TMC feature on SatNav

[simple1]

I dont believe them either, but the tech who works on my car is fairly well clued up and not too far from the mark.... will let it sllide for the few days.. then start on the same route as the rest have tried.......

[Nickm]

Simon,

I think your dealer is telling you Bollocks!!!

At the end of September you will still be in the same boat - £50K plus car - no TMC that works.

[simple1]

Happy days then........ I can kick off again and go round chasing my tail as I did with the B5 5 years ago.........

[Mog]

On a lighter note my wifes Nissan pick up has TMC on the sat-nav..................

Mog

[PetrolDave]

On a lighter note my wifes Nissan pick up has TMC on the sat-nav..................

Mog

That illustrates the point that is annoying so many of us.

Almost all other OE sat nav systems have TMC working in the UK, AND almost all aftermarket systems have TMC working in the UK - Audi UK are shipping inferior technology.

Which for a company whose slogan is "Vorsprung durch technik" (Leadership through technology) AND who claim to be a "premium" brand is just not acceptable.

[Nickm]

... and that just sums up how Toss Audi on this issue - there are no BMW TMC issues - maybe one of those next!

[AndyRS4]

If this helps, I had my A6 TMC activated by my dealer Lister Worcester 3 weeks ago, I bought the car in July 04, one of the first wave of new A6s and I've been hassling my dealer since purchase about activating the TMC, I had it in my old RS4 and loved it.

To activate the system I was provided with a new SatNav DVD, (finally it recognises the M6 toll road!) and the MMI software was upgraded, which has introduced a few new features that were not there previously (I can scroll backwards and forwards along the navigation route for example.) There was no charge for this, all covered under the warranty.

I asked about the delays and why the system is available in mainland Europe, I was told the main reason was due to licensing issues though the earlier upgrades and discs in January this year were causing the MMI to crash! So they were withdrawn.

In terms of functionality, my current TMC is not as smart as the CD-Rom based system in my old RS4. Firstly the old system received it's data from Traffic master and delivered through a carrier signal in Classic FM, this meant that the national coverage was excellent and the TMC information only dropped out in tunnels and underground garages, the current system is delivered through an assortment of local radio stations and on a recent drive to Edinburgh I'd say the TMC was inactive for about 25% of the journey as it couldn't find a suitable radio station. The other gripe is the information does not appear to be delivered from Traffic master but from the RAC (each information item tells you the time of posting and the source.) The problem I've found here is that unlike with traffic master that knows the exact position of any congestion to within a mile or so, the RAC data is specific to stretches of road defined between two motorway junctions, so a 2 mile tailback can be displayed as 10 miles of congestion.

However in summary despite having to wait 2 years for the upgrade, having TMC is a really useful tool to help plan journeys and I wish you the best of luck persisting with Audi to get your TMC activated.

[PetrolDave]

If this helps, I had my A6 TMC activated by my dealer Lister Worcester 3 weeks ago,

That's the really frustrating part - that Audi UK have got this sorted for the A6/A8/Q7 but haven't put anything like the same energy into getting it sorted for us A3/A4 folk.

[S4gasbord]

At least you guys have had it on other cars for awhile. Traffic warning systems are only just beginning to appear in the US. I don't think US RS4s have the option of updating the software to get it either.

[fredfunk1975]

Has anybody had an up to date discussion with Audi about when it will be available as an upgrade on the RS4???

[simple1]

Not this end of the country........ but I thought I would let it slide for a while..

[bobjebb]

Just to pick anyone's brain who might know, especially AndyRS4, who is using Listers as well. I've just installed the latest Nav disc 2006_1 into my RS6+. Does this mean with some (warranty) tweaking at the dealers I could get TMC working? (Presume and upgrade to use bluetooth via the MMI is still "impossible"?) AndyRS4- who did you deal with there?

Cheers

[ashleyadam]

Bob they have been rolling out tmc updates for A8/A6 for a number of months so I would expect so.

[OnedayanRS4]

TMC (RNS-E in my allroad) turned itself on a trip to the south of france. It was brilliant and dynamically routed us around Lyon saving two hours in traffic without me having to do a thing. Also gave oral warnings of hazards ahead. Brilliant. so really peeved not to have it working in the UK. Wrote to Audi to ask for part number to upgrade my DVD to TMC and eventually got this reply:

"Thank you for your email dated 4 September 2006.

At this moment in time, there are no TMC enabled DVD updates available for the RNS-E unit from any source. Therefore I am unable to confirm the
correct part number as requested.

However, Audi UK are working to make these available as soon as possibleand are expected towards the end of 2006 at the earliest.

As soon as they do become available, the information will be announced tothe Audi Centre Network.

If you wish to pursue the purchase of the latest update when released,
please register your interest with your local Audi Centre, who will be
able to contact you when this happens.

I hope this information has been of use to you.

Yours sincerely


Marie Sheldrick
Customer Service Manager
0800 699 888


So - a total fob off .... (and they've got the nerve to charge the RNS-E as a £1,500 option!)

ian

[AndyRS4]

Just to pick anyone's brain who might know, especially AndyRS4, who is using Listers as well. I've just installed the latest Nav disc 2006_1 into my RS6+. Does this mean with some (warranty) tweaking at the dealers I could get TMC working? (Presume and upgrade to use bluetooth via the MMI is still "impossible"?) AndyRS4- who did you deal with there?

Cheers

Bobjebb,

My understanding is that there is an important difference between CD-Rom based systems and DVD based systems. With the CD-Rom, the disc holds map data only and you can buy upgraded discs from third parties like Teleatlas (provided it's compatible with you system.) you can even transfer discs from other cars. When I upgraded the RS4 sat nav, I just bought the TMC enabled navigation disc from Teleatlas and everything worked without any input or upgrades from Audi.

The DVD based system are specific to individual MMI versions, so a DVD from one car could cause an MMI crash in another similar Audi with a different version of the MMI software. Apparently, Ed at Worcester who sorted this out for me, said he had one customer recently who transferred a copy of a Mercedes DVD into his Audi with catastrophic results! So if you have a DVD based system you will have to go through the dealership.

I thought that the RS6 was a CD-Rom based system so I would have thought you could purchase a TMC enabled disc.

Good luck.