2014 A8L rear entertainment retrofit?
 

Thinking of changing my highly specced 2011 A8 4.2TDi for a 2014 A8L facelift 4.2TDi with even more toys...sadly no B&O though! :(

I was wondering if it was a big job to retrofit the rear entertainment system into the LWB?

It has the full electric seat package with massage etc. if that makes any difference?

Do the harnesses pre-exist or would I need those as well as the screens, 5F, MMI panel, trims etc?

Just thinking out loud here...

-=Glyn=-

Not pre-wired......

https://www.kufatec.co.uk/shop/en/au...ing-audi-a8-4h

you can get it fully fitted, for a pretty penny!

https://www.kufatec.co.uk/shop/en/re...tem-audi-a8-4h

Nice... but not that nice!

It was a £2370 option on a new car!

I wonder if A8 Parts ever get any of these in and if so how much?

-=Glyn=-

You can often find the "kit" on ebay from german breakers...... that plus the look from Kufatec should give you what you need for about the "new" price...... but it would be a huge amount of work and how many rattles would you have when done!?

Yeah I’d already seen two kits on eBay.de for @€1600& €1900 respectively but neither of these mentioned the wiring loom...it was parts only I think.

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

Well its only fair that I'm going to resurrect this old thread as I started it 3.5 years ago! :ROFL:

After many years of waiting for RSE parts to turn up I finally found most of what I was looking for in a job lot at a price l was prepared to pay and ended up with;

7F DVD/SD Unit 4H0 035 776 S
7F DVD Sleeve 4H0 885 227
7F Ski Hatch Top Trim 4H0 886 828 D 6PS
MMI Control Unit 4H0 919 709 C
Monitors 4H0 919 607
Monitor Brackets 4H0 885 153
Monitor Rear Trim 4H0 919 739
Monitor Lower Trim 4H0 882 311

The Kufatec wiring harness is on its way but it looks like I will still need some trim pieces unless I am able to cut or otherwise modify existing.

So far all I have done is to fit the 7F unit into its sleeve, secured the sleeve into its cubby hole and fitted the trim with the 'roller shutter door' into the top of the ski hatch.

The consequence is the arse-end of the 7F intrudes into the top rear of the boot space and of course the rear boot panel trip that covers the electrics won't fit back in place.

It does have an outline traced into the plastic side which makes me think I could Dremel around this so as to get the boot panel back in place but of course I am still left with the back of the 7F and wiring harness intruding into the boot space.

Obviously Audi wouldn't leave it like this and I was wondering what the factory solution looked like?

Has anybody here been down this road before or have a factory fit RSE that might be able to take a photo to illustrate how it is finished please?

I also need to remove the seat backs to fit the monitor brackets and the monitors themselves and am wondering how the seat backs come off and if I might be able to Dremel the wood trims instead of purchasing new ones designed for monitors as the cost I bet would be frightening. This assumption is based upon my wood trim being Audi Exclusive Poplar Brown/Silver for which the gearknob trim was a heady £284 :(

Also how do I remove the wooden trim in front of the HVAC panel fitted into the rear console? And the same question applies whether I would be able to cut/Dremel/modify this wood trim to accept the MMI Control Unit or whether I have to bite the bullet and purchase a new trim?

It will probably be a new trim as trying to make a neat cut to match the curved chrome strip around the edge of the Control Unit would be difficult at best/impossible at worst.

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

Well as I can't edit my post I'll update it as I have answered my own question about the 'wooden' trim in front of the HVAC panel in the rear console.

Turns out it wasn't really wood after all but mainly a piece of cast aluminium with a wood finish applied to the top! Looks like part number 4H0 886 745 NV4 CZ if anybody is interested.

Seems like I won't be able to cut/Dremel or otherwise modify it and it will have to be replaced along with both wooden (aluminium/plastic?) left & right side cheeks so not going to be cheap if I am even able to obtain them in Audi Exclusive Poplar Brown/Silver finish with cut-outs for RSE MMI Console?

A visit to a friendly TPS (if they even exist any more) or specialised A8 Breakers could be in order...:ROFL:

Still interested in how to remove the backs of the rear seats and while I'm at it the lower front seat plastic trim as I want to fit a fire extinguisher there!

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

No personal experience of the D4, but this should help. Looking at the images of the boot panel, I'm making the assumption that the unit is placed above where the fridge would fit. That being the case, then the following image should help.

