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DVD navigation retrofit Audi A6 (4F/C6) Avant MMI High (possibly relevant also for Q7/A8)

3.7.2008 (updated 19.7.2009) - This article is an English summary of my earlier, more comprehensive Finnish report at https://a6retrofit.tripod.com/articles/a6navigaattori.html. Finnish speaking readers may wish to read both this and that article as well for further details.

This is my recollection and experience of the installation, done back in 2006. Use this information at your own risk, I make no guarantees about its accuracy.
Project: Install factory DVD navigation with an in-door antenna to a 2007 model-year Audi A6 Avant 2.0 TFSI multitronic MMI High. This should be similar for the sedan, with obvious differences. Note that MMI High, i.e. colour MMI screen, is required for this installation as is the NAV button in the center console (Kufatec does sell the factory CD navigation for MMI basic/basic plus users, but I have no experience on that, the NAV button is also missing from some MMI basic/basic plus cars).

Parts used:
- Audi DVD Navigation A6 4F kit (part-no. 33897) from Kufatec (www.kufatec.de) with new cables and Kufatec's in-door antenna (make sure to mention in your order if you don't want the Avant out-door sharkfin), as well as an used Audi DVD navigation module

- Original Audi navigation DVD for MMI, latest was version 2006 at the time of installation (Audi MMI Digital Road Map Western Europe Digitale Strassenkarte Westeuropa, 4E0 919 884 AF, which I purchased from Ebay as new) - newer ones are obviously available now

- VAG COM cable, version HEX-USB+CAN, and software (www.ross-tech.com) as well as a generic Windows laptop for coding the car software after installation

- Some basic tools (especially make sure you have a range of torx screwdriver heads handy)

Installation (all of this happens in the trunk of the car):

1) Pull out all the removable floor coverings and everything else from the trunk (including the roll-out mesh and top covers) so that you can see the spare tire/tire kit.

2) Make sure parking break is applied, engine not running. Disconnect battery, it is next to the spare tire/tire kit. Just loosen the bolt a bit and lift the plus side of the battery out of its socket. Check that car's interior lights etc. go dead.

3) Push down the rear seats so that you can now move freely in the trunk.

4) Pull out the pull-out covers from the compartments on the left (component rack compartment) and right side of the trunk (tools/fuse compartment).

5) Remove left-side (drivers side) floor rail (open the torx T40 screws).

6) Remove the rear edge floor trim. Also remove the left side wall trim of the trunk or at least loosen the side trim up by removing all the screws in the rear to allow better access to the left-side component rack (T20 and T30 torx are used here as well as a larger bolt if you remove the entire trim, you also need to pull to loosen things).

7) Now you should be able to access the component rack on the left side of the trunk. You can slide the DVD navigation drive on the middle shelf at this point.

8) Then you need to undo the 10 mm bolts holding down the rack so that you can connect the cabling kit to its rear. Loosen the bolts holding the rack down, they are in the top wall and in the floor of the rack area. The left-side bottom bolt is hard to reach on the Avant, but by loosening or removing the left-side wall trim it is doable.

9) Once the rack is free, be extra careful with all the MOST optical cables (black plastic cables), they must not be bent or damaged. Do not pull at any cables or use force when moving the rack around. You won't get the rack out entirely without disconnecting all the cables, but you won't need to. By being careful and pulling the rack out just as much as it nicely moves, you can complete the install.

10) Remember that the bottom part of the metallic rack may accidentally rest on plastic floor trim during installation and damage the floor or its edges, so do protect your work area in the car properly so that your vehicle remains in pristine shape. Also make sure you don't scratch your DVD drive face-plate during installation (you may of course also choose to slide the drive in later in the process, after cabling is done).

11) Check the Kufatec instructions for how to install the cabling kit. Double check any instructions I'm giving here to make sure you get it right. First you can connect the antenna to the blue FAKRA connector in the DVD navigation module.

12) Then remove the "CAN" connector (its not really just a CAN connector, but I'll call it that for simplicity - it is the wide plastic connector with regular cabling, i.e. without optical cables) from the unit above the DVD navigation drive. Connect that cable to the corresponding adapter connector in the Kufatec cable kit and then connect the two "CAN" connectors in the Kufatec cabling kit to both the DVD navigation drive and the unit above it (it is the radio). A red power wire will be left dangling, route this from behind the rack to its front for later connecting.

