First post on here so hello all. I have been soaking up the knowledge and lurking on the sidelines for a year and a half and PM'ing some members recently. Just wanted to let you know about my new install as it may help others make a decision or two.
My car which has red DIS and MFSW came with a Chinese aftermarket double DIN Dynavin head unit. This you may have seen online from many sources. It has TV, DVD, Bluetooth, USB, iPhone connectivity and was running TomTom through a very large touchscreen. What's not to like? Well the TV never worked though the seller said he had it working. There was no radio because this unit couldn't deal with the Audi antenna system. The sound quality was not great despite me fitting various filters etc. to my non-Bose system. So basically I had a very big TomTom in my dash with bluetooth and an iPhone connection. Then the screen started to play up and I bit the bullet and bought and RNSE-E MK1 which worked well. I had't really done my homework as well as I had thought. I soon discovered that this would not take the AMI module which meant no full iPod control for me. So I asked around and discovered what I really needed was the MK2.
This weekend Nigel (NHN) came dressed like Santa Claus, to rescue me. He did the original bluetooth module, MK2 head unit and an aux connection in the glove box. Unlike many of the DIY guides online, Nigel put the bluetooth module under the drivers seat where Audi intended it to go. Whilst my seat was removed he recovered £1 and â¬1 and gave the carpet a cleaning! As the dash was in pieces, I removed all the old Dynavin aerials and cables and ran a new 3.5mm audio lead from the new aux position in the glove box to the position over the headlight switch where I have a Brodit iPhone holder with charging connection. Out of the Brodit 30 pin iphone connector comes a lead which runs into the dash, splits into a USB and a 3.5mm audio lead. The USB goes into a cigarette lighter charging point which is connected into the fuse box. This now means that my phone charges as before and plays directly from the Brodit 30 PIN to the aux on the head unit without the need for any further connections. Sound quality is excellent and I have the phone right next to me to select playlists etc. In my opinion this is as good as having the AMI module but others may think otherwise as you don't get track listing etc on the head unit or in my red DIS but as I can see everything through the iPhone I don't think I'll be troubled. I was intending on having the AMI installed but couldn't afford it so close to christmas and now I don't think I will bother even though the AMI was one reason I went down the MK2 route.
The MK2 has the higher capacity SD card slots so if I choose not to plug my phone in I can still pick up my music. The screen is much better than the MK1 but I wouldn't upgrade just for that to be honest. The aux is nice and discreet in the glove box. The bluetooth works really well with the microphone is hidden from view. Best bit of all is the speech dialogue system. I always found navigation a little clunky on the MK1 having to dial in the postcode etc. made me feel like a really bad safe cracker. With SDS you just tell it where you need to go and it figures it out pretty well. This could be done whilst you are driving without taking your eyes off the road. I do like it.
So all in a great modification for my car and warm hats off to Nigel for putting up with my constant questioning and misplacing of the MFSW fuse in the fuse box. He also did some coding for me so my kids will no longer shout at me when I forget to unlock the passenger door and I have a side light indicator on my display.
Next modification is the auto lights and rain sensing wipers and then cruise control.
Apologies for the long description but I have found such detailed descriptions very helpful myself in the past.
Des
My car which has red DIS and MFSW came with a Chinese aftermarket double DIN Dynavin head unit. This you may have seen online from many sources. It has TV, DVD, Bluetooth, USB, iPhone connectivity and was running TomTom through a very large touchscreen. What's not to like? Well the TV never worked though the seller said he had it working. There was no radio because this unit couldn't deal with the Audi antenna system. The sound quality was not great despite me fitting various filters etc. to my non-Bose system. So basically I had a very big TomTom in my dash with bluetooth and an iPhone connection. Then the screen started to play up and I bit the bullet and bought and RNSE-E MK1 which worked well. I had't really done my homework as well as I had thought. I soon discovered that this would not take the AMI module which meant no full iPod control for me. So I asked around and discovered what I really needed was the MK2.
This weekend Nigel (NHN) came dressed like Santa Claus, to rescue me. He did the original bluetooth module, MK2 head unit and an aux connection in the glove box. Unlike many of the DIY guides online, Nigel put the bluetooth module under the drivers seat where Audi intended it to go. Whilst my seat was removed he recovered £1 and â¬1 and gave the carpet a cleaning! As the dash was in pieces, I removed all the old Dynavin aerials and cables and ran a new 3.5mm audio lead from the new aux position in the glove box to the position over the headlight switch where I have a Brodit iPhone holder with charging connection. Out of the Brodit 30 pin iphone connector comes a lead which runs into the dash, splits into a USB and a 3.5mm audio lead. The USB goes into a cigarette lighter charging point which is connected into the fuse box. This now means that my phone charges as before and plays directly from the Brodit 30 PIN to the aux on the head unit without the need for any further connections. Sound quality is excellent and I have the phone right next to me to select playlists etc. In my opinion this is as good as having the AMI module but others may think otherwise as you don't get track listing etc on the head unit or in my red DIS but as I can see everything through the iPhone I don't think I'll be troubled. I was intending on having the AMI installed but couldn't afford it so close to christmas and now I don't think I will bother even though the AMI was one reason I went down the MK2 route.
The MK2 has the higher capacity SD card slots so if I choose not to plug my phone in I can still pick up my music. The screen is much better than the MK1 but I wouldn't upgrade just for that to be honest. The aux is nice and discreet in the glove box. The bluetooth works really well with the microphone is hidden from view. Best bit of all is the speech dialogue system. I always found navigation a little clunky on the MK1 having to dial in the postcode etc. made me feel like a really bad safe cracker. With SDS you just tell it where you need to go and it figures it out pretty well. This could be done whilst you are driving without taking your eyes off the road. I do like it.
So all in a great modification for my car and warm hats off to Nigel for putting up with my constant questioning and misplacing of the MFSW fuse in the fuse box. He also did some coding for me so my kids will no longer shout at me when I forget to unlock the passenger door and I have a side light indicator on my display.
Next modification is the auto lights and rain sensing wipers and then cruise control.
Apologies for the long description but I have found such detailed descriptions very helpful myself in the past.
Des