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1633022753

Item 65 is just referred to as a 'cover' but is only applicable to cars with Multimedia in the rear compartment. The part number is 4H0863688A and costs less than £20 new.

As for the back panel, the other two attached images show the two main different versions, one with and one without a section cut out of it. Trim 1 is likely to be what you have, with Trim 2 being what you need. There are also different variants depending on whether the ski hatch or fridge are fitted.

The following video should help, but having watched it, I'd say it might be a bit trickier than shown in the video, as it appears they've already had it removed previously, considering how loose it is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uSGuku2sj4

After all these years there's still something funky going on here.

Still no notifications to replies to my posts so unless I check back I don't know that I've even received a reply.

And yes Notification Type is set to Instant email notification!

I have just logged on to reply here and in the time it takes me to write this and hit send I will probably get notified to log in again for the second time.

Ah well...first world problems I suppose...


Thanks for taking the time to reply steamship.

That drawing shows clearly the part I have winging its way to me from Latvia for £20 as I type! :ROFL:

The backpanel of the boot already has the outline traced into it so that could be my next job.

And the trim was really easy to get off once you have balls of steel enough to give it a dig with a trim tool.

I've made a little more progress so I'll update this thread in a while.

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

How on earth do I insert photos inline with the ability to type a line of text underneath each one rather than have them all grouped at the bottom of the post? :Confused:

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

Add them all as attachments in the advanced editor. When you have uploaded them, copy the link by right clicking it, then paste it in [img] [/img] tags like this:

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634131354

[img]http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=27282&stc=1&d=16341312 18[\img]

(note I've use / in the close tag so it doesn't work. Proper syntax is /img)

which then shows like this:

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634131218

Ah thanks MJ...I got as far as selecting the images but then went straight to uploading them and they all appeared at the bottom of the preview.

I didn't bank on the magic touch of copy/paste...when I posted on AudiWorld it all seemed to work as it should...

Figured I should really post on my own homegrown A8 website though and spookily enough when looking around for inspiration came across one of your posts about a D2 FE barn find where I saw it could be done!

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

I used to host pics myself, but when IT mentioned he has plenty of storage capacity I thought it would be rude not to use it :D

Yup...you're right.

With that in mind I've just sorted 30 pictures ready for him to host. :D

Be rude not to...:ROFL:

Not sure if there is a limit per post but I might split it across the various phases of the job; Monitors, 7F, MMI Control just to make it easier to post & read.

-=Glyn=-

It's documented somewhere but you'd need to be using pretty high-tech kit to reach it. :D
That is more important.

If you check some of the WITW threads you'll see loads of pictures per post, sometimes upwards of 30.

The only thing you need to be aware of is when you click on the Manage Attachments button, you can only select 10 photos at a time to upload. So, select the first 10, one per Choose File button, and then click on Upload. Once those are done, the text beside each Choose File button will read 'No file chosen', and then repeat the process for the other photos.

Was just about to Submit this and noticed from the screenshot MJ posted previously the 10 buttons have 'Browse...' and not 'Choose File' and 'No file selected.' instead of 'No file chosen', but you get the idea.

OK...thanks for the tips. Here goes. First up in chronological order of works - fitting the 7F as that should be the easiest part.

When I purchased the RSE bundle from eBay UK unusually it came with a plastic sleeve that the 7F unit slides into and the whole top trim that sits above the ski hatch.

Removing that trim is easy...just tuck your fingers into where the back of the trim sits into the parcel shelf and pull forward to disengage the two plastic legs from the metal speedclips and then pull it up and out of the way.

The replacement which has the roller shutter door can then be fitted in its place and the plastic sleeve with the 7F is slid into the opening and secured with 4 small screws.

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634395850
Now you see me...

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634396991
Now you don't...

Unfortunately the chrome trim strip is missing from the bottom of the roller shutter door but no great loss. I will keep my eye open for a replacement at some point though.

Now the 7F is in place the view from the boot looks like this;
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634397377

Inside the back panel there is an outline trace of where a cut needs to be made (see above photo) so the plastic cover can be clipped and fitted into place to cover the arse end of the 7F including the wiring which when cut looks like this;
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634397473
From the back - not the greatest cut in the world and I hope when it comes to cutting the wooden trim I can & will do better

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634397473
From the front

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634397473
And fitted in place. The £20 plastic cover is on its way from Latvia to keep things nice and tidy

Next I'll move onto the monitors as I want to sanity check the layout of this post before I progress any further!