13) Now all that remains to do behind the rack is connecting the black optical cabling, MOST cabling. Remove the MOST connector from the radio unit above DVD navigation. Then remove the blue plastic lock on the connector and pull out, carefully and without bending but using necessary force, the "out" (see the arrow on the connector) optical cable from the connector. This cable then goes to the corresponding connector on the Kufatec cabling kit (similar locking mechanism there too, so be careful). Update: Some instructions seem to suggest that the DVD navigation might go between the amplifier (top box) and the radio in the MOST loop, instead of after the radio, so check the Kufatec instructions carefully. Probably either place is fine technically, I guess.

14) Then you need to put a new "out" cable from the Kufatec cabling kit to the connector where you removed a cable from. This process connects the DVD navigation to the car's MOST fiber-optic loop/ring. Put the blue plastic lock back in place and connect the MOST connectors to the radio (make sure you put the same connector back to the radio that which you removed from it, that distinction is important for the MOST ring) and then the remaining one to the DVD navigation.

15) Bolt the rack back in place, making sure you have the red power wire accessible as well as the antenna. Where you put the antenna is up to you, I routed it next to the left side window where only the antenna is visible and cabling is under the trim before screwing the left-side trunk trim back on (in this place the antenna doesn't really need any adhesive, the cable going under the trim holds it firmly in place). There is no official, factory location for an indoor antenna in an A6 Avant, factory uses sharkfins only, but an indoor antenna will work just fine and be much less hassle to install.

16) Route the red power cable under the left-side trim next to the rear wall of the trunk, under the right-side trim to the compartment on the right side of the trunk. Kufatec's kit included some black cable ties which can be used to tie the power cable to existing cabling in the car.

17) You need to remove the fuse box (four bolts to open), but before you can do that you must remove the jack holder (two screws and a bolt). Unlock the pink locking mechanism in the fuse box and put the red power wire and a fuse to the slot pointed in the Kufacec instructions or your car's fuse diagram. The correct fuse slot was already powered in my car, so there isn't anything more to it. Then just lock the pink mechanism and put the fuse box back in place. You are now done with the hardware installation.

(If ever have the need to remove a fuse connector (the metal piece at the end of a power wire) from the plastic frame that houses all the fuses, you will notice that it will not simply pull out - even after unlocking the pink plastic lock, which you need to do first, of course. This is because the fuse connector will likely have two outward pointing tongues on the top-side of the connector, on both sides of it, to keep it locked in place once inserted. To pull it out, push these tongues towards the center of the connector simultaneously (from the top) while pulling the connector out (from the bottom). You can use sticks or special tools to push the tongues towards the connector.)

18) Connect battery. Check that the navigation drive lights up and insert the navigation DVD.

19) Code car with VAG COM (Select Control Module,19-CAN Gateway, Coding, Long Coding Helper, byte 5, enable bit 5 - Navigation) and test NAV button (automatic software update and a calibration drive may be required). Check with VAG COM for any error codes in the car. Some errors may result from just disconnecting the battery and connecting new equipment in the MOST loop prior to coding, those should be nothing to worry about.

20) Put all the trim back in reverse order.

Navigate!

UPDATE 5.7.2008: Great report with pictures on the navigation installation, including instructions for a sharkfin installation in the link below.

http://www.navplus.us/forums/showthread.php?t=5918

German instructions with pictures:

http://a6.stufftoread.com/wiki/index.php/Nachrüsten
(If link doesn't work, try archive.org: e.g. http://web.archive.org/web/20071021004155/a6.stufftoread.com/wiki/index.php/Nachrüsten)

UPDATE 13.6.2009:

Link to Audi A6 navigation antenna cabling article with pictures (a sedan with roof navigation antenna/telephone antenna - some sedans have rear-window antennas):

Not receiving satellites? Here's what I found.
http://audiforum.us/mmi/11778-not-receiving-satellites-heres-what-i-found.html

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