RSNAV 10" display - install and impressions

[nate.co]

Finished Install



Exterior View



First Impression

I really like it so-far. The display is excellent, the shell of the unit is high quality plastic. It doesn’t match the texture of the dash but it looks like it was there from the factory. It’s very snappy, no lags on display or interactions. Sound quality is great, I can’t tell the difference from using Android Auto on the MMI directly. It basically plugged right in and everything worked.

I spend a lot of time in Android Auto (AA) using Waze and listening to either YouTube Music, Audible books or satellite radio. All those cases work really well, and the larger display is great. It’s touch screen, but the MMI controls still work (in AA only). You can run Waze directly on the RSNAV, but then the MMI dial doesn’t do anything. You can use it with the touch screen, but I really prefer the MMI dial as you don’t have to take your eyes off the road to do anything. When in Android Auto the MMI dial works and you can also use the touch screen. AA works both wired and wireless, and I have not tried CarPlay.

It’s on the car’s CAN bus, and can run a virtual dashboard app that shows speed and rpm, etc. I’m curious what others are out there, and how to use this with the DynoSpectrum. I think I can show the DS1 gauges on the display, but am not sure. I’ll have to try having the RSNAV connect to the DS1 wifi and see what happens.

Boot times are quick. I think it starts booting when you open the door, and by the time you’re actually sitting down it’s almost ready. When I try to count it’s about 7 or 8 seconds, but when I sit in the car and time it from cold, it’s about 25 seconds give or take. I really haven’t noticed it. You can switch to reverse and see the rear camera almost immediately, just a couple seconds.

Driving Videos

I use the JBV1 app and hang my phone on a Clearmount in these videos.

OEM screen for comparison:
Stock MMI+ Sample Video



RSNAV:
RSNAV Drive Sample



RSNAV Drive Sample



Parts Ordered

• RSNAV
  
  • 10.25" RSNAV Series 4 Android 10 Snapdragon 665 8GB/128GB USB 3.0 Digital Audio for Audi 8V A3/S3/RS3
  • Purchased the “pro” version, didn’t want to do a 360° camera install
  • Took about a month to arrive, I paid for express shipping and it was only three days from Hong Kong to Colorado, shipped with DHL.
• 720p AHD rear camera replacement
  
  • Trunk Handle Camera for Audi
  • Not yet installed, using OEM rear camera for now
• Car radio and trim removal tool kit
  
  • BYNIIUR Trim Removal Tool,Auto Push Pin Bumper Retainer Clip Set Fastener Terminal Remover Tool Adhesive Cable Clips Pry Kit Car Panel Radio Removal Auto Clip Pliers, Blue
• T-Mobile Data SIM
  
  • RSNAV SIM tray is attached to the USB2 wiring harness

Installation Guides

• Installation Manual - RSNAV S4 for Audi 8V
  
  • RSNAV_S4_installation_manual_8V
  • Read this whole thing, there’s a lot in there.
• Quick Start and User Manual
  
  • s4_user_instruction-eng
  • Note that I didn’t do the center speaker bypass or anything with the A-Pillars
• Install video for 8V A3
  
  • Installing RSNAV Android 7 device in A3 8V (English)
  • This is an old version of the RSNAV but does show removing the OEM display mechanism and the glove box.

Tools Needed

• Torx T-25
• 8mm socket
• 10mm socket
• Trim removal tools (pry bar and a metal hook)
• Audi radio removal keys, they look like little butter knives and do not have hooks on the ends. These were included in the interior trim removal kit I bought.

Included parts that aren’t needed

• SPDIF audio out, I guess this would be used if you had a full aftermarket amp setup.
• Extra GPS antenna (a splitter was included and I’m using the OEM antenna, I also verified the OEM nav still gets a signal)
• I didn’t use the speaker bypass module mentioned in the install docs, though there is one end of a cable off the main harness that’s got tape over it which might be the bypass. I also didn’t do anything with the A-pillars as I will probably not mount the 4G antenna on the windshield and I’m using the OEM GPS antenna.

