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Thread: RNS-E Navigation system going in soon

  1. #37
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    Found the XM. Thanks for the tip. It was there all along. Nicely hidden, at least better than the Lojak system. It was not bad to remove/replace the XM module. A bit of a trickery really, to get it out of it's cuby-hole.

    As for the antenna fellas, all the wires within the roof liner and coming out of the antenna are male connectors. The wire I got also has one female at one end (for the RNS-E), and a male at the other end. Sorry, but male-to-male was not a good idea here. Figured, since I'm removing the Navigation module from the trunk, why not use the female connector that is there, and plug my male into it. That worked.
    Wiring it all the way to the front was not fun. Could not get my rear seat bottom to be removed. Check with Bentley manual and all. Heck, I removed the pillar lining (side and top of windows), and routed it to the front. Bad thing is that there is an area it crosses under the airbag, as I moved the wire from inside to outside. This is not a permanent solution, but should be okay for now, until I get the seat issue resolved. It is all working, including XM radio.
    At first I was worried as the Navigation portion would not update my location as I was moving around. But after driving around for 30 minutes, it was all fixed.

    Pix and story to come.

  2. #38
    Registered User BBGT2's Avatar
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    Nene,

    How is it coming along?
    You did it you sparked my interest and I have gone and did it, I am awaiting my Nav unit and cannot wait to "git er done"!
    Let me knowhow your project is going, actually what did it for me is seeing your unit all up and working lit up inside the car, it just made me do it for the fact it looks so damn HOT. I will not open any more posts that you start with the heading of "Project" . Just kiddin but you knew that!
    Talk soon,

    Bajo

    PS. I am done with spending money on her for now, winter is coming and have to put some cash away till spring !
    2007 Audi S8 (daytona/black)
    2005 Mercedes G55 (designo graphite)

  3. #39
    Moderator Benman's Avatar
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    Originally posted by nene
    Heck, I removed the pillar lining (side and top of windows), and routed it to the front. Bad thing is that there is an area it crosses under the airbag, as I moved the wire from inside to outside.
    Hey there nene,

    sounds like your having yourself a blast. One word of caution. You mention the side pillar and moving wires around the airbag. You may already be aware of this, but it is an untrue rumor that an airbag can not go off when vehicle is turned off. Because they can! One of our shop's glass guys "bumped" a side airbag while taking out a side glass and needless to say it went off right in his face! No major damage but it warranted a trip to the hospital.

    Just wanted to mention to be carefull just in case. I would feel bad if I heard of you being injured while working on the car.

    Ben
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  4. #40
    Registered User Aronis's Avatar
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    The bottom part of the rear seat simply pulls up straight. There are two clips (large ones) which hold it in place and watch for the wires for the heated seats.

    Mike

  5. #41
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    Thanks Aronis for the recommendation on the rear seats. I tried pulling on it, but maybe I need a little more elbow grease, and pull harder.

    Thanks Ben for the heads up on the airbags. I have been working around them with total caution. Nothing yet, but glad that I've been working them carefully.

    The project is done for the most part. I just really truly want to route the wires from the rear via different route, other than using courtain airbag alley!!! But got plenty of pix, and will start the write up very soon.

  6. #42
    Registered User PeterH's Avatar
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    Waiting anxiously for your writeup! If it is anything like your other writeups, I feel good doing it myself.

    Is everything working as you hoped it would? Sounds like your initial NAV not finding the roads have worked themselves out.

    Did you put in the CD changer or Phatbox? I am considering putting in the changer - I am assuming we need to install the cabling as well.

    Thanks for your information so far!

  7. #43
    Registered User Aronis's Avatar
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    [i]
    The project is done for the most part. I just really truly want to route the wires from the rear via different route, other than using courtain airbag alley!!! But got plenty of pix, and will start the write up very soon. [/B]
    You can run several wires with plenty of room along the edge of the car's carpet under the plastic edging which flips up nicely. I have run several wires there without difficultly. At the rear beside the back seat you can find plenty of space to pass a wire using a coat hanger as a guide. Then run it down to the floor and under the sill.

    in the front you can easily remove part of the molding to run the wire up into the dash area.

    Mike

  8. #44
    Registered User Aronis's Avatar
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    Nene,

    Do you have any photos of the area where you found the connection for the GPS antenae??

    Was it close to the rear head liner light setup?

    Thanks,

    Mike

  9. #45
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    Full install write up done

    This has been long coming. It is late and I am tired of typing.
    The full write up, first pass, is all there. Tomorrow and next day I shall do a second and third pass to correct mistakes and add more features/details. For now, this is a good start I think.

