B6 Headunit replacement

[Throbbinhood]

Just wondering if anyone has replaced their headunit with an eBay or aliexpress jobby?

The RNS models are out of my price range, so was looking at these but wanted to see if anyone has gotten one, their experiences etc.

Would preferably want something with BT (phone and music), sat nav, and reverse camera.

Also, does the factory front and rear bumper 'beep beep' sensors still work with a different radio?

[booba]

pdc will be unaffacted by head unit change. these are controlled by a specific controller and the beeping is emitted from little buzzers, 1 for front and 1 for rear.

[D13S3L]

Chiming in on this as I'm also curious if there's any cheaper units that still support the mfd and steering wheel controls. I've had 2 eBay units in my older cars and they worked ok but not the greatest quality (not terrible but doesn't compare to the named brand options). On a budget though they do the job.
Zenec makes units that fit straight in and support all the car's features as well as some extras which look good but are up there in price range.


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[garronleslie]

Hi guys, I have done this twice , on my mkV Jetta turbo and my R5 reg, most recently with the reg getting a unit running android.

All I can say is bloody brilliant, and about to ditch my rns510 in the r36.

What I will say is you need a bit of electrical knowledge, generally they are plug and play, I have found on all the dubs I've done the aftermarket wiring connectors are on the opposite side and the bulky ISO connector to go From factory to aftermarket, needs some special manipulation getting it all to fit in the dash space, along with the CAN converter but it can be done.

You'll need to get yourself a fakra antenna adapter off eBay, the dubs have a seperate AM and FM antenna, so you'll need a 2 into 1 converter , about AU$7 from eBay.

If you have factory Nav, you'll need another fakra adapter for the GPS antenna lead to, again $6 on eBay to go from the factory fakra connector type to an F type connector .

If you have factory Nav you probably have the sharkfin antenna on the roof, that is safe to use, but all these aliexpress units ship with a GPS antenna, and in the Jetta and reg I installed it on the windscreen up near the rear view mirror rain sensor, up out of the way and factory look.

Rear view camera is easy, but a lot of work if you want the factory look, when I peeled off all the trims and headlining in the reg, my kids said to me " dad were you in an accident in mums car? She'll be cross with you"

Again, all the work is making it look factory.

The andriod is brilliant, the older windows version in the Jetta is very slow.

No issue with steering wheel controls.

A2dp Bluetooth streaming awesome !!' Kills the crappy kufatec in my r36.

Bluetooth hands free very low latency , and phone book sync in the android is second to none.
Android also ships with OBD dosgnostic apps, so all you need is an OBD Bluetooth adapter and. You can get all that finky diagnostic stuff.

All the usual features of android, and if you have a USB wifi dongle, as I do in the car, You can download any of the apps on the google play store, games video streaming, ( abc kids, Stan, Netflix) awesome for a family trip.

We happen today be a family of apple users, Nd we can be watching a program on Stan in the Apple TV or you tube, and go straight to the reg and pick up exactly where we left off !!


Hands free is great but I'd say if you can cope with ordering a kufatec mic for the hands free, it would be better that the one supplied, they are pretty low on audio quality.

Factory fit is very good, no issue with wrong size face plate, fits perfect, but again, it's a David copper field event to Get it in with all the wires

But well worth the effort.

[Throbbinhood]

Awesome review garronleslie. Which model's have you gotten/would you recommend?

[garronleslie]

Thanks guys, well I just did an eBay search for " touareg android 5.1", although we are now up to version 7 android? I think called nougat? Anyway- these units have the A9 processor and a descent amount of memory so they run like a good quality smart phone, smooth clear and responsive.

The one I got for the Reg was from XTRONS on eBay, and found they. Weren't much more expensive than getting it from aliexpress, and got the unit in about 3/4 working days? Was amazing postage really.

Again if you alepready own gogomaps, or Navman or to TomTom on your android, you can just download it again onto your android device in the car.

My biggest love is that I have some home automation going on with AC/heating, nest smoke alarms, garden watering and garage doors, I can do all this from the unit coz it's just android and most home automation stuff has android apps, Lif-X & Philips hue

I use a cheap Telstra USB stick and a prepaid SIM card, and that serves up wifi in the car. It lives in a USB cigarette adapter in the car, and as soon as the car starts the unit is onthe intenet.

