Basic stereo/phone/bluetooth confusion/questions

[B6 Dude]

New to this B6 thing, and after much research I'm still a bit confused by my stereo/phone upgrade/integration options.

As I understand it, these cars came with Symphony, Symphony II, Bose, and RNS-E ... correct? I believe mine is just Symphony, but it has some option that says "phone" that I found while mucking around with the buttons.

What I want to do is ...
- Integrate my phone (blackberry pearl). Directly preferred or bluetooth, but not through the FM radio. There's a blurb in the manual about the car being "prepped" by the dealer for integrating a phone. I just want to be able to make and receive calls handsfree, and I would prefer to do this very stealthily. I see no mics or phone connections in the pillars, center console, etc. Avoiding clunky aftermarket options for now.

- Any options to play MP3's? If I get the phone integrated, I can do this from the phone, and that's fine. But better if I can play MP3 CD's or something with a flash drive.

- Are there any generic line-in's or aux inputs on these head units?

Cheers,
-Neil.

[onceover]

AFAIK only the RNS-E can play MP3's, and there are no line ins. The only "line in" i know about is getting an OEM or aftermarket iPod adapter that hides in the glovebox

No idea about the phone though, sorry

[darkstar]

I believe all you need is the blue tooth module from audi and a oem mic there are a few people that have them.. I know the newer audi come with the blue tooth already and don't have a navi+ unit in it... I would talk to proxy on here he can point you in the right direction and get you the proper unit..

[Dwaller]

all you need is the Audi blue tooth module and the mic.You can find all you need and some DIY's at navplus.us,on this site you can source anything you need new or used and alot of people who did it already and are willing to help.
Let us know how you made out! I did it to my car one of the best mods I've done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pizdetsauduxa]

a friend of mine got his oem bluetooth reinstalled twice already in his b6 and i still cant hear him well if he's driving, the quality is just not there. ive been considering it too until hearing that. my d3 solves the problem with the iphone adapter (so convenient) but havent gotten the bluetooth yet

[dubenvy]

Ok...It is so INCREDIBLY easy to integrate Bluetooth to any Symphony Deck. On the back, every unit has inputs for the + and - and mute from any aftermarket kit. All you need to puchase the plug/block and three leads to plug into the block. Then connect the leads to the +, -, and mute on your bluetooth kit. Some people like to use the OEM mic or the OEM location, but everybody complains about the sound quality. I have mine at the very top of my A-Pillar and nobody can ever tell I'm in my car. Perfect sound quality.

Proxus did a great write up on Audiworld and I'm searching for the link. It has all the part numbers.

[B6 Dude]

Wow. Good info, thanks! I spent a lot of time researching today, and learned some good things, although more research also got me more confusion. I'm mostly disturbed that my local dealer has no clue that integrating a phone with bluetooth is even possible.

It would be nice if I could hear what the sound quality is like, because that matters to me. When I choose a cell phone, my top priorities is good reception/sound quality. I found some aftermarket options such as Parrot and Ego Talk, which also have features like mp3 streaming. But stealth/OEM looks are much preferred, so I'm leaning towards the Audi solution first. Perhaps I should start frequenting local audi meets to see if I can get an audio-quality demo of these different options.

I found out that my BB Pearl can't do streaming MP3 output yet, until the next FW upgrade comes out, which supports A2DP. I'll just wait if that's due out soon, or perhaps I'll resurrect an old car-PC MP3-player project I started some time ago.

Also, I found out that I can get aux inputs with various devices starting from ~$60 and up. I'll have to research these individually to see what features etc each provides.

Cheers,
-Neil.

[dubenvy]

I have a Parrot CK3000 Evolution and I love it. There is a small controller you use for picking up and hanging up the phone and I installed it in my ash tray. Very stealth. The mic is all the way up at the top of the A-Pillar, up against the windshield. You can hardly see it. The hardest part about installation is running the wire for the mic. Thats kind of a pain. Seriously, it cost under $200 bucks, a steal compared to the 500 to 800 for the OEM Bluetooth. You can program voice dials and you can link up to 3 phones to it. Handy if you have a personal and a work cell like me.

[dubenvy]

part number you need to integrate Bluetooth to any Bose or non-bose Symphony:

(1) 10-pin connector block, Audi part #357 035 447B
(3) wire connectors, Audi part # 000 979 133

[B6 Dude]

Great info. Thanks. I think with ~$500+ for the Audi option, I'm leaning towards Parrot or Ego Talk, and most emphasis will be on making it stealth. Can anyone with either of these options tell me if the enclosures (for the Parrot or Ego-Talk units) can be easily opened up (screws vs. molded-shut), so I can access the electronics?