Todo for the (near) future

• Install the upgraded rear view camera. Note the OEM camera works just fine.
• Find a good place for the 4G antenna, maybe just on the back of the RSNAV itself. -- FIXED, see below -- fits perfectly under the dash on the forward section of the RSNAV unit
• Try to display DS1 gauges
• Try Bluetooth calling, I am not sure what bluetooth to connect to (car or RSNAV)

Downsides

• On the virtual cockpit, the audio always shows as “Ext. audio player” where radio stations are shown when using the audio from the RSNAV unit (YouTube Music through Android Auto for instance). Radio and other sources work the same as before, which is great. The wiring harness does splice in audio, so you do not need to buy an MMI aux input adapter and the audio quality seems identical to the MMI unit. There’s a nice frequency adjuster setup in the audio control panel.
• Switching to/from the radio in Android Auto is a little clunky. If you hit the “radio” hardware button, it does automatically switch to show the MMI interface and you can switch stations, etc, etc. To get back to the RSNAV setup, just touch the screen. You need to switch to the external audio interface when you want to hear the audio from the RSNAV, the “media” hardware button works for this. The “menu” hardware button always goes back to the app switcher. A little clunky but not bad at all.
• It seems to squeak/creak on rough roads and if you grab the display and pull on it a bit. I might have to try and put some dampening inside the case, we’ll see.
• The volume and Audi Drive Select overlays no longer show up. You can see the drive mode changing on the virtual cockpit but there’s nowhere to see the volume unless you’ve switched back to view the MMI.

Odd Things

• When in Android Auto (AA), the play/pause button on the right side of the steering wheel sends a click event to whatever is currently focused on in AA. This is in addition to also playing or pausing, MMI radio or AA audio from YouTube Music, etc. I think this is likely a bug in the Zlink AA app on the RSNAV.
• Similar odd AA click event from certain actions using the click dial on the left side of the steering wheel, like when you change from sport displays to a different one. I don’t really change this often but noticed it when switching to Aux Input.
• When in AA, the volume knob next to the MMI jog/shuttle dial is just a mute button and does not pause music if audio is from AA. Forward/back and volume work in all modes.
• AA screenshots have black bars at the top and bottom to make them 1920x1080 or 1280x720.
• The aspect ratio of the MMI and OEM rear view camera is a little off, so the video is slightly stretched vertically.
• The aspect ratio of Wireless Android Auto in “HD” mode is odd and unusable. I don’t use wireless AA though since it drains the battery.

Important Settings

• You need to select “Aux Input” in the MMI using the left-side controls on the steering wheel the first time you play something and it wasn’t very obvious. I thought audio just wasn’t working at first, but it’s just on the Aux input.
• I’m using the OEM backup camera for now, and I had to select that in the settings. This is detailed in the quick start guide. The car model was pre-selected for me but that was on the QuickStart guide’s list of things to make sure were correct as well.
• See below post for audio settings for Aux Input - adjusted input level, bass and sub values to liking.

Virtual Cockpit Audio Info

To play audio from the RSNAV you have to select the external audio input. This is what shows on the virtual cockpit.
RSNAV audio info in Virtual Cockpit



Android Auto

Android Auto (AA) is used via the “CarPlay” app which also does CarPlay but I don’t have an iPhone. It has a configuration toggle for “HD” that will make it render at 1920x720. By default this if off and it renders 1280x480 and upscales. The display is physically 1920x720 pixels.

Here’s a couple AA screenshots from Waze that show the differences. 1920x720 is a lot of pixels, and I’ll probably keep it at 1280x480 (the default) as the text is pretty small. I may play around with the Android DPI settings and see if that’s available or not.

Default (HD disabled, 1280x480)



Default (HD disabled, 1280x480)



HD enabled (1920x720)



HD enabled (1920x720)



Bluetooth

I still haven’t really done much here. There’s a lot of options and since I use Android Auto 99% of the time, I just use that. The installation manual has a few different drivers you can use for different types of bluetooth connections, I need to look at this more. You can also still connect to the Bluetooth in the MMI itself.

