Howdy

[martyfarty]

I am back to being an Audi owner after a few disloyal years trying out various other cars and finally realising I was just being foolish! And by the way, I will never buy another Volvo as long as I live!

I have a 2004/5 Audi A6 Allroad which I absolutely love. It's got a cracking engine and body but quite a few broken bits inside which I am slowly replacing and tarting back up to her pretty former self. 

I have 2 main points I could use advice on currently.....

1. I have the Bose TV/audio system but it appears nothing is installed. Navigation says "insert disc", telephone says "not installed", and to my disappointment I found that the 6 disc changer is missing from the cradle in the boot :(. I recently installed an android stereo in my wife's van and it's flipping superb for £120 from China, and so far its working fine ;). Rear cam, front cam, aux ins (more than I could ever use with 4 kids!), most important of all BLUETOOTH for phone. Does anyone know if its possible to get my iPhone working with my A6 Bose system, either cabled or bluetoothed? Failing that I may have to just look for an android stereo to fit but not sure how doable that is. Any advice on stereo upgrades would be great, mainly to get bluetooth and tv etc.

 

2. Key - I have only the one, and I never like only having one key for any car! Is it possible to get another one made up with being bent over by an Audi dealership?

Great looking forum and I look forward to spending much time here as I get back into enjoying a WELL BUILT car for a change! 

Cheers all....

[Steve Q]

Welcome to the forum Martin :) 

youll find the members on here are a friendly and helpful bunch :) 

With regard to your sound system, I would be very surprised if your Audi has any form of phone connectivity to be honest. 

But the radio you've put in the van sounds good! You get loads of features and not bad for £120. And let's face it most things come from china nowadays!

The only problem you'll have is; installing it in theba6 will mean you loose your sat nav. But I tell you now replacing the standard radio is not cheap! I have the symphony radio in mine and when it started playing up I enquired about replacing it. It was going to cost £400 (new) for the radio and it was on a 2 week back order! Thankfully it started to work again after the battery was disconnected. 

in terms of your key, you'd be looking at £300 for a replacement, although iv never tried to replace a key from anywhere but a main dealer. 

i also have to salute you for your purchase. In my opinion a6 c5 allroad is for me one the best Audis ever made! :) 

which engine have you got? And have you got any pics of your allroad? I'm sure like me, other members would love to see them :) 

cheers

steve 

[Trevor]

Hi Martin...welcome to the Forum

 

[martyfarty]

Thanks for the welcome. Yes I have never owned one of these but had an A6 many years ago and loved it. I am not convinced anything is as well made as the older stuff (Audi 100 and 80s were incredible motors) but I have to say I keep catching myself just staring at the lines, the flared arches really set it off. 

I haven't got any brilliant pics but just took a few, bit dark as I am protecting her from the rain after polishing her yesterday, :D

Re the stereo - I don't currently have sat nav anyway, it just says insert disc. Is it possible to get a disc for these? I have found with many older cars, modern times have produced clever little devices which take the place of the multi changer and enable bluetooth or other input options, I will have a look if any such thing exists for these, hope so. I really feel a bit naughty when i consider pulling out such a nice looking stereo! But all i have is radio (which I never use) and a single CD slot. Need a bit more than that really, iPod connection would be great if it was doable, i have all my music on iPod. 

[martyfarty]

PS - Is it possible to buy a newer audi hifi system to replace mine, instead of an aftermarket job? I know it will be costly but I would like to compare as I am sure the Audi stuff will last longer and it would be nice to stay as original as poss. Main thing is whether they fit in the same size hole in dash. Has anyone done this? Would be nice to get a more modern audi unit which takes auxiliary inputs, bluetooth phone control, maps etc

[martyfarty]

a few better pics..... 

PS - Does anyone know what software/script this forum uses? I have a forum of my own and this is far superior and I am looking to upgrade mine! Is it Xenforo by any chance?

 

 

[Steve Q]

She's lovely! :) 

havebto agree the older stuff was better built. My a6 is on 324,000 miles on the original engine and gearbox ;) owned by my family from new :) 

i would certainly try and buy a disc first. Try eBay :) if it were me I'd try and keep the original radio, but to be fair I'm still using CDs and haven't braced the future with an iPod or MP3 player yet! 

if it isn't working then you could replace it but I agree I feel aftermarket radios look out of place in the dash. I do believe it is possible to fit a later model radio but it would need coding to the car I would imagine. 

