoon. I spent about 3 hours on Sunday mucking around with the adjustment screws, whoever dreamed them up received a knighthood from the ministry of cr@p design. I think I have another 1 hour or so of slight adjustment.

 

[Johny2202]

Is the trim on the rear tailgate hard to remove B5NUT? Have to replace the 3rd brake light on mine..looks like a pig of a job!

You don't need to remove rear lid trim you just need to unclip trim at top of rear lid and bit pull it down to release retainer of spring of high brake light.

 

[riwi]

This is my first post and first search in regards to thinking about upgrading my current MMI,which is the MMI Basic with red screen. I have a Audi A6 C6, 2.0L TDI 2004. I spent an hour reading through all the posts and would like to thank you for all the time and the break down of all the information. Looking to upgrade to the 3G+ with TV and the new cluster. This will need the new AMI and all the additional bits. I wanted to know if you could provide all the relevant part numbers needed? Is there a complete guide to the install, other than the thread? Specific requirements in regards to software versions?

I found this on a german site so everything is in German (duhh) but all partnumbers etc are there. It's very very detailed.

http://www.ts85.de/ts85.de/kfzelektronik/mmi3g.php

 

[dentsy]

Hi all, I know I asked on the forum previously but how can I get my C6 allroad to play MP3 discs and have say a multimedia sd card reader added ? I don't really want to spend £300 on a Dension 500s as I already got full phone functionality on my Allroad,
Any suggestions for the cheapest option ?

Thanks,si

 

[B5NUT]

You don't need the S version the standard 500 is fine but it's still not cheap, the other option is Audi AMI. I'm sure there are other cheap options but you get want you pay for, and there are no cheap options with Audi MMI systems.

 

[rich dj]

I have many issues with my Dension 500SBT.
All unresolved I turned off Bluetooth streaming it was so intermittent and messed everything else up. I also get issues with phone Bluetooth and the USB menu is crazy and sometimes just hangs. Like B5 but said nothing is cheep on the mmi. I wished I had put the Audi Bluetooth and USB in mine.

 

[dentsy]

Ok thanks mate, likes like the Audi unit is the better option then. Apparently I must buy the one for the Most system as the can bus ones off an A4 etc will not work ,

Si

 

[B5NUT]

The MMI system on an A6 is MOST fibre optic bus, so you have no option other than buying MMI hardware that connects to the MOST Bus, if it's not connected to the optic loop then the hardware will not be detected and it will not work.

 

[dentsy]

Ok mate will ha e to keep eyes peeled them for a reasonable price one

 

[rich dj]

I have many issues with my Dension 500SBT.
All unresolved I turned off Bluetooth streaming it was so intermittent and messed everything else up. I also get issues with phone Bluetooth and the USB menu is crazy and sometimes just hangs. Like B5 but said nothing is cheep on the mmi. I wished I had put the Audi Bluetooth and USB in mine.

 

[dentsy]

One question if I buy Audi Ami does this allow full iPhone and iPod /iPad integration and does it allow playback of video files on the screen from USB or iPod ?

Thanks

 

[B5NUT]

Audio only.

 

[dentsy]

Ok so it's only the dension that does the videos then I assume , also I am ripping my music currently to a cd changer in the glovebox but when I gave done it it shows greyed out in the mmi screen as a cd rom. Also if I put in a purchased cd it only shows track numbers and no track information is this normal and how can I get my music as an MP3 onto my system as it currently stands until I buy an mmi,
Thanks,
Si

 

[B5NUT]

Denson is also Audio only. You need a compatible MP3 CD-Changer to read MP3 CD's, and most CD's don't have any track details so you only get track 1, 2 etc..

Your kind of stuffed with MP3 until you get the right hardware.

 

[dentsy]

So it's still the mmi is my only option then
If anyone sees one going reasonable give me a shout please

 

[B5NUT]

there may be others but I've never used or installed them.

If anyone does spot a cheap AMI then they will buy it for themselves, remember MMI 2G was also fitted to the A4, A5, A6, A8 and Q7, and I know the A8 lads are always on the lookout for cheap AMI & Dension units.

 

[dentsy]

Ok mate I understand , so is mine a2 g high or 3 g high

 

[B5NUT]

2G

 

[Slackworth]

When you upgraded from 2G and built your harness, did you connect up the armrest phone cradle as well or leave it disconnected?

 

[B5NUT]

My car did not have factory fitted BT so the old 2G unit was a retrofit, and I never bothered with a cradle. Even when I had cradles fitted to my old D3 A8 & B7 A4's I never used it.

One thing I don't know if the cradle is different from the 2G & 3G setups.

 

[dentsy]

Mine has the point in the armrest to fit a cradle onto , does this just charge the phone and nothing else as all my phone functions are controlled by the factory fitted Bluetooth ?

 

[B5NUT]

The cradle also connects into the roof aerial, so if your phone is compatible then you may get better reception using the cradle.

 

[dentsy]

Ah I see nothing too fancy then to justify £100 for an iPhone 5 cradle

 

[Slackworth]

I know the hardware is mechanically keyed different to quote Audi as the 2G had power and data whereas the 3G just has power and handles the data element over BT. I don't use my cradle but it seems a shame not to keep it alive. In reality it would be easier to wire the 3G cradle in rather than having to dissassemble the 54 pin connector

 

[Tony22593]

This thread is incredible! Amazing knowledge, I have a few retrofits planned myself, including folding electric memory mirrors, electric memory seat, reverse camera and digital tv. The more I read this thread the more I think that will be added to that list haha

 

[Jharcourt]

WRT the cradle, I finally picked up the 8T0 051 435 L for my old iPhone 5 to leave it permanently mounted in the armrest. Keeps it charged, always picks up where I left off for my tunes library as well as all my Apple Music radio stations (iOS 8.4)

 

[Jharcourt]

Forgot to mention, I always get five bars now as it uses the external car antenna. That alone was worth the cost (cheap deal on eBay)

 

[spyderboyant]

Not much update on the thread even though I've done a fair amount to the car, projects ongoing but not fully completed.

