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Has anyone actually managed to fit one of the RNS-E head units into our cars without it resembling the panel fit on an MG Maestro?

I know Craigyb has done it on an S4 2.7 (I think), but I never saw the final install pics.

Here's piccy

Looks very neat to me - is that in an RS4 Craig?

Thanks Craig. I'm not convinced about the quality of the fit at the sides, and am I right in thinking that the bottom has to be trimmed too? Do you have any bigger pics (and from different angles) you could email me? I will send you a pm with my email addy.

Thanks again.

No that is the only pic I have of an RS4 installation, you are right there is a slight gap at the sides and the bottom does have to be trimmed. The B5 was never designed to take an RNS-E and the best fit is the A6 version as it has the widest faceplate.

I do make it clear to all customers how it is going to look. Colour match is the main problem, but the gap and the colour are exaggerated in the picture.

Some things to consider when trying to do a B5 installation....

1. Canbus, does your car have a can bus cluster from around 2000 they did, even if they were not prewired. If you have an RNS-D already, then your probably ok, if not you may need a can bus emulator.
2. Clock issues on the B5 clusters, time sync between the cluster and RNS-E will be out. So estimated arrival times, display of clock on RNS-E will be out by anything from 6 mins to 6 hours unless you have the module to correct the timing between the two devices (around £100)
3. Colour match, piano black for dash, soul black for RNS-E, use the KIWI magic polish to blacked the RNS-E to more closely match the dash.
4. Slight gaps at either side of the RNS-E, not as bad as you think. The A6 version fills most of the gap.
5. If you have an RNS-D and TV already, you may need to either replace the B tuner with a C version, or do some serious rewiring if you have a non B tuner to convert it to C wiring, as I had to do with the RS4 above.

Thanks Craig

ive done it and it doesnt look anywhere near as bad as the photo - without the flash photo you dont notice the slight gaps at the sides, and with the bottom trimmed down it fits perfectly top and bottom

i think all rs4 have the canbus so its not an issue here, only with older b5 cars

the clock sync module works great but adds another £100 or so - but it syncs the dash clock and rns-e clock so the ETA of the satnav is then correct. - not vital but completes the package.

i also added the audi bluetooth oem handsfree at the same time and the oem hidden microphone in the roof central panel- the whole thing then works beautifully well together.

Looking at the photo my main concerns would be panel gaps and colour coding. Just doesnt look true OEM.

craigyb wrote:Colour match, piano black for dash, soul black for RNS-E, use the KIWI magic polish to blacked the RNS-E to more closely match the dash.
.

If you buff it up can you see your face in it.

How much would it cost for all parts ? Have see them on ebay but cannot rember how much !
And how much would it cost for installation ?
How many qustion's in one post ?

awsome! i was thinking about having a go at this in my MY2000 2.8Q which had the original SatNav+ unit in place... nice to see its been done!

little bit gutted tho that my new S4 is Pre-facelift so would undoubtedly be a horiffic job to install and probably involve an entire centre console retro fit!!

craigyb wrote:Some things to consider when trying to do a B5 installation....

1. Canbus, does your car have a can bus cluster from around 2000 they did, even if they were not prewired. If you have an RNS-D already, then your probably ok, if not you may need a can bus emulator.
2. Clock issues on the B5 clusters, time sync between the cluster and RNS-E will be out. So estimated arrival times, display of clock on RNS-E will be out by anything from 6 mins to 6 hours unless you have the module to correct the timing between the two devices (around £100)
3. Colour match, piano black for dash, soul black for RNS-E, use the KIWI magic polish to blacked the RNS-E to more closely match the dash.
4. Slight gaps at either side of the RNS-E, not as bad as you think. The A6 version fills most of the gap.
5. If you have an RNS-D and TV already, you may need to either replace the B tuner with a C version, or do some serious rewiring if you have a non B tuner to convert it to C wiring, as I had to do with the RS4 above.

Who makes the clock fix module?

bjarne is his tag on navplus forum

BBCEnt@gmail.com is the email of the chap who makes and sells them

he's in the usa - i paid $155 delivered i think

Digging up an old post, Duncan can you show us any pictures? Any one else done this?

Anyone?????????