    RNS-E installation here

  10. #46
    Registered User Aronis's Avatar
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    Very nice write up, although I am still waiting for the rest to download (dialup at home LOL).

    Have to ask a question. Those of us who do not already have the factory Nav system will not have that Wire Harness already in place. Do you have any info one how to get to the Shark Fin to directly connect the Sat Antenae wire???? I have heard of it being done, but not sure of the connector needed.

    Thanks,


    Mike


  11. #47
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    The ceiling lights over the center rear are a pop on/off type. You must remove it carefully, from the rear portion of the actual rectangle. I have done this many times, and it makes a loud pop sound, however nothing to worry about. The Alcantara leather in that section is well protected by a metal strip all around the section where the light actually hangs on to.

    Coming out of the shark fin antenna there are three wires. One of them being the Navigation antenna wire. Originally my thoughts were to plug my Navigation wire there, however I found that the connector on the shark fin antenna was a male type of Fahkra connector. That pretty much killed my chances of using that as my connection. There was a female connector plugged to it, which I figured was going to the trunk area, where the write up starts at.

    From the RS6 manual on CD it does state that all shark fin antennas have 3 wires, thus yours must have it too. It is very possible that the Navigation wire still exists in the trunk area, and you have to check it. Best way however is to check the rear ceiling light area first.
    Once you get it down, un-pin the light housing for easier work around that area.
    With one hand in the whole and towards the rear of the car, pull the ceiling down gently. Just about 10mm or so. You don't want to deform the piece.
    If you reach in with the other hand, you will see/feel some wires that are covered by a foam, and are taped to the roof. Remove the tape and pull the wires forward towards the hole. There is enough wire that you can pull the connectors towards you.
    One is for XM, the other for Navigation, and the last I can't think what it is for. However this is an easy way to see if all connectors are being used. If they are, you know for sure that your wire is most likely present in trunk.

    So why did I not use this method?
    Well, for the simple reason that it is actually harder to work with, and possibly incure more damage to that nice Alcantara. In order to get the wire to the front, you have to remove the driver's side rear Oh!Shiite handle. Than proceed to remove the roof trim by the driver's side C-pillar. Than make a decision on whether to snake the wire over the top where the airbags are, or in the bottom as per my write up.
    I did remove all the pieces I just mentioned, and I tell you it is a pain. The trims in front of the curtain airbags are tough to move, and very sharp.
    However you can still use the ceiling light removal test to see if all wires are accounted for.

    Click here for the write up that uses the ceiling approach.

  12. #48
    Registered User PeterH's Avatar
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    I contemplated using the sharkfin antenna location (I did not have the factory mini-nav) but tried the approach putting the GPS antenna behind the cluster as many have done. I have absolutely no reception problems and have routinely 5-7 satelites. The antenna is magnetized and there is a perfect place to attach behind the cluster.

  13. #49
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    Antenna behind cluster...

    Originally posted by PeterH
    I contemplated using the sharkfin antenna location (I did not have the factory mini-nav) but tried the approach putting the GPS antenna behind the cluster as many have done. I have absolutely no reception problems and have routinely 5-7 satelites. The antenna is magnetized and there is a perfect place to attach behind the cluster.
    Can you describe or have a picture where you put it? Really thinking about doing this after reading nene's concise write up but want to go the dash route, don't want to tackle getting the wire to the front. My car is like yours with no Nav from the factory.
    2012 R8 GT #275 Suzuka, 2014 RS7 Suzuka/Lunar Silver, 2013 RS5 Suzuka/Lunar Silver
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  14. #50
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    See nene's writeup above and look at fig.48. That is actually a picture from an allroad installation and you can see the GPS antenna pictured there. It is on top of the metal bracket behind the cluster. This is exactly where I installed mine - lots of room there. You can see the small black wire going to the flat black antenna towards the left-center of the pic. It is a very stable place and have had zero rattle issues. Most RNS-E installs in C5 platform are going here for ease of installation.

    I did this entire installation myself with help from nene and all the info over at navplus.us site. I was VERY intimidated to do this (both $ and tearing apart my car) but it went very smoothly. And believe me, I have never attempted anything like this before. Hardest part was getting the stock radio out - the upper right clip would not budge. Also the wiring harness adaptor I bought (same as in nene's writeup) was missing the GALA speed wire. I had to have the supplier ship me one additional wire/pin which easily installed into the adaptor and then connected directly to the wire I tapped from behind the cluster. This ended up being easier as I did not have to cut or tap into any wires behind the radio - only behind the cluster.