You don't need internet at all to use this for all the things that you want in a good quality head unit, but I like having internet access for all that extra stuff.

I have also just read that Google have released Android Auto as an app, so you can download it and get the benefit of a specifically crafted version of android to use in the car- so you get all the fancy stuff like read my emails and read my texts, change tracks etc.

NOTE: I don't use the unit for iPod control, it supports it, but I find the interface for controlling the iPod part of an iPhone less than ideal- I'm quite happy with just Bluetooth audio streaming.

OH and I should mention, the 4 channels of 40watts RMS is noticeable better than any of the stick 3 VW radios I've removed.

[Throbbinhood]

Mate that is awesome help, thankyou!

Last question, from turn key to the unit working, how long does it normally take? Also, if you have reverse camera's, will that come on before the unit starts (ie; if i turn on the car and put it into reverse straight away)?

[kamold]

This one looks pretty well specced, if you like a buttonless design:

https://www.carjoying.com/new-android-car-radio/quad-core-vw-android-car-radio/european-warehouse-joying-aftermarket-volkswagen-vw-2gb-ram-32gb-rom-in-dash-car-stereo-9-inch-touch-screen-panel-double-2-din-resolution-1024-600-bluetooth-gps-audio-system-support-pip-a.html

Or an 8inch version with buttons:

https://www.carjoying.com/au-warehouse/vw-android-stereo/joying-best-aftermarket-australia-warehouse-android-5-1-1-lollipop-double-2-din-8-inch-vw-volkswagen-car-radio-audio-quad-core-1024-600-in-dash-head-unit-gps-navigation-system-for-jetta-passat-polo-skoda-glof.html

[garronleslie]

Hey Throbbinhood, you know a great question , it does take a while to boot, it's pretty much the same as any smartphone boot up time.

Yep, with the android unit in the reg, the reverse camera will override any source, maps, audio etc, so if you are in reverse it will show in the screen but only after boot up. It also has the guide lines, which Yu can turn on or off.

Noticed on the android unit it does have a DVR function to, so you can install a forward mount camera and record onto the unit via an SD card or what every , if Yu are into these forward mount cameras.

[garronleslie]

A QUICK POST ON THE NEGATIVES

The units don't support speed dependant volume
Also I find that the screen doesn't go dark enough at night, even turning the brightness right down on the control panel.( the Jetta unit has a display off function perfect, but I haven't found it on the android yet)
With the reg, the wiring for ignition needed to be changed. When you insert the key n a T1 T2 Yu get accessories, but the factory wiring doesn't work that way, but an easy change just takes some time working out which wire is which.
Neither my reg or Jetta have highline displays so not sure if Nav bearing data will show up on the MFI ( N,S,E,W)
I understand for some Passat models the canbus converters don't correctly read the steering wheel controls.
If your car has the digital amp option, usually shipped with factory DynAudio , these usnits don't support the digital amps.

Wiring , wiring, wirnig, you've got to love wiring

To me though, the massive functionality outweighs the negs.

[garronleslie]

Hey Kamold, yep both those units are good, and I did look at joying, nothing wrong with them, they are all pretty much the same.

The iney reason I went eBay was they had distribution from Sydney and when I emailed the communication was very good.

[D13S3L]

B6 Headunit replacement

Just did a little hunt for some units on eBay and noticed they are saying if factory unit is RCD300 or RCD500 then the canbus needs upgrading.
Upon more research it seems this involves replacing the factory canbus and then needing to do some vcds/vag com stuff. Daunting stuff to me. Anyone have any insight on this?
When it comes to installing head units I have done a few and it should be fine but this whole canbus vag com is a whole new language to me and daunting.

Edit: should also point out I believe I have the RCD500.


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[kamold]

Gateway upgrade is a very easy job. Yes it will need to be coded but there are sellers online who will have it coded for you prior to shipping. It's behind the climate control panel, has one plug.

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[D13S3L]

Sweet that makes life a hell of a lot easier. Well I know what Santa's bringing me this year
Thanks Kamold


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