2008 A4 Avant w/ Bose; do I have Audiopilot? Please help!

[PNW Avant]

For those of you who don't know what Bose Audiopilot is, it is a ambient sound sensing feature of the Bose stereo (this is exclusive of the speed-sensing volume adjustment). Audiopilot listens to ambient noise in your cabin and adjusts the frequency of your stereo to cancel out the other noises. It essentially acts as a noise cancelling device, adding out-of-phase frequency so that your music isn't interrupted by wind and road noise, etc.

Audi realized that not all owners are fond of this feature and issued a TSB to disable the audiopilot feature. I have added the TSB to my google drive which you can see here. The TSB is issued in '05, but I figured this would apply to all Bose systems in the B6/B7.

Although I never real felt like my stereo was as much of a nuisance as others have posted, I stil figured I would give it a try because, in general, I am in favor of pure, unadulterated audio. I went to the dealer, purchase the required pin, and went after the Bose amp. I was to add the pin to slot #24, and bridge this wire to #6, per the TSB.

However, after uncovering the bose amp harness, I already have a wire at slot #24! That was odd. Then, I checked under the map light to see if I have the Audiopilot mic, which is supposed to be in the circular slot pictured below. I doubled checked my Bentley manual; It says I SHOULD have a Bose microphone, and an empty slot in amp pin #24, as my car is newer than November 2003.

SO, does anyone know if Audiopilot was disabled from the factory after a certain year? Although the Bentley is saying I should have it, it doesn't appear that required hardware/wiring is installed. Thoughts?

[Charles.waite]

I disabled this on my b6 a while back as it was causing horrible volume fluctuations with my b6 sedan w/bose. I took the cheap way out by only unplugging the microphone in the dome light thing, It fixed my issues, but I get 3 beeps from the stereo everytime it powers one. I'm fine with that, as its better than messing with my factory harness as outlined in the TSB.

From what I remember on my old b7 with bose (my new one is bose-less), its disabled by default on the b7s. I'm not positive with that though but I also never had the volume issues on my old b7 so I never really looked into it to see if that mic was there...

[JPT]

I want to remove as much sound from the outside as possible... Is it really, by default, off?

[Charles.waite]

I want to remove as much sound from the outside as possible... Is it really, by default, off?

Its a defective system. Its not a "noise-cancelling" feature, it only serves to change the volume according to ambient noise. So if you're on a loud road, it'll pump the volume up a bit. The problem being that it has an issue where the bass will cause volume fluctuations to the point where music is un-listenable...

[JPT]

Its a defective system. Its not a "noise-cancelling" feature, it only serves to change the volume according to ambient noise. So if you're on a loud road, it'll pump the volume up a bit. The problem being that it has an issue where the bass will cause volume fluctuations to the point where music is un-listenable...

My RSN-E does increase volume with ambient noise. It isn't the best, because I don't think it does it from all audio sources, but it does it when I listen to XM radio (where I am most of the time).

I do like that feature.

[Charles.waite]

The normal stereo's also have the "Speed Volume Control" (SVC in the settings menu) and that does a decent job of altering volume based on road speed. That is independent of the bose Audiopilot system. SVC works well enough because it just alters volume based on speed, but the Bose system tries to be "smart" and alters it based on ambient noise. Except they forgot that ambient interior noise includes whatever is coming out of the speakers too. So it ends up working completely wrong.

[JPT]

The normal stereo's also have the "Speed Volume Control" (SVC in the settings menu) and that does a decent job of altering volume based on road speed. That is independent of the bose Audiopilot system. SVC works well enough because it just alters volume based on speed, but the Bose system tries to be "smart" and alters it based on ambient noise. Except they forgot that ambient interior noise includes whatever is coming out of the speakers too. So it ends up working completely wrong.

So you are saying it really is off, on my Bose equipped RSN-E unit? This sounds like a feature I would like to try and hear for myself.

[Charles.waite]

So you are saying it really is off, on my Bose equipped RSN-E unit? This sounds like a feature I would like to try and hear for myself.

I'm not positive about RNS-E or on the B7 as I said before, but it SHOULD be diabled. Not sure how to re-enable it though. Theres a wire you need to reconnect on the rear Amp harness.

[Exanimas]

Honestly, after I got my exhaust installed, I thought I was going crazy because when I would stop at a red light the radio volume would get super low. I'd have to raise it back up every time. The problem seems to have gone away, but I can't help but wonder if this system was/is enabled on my car.

[PNW Avant]

I disabled this on my b6 a while back as it was causing horrible volume fluctuations with my b6 sedan w/bose. I took the cheap way out by only unplugging the microphone in the dome light thing, It fixed my issues, but I get 3 beeps from the stereo everytime it powers one. I'm fine with that, as its better than messing with my factory harness as outlined in the TSB.

Is the microphone supposed to be in that circular hole that I pictured?

[Charles.waite]

I don't think so. I'll see if I can snap a pic of my sunroof assembly tomorrow.

[PNW Avant]

Well, a little update here. I decided I for sure have audiopilot, as my volume has been dancing around with the tone of my exhaust, driving me to the edge of insanity. I started to wonder, ok, how do I have audiopilot, but I still have the DSP (GALA) settings available in my volume settings screen on the RNS-e? DSP in the volume settings would indicate I do not have audiopilot.

Then I realized the PO of my RNS-e did not have Bose. So, some of the channels within the adaptation menu in VAGCOM were still set to non-bose, e.g., GALA. Ok, now that makes sense.

Feeling desperate (you can see in post #1, I could not complete the wiring as called for in the TSB to eliminate AP), I went after the Audiopilot mic. Found it (rear-most slot underneath the map light assembly). Unplugged it. Took it for a spin.

SUCCESS; NO MORE AUDIOPILOT! But also, I don't have the "3 beeps" as some have described when disabling the Audiopilot mic. What gives here? I guess I have the best of both worlds and should not be complaining, right?

Any thoughts why I'm not getting the beeps?

[Charles.waite]

Weird. I get the beeps every time with my b6 with Bose and a symphony2+. Maybe RNS-E doesn't throw a hissy fit of the mic isn't present?

[PNW Avant]

Weird. I get the beeps every time with my b6 with Bose and a symphony2+. Maybe RNS-E doesn't throw a hissy fit of the mic isn't present?

Did you change the coding, in addition to pulling the mic?

Maybe it has to do with the wire in my harness already in position 24 above? That still confuses me beyond anything.

EDIT: Ok, solved this one too. My RNS-e initially powers up (internally, not the screen) when I hit unlock on my key fob. It doesn't fully power down until something like 10 minutes after I shut off the car. This morning, I hit unlock about ~10ft away from the car and when I went to open the rear hatch, I think I just barely heard the beeps finishing up. Is it three quick beeps that repeat three times?

[Charles.waite]

Yeah three quick ones sort if a mid tone. Lasts for about 1 second.

I didn't change the coding either, but yea sounds like yours is just the RNS-E having strange turn on/off behavior.