Car stereo upgrade RCD 300

[drwhite]

Hi all, I have a 2007 Jetta with the stock stereo head unit as pictured which is the RCD 300:


There is an aftermarket Bluetooth headset connected which is a Parrot V5.10C.

If I am to upgrade the head unit, what sort of unit should I go for? The features I am looking for are in-built navigation, ability to support Bluetooth phone (possibly Apple CarPlay) and CD player. There are the options of staying within the VW OEM Models such as the RNS 510 or now going for one of the new Alpine, Pioneer or Kenwood Apple CarPlay units. These units would be useful for features and for future proofing.

Has anyone here got experience with buying, installing, compatibility and any issues with either the VW units or Apple CarPlay enabled units?


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[arcadelt]

I have previously installed RNS-510s into my Tiguan to replace the base RCD-310 and into my GTI to replace the RCD-500. Before I installed the unit into my Tiguan I did a fair bit of research into the Alpine ILX-007 CarPlay unit available at the time and I have had extensive discussions with a friend of mine who has installed a Pioneer CarPlay unit into his LandCruiser. There are pros and cons with a VW as to whether you go aftermarket or OEM too numerous for me to bother listing, but the most important are cost and integration with the car. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you have as your post above is very open and would require an essay.

[drwhite]

Before I installed the unit into my Tiguan I did a fair bit of research into the Alpine ILX-007 CarPlay unit available at the time and I have had extensive discussions with a friend of mine who has installed a Pioneer CarPlay unit into his LandCruiser.

Thanks for that, we're you able to install the VW OEM's yourself ok? Any troubles with integration at all?
Also, what did you see as the downsides of the CarPlay unit?


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[arcadelt]

Thanks for that, we're you able to install the VW OEM's yourself ok? Any troubles with integration at all?
Also, what did you see as the downsides of the CarPlay unit?

I did not install the units myself, but having looked at instructions on various forums, it would be quite possible to do it yourself. Given you already have an RCD-300, many of the required cables may already be there, but you will need to install a GPS antenna for the SatNav. The VW system is modular, so you'll also need to consider if you want to install complementary components, such as Bluetooth, MDI, multi-disc changers, etc, or if you are going to try and incorporate your pre-existing Parrot unit. You'll need to do some coding to get it all to integrate with the car too. What I wasn't prepared for was the clunkiness of the navigation system when compared to modern systems such as Google Maps, Apple Maps, TomTom, etc; however, I have gotten used to it, and in fact it has quite grown on me. What I will never get used to is the cost and infrequency of maps updates, which is just outrageous.

The biggest issue with CarPlay (at the time) was the lower level of integration with the car. It seemed that I would be able to control some functions of the head unit using steering wheel buttons, but the ability for navigation instructions to appear on the MFD and Climatronic setting information to appear on the head unit with the RNS-510 won me over in the end. Also, CarPlay is not as seamless as you might expect. The Apline unit is quite minimal and they have designed the radio module to look like CarPlay, but the integration on other more comprehensive units is a mixed bag, so you may find yourself switching from the CarPlay interface to the manufacturers proprietary I interface more often than you would like. Also, when I was looking, none (I think) of the CarPlay had Bluetooth.

Last thing, the OEM systems are expensive - like two to four time more expensive. You'll need to consider if what they provide presents value for money to you.

[arcadelt]

Just noticed that Alpine have lower the RRP of the ILX-007E to $699. Suggest this might be because they are running out this model in preparation for the introduction of a wireless CarPlay model...either that, or they have been selling so poorly that they are going to get out of the CarPlay game altogether.

[drwhite]

Thanks Arcadelt, it's certainly a tricky one and pro's and cons of both options really. I didn't realise that the CarPlay units can often be so unreliable which is a big downside.


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[arcadelt]

Thanks Arcadelt, it's certainly a tricky one and pro's and cons of both options really. I didn't realise that the CarPlay units can often be so unreliable which is a big downside.

I didn't say they were unreliable, so unless you found that from another source, that may not be correct.

[drwhite]

I didn't say they were unreliable, so unless you found that from another source, that may not be correct.

On account of the integration issues, having to resort to using the native interface rather than CarPlay. They're all things that have the potential to make those units unreliable and function differently to how they were intended I would have thought.


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[arcadelt]

On account of the integration issues, having to resort to using the native interface rather than CarPlay. They're all things that have the potential to make those units unreliable and function differently to how they were intended I would have thought.

I wouldn't have thought so, but it does ruin the user experience if you wanted a pure CarPlay interface. Only the Alpine keeps it pure as they worked on the design with Apple.

[Transporter]

On account of the integration issues, having to resort to using the native interface rather than CarPlay. They're all things that have the potential to make those units unreliable and function differently to how they were intended I would have thought.


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drwhite;
if you go with RNS510, your car has a red instruments display, which means, you won't have the navigation info in the instruments (nice feature, if you had a white display) - only the real advantage over any other navigation unit out there.
As long as you have the steering wheel controls for the audio and to answer the phone, which the carplay units have, there is no other interface disadvantage. On the contrary, you could even fit the reverse camera quite cheap compare to genuine VW RVC.