Satnav/Bluetooth question from a Newbie

[Beard]

Hi,

I did join before the site went down and have since picked up my GTI....I've been itching to get on here and ask a couple of questions.

The car I have bought is a 56 plate and is fitted with factory old style SatNav and the Phone Cradle. Absolutely love the car but I have to say I think the SatNav is a bit pants and the phone cradle according to posts here basically only has cradles for old phones.

My main priority is to get some kind of Bluetooth connection for the car and wondered what the best way to do it was? I have read in other posts that it is possible to retrofit the integrated European Bluetooth but I am guessing looking at the posts that is only available with the updated Nav?

Is there any other way of installing Bluetooth and integrating it with the car? I would rather avoid the Parrot solution as I've already got one large piece of plastic bolted to the dash!

I had wondered about retrofitting the new Nav system or maybe going aftermarket with a system from someone like Alpine. What's the new Nav system like is it any good?

Any suggestions would be most welcome!!!

[SteveP]

You have a couple of options, I think you can get a bluetooth pairing adapter that fits in the phone cradle to upgrade your existing system to support bluetooth or if you have highline you can still use the new bluetooth available from vrStu (see here http://www.octavia-vrs.com/technical/bluetooth.html)

[Beard]

Ah well I do have Highline so that sounds promising.

Is the bluetotth adapter for the cradle an official VW accessory ?

[SteveP]

Yep the pairing adapter is official VW, couldn't find any UK links but here's an example on German eBay - http://cgi.ebay.de/Nagelneu-VW-Bluetooth-Pairing-Adapter-3C0051435PA_W0QQitemZ120287965334QQihZ002QQcategoryZ61005QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

With the old Navi the new bluetooth will just display "phone" on the screen when in use (unlike the full control you get with the new RNS-510), so you have to control the kit via either the mfsw (if fitted) or the controls on the end of the stalk. 

[Cooper7]

All this information is great, got me interested. Does anyone have any idea how much all of the parts cost to carry this work out?

[SteveP]

The full bluetooth kit from VrStu cost me £220 I believe and then a bit on top for installation and coding. The cheapest I could find it else where (mainly on ebay) was around £390 just for parts.

I have found it far better than the Parrot 3200 kit I had in my last GTI. 

[2007GTI]

I've a parrot kit, 3100 and it works a treat, mounted on the dash with a custom braket.

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=77388.0

[Beard]

Just checked with the local VW dealer. That VW bluetooth adapter isn't available in the UK....that part no is apaprently only available in Germany. Tempted to get one off Ebay and give it a try....realistically I just want a safe way to answer the phone in the car.

The VW dealer quoted a mere £370 to supply and fit the Parrott.

I would love to upgrade the NAV and get the fully integrated phone set up but that just seems silly........

[SteveP]

Just checked with the local VW dealer. That VW bluetooth adapter isn't available in the UK....that part no is apaprently only available in Germany. Tempted to get one off Ebay and give it a try....realistically I just want a safe way to answer the phone in the car.

The VW dealer quoted a mere £370 to supply and fit the Parrott.

I would love to upgrade the NAV and get the fully integrated phone set up but that just seems silly........

If your happy with the MFD2 then the cost to upgrade to the RNS-510 is a big step up.

I think the bluetooth adapter is worth ago as with any other route your either going have some holes in the dash or an un-used mounting base.

[2007GTI]

Most car audio places will install the parrot for about £250.