With regard to the forum software or script the forum uses; I have no idea. To be honest I'm not that technically minded with such things unfortunately. The administrators will know though :) it might be worth you sending trevor a personal message with regard to this. (His username is in red). 

Cheers

steve 

[martyfarty]

WOOOOOOOOW 324,000 miles!??!?! That's !Removed! marvellous! Mine is on 95k and I bought it with hopes of keeping her going many years. 

Yes I am not really into technology much either but with 5 kids CDs just get ruined so I caved in and got a 120GB iPod which stores every bit of music I have ever owned, and sits nicely on charge and permanently connected in my wife's van, just tap the screen and it randomly picks a song, !Removed! brilliant and no more scratched CDs under the driver's seat! I have since purchased new copies of old CDs so i still have a decent collection for listening on proper hifi at home!!

Yes I agree re wanting to keep the dash looking nice and original. I did however just find that they do one specifically to fit into the A6 and it looks like it would suit the interior very nicely indeed. Still looking around but here is an example - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/For-1997-2004-Audi-A6-Camera-Map-Android-4-4-Autoradio-GPS-DVD-Satnav-Headunit/401136862001?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649

Incredibly clever things they are, I only use a handful of the features they have, but that alone makes them great for me. On my wife's van i fitted a reverse camera costing £120 which replaces one rear number plate light so you can't even see it, wired into the reverse bulb so it only sends live feed when reverse gear selected at which point the screen automatically switches to reversing camera, brilliant in her transit minibus especially in busy car parks etc.  

Just a thought - your car must have had failed air suspension at some point? Do you not use it or have you had it all repaired? Mine was overhauled by the previous owner (so he said and no reason to disbelieve him) and it worked fine on the way home and first day, but today it won't seem to go to level 3 or 4. it flashes but doesn't get there, maybe i turned the engine off too soon, will try again later. Am I right in thinking the levels are:

1. Low - sport

2. off road

3 - seriously off road

4 maintenance (for going underneath)

??

Thats something like what the last owner told me but wasn't sure if that was right

[martyfarty]

I have just thought of something else which is bugging me and maybe you can help. I always use rubber floor mats in my cars, for all those wet boots etc. Usually I can find some decent ones but I can't find any for the 2000-2005 A6. Do you know of any tailored ones (not generic) with those clips to hold the mats steady?

[Steve Q]

Thanks :) as long as they're well maintained they'll keep going :) 95k is very low miles! :) 

i suppose il have to get into the modern age at some point lol! 

But I have to admit the radio looks great! And would deffo blend in the a6 dash! :) oh and that's a neat way of hiding the camera! ;) 

Unfortunately I only have a regular a6 with coils. But the level numbering is correct but I don't believe 4 is for maintenance.

Pub trivia moment now.....Believe it or not the a6 c5 allroad is one of the only vehicles to complete the Land Rover official off-road course! That shows you how good it is! 

I would check your service history to see if the air suspension has been fixed. It sounds to me you could have a small leak somewhere if she isn't engaging all levels or the air compressor is playing up. 

The air suspension can be costly to fix as the car has for air bags on each corner and a air compressor. Either of these items can fail and they can be costly to fix. This is why most allroads end up as spares repairs on eBay or broken for spares. 

Yep, I have the official mats in my car but you can get them on eBay. Here's the link. I hope it works as iv been having issues put eBay links on here. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132233049052 

if it doesn't work just type in  "genuine Audi A6 4b c5 rubber mats" they should come up then. The seller is Audi-goettingen 

cheers

steve :) 

 

[martyfarty]

Thats fantastic thanks sooo much, I have emailed about 10 different companies trying to find genuine mats! I notice they use the phrase "Audi A6 4B". I have been searching Audi A6 C5 as that's what I thought mine was. I get confused with all these types! To confuse matters further, my vehicle was first registered 7th Feb 2005. Which technically makes those mats not correct but I am sure they are, my car seems to be a very very late one as it's definitely a C5 (or a 4B?!) Oddly, the registration is LL54, which throws me completely! I probably bought a ringer!

