RNS-d Install.

quattrojames

quattrojames

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I wanted to upgrade from my Symphony head unit, partly as I fancied a new toy, and also to modernise the cockpit a bit. I don't have £400+ to buy an RNS-e, and am not convinced that they're worth what they cost for my needs. So, I have fitted an RNS-d. I am aware of the pro's and con's of the e over the d, so I'll respectfully ask that people refrain from "The E is worth the extra" type comments, thank you.

I was luck enough to borrow one from ScottB5 to try, but it was an A8 fitment so didn't fit perfectly and was of a shinier black that that of the B6. It worked well though, except we initially struggled to get a working speed sensor signal, so for the first few weeks I had a posh large screen radio! Obviously I had also lost the 6 disc changer inside the previous head unit, and also the DIS display too! Undeterred, I sourced a B6 fitment unit, complete with glovebox auto changer on ebay, and won it for just over £100. I managed to pick up a TMC (Traffic Message Channel) with loom for just over £50, this is necessary to allow the Canbus of the car to communicate with the non Canbus RNS unit, and also bring back the DIS radio display.

It all fitted well, many thanks to Scott for his help. We had some trouble finding the speed signal, but eventually got there. I couldn't find a CD changer specific glove box, so I followed the advice in THIS thread. I'm very pleased with it, the current CD I have is 2007 which is ok, and the map display isn't as cutting edge as modern systems but it still gets you there.

This has cost me about £160, and I would recommend it to anyone who fancies a cheap ish OEM Navigation install. As detailed by Scott, the only thing has so far foxed me is getting the directions to display in the DIS...

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a4-a4-cabriolet-s4-forum-b6-chassis/196030-rns-d-directions-dis.html









 
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Glad you're happy with it mate.
That speed sensor was a right pain and a lucky find.

Hopefully we'll sort out the dash display.

When we fitting the TV unit?
 
quattrojames said:
Maybe when they bring back analogue?!
Click to expand...

Go digital.

deano1978 said:
Whats the difference between the d and the e rns?
Click to expand...

The E is newer and costs more.
Bigger screen, plays MP3, SD card reader and some other little bits and plus points for adding bits to it.
But for the price and the age of our cars, I think a D is more than enough.
 
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url
 
Your glove box is far too tidy! Glad you got it all sorted though. If I were going to go sat nav I'd go with the rnsd also. An rns-e is worth a quarter of the value of my car. :)
 
Luckily you can't see all the ***** I took out and put on the passenger seat....!
 
Why is it with these double dins that the ac unit doesnt sit flush?
Can you not pull the ac out abit to sit nicely together
 
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^ Totally agree with that, what were Audi smoking when they decided to slice a dash in half haha.

Not bad for the price and OEM look, guessing navigation was the main reason you went for it.
 
It's the way forward. Most contain USB ports and/ or SD card ports to use for movie playing and the like. In fact that's all we use ours for, I have the new aerial for the DVB unit, but not bothered fitting it,lol
 
Got the directions to display on the DIS at last! Using the button under the stalk, you can flick through memory 1, memory 2 and onto the Nav display. You can't adjust things in the display, but it moves the music/temp display up a bit so you don't lose much info. The screen stays on the top picture, telling you distance remaining, ETA and the road you're on, and then when you approach a junction (to coincide with the spoken voice) the screen changes to a direction arrow with a countdown timer to the junction. When you reac the destination it displays a screen with your current location, plus a direction indicator, N,S,E,W etc On start up, you get a nice little Audi Navigation Plus logo. I found it really intuitive to use, I looked at the DIS over the Nav screen all the way home from AITP yesterday.

Here's a couple of quick pics, sorry for the quality.



 
I'm very impressed with it. Scott has a spare unit I'm sure, his A8 one fits 'ok', and then you'd need a TMC module and a CD auto changer, time to keep your eyes on ebay mate.
 
Scott - where did you buy your cage/frame for your cd changer? I gave my changer to my friend & he needs to fit it into his glovebox, but the link in the How to you linked to in your first post is out of stock.
 
I swapped the rear of this onto an A6 front and installed it in mine today, I'll sort out getting the code for the B6 unit and it will be for sale soon if anyone is interested.
 
If was doing mine again, I'd go for an Exeo unit: better screen than the RNS-E and 32Gb SDHC support.... and I'd go for the Ampire Freeview+ unit again :)
 
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BahnStormer77 said:
If was doing mine again, I'd go for an Exeo unit: better screen than the RNS-E and 32Gb SDHC support..
Click to expand...
You can achieve the same thing by getting an A3 or TT 2010+ RNS-E and swapping an A4 faceplate onto it - and you will keep an Audi badged faceplate.

I've had an A3 2010+ (8P0 035 193 C with full SDS) with an A4 faceplate in my RS4 since September 2009 (within a couple of months of them appearing in 2010MY cars).

The other benefit of the 2010+ RNS-E is that you can replace the (useless?) CD changer with an AMI and get either proper iPod connectivity (including album and track names) or have a large hard disc (I've got an Audi badged 250GB hard drive with my entire music collection).
 
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PetrolDave said:
You can achieve the same thing by getting an A3 or TT 2010+ RNS-E and swapping an A4 faceplate onto it - and you will keep an Audi badged faceplate.

I've had an A3 2010+ (8P0 035 193 C with full SDS) with an A4 faceplate in my RS4 since September 2009 (within a couple of months of them appearing in 2010MY cars).

The other benefit of the 2010+ RNS-E is that you can replace the (useless?) CD changer with an AMI and get either proper iPod connectivity (including album and track names) or have a large hard disc (I've got an Audi badged 250GB hard drive with my entire music collection).
Click to expand...

This is the way to go!
 
This install cost me well under £200 though, which is the point of this thread :banghead:
 
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Is it a plug and play job?
Or does it need new wiring, looms etc.

Where did you put the nav antenna?

I heard these are either coded to bose or not?

I saw a youtube pic which linked up to iphone display, any ideas?
 
Its not really a plug and play job.
The wiring will need to be modded for the RNS unit.

Nav aerial fitted under the dash behind the clocks.

They are but you can change that with VCDS.

Xcarlink will do that or you can go down the OEM route. Xcarlink is cheaper and easier.
 
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