B5 Sat Nav Retrofit

[JonathanK]

Has anyone done this and if so how easy/difficult is it and what parts did you use?

The sat nav systems appear on e bay frequently and I'm thinking of putting one in my 54 V6 TDi.

Can these systems be used with a bluetooth phone system like the BMW system?

Any info appreciated.

Jonathan

[snapdragon]

So you have B5.5? (One before current model)
If you have a double-DIN (double height) radio already, it should fit easily. Most on ebay come with everything you need, plug and play lead and GPS antenna which is magnetic and can sit on top of a metal girder behind the instrument cluster where is will have a good view of the sky through the windscreen through the plastic dash top.

[JonathanK]

Hi Snapdragon

Yes, I guess it is the B5.5. The radio has an in dash 6 disc cd player so I'm guessing there is enough height for a sat nav system.

Do you know which sat nav model I would need? There seem to be a few different models available. I don't want to end up with the wrong one.

Hope you can help

Thanks

Jonathan

[snapdragon]

There's some info. on this site...
http://www.vwnavi.com/vwnavi/index.aspx

I fitted an MFD version D which I won on ebay, it came with the antenna and a lead. It all just plugged into the existing connectors. You also need radio removal tools, I didn't have any so looked at pictures of them on the web and cut some old credit cards a similar shape and they wored. If you do that you can test them on the new navi before you fit it and see that they move the catches.

Do you have steering wheel controls or FIS in the instrument cluster?
These complicate things if you want them to work.
The FIS is a screen in the centre of the dials which can either be MFA (red matrix at the bottom and standard telltales at the top) or full FIS which is matrix all over and generates larger symbols, this can show Radio station, CD track and Navi symbols.

[JonathanK]

Hi Snapdragon,

I don't have steering wheeel controls so no probs there. FIS? Haven't come accross that one before. The display between my dials is the same as the one on my previous 2000 150BHP Passat. Big signs with the computer info at the bottom.

Thanks for the link to bmwnavi. Looks good. I'll have a good look at that over the next few days.

How effective do you find the nav and did you fit a boot changer or stick with the single from the nav? If the former, does the loom exist of did you have to run it yourself?

Cheers again and hapy new year to you and everyone else at the forum.

Jonathan

[snapdragon]

It's a good enough system to me, my previous car was Vauxhall Omega which had VDO dayton unit. Both have pros and cons, I also have tometom on my old mobile phone. It's easy to input addresses on the VW unit and it's got a fast processor compared to others. The spoken instructions are very good, includes road numbers, such as "at the roundabout take the third exit and follow the A6004". Most don't say road numbers. It does sometimes try and snap you to an original planned route if you start going somewhere a different way, it doesn't just reroute a more sensible alternative like the otehrs I've tried.
I usually use it in symbol mode, not map road.