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Bose retrofit of total fecking joy


TDiAvant
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Well I’ve finally finished the Bose installation tonight (except the speaker covers) and all is working well 169144-ok.gif The Bose sound quality is far superior compared to the standard Audi setup. When I have some time I will try and do a write-up.

The parts for the Avant retrofit are listed below and the cost was around £600

Bose amp 32 PIN, 32 PIN Bose connector, 2x Bose mid-range/ treble speakers for the rear doors, 4 x bass loudspeakers, 1x Centre speaker, Microphone for Bose amp , plug for microphone. 2x Wiring harnesses (homemade).

I’ve now got to make a tool so I can fit the speaker covers, so with a bit of luck this will be this done for the weekend. I will post some pictures tomorrow 169144-ok.gif

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It is std on the RS4.

Not as good as it used to be though in years gone. My S3 set up was the best out of all the Audis I've had Bose in.

Mind you, the current Porsche Bose is in a different league.

Fair play to you on the install, that is a splendid achievement grin.gif

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Well done TDiAvant, you're a braver man than I for doing that. I was thinking of an electric blind retrofit, but electrics / new cabling / unhooking interior trim make me tremble.

Happy listening, although I still don't quite see the point when you already have a luverly V8 sountrack with no need for amps! grin.gif

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Here is a very quick write-up of the installation. I know some you out there think that the Bose option is a waste of money, but some people say that about Audi nav system. (why pay £2000 for Audi nav when you can buy a tom-tom for £200) I also know that Bose sounds better in the saloon due to the location of the rear base speakers etc ,etc, etc. But I was sick of dealer saying it could not be done, and I wanted to give it a try.

I’m sure this installation would be cheaper if you were able to get the amp and speaker from a scrap yard, but if anyone one is interested in this retrofit, I will try and give as much information as I can. I will even make up wiring harness if you require one. I am willing help anyone with this retrofit, as I believe this could be done in one day with two people.

So here is the write-up.

Using VW/Audi parts software package I was able to order the correct parts. All the parts for this retrofit were ordered from vag-parts.

1 Parts.jpg

Next step was to remove to the front and rear door cards, then fit the four loud speakers and the two rear door tweeters. I did not replace the speaker covers as I still need to make a tool up to melt down the plastic posts.

2 Remove door trim.jpg

3 rear door trim.jpg

4 door card.jpg

4a rear top door speakers.jpg

The microphone wire was then then ran from the top of the front interior light, down to behind the radio. Note you will need to remove the radio, glove box and the upper A-pillar trim. WARNING an airbag is behind this trim, so it you unsure on how to remove and refit, disconnect the battery first.

5 mic wire.jpg

6 top lights.jpg

7 top lights bose mic.jpg

Using Elsawin it’s easy enough to figure out the wiring for the front speakers, so I built up a wireing harness to take the following wires to the rear amp. Bose microphone - +, front audio left out, front audio right out, front centre speaker - +, front left speaker - +, front right speaker - +. The cable was run along the centre console to the were the amp is located in the boot. The hardest part of running the harness was the 8 inches between the rear of the centre console to the rear of the seats.

8 wiring harness1.jpg

10 rear seats.jpg

11 wire run.jpg

The front centre speaker is then remove, and the VW connector is cut off and replace with two spade connectors. The standard front centre speaker is wired to the front left positive and the front right negative on the back of the audio connector, these wires are cut off and placed in the two spare holes on the audio connector. The microphone is also plugged into this audio connector using up the two remaining holes. The audio out left/right connect into the larger multi-pin connecter (I) pin numbers four and five.

13 front speaker connections.jpg

12 wireing block.jpg

The side cover is removed and the old amp is removed. The Bose amp is then fitted and the side panel is refitted.

14 old amp.jpg

15 no amp.jpg

16 bose amp.jpg

The new wiring harness is then cut to size and new pin’s are connected. The pin’s and the wiring harness tape can be purchased from http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.co.uk Pin's going to the old amp connector are removed and fitted into the Bose connector. Note that some of the cables will need new pins as they are a different size on the Bose amp connector. The final pins I removed from the old block werw positive, negative, switched positive switched negative, before I removed these pin’s I removed the radio fuse (20).

17 evening working on the car.jpg

18 amp wired and working.jpg

Due to the fact there was not much length on the existing wiring harness I was not able to use the cover on the Bose plug. The Bose wire on the back of the nav unit was then connect to ground and the radio recoded for Bose.

0xx?xxx: Sound characteristics

0 - linear

1 - Audi A4 (> 2004)

2 - Audi A6 (< 2004)

3 - Audi A4 Cabriolet (> 2004)

4 - Audi TT (> 2004)

5 - Audi A3 (8P)

9 - Bose Soundsystem

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Will, here is a list of parts I believe are requied for the retrofit. just not to sure about the last 2 items. I going to a garage on Saturday so I should be able to confirm these numbers 169144-ok.gif

Sorry about the caps I'm not trying to shout 169144-ok.gif

8H0 035 361 A LOUD SPEAKER DASHBOARD X2

8H0 035 399 B TREBBLE SPEAKER X2

8H0 035 362 CENTRE LOUD SPEAKER

8H0 035 412 B LOUD SPEAKER DOOR X2

8H0 035 411 A LOUDSPEAKER SIDE TRIM X2

8H0 035 223 C AMP BOSE

4E0 971 636 FLAT CONTACT HOUSING 32PIN

8H0 862 373 MICROPHONE

8D0 972 623 AA FLAT CONTACT HOUSING

8D0 972 643 FLAT CONTACT HOUSING

For people who understand wiring diagrams, then the retrofit is not that hard. But it would be very difficult if you did not have the Audi service manuals and parts information.

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  • 10 months later...

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