D3 S8 - bizarre HVAC button issue
 

OK, so here's a picture of my car's HVAC.

http://i63.tinypic.com/308hc8w.jpg

"Looks fine", I thought. I wanted to play with the settings for the solar sunroof, HVAC sync and centre air vent etc. Then I began to think something didn't quite look right compared to my last D3...

...there's no 'SETUP' button and no way to get into the setup menu! There's nothing in the manual about having the A/C button where mine is in the picture above. I also can't find another D3 for sale (facelift or otherwise) with an A/C button in place of the normal SETUP button and I even began looking at S6s and S5s to see if the control unit had been lifted out of another car. I also can't find anything online to do with this. Someone has played with the MMI before though as when it boots up, it shows the S6 splash screen instead of S8. Easy to change but makes me think what else has been tinkered with.

So I'm really stumped. Can anyone shed some light?

I found this unit on ebay.de which has the AC button. The date stamp on the rear is from 2009. Maybe it was swapped out at some stage.

http://www.ebay.de/itm/171427549087

http://s1.hierbilder.de/2014/08/20/HU7hY-4k4vKa.jpg

http://s1.hierbilder.de/2014/08/20/HU7hY-YtCato.jpg

Ah, good find. Strange though that the manual doesn't show the AC button anywhere throughout the whole book and I can't get into that SETUP menu. :Confused:

Maybe a 3G unit that's been dropped into a 2G car?

Hmm possibly. It's got AMI with DAB and Freeview etc., but the MMI knob doesn't have the directional button on top.

I've searched more and found a couple of late D3s (2009/2010) which have the AC button where the SETUP normally is.

That has to be the answer.

So how would one access the equivalent 'setup' menu without the designated button on the HVAC controls?

So what exactly does that button do when you press it Ollie?

Anything at all?

Well it seems to turn the AC on but the HVAC controls do seem to have a mind of their own. Press the passenger's air direction and the screen shows the driver's fan speed, and things like that. The small LCD screen in the HVAC unit always shows the correct setting when the corresponding button is pressed but it doesn't always relate to the graphic which comes up on the MMI screen.

If you do a full vcds scan it should report the part number for hvac and also report any coding issues causing problems. If it's anything like an mmi 3G+ retrofit to a 3G the coding is far from obvious

If you're missing functionality as well and the module is 'wrong' for the car I'd look to replace with a correct one