Installation

Overall not that bad. Disconnect the battery (remove the negative lead, in the trunk where the spare tire would otherwise be) before doing anything. It took me about three hours and it wasn’t that difficult, just a lot of cables and the glove box is a bit awkward.

Parts Included



First you remove the front center vents, then remove two T-25 screws and then pop the display out of the center console. Unplug everything from the display, you will have to cut two zip-ties holding the cable to the display motor mechanism. Two of these cables will not be used.

T-25 in each vent



Display Removed



I never found anything that plugged into one of the connectors on the back of the RSNAV. I don’t know what it’s for.

RSNAV connectors



Next remove the glove box and MMI head unit. Unplug everything from the back of the MMI. There’s one giant connector with a lever lock and then a bunch of antenna signal inputs, each of those has a sliding lock and are color coded.

Glove Box Removed



The RSNAV wiring harness sits between the MMI and that large square connector, and then has some cables that go to the display. Splice in the GPS signal splitter cable on the blue signal cable. All the cabling is straight forward, though there is a lot of it. Everything is color coded and there’s only ever one place and one orientation that anything can go. This makes up for the sparse documentation.

Once the wiring harness is spliced in, reassemble the glove box. Connect everything back up to the MMI head unit and push it back into the slot, it should lock in place. There was a decent amount of cable wrangling, especially to get things to fit back together. One of the connectors on the back of the MMI is a particularly tight fit once the RSNAV wiring harness is in place. But, it did all go back together.

I watched this YouTube video which is from an older version of the RSNAV, so just watch the first section on removing the display and the glove box.

Installing RSNAV Android 7 device in A3 8V (English)



I left the two USB-2 connectors and the SPDIF output wound up under the display, I may use them in the future but not now.

RSNAV cabling



I routed the SIM card tray into the glove box, it is part of the USB-2 connector harness and is not marked (yellow label added by me). The instructions talk about drilling a hole, but I didn’t need to, as you can pop off a back panel of the glove box and route cables in through there, it even has a small cutout on one side so it all clips back together with the extra cables. You just need to do a little fishing, there’s plenty of routes inside the dash around the vents.

Glove Box



I routed the USB-3 socket to the driver’s side footwell and then ran it along the panel seam to where it’s just hanging next to the center console USB port. I had wanted to replace the USB socket next to the cigarette lighter with the RSNAV’s USB-3 port, but I didn’t feel like dismantling the center console. Might do that at some point.

USB-3 port



I put the 4G antenna on the passenger side low on the window, I need to find a better place for that. I’m not sure why the antenna isn’t just on the back of the RSNAV unit itself, I might just stick it there, seems like it would get good reception.

RSNAV back



First Boot

After everything was back together, I connected the battery and turned the car on. Dash lit up with all kinds of errors. Stabilization control, suspension, steering, hill hold assist, pre sense, etc.

Start the car and drive off - the errors will clear in a few seconds. This is common after having the battery disconnected for a while.

Plugged in but not buttoned up



Christmas Tree



Christmas Tree



Specs for Nerds

RSNAV Motherboard



This is essentially an Android tablet with extra inputs/outputs for the MMI system, etc. It’s a 2GHz 8-core ARM 64 system running Android 10 (Android 13 coming soon according to the website). It uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 SoC and comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

[09S5]

..

[lemonvr6]

Is this tested for automotive use

[0000 RS5]

Thanks for the write up. It looks great.

I’m not clear how or if it integrates with the Audi drive select or vehicle settings. Can you configure your individual drive select setting or have access to the vehicle settings menu? Or any of the other sections in that sub-menu,:driver assistance, air conditioning, or service checks.


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[nate.co]

Thanks for the write up. It looks great.

I’m not clear how or if it integrates with the Audi drive select or vehicle settings. Can you configure your individual drive select setting or have access to the vehicle settings menu? Or any of the other sections in that sub-menu,:driver assistance, air conditioning, or service checks.

