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sat nav retro fit


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i have a 97 a8 4.2 auto.it has a tape/radio head unit with a cd in the boot six disc.on the console is the air con controls too. i have seen a8 s with original equipment sat nav units.these seem to be double din size. my question is what do i need to retro fit one to my car? a new dash panel? the unit itself,antenna?wiring? does anyone on this site have a first hand knowledge of what to do? anyone able to offer this service? i am in leicester.thanks,john.

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[ QUOTE ]

i have a 97 a8 4.2 auto.it has a tape/radio head unit with a cd in the boot six disc.on the console is the air con controls too. i have seen a8 s with original equipment sat nav units.these seem to be double din size. my question is what do i need to retro fit one to my car? a new dash panel? the unit itself,antenna?wiring? does anyone on this site have a first hand knowledge of what to do? anyone able to offer this service? i am in leicester.thanks,john.

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Hi John - This comes up quite a bit. The pre facelift double din units are extremely rare. Standard on the S8 in 1998, but still rare to find. Retrofit is do-able, but the last double din facia I saw with a square Sat Nav unit went for £600+ It needs different facia, Nav + unit, climate control module, wiring, aerial etc.

And after all that, the older double din RNS-C units are quite slow, and have fewer features than the later RNS-D from 2000 onwards. Note as well that Teleatlas have announced that 2007 is the last CD that they will produce for the RNS-C

In summary, it can be done, but I cant think of a good reason to do it personally. I had the same issue in my S8 a couple of years back, and although I really, really wanted the OEM look, a pop out pioneer Sat Nav unit was cheaper, and provided significantly faster and better functionality... 169144-ok.gif

On the plus side, you're existing CD changer will work... saves you £60 or so... smile.gif

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i would like some better wheels and have looked at several a8 bits on e bay that would improve my car.the sat nav is the bit i want most.maybe it would be cheaper buy an s8 with a damaged gearbox and use the bits on mine? you could recoup some of your money selling parts via e bay. im not sure about fitting an after market sat nav.everything else is as audi made it.anyone got any idea how much it would cost to retro fit the audi s8 unit with the dash panel etc? thanks john.

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Unless you're a dab hand at stripping you audi interior, by the time you've done sourcing parts and finding someone to do it, its going to be into 4 figures. I don't think I could supply what you're asking for any less than that, and we break A8/S8's by trade, so I'm not sure anyone else could. At the end of it all, you just have an A8 with a rather poor and sluggish sat nav system, by current, and later A8 standards. If you're that keen to have Audi Sat Nav, and Audi OEM feel then your best option is just to buy an S8, or find an A8 with Factory Sat Nav.... ?

I sympathise with what you're trying to achieve, but please please test out these sat nav systems before you go to the expense of fitting one. The early text based one in the S8 was so slow, that it would take minutes to re-route you if you strayed off course, not much use in a city centre. The full graphical one with 5" screen was no better as it had the same slow processing power with the overhead of maps to contend with...

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i would sell my car and buy an s8 that was younger with a sat nav but for the fact my 97 a8 only has a genuine 38,000 miles on the clock with a full service history. would a later better nav system not fit in the same double din slot the older one does? more complications? my wife drives the a8 and she is very keen to get sat nav.the only way to do that otherwise is to change my car for one with sat nav for her to use and i use the audi for my 50 miles a day commute which is more expensive than my current car and puts unwanted miles on the audi. i just sold an old pajero that i had running on veg oil because it was no good for the commute.currently running around in an old fiesta shed while i find a replacement car.audi a3 or avant 1.9 diesel being the aim so the dog can go in the back now the 4wd has gone.isnt car ownership bloody complicated! thanks for your suggestions though. i really dont want an aftermarket sat nav in my audi.fitted a nav man to the pajero dash but it didnt look good.thanks john.

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Ok, I start to see why you want to keep it original, but it doesnt make it any easier!

