RCD310 Upgrade

[MickyTwoPints]

Hi all

I have a RCD310 in my Cali and I'm looking to upgrade to something with DAB and that's user friendly for selecting and changing music on the go, so ideally a USB or SD port would be helpful. At the moment my choices are CD or bluetooth to my phone which makes choosing and changing music quite tricky when you're driving.

I ought to mention that I'm hopeless at fitting anything myself so would need to get someone to do that.

Ideally I'm looking at something that looks like its OEM.

I've read a few reviews of the new Kenwood system dnx516dabs and the Pioneer pioneer avic f88dab. I understand that the Kenwood looks like its standard fit but might be a little slower on start up than the Pioneer. Alternatively, is there a standard VW system that's fitted into Cali's now that could be installed?

What do people have in their Cali's? As the Kenwood and Pioneer units looks quite pricey so if there are any less expensive recommended alternatives that would be good to know.

Any suggestions appreciated and if anyone has the above units installed it would be good to get some reviews and possibly some pictures.

Cheers

Mike

 

[Skylark2.0]

Check out Hazzy Dayz. They can fit an RNS510 dab and sort you out an aux
I was really impressed with them last week and waited while they did my job, while I workied on their wifi!

 

[reserves]

On my phone so can’t reply in full but if you search for DNX516DAB i’ve posted my opinion on it and also the Pioneer F88 as I have both

 

[MickyTwoPints]

Thanks Skylark. I've seen some comments about the RNS510 Sat Nav being a bit hit and miss. What are your thoughts on it?

Thanks reserves. I spotted your comments on the two systems. One of my concerns (having read other comments on the DNX516DAB) is that it's a bit slow, particularly on start up. Have you found that at all? I have a sat nav in my Mazda which takes ages to get going and I nearly reversed into someone recently as the reversing sensor display hadn't shown up quickly and I thought the beeping was because I was parked facing a wall! I'm keen to avoid such incidents on the Cali although I guess the recommendation might be to be a little more patient!

I've noticed that Absolut5 gets recommended on here so I've dropped them an email for their suggestions too but I'm looking for the thoughts of this marvellous community before making a decision.

 

[reserves]

Kenwood isn’t slow, no trouble with that.

 

[MickyTwoPints]

Thanks. It looks like the Pioneer option generally seems to be the recommended option, but I like the idea of the Kenwood fitting into the dash perfectly and also that it has a Garmin satnav. I've used Garmins forever so I'm familiar with their workings.

Having said that, I have had another scour of the forums and seen a couple of pictures of the Pioneer installed at it looks pretty good to me. It might just come down to price in the end between the the Pioneer, Kenwood or RNS510.

 

[reserves]

Personally I wouldn’t go the RNS510 DAB, that’s what I took out of mine. It’s super expensive retrofit.

Jason at Absolute used to swear by the Pioneer, but know he recommends Kenwood.

 

[MickyTwoPints]

OK thanks again.

I've had a quick look at the RNS510 and it'll be upwards of £1000 +VAT. I saw a few posts from Absolut5 on other forums where they recommended the Pioneer over the older Kenwood 525 (which I think had some issues) so I'll see what the current thinking is. There might even be other options that I'm not yet aware of.

cheers

Mike

 

[reserves]

If you use, or are going to use CarPlay there are tonnes of different (cheaper) options.

 

[MickyTwoPints]

I'm an Android man myself but my daughter who generally takes over the music selection uses an IPhone. I guess my key requirements are DAB, storage for music as I'm a little old skool and keep all my music on my HDD at home so I can add it to a USB/SD card and a easy user interface as I can pick and choose what I listen to easily (I don't have the multi function steering wheel).

I've not used Android Auto before but it looks like it might be a good way to go.

 

[vmaxkiddy]

Thanks. It looks like the Pioneer option generally seems to be the recommended option, but I like the idea of the Kenwood fitting into the dash perfectly and also that it has a Garmin satnav. I've used Garmins forever so I'm familiar with their workings.

Having said that, I have had another scour of the forums and seen a couple of pictures of the Pioneer installed at it looks pretty good to me. It might just come down to price in the end between the the Pioneer, Kenwood or RNS510.

I have a Kenwood unit in my 2012 van. Quite often it's very difficult to see the screen due to reflections and glare, which is due to the angle the unit sits at in the dash. The Garmin/Kenwood map updates are considerably more expensive than updates for a stand alone sat nav, £175 when I looked, and, unless the process has changed on new units, you'll need a computer and USB data stick to transfer the update to the unit.

 

[MickyTwoPints]

I have a Kenwood unit in my 2012 van. Quite often it's very difficult to see the screen due to reflections and glare, which is due to the angle the unit sits at in the dash. The Garmin/Kenwood map updates are considerably more expensive than updates for a stand alone sat nav, £175 when I looked, and, unless the process has changed on new units, you'll need a computer and USB data stick to transfer the update to the unit.

Thanks vmaxkiddy. Do you know which Kenwood unit you have? I hear the previous version (DNX525) had some issues which the latest version seems to have fixed.

I think the DNX516 comes with 3 years map updates too.

I do have reservations about built in sat navs though. The one I have in my Mazda is useless and the one I previous had in an Audi A3 was somewhat temperamental. One of the reasons I like the Kenwood is because it has a Garmin Sat Nav which is what I have as a standalone Sat Nav and has always worked well.