-=Glyn=-

Well that seemed to work so I'll plough on regardless!

Up next was the monitors as I figured even if I progress no further it will at least look like I have RSE fitted to the untrained eye! :ROFL:

My car has Audi Exclusive Poplar Brown Silver wood trim which might prove impossible to get hold of used pre-cut for the monitors and/or elusive & expensive if purchasing new. Looking around I have seen prices of £500 per piece banded about on the Internet so I figured I have nothing to lose by hacking at it myself as a first attempt. If I mess it up then I will have to buy the trim but if I don't then I just might have saved myself @£1000 :p

Working in my favour is the cut doesn't have to be exact nor neat as it will be completely covered by the lower front plastic trim although my OCD would punish me relentlessly if it was a poor cut :rolleyes:

So looking at the bracket on the bottom of the monitor I figured a simple rectangular slot would suffice instead of the intricate shape shown on this photo of an original RSE seat trim from eBay;

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634398787

I was more concerned at this stage of making a straight & level cut but needn't have worried as I just followed the inside edge of the plastic chrome trim on the long cut with a Dremel which was just the right depth. I found it easier to use a junior hacksaw to cut the two small uprights;

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634398787

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634398787
Finished cut...or so I thought

Turns out I didn't need the two 4H0 885 153 monitor brackets supplied with the kit as the aluminium monitor bracket already fitted to the monitors is designed to fit into the existing bracket in the seat back. It nicely slots in place and will hold its own weight even before you put the two 6mm bolts in to secure it which gives added strength because I do worry that unruly rear seat passengers might grab hold of the monitor to help extract themselves from the back of the car! :tuttut:

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634399360

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634399360

And if anyone wonders what the inside of the seat looks like if you undo those two T30 Torx screws and lift the back up & away then brace yourselves;
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634400062

Next on with the wooden trim;

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634399360

Jobs a good 'un I thought and then went to fit the plastic monitor trim to cover up my carefully cut slot but the lower trim wouldn't fit into place no matter what I tried.

On closer inspection it was found that the two plastic legs on the bottom of the trim were impacting on it preventing it fitting down into place.

Now I realise why the eBay photo has those rounded holes opened up in the corners. Bugger...ah well off with the wood trim again awaiting another visit from Mr. Dremel;

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634399360
Now I should have a finished cut

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634399360
Close up showing the legs on the trim now allowing the trim to sit low enough to clip into position. I have to say the thought of taking the easy way out and just cut the legs off did cross my mind

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634400133

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634400133

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634400133

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634400133

Looking good so far...to be continued :cool:

-=Glyn=-

Looking good so far. Intrigued to see all the associated wiring for this setup when it's done.

Yeah me too! :ROFL:

The Kufatec loom consists of two separate harnesses;

Large
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634464781
Red->MMI Control Unit
Green-> TV Tuner Quadlock
AMI->Rear Trinket Tray under armrest
White Bare Diagnostic->Bose Amplifier or Ignition Sense->Fuse Board (?)
White Ring Masse->Ground (really should have been Brown)
White Spade Dauerplus->Carrier F Fuse 3 10A Permanent Live
Black B->Monitor L
Black F->Monitor R
Quadlock->7F
Fakra Yellow->7F
Black->CAN Hi (TV?)
White->CAN Lo (TV?)

Small
http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634464781
Fakra Cream->7F
Fakra Grey->7F
Fakra Brown-7F
Fakra Green->5F
Fakra Black->Monitor L (unmarked so could be R?)
Fakra Black->Monitor R (also unmarked so could be L?)
Orange MOST Optical 2-pin 7F
Orange MOST Optical->TV(?)

I have laid them out on the garage floor so I can see the various connector types to give me a steer and most of it seems self explanatory but there are three connections above that I am unsure about that I have marked with a (?) above. These are;

Large Harness
1. Small diameter white wire. This is cut to match the length of the two larger white wires which go to the rear fusebox which leads me to believe this bare wire connection is made off there. This then could be an ignition sense wire so the 7F knows when the car is turned off and so starts its 10 minute countdown to shutdown with no activity similar to the 5F in the front. At first I thought it might be a diagnostic wire of some sort that ends up at the Bose Amplifier but after a rethink I think ignition sense might be the more likely of the two.

