RCD 510 upgrade or add ons?

[Bagjor]

Hi,
I'm a new scirroco owner so not too sure about bits and bobs!

I want to upgrade my radio which is currently RCD 510 to one that has GPS and Bluetooth -the cheapest way possible. Do VW have Add on's, what updated VW unit or after market - if so which one as I still want the controls to work from steering wheel?
Has anyone any ideas please?

Many thanks

[rocknob]

If you just want Bluetooth you can get a Fiscon unit which is pretty much plug and play with your radio.

If you want Satnav you will need a RNS510 but it's not necessarily cheap. on eBay they go for about 400 pounds

Both options will work with the steering wheel.

[Bagjor]

Hi,
Many thanks for your advice -today I looked into RNS510 went to VW they want to charge £3000.00 !!!!!! £1050 for a Kenwood!
I've seen a couple on eBay and thought about going this way and selling my RCD510 but VW put me off by saying they were difficult to fit cause i need to rewire etc and for me to get the pass code for my old unit I have to put my car on a diagnostic - I've read it's a 7 digit code and VW told me its a 4 digit code??? Confused!!
A female going into garage's is not always the best experience :-(

[dimexi]

LOL! They are selling you a whole load of cobblers.
Well, if you want to install bluetooth from scratch, you DO have to do some rewiring - depending on your level of pulling things apart, it's easy - intermediate. I managed to do it, so anyone can.

If you want to straight swap and RCD510 - RNS510; the swap is very easy. Pretty much plug and play.

As for the codes: I think only the dealers can get these off VW, I called and they even refused to give me mine. It seems the new system just works straight by recoding wih their VAS unit.

If you buy an RNS510 online, make sure it comes with a radio code

[Bagjor]

Ha ha! That's why I hate going into garages!!!

Just one more thing if i may.....VW told me that I would have to change the Ariel on the roof of car - is that a porky too?

[wensleydale]

To do a proper installation yes they would need to change the roof aerial, this involves removing all the trim panels down one side of the car and can be quite fiddly in places. Most people go for a small GPS aerial mounted behind the center vents. They may not pick up quite as many satellites as the roof mounted ones, but they do a good enough job. Which you go for all depends on how OCD you are (I retrofitted the roof aerial, to me it was worth the extra effort).

[Mark V]

All good advice... the sat nav equipped RNS510 is the way to go. You will need some VCDS help once its installed to get the nav display on the MFD between your speedo and tacho - but its pretty straight forward. With the Roc they have a 'fake' sat nav shark fin aerial fitted anyway so hardely anyone will know if yours is a retro-fit unit (OK a real nerd can tell the difference as the fake one is slightly more slender profile...).

Oh and radio codes - the car 'remembers' the ones for previously installed units so if you sell/trade-in the car and re-fit the original unit you will not need the code. As said above its essential to have a code card with a new sat-nav unit that has never before been installed in your car.

Where are you located?

[bitmadmax]

What are people's thoughts about this?

http://www.andrive.co.uk/android_vw.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Must say looks a pretty slick replacement for an RCD510?

[Fifer]

What are people's thoughts about this?

http://www.andrive.co.uk/android_vw.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Must say looks a pretty slick replacement for an RCD510?

It does - but no DAB?

[Mark V]

My first thought was how do they get away with making something thats pretty much a copy of a VW designed unit!

[whiteDevil_170]

I wouldn't touch it.

[mikeselectricstuff]

A cheaper option may be an RNS315 - you may find someone with one after an upgrade to a 510.
The main difference AFAICS is it doesn't have DVD playback or video for reversing camera. (not sure whether it has Europe maps)
Although it doesn't have an intrernal hard disk, It supports up to 32GB of music on an SD card, and large USB hard discs via the MDI interface, however note that the MDI interface is not just a cable to the centre console - the box with the socket in the console is actually a complete media player which feeds audio to the main unit.

[mikeselectricstuff]

I wouldn't touch it.

Comments like that are hardly helpful without some justification.

[chelspeed]

Agreed, looks pretty good to me, apart from lack of DAB. What do you think is wrong with it?

[salsajoe]

Looks good to me. Seems to have most things covered and interfaces with wheel controls etc, compatible with MP3 formats. Need to check what extra antennas you need to make it all work. If you buy a recent RNS 510 from ebay with DAB it will set you back about £800. Only concern is that the government is still saying that FM will be phased out in 2016 but if you can receive freeview then presumably you can get digital radio stations from that? Worth checking out. The other question I would have is can you interface an aftermarket VW DAB unit with it like you can with the RCD/RNS 510 if you need to. What is the warranty and do they have to fit it to validate the warranty.

[Bagjor]

Sorry I've not been on for a while but read all the posts - very useful but must say this can be very expensive - not quite like buying shoes or handbags!!!! I live in Basingstoke which have absolutely nothing to compare for car audio so if it's ebay or buying a Kenwood I will need to do some overtime at work!! thanks again everyone for your help you have certainly helped!

[bitmadmax]

My first thought was how do they get away with making something thats pretty much a copy of a VW designed unit!

Haha. When you put it like that it does sound pretty dodgy.

If you were to buy say a DAB equipped RNS315 or RNS510, and fit it to a car built without the DAB antenna, would the DAB reception work from the standard FM antenna input? I know it's documented as no but.. has anyone actually tried it?

[sciricky]

Found this thread via a google search as I have recently purchased an Andrive and installed it in my scirocco.

I have to say the thing is awesome. Basically a full tablet in the dash, and has a ton of stuff the original RNS510 doesn't have. I was toying with upgrading to the 510, but at the end of the day decided on the andrive due to the flexibility of the Android OS which I use on my phone and tablet.

To give you an example, you can stream music from google music, while using genuine tom-tom with traffic or even using torque for engine statistics.

Seriously blown away by what It can do, and the guys that run the company are great, when I had questions on setting things up, the chap spent over 30 minutes on the phone with me going over everything!

I would definitely recommend it to other Scirocco drivers.

Now if someone else could get one in their scirocco, I can compare notes on the best apps to download!!

[rdev1984]

hi all, new to the forum as only just become a proud owner of a scirooco. Been looking for 9 months and finally bought one yesterday.

Wish to upgrade the rcd 510 so I can get Bluetooth and sat nav and was look at the rns510. Have also looked at some of these Android head untis which seem to be alot cheaper and have all the features i am after.

@scircky - Do you have the Andrive ANVW-3 ?. I found this before I even found the Roc, how long have you had it?, What's your thoughts? how is the radio as I have read alot on forums saying all the chinese android units are quite poor?
Any downsides and is it DAB ?

Cannot find any reviews or videos, do you have anything ?

Cheers

[dimexi]

Something worth noting - the RNS510 unit does not have bluetooth integrated