I will grab the full set http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Original-Audi-A6-4B-from-year-2000-Rubber-mats-Foot-mat-front-rear-Set/132200112803?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D44761%26meid%3Db5ab3931affe468ab7611b461419ce22%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D132233049052

Yes those stereos really are fantastic, I was very dubious when I ordered one for my wife's van. She had the old Ford cassette deck and wanted something with aux in for the kids story tapes, CD/DVD for music/documentaries for kids on long drives, plus iPod connection and above all totally handsfree phone so I can finally ring her when she is driving without her having to find a lay by before answering (years of annoyance that one!). Just to get a basic CD player/radio with bluetooth phone ability was going to be well over £100 so I started looking around and then found these android jobbies. I uninstalled lots of the games and rubbish on there, keep kids fingers away as they don't do computer games in the house never mind in the car! For £120 I got her basically the same stereo as that above, and could no doubt get the audi one similar price at the place I got hers from - lightinthebox.com. I can't recommend that company though, their customer service was SHOCKING, worst I have ever known and I have dealt with some of the worst in my time! But she wanted to spend as little as possible so I went for it anyway and touch wood it's worked perfectly since fitting it, and it really looks smart in her dash. What I loved the most is the sat nav. Because it's android you can install any one of hundreds of satnav apps, iGo, TomTom (yuk), Google maps etc. We chose Sygic which is brilliant, and because the stereo has such a good processor, the direction voice is bang on time unlike the delayed reactions of our TomToms. It can warn of traffic too. The stereo can have its own internet connection, DAB radio, TV tuner, even its own flipping email address for Gods sake! Obviously I won't be doing that! I have a nice wallpaper of the kids playing on the beach which comes on when she starts the engine! 

Re the air suspension, I spoke to the chap who sold me the car and he confirmed what he did....

Overhaul (piston and seal kit) for the compressor, and two new airbags on the front. He said it should be working perfectly so I will try it again tomorrow. 

[Steve Q]

Your most welcome :) 

It certainly is confusing! But yours is a c5 unsure who uses the 4b but that's correct also! 

Youve donebright, those mats will fit :) 

wow that's amazing! Talk about a great list of features! The problem I have is I find the touch screens on car radios distracting. My dad has one in his Passat company car and it just distracts me a lot more than the radio the Audi has lol. Have to agree I hate TomTom satnavs and prefer google maps myself :) 

Certainly keep an eye on it and I'd look through the service history to confirm what he's saying. Better still if the work was done at Audi you can ring them with the vin number/registration and they can tell you what it's had done at any main dealer :) 

 

[martyfarty]

Yes it can be distracting, with our one you can swipe down on screen to dim it or turn display off altogether and it stays black unless you touch it, but music carries on playing etc. 

[Steve Q]

That's quite good to be honest! :) 

[martyfarty]

I will get some pictures once it's fitted and try and note the wiring down to put on here in case someone else wants one, I have a feeling once it's all set up with Audi logo on boot up screen and colours set to match the rest of the dash lighting, a few people might fancy one!

[Dan3222]

I have enjoyed reading this thread. Your Allroad looks in very good condition.

the 54 plate is correct. 05 plates started on 1st March. So not suspecting a ringer!!

To help find if there is a leak on any of the suspension air bags get under the car and spray a soapy solution onto them. You will soon see bubbles forming a plenty if you have a leak somewhere.

I am however confused on the number of your kids, you seem to have found an extra one somewhere since starting this thread lol

 

[martyfarty]

Excellent tip re the soapy water thanks!

Ha ha, well spotted, I think we have found ourselves a detective! :D

4 kids is what I am used to saying as it was 4 until a few weeks ago. The 4 use the stereo in van for story tapes and the like, older ones use their iPod. The newborn won't be an Aux-In user for some time, unless she inherits the amazing genius brains of her father ;) !!!!!

[Dan3222]

Ha, 

just remember going into a shop with 5 don't just back out with 4 😂 

[martyfarty]

Well it has crossed my mind, would that be in some way wrong? :D