2. What looks to me suspiciously like CAN Hi (Black twisted pair) & CAN Lo (clear sheathed stranded wire) looks like it could go to the TV Tuner in the rear of the car where there might be a couple of empty connections in the Quadlock that might do the job? Failing that i guess they could be spliced into the existing CAN Pair at the same point? I guess I could pick up CAN from another point but again the cut length seems to indicate they might go to the TV Tuner.

Small Harness
3. The two single orange MOST cables again seem to be cut to reach the TV Tuner and I am guessing that one of the existing MOST cables is detached from the TV Tuner and plugged into the joining splice on the new harness and the other harness free end is then plugged back into the TV Tuner connector where the existing optical was just removed from.
I believe that if the MOST loop is connected the wrong way round then the whole MOST loop could be unresponsive but at this time do not know which wire is which. I really need to take some panels off and get the harness laid out in the car to hopefully understand a bit more.

I emailed Kufatec as it was them who made the harness but they were about as much help as a chocolate teapot and refused to send me a wiring diagram as I didn't purchase directly from them despite their name plastered all over the bag it came in and are the sole manufacturer of the harness AFAIK.

A couple of years ago I wanted to buy TPMS Hi from them when it was 699 (its now 734) and asked if they could send me the installation instructions so I could check to see whether it was within my capability to fit and what was involved but they again refused and said I had to buy the kit first.

Really helpful...maybe they should change their name to Fukutec! :ROFL:

Any clarification around the wiring would be very much appreciated.

Then after the wiring is complete I believe the procedure will be to;

Code Central Gateway to enable 7F (not sure of the procedure to do this)
Enable RSE menu from the Green Menu
Remove Component Protection (possible Audi dealer visit)
SVM/Check/update firmware on the 7F to match existing 5F (possible Audi dealer visit)
Apply any and all updates

Fingers crossed after all this it works...not that I will get to use it much as I'm always in the drivers seat :D

Thanks & kind regards,
-=Glyn=-

Was initially going to say that it doesn't look too bad and that it should just be a case of laying everything out, but that's a bit naff of them to refuse the installation guide.

EDIT: Not sure if you've come across this post, but it might help with some of the wiring issues: https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a8-...t-rse-2970957/

Yeah I read with interest that and another related post;

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a8-...rofit-3004022/

Despite both of them completing their retrofits neither cover all of the points involved IMHO so I'm just trying to fill in the gaps over there for others who might want to tread this path in future.

Unfortunately neither of them have popped back to follow up on questions from other users despite being active since.

Figured I'd also follow up on my thread here so I'll make another post about fitting the MMI Control unit in the rear armrest shortly...

-=Glyn=-

Well I've left fitting the hardest component until last - the MMI Control unit in the rear armrest adjacent to the HVAC panel.

Why do I think this is the hardest? Purely because of the surrounding wood trim.

In fact what I thought was a wooden top trim turned out to be a substantial aluminium casting with the wood bonded to the top. Not only does this have to be cut in exactly the right position and correct shape it also has to have a very clean, smooth cut as the panel does not have any overhang to hide rough edges.

The chrome trim will butt up against the edge of the aperture and any and all defects will be clearly seen.

There is also a thin transition piece that has to go between the MMI Control & HVAC panels which will not have any visible way of fixing because the MMI Control takes its locating holes & clips. This will have to be an interference fit to hold it in place.

It looks like neither panel has a straight edge along its long length being slightly curved further compounding the fit.

Both side trims will also have to be cut with the above proviso so may very well end up with new trim which even if I can find it available in Audi Exclusive Poplar Brown Silver will I guess be very expensive based upon other trim in the car such as wooden gear knob trim at nearly £300 and rear seat trims at £500 each. :eek2:

I'd reached the conclusion I had nothing to lose by attempting to cut the original because at best it might just work but at worst I will need new trim anyway. Worth a shot in my book.

Here's the top trim removed to show the substantial construction making it difficult to cut;

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634477002

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634477002

First of all I attacked the side trims with Mr. Dremel. This was done in two stages.

Having taped up the side trims with masking tape and with the MMI Control panel dropped roughly in position albeit standing proud I used the lower outside of it to run round with a pen to mark the position, shape & contour of the unit to make my first cut allowing it to at least drop into to engage the fixings that will secure it in place.