This is what you really need:

pfd2nav.jpg

This is the center console from a pre facelift D2, just like yours. This would pretty much just swop in to your dash area. You can get a plug and play wiring loom off Ebay for about £20 to sort the wiring, and it'll take a standard GPS aerial, and use your existing Cd changer. The walnut effect should match too as they were all walnut at that age. Note on this that the climate is far further down the console than on your current one, hence there is room for the perfectly square double din sat nav unit....

This particular Unit went on Ebay for £600+ a year or so back. I'm not aware any others have been on since. It had a scratched nav screen, and the german seller had a poor rating and wouldn't ship to UK or take paypal. I kept this image as the closest I was ever going to get to it... !

Now, heres a facelift D2 sat nav unit:

fld2nav.jpg

Same Walnut, but note that the climate is totally different, and the actual sat nav unit is no longer square, it slopes instead. Retrofitting this to a 1997 will cause you more greif getting the climate to work, than actually getting the navigation to work. The heated seats and rear window have moved into the climate panel, but thats not the hard pard. I'm led to beleive that the facelift climate panel takes a speed input from canbus, which isn't present on pre facelift, so the climate basically doesn't work properly. (unconfirmed though, I'd love to hear otherwise)

Given the amount of effort required to get the facelift unit in, and the fact that I dont beleive its ever been done, then the best option is to source the part from the first image.

It would take 3 or 4 hours to physically fit I would imagine, and then you might need a little Vagcom work just to get the directions appearing on the DIS display as they should. Finally, for OEM perfection, you'd need the proper Audi GPS aerial on the boot lid, and a cable running the length of the car, which will soak up a few more hours.

All do-able, but key thing is finding that part. I'll put it in perspective. I deal in A8 D2's. I've previously owned 5, and currently own 3, on top of 8 or so that the business is currently breaking, and dozens I've had exposure to. and never once seen the pre facelift 5" screen in the flesh...

I'll certainly keep an eye for you., and if you did manage to stumble across an broken S8, which you can take the Sat Nav from, we might be interested in the rest of the car 169144-ok.gif

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thanks for that it s8. you have obviously put a lot of time into that reply.it is very useful info.a little daunting but useful. i do desire the sat nav option and am prepared to make some effort to secure one.the prospect of finding one does not look good.i have been giving a lot of thought to purchasing a donor car as i want some nicer than original wheels and the combined cost of a nav unit and wheels goes a long way to the purchase price of a donor car.i am a reasonably competent home mechanic.the fitting does not scare me too much.i have done engines gearboxes and a few sets of clocks or faces on the jap imports.again thanks for your time and effort and i would be interested if you could source a suitable unit for me.my wood colour is as your picture.john.

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  • 2 weeks later...

hi

i have a Jap import golf 4 with sat nav system installed which is no use, as it can't be upgraded for New Zealand, so i need to take it out of the dash.

my question is how do i remove the head unit with the screen in. it is almost identical to the pics in posts above.

i want to replace this with a single disc player and the standard pocket.

any ideas!

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I have to agree with IT s8, the older pre facelift sat nav units are almost unusable they are that poor. A £150 tom tom 1 is about 1000 times better.

Even if the parts were available it would not be worth doing in my opinion due to the fact that the system is obsolete by modern standards and the costs / effort involved. If you would like a nice tidy integrated solution a a pop out Sat Nav head unit would be the cheaper and more practical solution for sure. If have seen a few of these in a8s and they look quite nice...

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[ QUOTE ]

hi

i have a Jap import golf 4 with sat nav system installed which is no use, as it can't be upgraded for New Zealand, so i need to take it out of the dash.

my question is how do i remove the head unit with the screen in. it is almost identical to the pics in posts above.

i want to replace this with a single disc player and the standard pocket.

any ideas!

[/ QUOTE ]

You need the standard VW/Audi stereo removal tools, 4 of. There are 4 very thing horizontal slots, above and below the top most, and bottommost buttons. This removes the unit. Behind, you have standard ISO type connectors, so you can get almost anything in there, plus the MK4 VW is the proper square double din, so anything should fit.

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