[elmagoo]

I appologize if these questions have been answered somewhere already. I've been searching and reading the site for the past week, but I'm still confused about a few things (but aren't we all .

I've just recently become an owner of a 2005.5 B7 A4 Quattro 2.0T with the Bose, XM and Symphony II system. Alas the dealer did not have a car with all the options I wanted plus the NAV system, so hence it was recommended to have the NAV put in later (there were specials going on the remaining 2005.5's in stock, so hence I had to stick with what inventory there was left in the area). Also I really don't care about keeping the XM radio.

So I found this great site with all the information you all have been putting up here and finding out. I must say incredible job all for figuring this stuff out . I'm currently trying to figure out if it would be best to go with an EU RNS-E unit over a US one to save some cash. I've been reading about how people are now upgrading the EU versions into full US versions. I have a few questions about this:

1) Is it possible to fully upgrade the 8E0 035 192 H version to become a full US version? From what I can tell the "High" versions have voice command support, which is something I'm really interested in.

2) Upon fully upgrading a EU unit to a US unit, are there any issues with future software upgrades? Meaning down the line they release a newer software version for the RNS-E. Would this mean that because I've upgraded the unit to a full US unit, that I would get the US software upgrade and all would be well? Or would I have to get the EU software upgrade and do some kind of haxoring to make it work right?

3) When an EU unit is fully upgraded into a US unit, do you have to do any trickery with the US map DVD to get it to work? If I followed the posts properly, I think you should just be able to stick the US DVD in the unit and it will work, but it was a bit difficult to follow along with all the version numbers I was reading about .

4) I'm also interested in adding the bluetooth phone adaptor. So if the unit is upgraded to become a full US unit, would I get the US adaptor? Or is it possible to save some money and get the EU one and have it work with the upgraded unit?

5) Do all A4's come with the sharkfin antennae? Are all sharkfin antennae capable of being use as the GPS antennae?

6) I was trying to fully understand all the installation instructions and posts, and again I was just a bit confused by a lot of the terminology on what was required. I know there's the GPS hookup, but what are the diversity antennae, SAT antennae hookups? Plus for the bluetooth phone isn't there another kind of antennae hookup for that as well? And if I use the sharkfin antennae for the GPS antennae, then do I need the small black GPS antennae that people have been putting behind the instrument panel?

Thanks a bunch in advance for any help / answers. You guys have a great resource here . Again I appologize for my bad if these questions have been answered already.

 

[AudiA4B6US]

Congratulations to your new car. You said "it was recommended to have the Navi put in later", did the dealer recommend that? I'm just curious because so far Audi's official answer is No, retrofit not possible. I'm wondering if this has changed.

Anyway, some answers to your questions:
1) The Euro 8E0...D and H units have not been updated yet. maybe one day someone with a D or H will give it a try. It is also not certain that the Euro SDS (voice command) will work with the US software. Chances are good that the Euro unit with the US software will do the same as the US unit when being connected to the US phone interface. Any other combination is pending verification by someone who spends the money and tries it.

2) It is to early to say if there are any issues further down the road. the 2005/2006 US DVD has not been released yet and nobody has the US 0040 software update CD to verify that it will actually update the Euro unit running the US software. The 2005/2006 US DVD is supposed to get released soon and I'm sure there will be some trying what happens in regards to updating the software.

3) The original 2004 US DVD will work with the 0020 US software loaded onto the Euro units, no more file editing required.

4) To early to answer. For all your BT questions follow the topic under Multimedia.

5) All A4 are SAT radio ready and should have a shark fin which does GSM/GPS/SAT. As far as I know, all A4 shark fins support all three signals.

6) GPS is for navigation, GSM for the phone interface and SAT for XM/Sirius, all in the shark fin. Besides that you have up to for AM/FM antennas in your rear window(s) which are connected to amplifiers and a diversity box. This diversity box gets connected to your radio/Navi via 2 antenna wires - HF and ZF. Both wires are required for good reception, if you leave diversity/ZF off your signal strength will drop and you will find less stations when scanning. You only need one GPS but many have found it to be easier to put a new GPS antenna behind the instrument cluster instead for routing a new wire back to the shark fin. However, in the helpful links topic there is at least one S4 Sedan which has the shark fin GPS connected to the Navi.

Have fun...

 

[fritzner]

welcome to the forum and congrats on the new A4!!.. i cant answer all your questions, but i will comment on what i can..

Is it possible to fully upgrade the 8E0 035 192 H version to become a full US version

the "HIGH" versions are still very new, there is not much info on them at this time.. at this time i believe the EU -> US conversion will only work on the "standard" units (though i believe the newer "D" units do not work yet either because they already have the latest software on them and so the 'trick' does not work)..

Upon fully upgrading a EU unit to a US unit, are there any issues with future software upgrades?

currently unknown, there is only 1 version of the US DVD available at this time, so no test could be done.. a US DVD is scheduled to be release in Sept.. some believe once the US software is loaded, no additional modifying will be necessary, but it is yet unconfirmed..

When an EU unit is fully upgraded into a US unit, do you have to do any trickery with the US map DVD to get it to work?

NO, an unmodified US DVD will now work (i just converted mine over the wknd )

what are the diversity antennae

this is for the radio, the antennae is present with the Symphony II, but you will need an adapter..

sorry not sure about Bluetooth; Satelite radio or the Sharkfin.. but i will add the GPS antenna behind the cluster is not very expensive and a pretty easy install..

hope this helps..

 

[fritzner]

haha.. AudiA4B6US and i must have been replying at the same time.. whatever he says goes -- he IS the master!!..

 

[AudiA4B6US]

haha.. AudiA4B6US and i must have been replying at the same time.. whatever he says goes -- he IS the master!!..

At least we agreed on the correct answers :lol:

 

[elmagoo]

Very cool, thanks for the help . I'm guessin them it will be best to wait for that new map DVD and see what luck people have with it. Either that or just say to heck with it and get the non voice capable RNS-E units instead .

For AudiA4B6US, the official answer from Audi and the dealership about post-installing the NAV+ unit was of course that they can't do it. But my salesman is into modding his Audi and said he has a friend that ordered the EU unit and converted it over, hence he knew it could be done. So I started doing some searching and that's how I came across this site . Basically my choice came down to 2 2005.5's where they both had the premium, sport, and bose packages. One had the NAV, the other had the lighting package. I figured that since you can't install the lighting package, and you can install a NAV system (either factory or aftermarket), it was better to go with the lighting package option and then have the NAV system added later .