Sent from my SM-T810 using Tapatalk

 

[Skylark2.0]

Thanks Skylark. I've seen some comments about the RNS510 Sat Nav being a bit hit and miss. What are your thoughts on it?

Thanks reserves. I spotted your comments on the two systems. One of my concerns (having read other comments on the DNX516DAB) is that it's a bit slow, particularly on start up. Have you found that at all? I have a sat nav in my Mazda which takes ages to get going and I nearly reversed into someone recently as the reversing sensor display hadn't shown up quickly and I thought the beeping was because I was parked facing a wall! I'm keen to avoid such incidents on the Cali although I guess the recommendation might be to be a little more patient!

I've noticed that Absolut5 gets recommended on here so I've dropped them an email for their suggestions too but I'm looking for the thoughts of this marvellous community before making a decision.

Well we love the RNS510 and it starts up fine. The SSD gets slower over time which is why we have changed to a hard drive. We have DAB which we also really like. Even though they are expensive, a built in RNS510 system is much slicker to change on the move.
We keep it on dynamic route plotting which means we haven't Sat in many queues in the Cali. The "changing route due to the traffic situation can get annoying but not half as annoying as sitting in a queue for and hour!
We have a Garmin in our car which is slower to get going and annoying if it can't find the address. We always wish we had the RNS510 when we use it.
Others on this forum are more experienced than us and I know there have been threads on this in the past.

 

[MickyTwoPints]

Well we love the RNS510 and it starts up fine. The SSD gets slower over time which is why we have changed to a hard drive. We have DAB which we also really like. Even though they are expensive, a built in RNS510 system is much slicker to change on the move.
We keep it on dynamic route plotting which means we haven't Sat in many queues in the Cali. The "changing route due to the traffic situation can get annoying but not half as annoying as sitting in a queue for and hour!
We have a Garmin in our car which is slower to get going and annoying if it can't find the address. We always wish we had the RNS510 when we use it.
Others on this forum are more experienced than us and I know there have been threads on this in the past.

Thanks Skylark2. 0. Good to get some perspective on the Sat Nav. I think that option might be too expensive for me though.

I did spot that Hazzy Dayz do a RCD 510 for about £600 plus vat though. It doesn't have a Sat Nav but does have DAB and SD storage though so I might have a think about that as an option instead although I guess they've been around for a few years now.

 

[Skylark2.0]

Thanks Skylark2. 0. Good to get some perspective on the Sat Nav. I think that option might be too expensive for me though.

I did spot that Hazzy Dayz do a RCD 510 for about £600 plus vat though. It doesn't have a Sat Nav but does have DAB and SD storage though so I might have a think about that as an option instead although I guess they've been around for a few years now.

I think they do refurbished units too. Might be worth a thought?

 

[reserves]

The Kenwood 525 and the Kenwood DNX516DAB are very different units.

The 525 is slow, no DAB and altogether wasn’t that well received.

 

[MickyTwoPints]

Thanks folks for all your comments.

I've spotted a RCD510DAB for £399 with £99 fitting which looks tempting from here:

https://www.advanced-incar.co.uk/products/digital-radio-dab/volkswagen-rcd-510-dab/

Anyone had any work done by them before?

I think it'll be between that option and whatever Absolt5 recommend as a solution.

 

[reserves]

They do great work.

Not sure why you don’t want Sat Nav though?

 

[MickyTwoPints]

It's not that I don't want one. I have a Garmin Nuvi which works well so I don't really need one. The cables can be a little annoying with the Nuvi but if adding a Sat Nav adds £400-£500 to the price then I'm happy to stick with the Garmin. I've also been less than impressed with the in car sat navs that I've experienced so far so it's not really a 'must have' for me.

 

[reserves]

Maybe check out Android Auto if you haven’t already and see if it’s something you think you might like.

This and Carplay are future in my opinion as the features are always updated.

For reference I use CarPlay around 90% of the time.

The RCD 510 is a fairly old unit, however for ease of use, the Vw units are great.

 

[MickyTwoPints]

Thanks reserves. That's good to know. I'll happily pay more for something a little more 'up to date' and if that comes with a Sat Nav then that's a bonus. I've never used Android Auto, in fact I only heard about it after doing my research on upgrading my RCD310. I'll have a look at that and see if it's something that I'll find useful.

What do you use it for on your systems? Presumably both the Pioneer and Kenwoods have it?

 

[reserves]

Android Auto / CarPlay units are fairly cheap as sat nav is run by the phone.

I use it for Sat Nav, phone calls, text messages, music (Spotify), podcasts, Audiobooks, what’s app and radio when I don’t have DAB signal.

 

[MickyTwoPints]

OK thanks. I'll check it out.

 

[Alform]

Deleted

 

[MickyTwoPints]

Thanks Alform. That unit looks good in the dashboard.

I understand that I need one with a SatNav to retain the parking sensor display though which is a bit of a shame as otherwise it might have saved me a good few quid.

Still pondering my options at the moment. If I want to keep the parking sensor display (which I do) then it looks like I'll need to spend upwards of £900 or go for the RDC510 which seems to have been around for about 10 years now so not at all up to date with the latest technology, but does give me the bits that I was after. That'll cost me about £500 fitted so quite a saving but I wonder whether either of the options would add to the vans desirability should I come to sell it one day but I suspect not.