    As nene did as well, I purchased a new US version of the RNS-E and XM unit from a dealer. This does give you a 1 yr part warranty, but you do pay more for that. I also bought a Vag-com from Ross-tech which added a few more hundred to the overall cost, but we have 5 Audi's in the family so I can use it for other cars.

  15. #51
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    I agree entirely with Peter. The antenna behind the instrument cluster is the easiest way to go. In fact, that is the antenna system I original purchased for my configuration, until someone mentioned that they had one that could be used for the shark fin.

    My first time tackling the unit installation, I used the antenna behind the instrument cluster for testing purposes. It was extremely easy, and one attempt I could not pass up on. Ran with it for a couple of days, until the other wire showed up, and I had to take it apart again to do the trunk wire method.

    No rattles either, and it cut down on installation time by a huge amount, as you are already taking the instrument cluster out anyway.

  16. #52
    Registered User mmaturo's Avatar
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    Thanks guys, you both made it very clear, this actually looks easy thanks to all the work of those that have figured it out...dammit now I am really going to want to do this (whenever I get my car back from the shop that is...if someone can just keep the damn thing working right)...I bought too expensive 19" OEM RS6+ titanium finish wheels last month and have them ready to go for spring and I was splurging on that...RS6+ dead pedal, and $700 RS6 logo floor mats, and good ol $100 rubber floor mats for winter on the way now...what the heck, whats another few grand.
    2012 R8 GT #275 Suzuka, 2014 RS7 Suzuka/Lunar Silver, 2013 RS5 Suzuka/Lunar Silver
    2000 Audi TT Neiman Marcus Edition #47, 1960 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Convertible
    Past...03 RS6, 10 S5 Cabriolet, 00 NMTT #25, 94 Audi Cabriolet

  17. #53
    Registered User PeterH's Avatar
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    Yeah, everything for this car is expensive! I have yet to pull the trigger on the 19's although that is what I want next.
    2008 Sprint Blue/Silver RS4 Cabriolet, 2009 Space Gray/Tobacco BMW X5 Xdrive35d
    2010 R8 V10 Velvet Purple/Alabaster White-Black

  18. #54
    Registered User mmaturo's Avatar
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    Originally posted by PeterH
    See nene's writeup above and look at fig.48. That is actually a picture from an allroad installation and you can see the GPS antenna pictured there. It is on top of the metal bracket behind the cluster. This is exactly where I installed mine - lots of room there. You can see the small black wire going to the flat black antenna towards the left-center of the pic. It is a very stable place and have had zero rattle issues. Most RNS-E installs in C5 platform are going here for ease of installation.

    I did this entire installation myself with help from nene and all the info over at navplus.us site. I was VERY intimidated to do this (both $ and tearing apart my car) but it went very smoothly. And believe me, I have never attempted anything like this before. Hardest part was getting the stock radio out - the upper right clip would not budge. Also the wiring harness adaptor I bought (same as in nene's writeup) was missing the GALA speed wire. I had to have the supplier ship me one additional wire/pin which easily installed into the adaptor and then connected directly to the wire I tapped from behind the cluster. This ended up being easier as I did not have to cut or tap into any wires behind the radio - only behind the cluster.

    As nene did as well, I purchased a new US version of the RNS-E and XM unit from a dealer. This does give you a 1 yr part warranty, but you do pay more for that. I also bought a Vag-com from Ross-tech which added a few more hundred to the overall cost, but we have 5 Audi's in the family so I can use it for other cars.


    OK, You guys got me excited enough to just do it...I just bought the European version and package of connectors etc from one of the Navplus folks (Proxus) and picking it up tomorrow from him as I am in Chicago, but not sure where to get the XM module from to replace mine, I just got a price of $870 from Europrice...is that correct? I thought that would be less??? More than I was expecting.

    Has anyone figured out how a CD changer connects in? Is it a pass thru from the XM with the new compatible module??

    Wanting to get it in over Christmas but will have to do it the first weekend in Jan as I am out of town the entire time and the car is not going with me this time. Spending way too much money I don't really have on this thing.
    2012 R8 GT #275 Suzuka, 2014 RS7 Suzuka/Lunar Silver, 2013 RS5 Suzuka/Lunar Silver
    2000 Audi TT Neiman Marcus Edition #47, 1960 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Convertible
    Past...03 RS6, 10 S5 Cabriolet, 00 NMTT #25, 94 Audi Cabriolet

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