Yeah - so there's an "Audi MMI" app that you run, and when that's running, the left side of the display shows whatever the MMI is displaying and the right side is like a simple view of various things (shows if parking brake is on, gallons left in tank, doors open, etc). From there you can use the radio, reset TPMS, do all the drive select setup, all that stuff using the MMI controls. Nav over there still works, as does all the other things. Then if you touch the screen it'll go back to whatever was running before.

Basically picture-in-picture with MMI as a video input.

Screen grab from one of those videos:

[0000 RS5]

Got it. Thanks again.


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[nate.co]

Just an update on Bluetooth. I've had good luck with the default Bluetooth driver on the RSNAV (the "gocsdk" driver) to use Android Auto as well as phone calls.

I have both the car itself and the RSNAV connected on bluetooth



RSNAV (I renamed the "gocsdk" device to "RSNAV")


I also have the Valentine One and Garmin watch attached to my phone over bluetooth

This setup seems to work really well. I just put the phone in the car mount and everything connects. JBV1 starts and displays the radar map, the RSNAV starts and then connects Android Auto from the phone. It seems to be more reliable to connect wirelessly to Android Auto, though there's still an occational hiccup, I think it's more Android Auto than anything (I've tried various USB cables too, it might just be cables). I always had random connect issues before the RSNAV as well. Anyway it seems pretty solid and I still connect to the USB port, but only to charge the phone. It's pretty cool to just sit down and everything connects itself.

When making calls, the call data shows on the dash, since it's connected as a headset basically. Call audio goes through the car's speakers (and not via RSNAV to the speakers) and the car's microphone is used. It shows in Android Auto like this:

[sal11585]

Thanks for the info; this will be super helpful if I decide to upgrade my screen later on.

[nate.co]

I just figured this out today -- I had thought that some of the low end bass was missing when playing audio through the RSNAV. Turns out the external audio has its own set of amp presets, so adjusting the input level, bass and sub levels fixed everything.

Run the Audi MMI app:


Then hit the "media" paddle next to the MMI dial


Then hit the right side paddle next to the MMI dial (to get to the + on the item) and you will have sound settings and input level


Sound settings


Input level

[murph3699]

Thanks for this write-up. Its definitely inspired me to tackle this install. I was just saying to my wife earlier in the week that the one thing missing from my 8.5V S3 is a larger touch screen. Then I came upon this. How long did it take to arrive after ordering?

[nate.co]

It was just about a month for me

[murph3699]

It was just about a month for me

Thank you!

[nate.co]

I found a better place for the 4G antenna -- just stuck it on the underside of the screen mount, it seems to get good signal here. When installed it's at the front side facing up in the middle of the dash.

[0000 RS5]

I found a better place for the 4G antenna -- just stuck it on the underside of the screen mount, it seems to get good signal here. When installed it's at the front side facing up in the middle of the dash.

Nice!


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[ElCheapoA3]

Thanks for the post. I am considering installing on of these on a 2015 A3 Quattro. Doesn't even have Carplay without this!

[murph3699]

How's it been running? Still haven't pulled the trigger yet but trying to find the motivation

[0000 RS5]

OP inspired me to get a 12.3” unit. Installation in process.

IMG_5983.jpg


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[murph3699]

OP inspired me to get a 12.3” unit. Installation in process.

IMG_5983.jpg


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RSNAV makes a 12.3"? Wow, let us know how it goes!

[0000 RS5]

It is an iNAV unit. But yes, I give an update on how it goes.


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[Acerxz]

Need more pics of that from all angles.

[0000 RS5]

It’s ginormous. And yes, more info and pictures should be coming this weekend.


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[murph3699]

It’s ginormous. And yes, more info and pictures should be coming this weekend.


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Need a full review of install too lol! We need all the info. A link as well!

[0000 RS5]

Finally posted. See here.

iNAV 12.3” Display - installed and review


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[murph3699]

Finally posted. See here.

iNAV 12.3” Display - installed and review


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Thank you! I wonder how this compares to the 10.25" RSNAV

[Sam3006]

Does anyone know if this unit (or another one apart from OEM) will let me use Waze on Android Auto & have the cars radio / DAB on too?

