OEM looking Sat-Nav in you’re A2 using your Smartphone and a Dock.

Hi all, firstly let me say what a great invaluable forum this is!

Bought my first A2 in March as a cheap run-around, fixed quite a few of the usual A2 issues(CCU, Rear seals, door straps, shocks etc) then caught the bug!
Modded a few other areas as you can see in my sig……so much for cheap run-around!!

All of the problems I had were quickly diagnosed by a quick search on this forum.
Or by some very helpful forum members like Sarge who helped me diagnosed a faulty CCU/drivers door loom……..thoroughly nice chap and knows all about A2s'.

I have not written on the forum before as everything is pretty much covered already but I have read many articles with great interest.

I recently installed a dock for my A2 as I missed having a sat nav, didn’t have the cash to upgrade to an RNS-E one so I decided to use my iPhone 4 instead.
Off course you can use any dock you like, iPhone, iPod, Smartphone etc.
A few people have commented on how is looks very OE and they want one for their car so I thought I would put up a short guide on how to do it.


​

1. Start by removing the trim under the clocks, grab it from the bottom/sides and pull out.

2. Cut out a hole in the leather about the same size as the front profile of the dock you buy.

3. Cover the dock in double sided tape so the leather will grip it.

4. Open up the dock casing, I threaded the leather in and clamped it to the dock making it look neater and along with the tape, holds it all nicely in place.

5. Now the trim is complete with dock it just needs wiring up. I also used some black boot polish on the areas I cut to blend the edges in
and stuck some number plate tape on the bottom of the dock so it will stick to the top of the steering column.

To connect I used a Universal Car lighter socket panel, Belkin Micro USB CLA Adaptor and Add-a-Circuit Blade Fuse Holder .

6. Connect the add-a-circuit to the fuse box(You choose permanent live or ignition) and wire the car lighter socket on. Place it into one of the square holders above the fuse box.

7. Plug the micro USB adaptor in and plug your phone cable to it.

8. Thread the cable up so it comes out just under the clocks. (I used and old iPhone cable as it won't be seen!)

9. Plug your dock in and replace the trim. All Done!

I use a free sat nav program called WAZE, but there are many apps around for various tasks that you might need.

Enjoy ​

 

[timmus]

Forgive me if it's a stupid question, (I've had little sleep and a few sherbets) but why would you want to use a dension style unit in combination with another dock?

The Dension kit that I fitted to your car is essentially two different products; the interface itself, and a cable to connect the interface to the iPod. Your 'cable' happens to be an elaborate, upgraded piece that incorporates a mount/dock, but the standard cable is just a cable with a 30-pin connector on the end.
If you want to make a custom dock like Simon has done, the 30-pin connector on the end of the Dension cable cannot simply be inserted into a simple desktop dock like the one that Simon has used, as these are not fully pinned.

Cheers,

Tom

 

[johnmed]

I'm with you now. I think. You have an xcar interface, with 30 pin connector, but without a dock?

That is indeed a bit trickier!!

 

[Zoltar]

A vast majority of the docks that you can buy aren't fully pinned, so it's more of a challenge than it first seems.



I seem to remember seeing a DIS-like app for the iPhone that uses a bluetooth connection to a dongle that connects to the OBD port.

Hi Tom,


I also have the XCarLink which I use for my iPod(installed in the storage tray under the handbrake) with a bluetooth add-on to connect my iPhone so I didn't need this dock to route any audio out.

The docks I saw for getting line-out audio were like this. Then you would need a mini iso connector to connect to your head-unit.


With regards to the DIS apps, I have been looking at Torque Pro, seems to be the best one but not available for iOS yet.


Does anyone have any recommendations for DIS type code reader app for iOS and also a decent OBD2 adaptor that switches off when not in use?


Cheers


No connection to any of the ads/companies/apps above etc......

 

[Hooley]

I use DashCommand on iOS.
But as my phone is jail broken I can use RoqyBT to use Bluetooth for a cheap OBD2 connection

Revs is the alternative but I much prefer DashCommand.

J