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634477043

Bear in mind this is not the finished size as the chrome trim protrudes a little further but does follow the same shape/profile and will allow me to locate it properly into the armrest so I can mark around the chrome trim for the final cut to give me this;

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634477043

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634477043
Close up of left cut.

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634477043
Close up of right. You can see where the Dremel rotary sanding mandrel popped out of the top corner :mad:

Any suggestions on how I might remove/polish out those Dremel marks would be greatly appreciated. At least I have the offcuts to practice on before attacking the console itself.

Then the most difficult part to date - how to cut the aluminium/wood top plate. Too much to Dremel, not enough control over an air die grinder or cordless grinder, too much hard work and lack of precision with a hacksaw.

I have an Evolution Rage chop saw but have never used anything other than the supplied 24T Multi-purpose blade that cuts steel, aluminium, wood, plastic etc and I feared not achieving a clean enough cut. Something that is capable of cutting nails embedded in wood is probably not conducive to a nice finish!

Had a look round and found an 80T aluminium/wood blade that sounded perfect for the job.

I made a crude jig to hold the top trim out of a piece of wood with two grooves to locate the aluminium legs and three holes to accept corresponding protrusions on the bottom of the top trim. To mark the three holes I ran a piece of masking tape along the wood and pressed down on the trim with the legs in their corresponding grooves. Sure enough I was left with three clear indentations on the masking tape which I quickly opened up with a drill.

Hey presto...a custom made jig!

I popped the top trim back into place in the armrest, ran some more masking tape across it and marked in all four corners where the two cuts need to be to find my cutting lines. I then removed the whole trim for the last time and clamped it on to the bed of the chop saw.

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634478391

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634478391

It was at this point I would have said a little prayer if I believed in God but I don't so I didn't and just went for it :p

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634478391

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634478391

Result! A lovely clean cut followed by a little hand filing on the detached piece to achieve the slight curve and desired fit & finish.

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634478647

Not too shabby and just the thin transition piece between the two control units to cut now which was pretty much a mirror procedure;

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634478647

And Voila!

http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/attachmen...1&d=1634478647

Not perfect but then again I won't be staring at it as I'm in the driving seat but it's not holding anything else up and to be honest it looks like I have factory RSE even if it doesn't work yet! :rolleyes:

When I pop the MMI Control unit out to connect the wiring I intend to run some dark wood stain and/or polish in and around the edge of the aperture to disguise the edges a little more.

I'm really disappointed that I slipped with the Dremel right at the final hurdle when polishing that corner out (it would probably have fitted OK as was) but it is what it is. My neighbour who was holding the hoover tube to suck up the dust while I was cutting recoiled in horror at the language that spouted from my lips!

I will keep my eyes open for the proper trim at the right price at a time to suit me just to satisfy my OCD.

If I was to sum up the job I would say "It went better than expected but not quite as well as I hoped" but overall I am glad I am pleased with the result even though if anyone asks me to do it on their car I would politely decline as I would be washing my hair that day!

Just that wiring to do now when I am happy I know where everything goes and then I can switch on, setup and keep fingers crossed everything works!

-=Glyn=-

That's something I find annoying as well, especially those who say they will provide feedback when they've finished a job... and never do.

Now that takes some guts using a chop saw on those parts. +++

Up to that point I was thinking it wasn't too bad a job with just cutting the seat back parts.

loving looking through these old posts to get inspiration, did you ever complete?

Sorry mbuk...just seen your post. I don't receive any notifications of replies.

Short answer - no. I never did finish the wiring.

Long answer - it is a complete ball-ache of a job! Not only figuring out the connections which I pretty much did with the help of a couple of others but trim/seat removal, wiring runs/cable routing and trying to fit a couple of large connectors through into the rear armrest etc. which forced me to abandon the job.

Ended up with a broken rear console lid latch and a sticky mess wherever the cloth-taped harness touched as its all tacky.

Wish I had never started it.

I might take another look when I get over my depression(!) and just do a bit at a time but I still need to figure out how to remove the rear set backs/rear armrest and also remove the front seats as I can't see any fixings.

I would strongly discourage attempting this retrofit yourself but if you really feel you can't live without it I would sell your current car and buy one with it factory fitted!

Hope that helps?

-=Glyn=-

That’s a bigger, I’m no good wi spanner’s n have a bit of a heavy hand so I’m no good at this stuff, but do enjoy seeing others get it done then get myself fed up that I can’t lol…..

Yes I’ll probably try tick a few more boxes on my next one