Over the weekend manged to complete one of the retrofit a facelift cluster, as I needed this for my on going MMI 3G+ installation. so another quick write up

Old cluster and dash trim

To get the cluster & trim planel off you start by removing the following trim

Fist I removed the drivers side air vent, there are two clips at the bottom and two at the top, the image below just shows the two tools pushing up the bottom clips.

There is also a electrical connection for the light on the air vent which is located at the bottom of the vent.

Next is to remove the light switch, with the air vent removed you can get your fingers behind and push the switch out, and unplug the switch

The dash switches were the next to be removed, this is done by pulling away the small bit of trim between the buttons

once removed you pull the switches out, and unclip the connections

Next it to remove the center console air vent & switches.
There are 2 clips that hold the air vent in on the left hand side, just a little further back where the hook tool is to pull the air vent out.

There is a further clip near where the key goes, just pull the vent forward to unclip. You don't need to unplug any of the connectors, just leave it near the

gear stick.

At this point pull the steering wheel forward as far as it will go and as low as possible and lock in place

Remove the two screws either side of the steering wheel and pull the trim downwards

Remove the remaing screws.

Tilt the panel and unplug the connector going to the instrument cluster, and the screen.

at this point remove the screws holding the cluster in place best use a 5.5m socket, as I was also fitting the sliver trim panel, I also removed the screen.

Before fitting the cluster back, you need to modify the connector for the instrument cluster, as it's in a different location on the facelift, you just need to cut off the section of plastic shown in the picture so the cable lays flat, otherwise the cluster won't fit back, it will foul on the back of the center console.

The cluster I purchased was for a TDi with part number 4F0920983G. For the A6 C6 there are only 2 TDI FL clusters avalible, they are not engine size or model specific, they don't have any imobliser information, or information about coded keys.

resemble everything back and switch on the ignition. At this point the cluster goes into component protection and the message safe will come up, and you get all the lights on the picture below appear and they won't go away until CP is removed.

A this point the only thing that works is the speedo, everything else is disabled, no cluster lights, no fuel guage, no temp gauge and no warning on the DIS, so make sure everything on the car is fine and you have enough fuel to get to the dealer to have CP removed.

Once CP is removed the final job is to get some who can peform mileage correction, I've just purchased a tool to do this as I could not find anyone in the north

east to do the job. I'm not going into how this is done.

Job is now done, have to say I do like the new features of the facelift cluster, needle sweep, higher resolution display, Speedo in the DIS, laptimer (not sure how useful that will be) and the updated look of the cluster.

Forgot to add if you have the old gray instrument cluster trim, you need new trims for the switches part number is 4F0998511A, as you can see on the last photo mine are missing and will order on Monday

great thread!

Just a quick question, I'm trying to remove the buttons from the dash panel and am finding them very hard to remove. Is there a trick? Do you definitely require the Audi tools ie T3438 & T40207? Are there any hidden latches the the Audi hook tools loosen or do you just need to use force and ensure you pull them out straight?

 

[B5NUT]

They can be difficult to remove, It's just a little bit of force and they come straight out.

 

[spyderboyant]

thanks. Do I specifically need the Audi tool or can I use any standard "hook" tool? I tried again today and without having done this before it felt like the dash trim was going to break! I actually have the new dash trim for the 7" MMI3GP screen and can see how the buttons lock in but cannot believe how hard they are to remove. Did you just use a single tool and pulled hard straight out?

I'll try again today and see how I get on.

thanks for the prompt reply.

On a side note, do you know whether its possible to flash the Central Electric Module from 4F0910279K to N or R for the front LED retrofit? I believe this is possible with VAG CAN Professional. I looked at the flash files I have with ODIS )4F0910279_S0190.sgo and 4F0910279_S240.sgo) and got a version error which stated that the files were older than my current version "K" (I believe because the filenames don't have any letter next to them) so I didn't go ahead with the flashing as I didn't want to mistakenly go backwards in firmware.

 

[B5NUT]

Thinking about it I removed the glove box and got my hand behind the nearest switch and push it out, the other was pulled out with a hook tool. I used a standard set of tools that I got from ebay for about £5.

Yes it is possible, I flashed my unit with VCP and it's working fine. VCP have their own flash file that I used. Sorry cannot help with the ODIS files.

 

[spyderboyant]

thanks again. I'll have another go today. I also have VCP but need to try and get the zdc file as it doesn't appear in my available downloads. Did you need to pay for the "access all VCD options" to get it? I've just paid for access to all the zdc files but still only have about 30 available.

 

[B5NUT]

I used file 4F0910279GtoN.cry I cannot remember what my software revision was but it was not G but it still worked fine. That file is not an extra download it should be in the folder.

 

[spyderboyant]

ta. I don't have it. So its a "crypt" not a zdc? Could you PM me the .cry file you used?

 

[spyderboyant]

BTW, I still can't get the buttons out of the dash. I can even push them from behind after removing the central air vent and the panels under the steering whell and they kind of move but don't pop out. I cannot believe how hard they are to try and pull out. I'm now starting to damage the dash trim trying to get them out..... Are you sure there wasn't a trick to it ? ie some little latch that the hook tool dislodged?