Do all aftermarket screens require you to change the input to aux to get any audio? Thanks

[murph3699]

What's the glare like? I just received my S4 but they changed the design and the available anti-glare screen from Photodon doesn't fit.

[murph3699]

How did you get the unit to stay secure? I tried installing it and it was just flopping around as the base

[nate.co]

How did you get the unit to stay secure? I tried installing it and it was just flopping around as the base

There's a couple screws that hold it in -- there is one in each of the air vents and they are at an odd angle pointing slightly up. You should have had to remove them to get the original display out. The back has little tabs that lock under the dash then the front is secured with those two screws.

(and just a note to the audizine admins -- I got a duplicate post error due to the ad and waited 30 seconds for the Scotts Toilet Paper ads to play every time I tried to click on something. I will definitely not be buying Scotts TP ever)

[murph3699]

There's a couple screws that hold it in -- there is one in each of the air vents and they are at an odd angle pointing slightly up. You should have had to remove them to get the original display out. The back has little tabs that lock under the dash then the front is secured with those two screws.

(and just a note to the audizine admins -- I got a duplicate post error due to the ad and waited 30 seconds for the Scotts Toilet Paper ads to play every time I tried to click on something. I will definitely not be buying Scotts TP ever)

Is there supposed to be a bracket at the bottom that reuses the vent screws?

Nevermind, RSNAV got back to me. They didn't include the bracket. Wasted $250 at the shop

[nate.co]

Is there supposed to be a bracket at the bottom that reuses the vent screws?

The only thing I reused were the screws -- here's a view from the back, those two tabs there line up with the holes in the vents. On mine it was pretty easy to strip out those threads so I had to be very careful.

[murph3699]

The only thing I reused were the screws -- here's a view from the back, those two tabs there line up with the holes in the vents. On mine it was pretty easy to strip out those threads so I had to be very careful.

Mine didn't come with those tabs at the bottom for the screws. Its a separate bracket. They're sending me out one this week but since the instructions are non-existent I had idea.

[murph3699]

Finally able to install. This is just the S4 Standard version. Install was easy. Only issues are that I can't use the voice command for Siri and the autodim is meh.

[B0bbyB0b]

Great write-up to the OP! Thanks for doing this. I am looking at it for my B8.5 S4 but am still on the fence.

@murph3699, I have been watching so many videos on this thing. I think I saw there was something that they did in OBD11 to change that. Granted they had AA but it was in Multi-Media, bank 15 (byte 16 I think) where they had to tell the system to not use the OEM voice commands and then AA voice commands would work?? Curious to see if you get that portion up and running with yours.

[murph3699]

Great write-up to the OP! Thanks for doing this. I am looking at it for my B8.5 S4 but am still on the fence.

@murph3699, I have been watching so many videos on this thing. I think I saw there was something that they did in OBD11 to change that. Granted they had AA but it was in Multi-Media, bank 15 (byte 16 I think) where they had to tell the system to not use the OEM voice commands and then AA voice commands would work?? Curious to see if you get that portion up and running with yours.

Sorry, just seeing this. I'll have to give it a look. I'm actually thinking about "upgrading" to the S5. According to RSNAV the harness to the MMI is identical so no need to rewire. Just plug and play on the screen.

[murph3699]

Sorry, just seeing this. I'll have to give it a look. I'm actually thinking about "upgrading" to the S5. According to RSNAV the harness to the MMI is identical so no need to rewire. Just plug and play on the screen.

I did Upgrade. S5 arrived today. Looks identical to the S4 based on Nate's pics. I may try and reuse the S4 Standard harness and USB. Looks identical to the S5. In that case all I'll. have to do is run the extra stuff at the screen like GPS and 4G.

[murph3699]

S5 Pro install complete. Its night and day better than the S4 Standard. The one "big" improvement, over the S4 Pro, that I could find is that you can connect to the Audi MMI Bluetooth for Carplay and Android Auto instead of the S5 Bluetooth. That way you're using the Audi factory audio settings for B&O AND the song info will be available in the digital dash instead of "External Audio"

[kisho]

This convinced me to finally buy one. I knew the Ext player thing would bug me to no end.