Audi Connect HW update? ...
 

A quick question to those of you running D4s for a while ...

I see the phone 'standard' for A8 D4s is PR code '9ZX' - Bluetooth Phone prep.

'Audi Connect' - PR 9ZW - is a £350 option on D4s but the ones I've looked at don't have the 'SIM slot' between the SD card slots, which I believe is what the 'Audi Connect' option provides.

Is it possible to add 'Audi Connect' to a D4 without it?

Thanks - Julian

Yes and no. No from an OEM perspective, you need a different 5F unit with a SIM slot.

However there are workaround using a USB (AMI) connected 3g hotspot and some software coding that can make it work. Looks like someone has created a box of tricks that may do this without much work..... https://autofidelity.com.au/product/mmi-tetherbox-v2/

Thanks for your prompt reply.

So, disappointedly, there's no 'quick and cheap' fix with a new faceplate connected into the MMI. :( It needs a replacement £3k MMI console ...

Julian

Or go with the external gateway..... worth a google, originally people were using a linksys router I think before the bundled box I linked to earlier came about +++

You can find 5F 3G+ units on ebay, but will need component protection removing probably. Not sure if there's anything else required to swap or just coding?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-A8-M...8AAOSwUlxaJous

Thanks for your helpful replies guys but I'm confused as I'm a long time D3 '2G man' that's still awaiting their MY2016 D4 with MMI 3G+. :o

I'm used to the 2G system where the MMI runs in the Control Head hidden behind the dash with phone, navigation and music ECUs dotted around the car.

The eBay reference above points me to what looks like a DVD unit with 2 SD slots and a SIM slot, which has large amounts of connectors around the back, so I assume it is a DVD unit incorporating Control Head, Phone and Navigation in one small box.

Having read elsewhere the 2G / 3G phone thread I thought quotes were £3K+ to replace the guts of the MMI on the D4.

So will replacing the DVD/SD unit with a later DVD/SD/SIM unit and removing CP, give me Audi Connect?

Julian

You're right - the 3g+ main 5F unit is all-in-one - mmi, navi, bluetooth, dvd etc, not seperate units like it was with 2g. I think swapping the 5f unit should be it, only thing i'm not sure of is whether an aerial connector for sim is present or maybe needs new aerial amplifier+cable from amplifier. I havent done any work on 3g+ so don't know - it must have been discussed somewhere on the internet.

Thanks for your thoughts; for anyone who's interested, find attached an image of the back of the DVD / SD / SIM unit on eBay.

Edit: The attached unit is HW 4H0 035 670P - H47 - 0798

Connectors:
Mauve - GSM
Blue - GPS
Yellow - Audio
Grey - screen/controls
Green - Video from optional DVD stacker

There IS an aerial, presumably everyone gets that for the BT phone. It's anyone guess if the 'Audi Connect' functionality is in the unit so that it will work with a straight swap.

Julian

Looking at it more - i think there might not be a gsm aerial for non sim 5f units, as the bluetooth option relies on phones own gsm signal. This is back of non-sim 5f unit
https://30.img.avito.st/1280x960/4401716330.jpg
Which means you'd probably need to add this amp in d pillar - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112234783319
and run cable from roof antenna to this amp and then to 5f unit.
I think all roof antennas have the gsm connector
https://bt-cars.pl/45109-large_defau...-2010-2017.jpg

Ah; that makes sense seeing the other unit without the SIM slot and aerial connector. I thought the aerial might be shared but I didn't realise that BT in the 4H cars used the phone's aerial. A backward step from the early A8s that used a 'SIM in the arm' and an external GSM aerial. :(

So it looks like at least a 'control head' swap, an aerial run and an amplifier. And that's before discovering whether the MMI will recognise those changes.

Julian