RNS-E theft prevention measures, suggestions?

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jon208

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As I'm sure you're all aware theft of the RNS-E units from our cars is becoming rife. Audi seem to have little interest in this as the unit will be phased out when the new A3 arrives.

If anybody has heard of any theft prevention measures for the unit then I think it'd be a good idea to share them with others.

I personally feel that having the metal case of your unit engraved with "Stolen from [car reg]" would make the units harder to sell of on ebay etc and if enough owners did this then the units may become less attractive to criminals. However, this would rely on the majority of units being marked and ASN members make up only a tiny proportion of 8P owners. I emailed Audi to suggest they contact owners of RNS-E equipped cars to offer an engraving service in view of how common these thefts have become but I am yet to receive a reply (don't worry, I'm not holding my breath...).

If you have any genuinely useful bright ideas then please share them. Lets try not to have a list of crazy ideas please, believe me - I've toyed with the prospect of 1/2lb of semtex wired to a pressure release switch behind the head unit but it's becoming less easy to get hold of that stuff nowadays.
 
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There's nothing you can do really.......

Engraving wont stop anything, after they rip your car to bits you think a little engraving will make them stop??? Also engraving can be stickered over or ground off etc.

Many years ago when flip out in car dvd/nav/tv where £1000 a pop (pioneer) i had one but it didnt have a removable face........

So i just had a used T-Shirt in the car and when i got out i kind of threw it over it to hide it. If they cant see it for sure its not worth the risk. Also this must have worked because my pal had his stolen about 8 doors away within a week of fitting!!!!!

All you can do is touch wood..........
 
What about a bonding agent? Like place over the edges that would sit touching the dash, and smother it around so when it hardens its attached to the dash? If they had screws od install anti theft ones. Filling the key holes with tissue clearly didn't stop them, maybe filling them with glue? Or some form of advesive might stop the hooks from entering the holes? Or possibly attach a form of hook to the back of the nav and wire it through the glove box so it doesnt come out all the way? Pentaglass supaglass is pretty expensive but seems a good method?
 
That's all good and well but what if you have an issue with your RNSE which requires you to remove it from the car yourself
 
Well then your f***** but usually the rnses dont have an issue, mine was in for 3 years and never came out, as long as its in for another year then im not bothered as il be selling it by then. I think somebodys tried having a go at my r32 window, the rubber seems to be cut in the same place, but i have a proper alarm system and tints so they dont shatter as much
 
Yeah but still nobody has seem to come up with a suitable idea to stop an rnse getting robbed, so thought id spark it uo again
 
Mackaa-123 said:
Well then your f***** but usually the rnses dont have an issue, mine was in for 3 years and never came out, as long as its in for another year then im not bothered as il be selling it by then. I think somebodys tried having a go at my r32 window, the rubber seems to be cut in the same place, but i have a proper alarm system and tints so they dont shatter as much
Click to expand...

Yes they do. The lasers in them are sh1t lol.
 
Are they? Lol, i never had an issue with mine, i guess it was pot luck, but my gf only ever used the sd card or aux, the only cd in is the sat nav one
 
I know this is an old thread but any more suggestions would be great. Two of my friends have had their units stolen in the last 2 weeks and I really don't want my RS3 to be next.

I was thinking of buying a steering lock and posting it in front of the Nav unit giving it no room to be removed. Something like this
 

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but how u place the steering lock in front of it?
Good idea can be replace 2 passenger side locks with 2 screws (get out the glove box to access).
 
When mine got nicked a couple of years ago, I downgraded to the OEM tape deck/multi cd option. The only feature I miss is the convenience of the SD card. I don't really miss the satnav on the RNSE . My Garmin can be positioned higher up, has free map updates and is far easier/quicker to set the destination.
 
To be fair the RNS-E is now much less sort after, as even the latest MK2 unit is now 6 years old. There is no further updates to the RNS-E, no DAB, android Auto, car play, google maps etc. You can now get cheaper Android units that have far more features and it's all built in unlike the RNS-E that you have to by the BT, AMI & TV modules. Ok the RNS-E still looks the best but some of the Android units look very close to OEM.
 
Wire your car up with smoke canisters. I would love this. Cant pinch anything if you cannot see to remove it!
 
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