Aftermarket head unit - will the car kit still work?

[alisonj]

Hello everyone

I've recently bought a 2005 A4 Avant and so far I'm impressed! It's a lovely car to drive and it's looking fantastic after a paint clean and Life Shine

The one part I'm looking to change is the head unit. It comes with a Concert II and I'm missing being able to play MP3s. I've got a Sony head unit from my previous car that would do the job but I thought that while I was at it, I'd invest in some new technology so I'm looking to fit an Alpine iDA-X100 and play MP3s from a USB stick.

My car has the multi-function steering wheel and the GSM phone prep (which includes Bluetooth). I've also got a nice area on the drivers information system that shows what radio station I'm listening to or when my bluetooth phone's connected to the car, etc.

I've been doing some research and I think I've worked out which leads I need to connect to be able to keep using the steering wheel controls but I've got a last few questions that I can't seem to find answers to.

1) When I change the head unit, will I lose the small additional display in the driver's information system or does that come through the CAN-Bus connector? I'm not too worried about this but it's a nice extra.

2) I've been told that my car kit probably won't work after the upgrade. Is that right? Is it built into the radio or something? It would be OK if the steering wheel controls didn't work any more but it would be a shame if I lost the kit entirely.

Hopefully someone's done a similar upgrade but any information or tips will be gratefully received!

Thanks in advance
Alison

[Issac Hunt]

The phone wont work, neither will the display in the speedo housing. The phone kit isnt built into the radio, its under the passenger seat. Very few aftermarket radios will function with the steering wheel - you might be lucky with Apline though.

Why not buy a Symphony or concert radio that will play MP3 CD's? Or fit the Audi RNS-E sat nav unit instead?

[alisonj]

Hi, thanks for the info.

I was looking forward to not carrying any CDs in the car but I guess I'll have to think about how much I want to keep the car kit ...

I'll have a look at the other Audi stereos too.

Thanks for your help