Multichanger & Glovebox

[hagis]

I originally came on here last August to find out about fitting a multichanger into my A4. I won one on eBay which is sitting on the floor next to me, still having yet to have seen the inside of my car. The missus being pregnant & the house needing redecorating delayed me for a bit but now my daughter is a bit older and I've got a bit of time to myself I need to get the thing fitted.

One of the things that's stopped me is that I've not been able to get the correct inside of the glove compartment to fit it. I've been looking on eBay for ages. Most of the ones on their are either the full unit (£45+, including the glovebox, lid and interior), ones that aren't compatible for the multichanger or are being sold by people who don't know whether it will fit a multichanger or not.

This leaves me with four options:

1. Fudge the current glovebox. Make any screw holes I need and pad the gap on the multichanger with foam.
2. Bite the bullet and buy the whole glovebox of eBay (or a new one from Audi for £100).
3. Try some scrappies, not sure how many A4's they'll have without be trying loads of them.
4. Sell the CD changer and put the money towards a MP3 player for the car.

What does everyone think? I don't want to fudge the job and could do without spending the money on the MP3 player, but it's looking like a potential option. What MP3 players can I get to fit and how much might they cost?

[dcross]

If you have an MP3 player already in use, dump the changer and get a headunit with the a suitable AUX in, or USB port built-in - which is exactly whay I've just done - removed the stock Concert and replaced with a Sony CDX-GT420U.

[hagis]

I only have the Concert stereo in, which is cassette and radio only. The multichanger of MP3 player would be a big improvement on that!

How much was your Sony unit?

[dcross]

The CDX-GT420U is currently on Amazon.co.uk for £72.99. I also needed a PC9-401 and a PC5-90 from Nexxia (http://www.nexxia.co.uk/Car_Stereo_fitting_kits/Audi/A4.htm), but you will need to check against the model of car and connectors on the rear of the Concert. I replaced a CD based Concert, not a Tape one so it might be different for you.

[kimandsally]

I just bought a IPod for the wife, super little thing we use a itrip which tunes to the radio and plays through the cars speakers.
After using CD changers the difference is like record players to Cd's it just so much better.
Plus you will still have the use of your glove box.
If you search around you'll get an ipod and itrip for about £100 and bearing in mind even on a small ipod you should get 500 music tracks.

Then there's the ease of getting the tracks on the ipod it is a dream.

We have a Sony MP3 player we used before lovely bit of kit but the Ipod is much easier to use but the Sony is better on sound quality.

Hope this helps and saves you money and hassle.

[hagis]

The CDX-GT420U is currently on Amazon.co.uk for £72.99. I also needed a PC9-401 and a PC5-90 from Nexxia (http://www.nexxia.co.uk/Car_Stereo_fitting_kits/Audi/A4.htm), but you will need to check against the model of car and connectors on the rear of the Concert. I replaced a CD based Concert, not a Tape one so it might be different for you.

Thanks for that David. Does the GT420 have memory for storing the MP3's on or does it just play MP3 CD's?

[hagis]

I just bought a IPod for the wife, super little thing we use a itrip which tunes to the radio and plays through the cars speakers.
After using CD changers the difference is like record players to Cd's it just so much better.
Plus you will still have the use of your glove box.
If you search around you'll get an ipod and itrip for about £100 and bearing in mind even on a small ipod you should get 500 music tracks.

Then there's the ease of getting the tracks on the ipod it is a dream.

We have a Sony MP3 player we used before lovely bit of kit but the Ipod is much easier to use but the Sony is better on sound quality.

Hope this helps and saves you money and hassle.

Thanks, I'd not considered getting a tuner for an iPod. I'll look into that as well.

[dcross]

Thanks for that David. Does the GT420 have memory for storing the MP3's on or does it just play MP3 CD's?

It has no memory as such. I mentioned it since you said you have a Sony MP3 Player. The GT420U has a USB connector and an AUX IN connector on the face plate. You can either use a USB cable (usually the same one used to connect it to a computer) and the head unit will read the USB files from the device as though it's a hard disk, or you can get a short headphone style lead which will connect to the head units AUX IN via the headphone socket on the player - but this method means you'll need to control the player using it's own controls. The USB method allows the headunit's play controls to work.

If you have an IPOD, you will not be able to use the USB method but the AUX IN will be fine.

[hagis]

I've not got an MP3 player that would be suitable so I don't think I'll be going for that Sony unit.

[hagis]

I've just realised I can improve my eBay searching by searching for "audi a4 breaking" instead of "audi a4 glovebox". I've emailed a couple of sellers who are breaking A4's to see if I can get just the lining.

[n_c]

Hagis - how did you get on in the end? Did you get a new glove box lining? I'm thinking of installing a changer and my car has two compartments at the top of the glovebox that look like they should contain something. The right hand one looks about cd-changer sized and has some holes in the back (for wires I guess). Does it sound like I already have the right liner? Thanks for any advice!