[digitaldan]

Updated , Sorry pics were not working, should work now

Hi all, after obsessing over this site for a few weeks I decided to put an RNS-E unit in my allroad. I thought I might share my experiences and a few pictures.

First off, I bought my unit from Steve ( Steve Z1) who you may have seen around this site. I could not be happier with Steve or the level of effort in his help and support.

When I first received the unit I wasn't sure if my car would require a separate GALA wire to the unit, we hoped since it was a 2004 and a half we might get the signal through the can, but no luck. Fortunately Steve lives only 30 mins from me and arranged to have a few friends meet up at his place to help with the install.

On Thursday night I went up to meet Steve, Mishari and Nicholas. We first went to work getting the sound to work properly which didn't take long. After we ruled out any possibility that we would be getting the speed signal through the CAN we started to remove the instrument cluster. This was by far the hardest part of the install, hands down.

Couple tips when removing the cluster

• The screws are really really tight, use the right screw driver and see if you can leverage pressure from the steering wheel into the driver to keep from stripping the screws

• We couldn't remove the cluster as easily as Justin did in his allroad, so we removed the lower portion of the dash below the steering wheel so to get our hands behind the cluster

• By putting the cluster back we noticed that to take it out again we would have started with the left side and removed it that way, ah well maybe next time

• When I was wiring the GALA signal I notice more then one white with blue stripe wire, make sure its the one going to slot 3

• Finally with the GALA wire and GPS receiver in place we could push the unit back in, there's not much room with the additional wiring so it make take a few tries before the unit snaps in

I need to say that these guys were really great, Nicholas did some excellent soldering and Mishari did just about everything else including VAGing the radio as well as my cars windows , locks, and suspension! I would highly recommend buying from Steve.

Here's a few shots
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[Steve Z1]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the very kind words and excellent write-up. I am glad you did not mention the Pizza, then everyone will expect it

Hope to see you again sometime!!

Have a nice weekend.

Steve

 

[jwilker]

nevermind, now the pics work peachy

Good to hear it went well though.

 

[digitaldan]

nevermind, now the pics work peachy

Good to hear it went well though.

I uploaded to my personal album, which I didn't realize others were not able to see (or I guess others not logged in), I reuploaded them to the general section, hopefully everyone can see them now.

 

[wingnut1122]

No worries with Steve

Steve sent me a unit for the the A4 last week, and the unit was shipped promptly with all the necessary harnesses for plug and play operation. Excellent communication and a trusted seller. I would have no hesitation purchasing from him again!

 

[TeddyBGame]

Congrats! Gotta love Steve's enthusiasm and support. A model for all enthusiasts.

The more and more I look at the display of the RNS-E...makes my Nav+ display remind me of an Atari video game. Oh well, too much invested in my Nav+ to rip it out....oh well.

 

[Steve Z1]

Steve sent me a unit for the the A4 last week, and the unit was shipped promptly with all the necessary harnesses for plug and play operation. Excellent communication and a trusted seller. I would have no hesitation purchasing from him again!




Congrats! Gotta love Steve's enthusiasm and support. A model for all enthusiasts.

The more and more I look at the display of the RNS-E...makes my Nav+ display remind me of an Atari video game. Oh well, too much invested in my Nav+ to rip it out....oh well.

Thanks for all the kind words!!

I really am trying.

I make very little on each sale, sometimes nothing, if things do not go perfect.

 

[PROXUS]

I need to say that these guys were really great, Nicholas did some excellent soldering and Mishari did just about everything else including VAGing the radio as well as my cars windows , locks, and suspension!

Why did you VAG your suspension? Is is anything related to RNS-E (I heard CAN is shared between suspension and NAV)

 

[digitaldan]

I need to say that these guys were really great, Nicholas did some excellent soldering and Mishari did just about everything else including VAGing the radio as well as my cars windows , locks, and suspension!

Why did you VAG your suspension? Is is anything related to RNS-E (I heard CAN is shared between suspension and NAV)

We lowered my suspension by almost 2 inches, as far as we thought we could safely go without risk of rubbing the stock 18" wheels. So no, there was no connection between vaging the suspension and my RNS-E intsall.