nobb

I'm thinking about a few cars right now, the Audi A4, Lexus IS250, or Passat CC. First thing Im going to do is rip out the stock radio and put in a CarPC which basically means I would need to put in a 7" LCD touchscreen somewhere. For cars with a double DIN, this is usually pretty straightforward especially if there is an aftermarket double DIN dash kit. Doesn't seem so straightforward with the Audi A4, so I thought maybe you guys could comment.

With the Aud A4, it seems that there is already an existing LCD screen in place which is hooked up to not only the stock radio, but the climate controls as well? Basically making it inseparable. There is no standard double DIN radio in the A4, which makes it difficult in installing anything aftermarket. Keep in mind that I would also like to be able to revert any changes back to stock when the car is sold. Maybe some of you guys have some ideas, or perhaps someone knows of a successful double DIN radio install in these cars?

Is an aftermarket radio/LCD install in a 2010 Audi A4 pretty much impossible? Not being able to install a CarPC would pretty much be a deal breaker for me on this vehicle.

rwb

Go to mp3car.com and look around there. They pretty much are the experts at car pc's.

nobb

Im a regular member at mp3car. There aren't any 2010 Audi A4 installs, so I thought I would ask here since you guys would be more familiar with the layout of the A4.

hender

nobb, what do you want to do with the carPC in particular?
there are kits out there (see xcarlink, plenty of videos & sites on youtube) -- it lets you have the nav, video-file playback, aux inputs (for xbox etc.), hard-drive for audio / video. also audi has the ipod attachment which is great (uses your ipod playlists etc.)

carPCs are great for older cars without screens or anything (i was going to install one in my old hyundai tucson) , but these days, esp. on higher-end ones, it almost seems dated to have winXP or the like running in your car

nobb

I like having a carpc because it is expandable and completely customizable. Im willing to NOT purchase an A4 simply due to the infeasibility of not being able to have a carpc in it (yea I know it sounds silly).

I like having my own navigation program (with free map updates), video surveillance, bluetooth, ODBII, and having 80GB+ of media storage which can be sync'ed up with my home server wirelessly through wi-fi. Maybe even remote GPS tracking of the vehicle, as soon as data plan prices come down a bit.

I know one day that stock radio systems on all cars will probably be heavily integrated with the rest of the car, but I guess I just like having the option of being to custom design/tweak the system if possible.

hender

i hear ya -- car PC's are great--
the problem is that the a4, is250 both don't offer too much room for a carPC. MAYBe you can do the xcarlink idea w/ the a4 and have the PC as one of the aux. inputs? donno if that would work, but looking at the layout for the a4, is250 and other competitors, they don't have a standard double-din that you can easily remove and swap with a screen. at least not without losing some integral components.

nobb

yup, that's why Im leaning towards maybe a Passat CC. Not as sexy of a car as the A4, but they make double DIN dash kits for the CC that should drop right in place.

Im still hoping for a solution though. Im sure there will be aftermarket aux input (or does the A4 have a 3.5mm input by default?), but the problem is how to mount the screen and make it look stock. I have never actually been in a 2010 A4, is the stock LCD integrated with the climate control and other non-radio functions? aka will it be pointless to remove it?

hender

everyhing uses the stock LCD screen, from seat-heaters to climate control, radio and telephone. you wouldn't be able to move it.

with carPC, how do you hook up the PC to the screen...regular RCA cables? as far as I know there's a kit out there that you can hook up rca aux. to the screen, and change your 'input' so that it can connect to the PC.

nobb

I suppose you could use that kit, but resolution would be very low as compared to a VGA 7" screen. You would also have to install a touchscreen overlay ontop for touchscreen control. Not really my preferred method since you wont be able to access the climate control and whatnot when your carpc screen is displayed.

hender

yeah the only way iw as thinking was if you hit a button (theres physical buttons) to access your car PC, i guess the best way is to take a look at an audi and muck around with the controls and see if theres anythin you can do.