Stereo upgrade for Multivan?

[profanegardener]

Hi,

I'm looking into a stereo replacement for my soon-to-be-delivered van. Looking at these units on ebay:

Volkswagen Car DVD Player GPS DVBT TV Head Unit Stereo EOS Passat Caddy Multivan | eBay

Does anyone have any experience of these units? They appear to be well integrated (apart from aircon display and the parking sensors) and I like the dual outputs to external screens and the fact it has DVBT.

I could spend some extra and get an RNS510, but I'd be missing out on some of these nice features.

Cheers,

Tim

[readerr0r]

I'd recommend the RNS510. The Multivan comes with MDI standard so that gives you USB/IPOD/Aux out of the box and the RNS510 can play DVD's plus SD cards and has GPS. Its pretty easy to install a 9WZ bluetooth system too (I've done it on the work 4-mo Transporter - you will need access to a VCDS cable for 30mins though). So all you're really missing out on is Digital TV. The RNS can do AV Out, via the connector used for the RVC. It usually has a better quality screen than the Chinese units too, especially in sunlight.

So I guess the question is if you don't mind the UI Design and screen of the Chinese units, both can be a show stopper if you're trying to use it while driving.

[profanegardener]

Thanks for the suggestion.

I was tossing up about the RNS but the boss would prefer a better integrated solution.... If I were to buy a RNS off of ebay I presume I'd need to buy the VW bluetooth kit + reversing camera too?

Cheers,

Tim

[readerr0r]

Thanks for the suggestion.

I was tossing up about the RNS but the boss would prefer a better integrated solution.... If I were to buy a RNS off of ebay I presume I'd need to buy the VW bluetooth kit + reversing camera too?

Cheers,

Tim

Yeah that's the 9WZ/9W7 Bluetooth system I was talking about earlier. It was pretty painless to install, the ebay kits come with plug and play adapters but I did need the VCDS cable tell the transporter BT was installed.

The Camera might be tricky though, the RNS can do it and has a dedicated connector and all for it but all the ebay kits would be for the special Golf one. Getting PDC might be a better bet, we have factory fitted parking sensors on our transporter and I've never had issues (and I've reversed the old Hiace into a Traffic Pole). PDC kits are about $400 online, and seem to be painless to install, save for the drilling into the bumper (which have markers showing you where to drill). PDC is standard if you boss sprung for the Highline version too btw.

If your boss is really keen on features and you want the freedom of a unit that has all the standard connections, consider the Zenec ze-nc2011d, it seems to be the most popular of the generic units.

[The_Hawk]

We have the Pioneer AVIC in your Multivan, at the time it was cheaper than the RNS and came with bluetooth, iPod and Reversing camera (and was installed by the dealer). (In those days MDI and/or bluetooth were options).

While the Nav works reasonably well and it has features the RNS doesn't (like speed camera alerts) it's not without it's faults. The camera is fine in daylight but near useless in the dark (maybe there is a better option I could upgrade to?) In my case the radio reception isn't the best, although we haven't quite worked out why that is yet. There is also no integration to the display in the cluster. All of that aside, the unit does some nice things, like playback of video from a connected iPod (as well as DVD) and displays album art from the iPod (where the RNS does not).

I have considered upgrading to the factory RNS-510 instead but with the cost of RNS + MDI + Bluetooth + RVC it starts to become an expensive exercise even when sourcing the headunit from eBay and the extra bits from these guys. Next time around I will probably just get the factory parts over the aftermarket options.

I have installed the RVC from CarSystems into my Golf and the image is perfect even in the dark, the bluetooth integration is nicer (factory bluetooth) and the MDI and NAV integrate fully too.

I was having a flick through the brochure and can't see if MDI and/or bluetooth are standard... although it seems to show the stupid little LCD on the dash rather than an integrated system??? (is that now the standard?) In any case if you can retro fit the "proper" one that would be nicer then grab and install the Scirocco cam (since it come with all the required wiring) and you can likely make it work