[Bungle2822]

Any one any ideas if the Homelink garrage door opener unit is retrofitable?

Its one option ive over looked, having the Advanced Key, i cant see me getting my keys out from coat, bag etc and my garrage door opener is attached to my keys. I can just see myself scrambling arround to locate my keys as i pull up, trying to open the door.

Any ideas?

Thanks R

 

[55 JWB]

I looked into this for my RS4 and it was very expensive, I cant find my original thread in another forum..

You could try one of these for your cigarette lighter socket? They are about £50 I think...

 

[loc]

Probably homelink can be retrofitted (well, most anything can but cost and work depends). There are at least two areas to research: the light console in the front roof which will hold the homelink buttons and under the bonnet where the homelink radio unit apparently is. Unfortunately homelink is not just a sunvisor to change in the A5 (as it has been in some past models), there are more components than that.

 

[Bungle2822]

Thanks boys, im going down to the parts department tomorrow morning, ill have a work see what we can find out.

R

 

[loc]

Do report what you found out! Thanks.

The homelink radio module should be somewhere behind the front grille/mask, so ask for the parts guy to look there (in the spare parts database) as well as the roof light unit where the buttons are.

 

[Bungle2822]

Will there be any other modules / interfaces do you think? The wiring loom should be there as from what I understand most of the wiring in the loom is installed in the factory as standard - there aren’t different looms for different spec cars they just install the whole lot but don’t connect anything up is that correct?

 

[loc]

Will there be any other modules / interfaces do you think?

I have no idea about what modules go where, but considering that homelink actually used to be all built into the sun visor in the older days, I would imagine no much more than the button assembly in the light console and a radio module under the bonnet plus wiring.

I don't know where the radio module is, my info comes from where the car manual says it is (read the section on homelink). As I don't actually own an A5 I can't re-check the exact info from the manual at this time, but I remember reading about it distinctly.

The wiring loom should be there as from what I understand most of the wiring in the loom is installed in the factory as standard - there aren’t different looms for different spec cars they just install the whole lot but don’t connect anything up is that correct?

Probably no such luck. There are different looms for different specs, current Audis definitely very, very rarely have the necessary looms ready for retrofit. Notable differences being some dealer-install prepared modules in some markets in some modules like navigation and sat-radio in A6 in the U.S. (but even these are not pre-wired in many European markets so it is a difference accommodating retrofit in the U.S. market where many cars are bought off the lot instead of factory ordered like in Europe). This is why people like Kufatec make good business selling retrofit cabling kits they manufacture themselves. It might actually be a good idea contacting kufatec.de and asking if they have a cabling solution ready for this, they might be helpful.

Hope this helps some. I would imagine retrofit is doable. It might even be relatively easy if you choose to install the homelink radio module somewhere other than under the bonnet which would require more wiring.

 

[Bungle2822]

Ok so it is possible, but you will need your credit card!

I got a call from the Parts department this afternoon.

I got the typical "oh that depends – I’m not quiet sure on this" but the basic response was

£130 for new dome with buttons
£40 - £100 for wiring loom depending on spec you car has - oh and what the technician finds when he takes your car apart - yer right as if!
£80 for transmitter
6 hrs labour (remove a pillar trim and possibly the front grill / bumper to install transmitter)

£600 then! I’ll look for an easier option

 

[55 JWB]

I’ll look for an easier option

I posted you one, very easy, quite cheap and not obvious with ashtray closed...

 

[Bungle2822]

I think your right Jason - you did say it was going to be expensive!

Replacement remote is the answer. I need to figure out if my older opener will work with the 868 freq but a phone call is probably the easiest way to find out.

Thanks R

 

[loc]

Thank you for reporting!

Just for the record some ideas, you probably will not consider them but just FYI:

You might get it done cheaper by using cabling from a third party (http://www.kufatec.de might respond to an email request) and doing install yourself or using someone specializing in retrofits like this.

This guy craigyb in the UK does a lot of retrofits, he is active in the navplus.us forums and seems to be interested in new kinds of retrofit projects:

http://www.tclsatnav.com

Also a good forum to ask about things like this:

http://www.navplus.us

Also, notes on removing the A pillar, glove box and the roof lighting console are here if you were to go at it by yourself. These are for A6, but A5 is very likely pretty much the same in this:

Bluetooth phone prep and speech dialogue system retrofit Audi A6 (4F/C6) Avant MMI High (possibly relevant also for Q7/A8)
http://www.geocities.com/a6retrofit/articles/a6phoneprep.html

This probably isn't the hardest of retrofits! The trim parts that need removing seem to come off easily (especially if one is not going to remove the front bumper but place the transmitter somewhere else) and cabling is probably limited to power and cabling between buttons and transmitter... of course it will be more difficult if full Audi cabling set is replaced, but if proper retrofit cables are obtained it would probably be relatively easy and similar to hooking up the microphone in the Bluetooth article above.

 

[loc]

Good info here guys, I collected this into a small article for future reference and sent it to the below linked site (not yet posted by the owner but I hope he will post it soonish). I remember this topic being asked about on A5OC.com earlier too...

http://www.geocities.com/a6retrofit/

 

[55 JWB]

This guy craigyb in the UK does a lot of retrofits, he is active in the navplus.us forums and seems to be interested in new kinds of retrofit projects:

Has done a fair bit of work for me in the past, cant recommend him enough... really knows his stuff

Sorry for small hijack, I have been talking to him about retro fitting the full voice command system in my car £380 fitted...

Jason

 

[loc]

Yeah, from what I hear Craig is a good guy with fair prices.

Retrofitting the speech module should be easy to do yourself too, if anyone is interested. Just as long as your can has full MMI (navi) and a phone prep (so you have the microphone), it goes inside the radio module in the trunk (left side). See end of this article for notes (skip all the hard stuff about Bluetooth retrofit unless you need to retrofit that too), it is the same for A5 as for A6:

Bluetooth phone prep and speech dialogue system retrofit Audi A6 (4F/C6) Avant MMI High
http://www.geocities.com/a6retrofit/articles/a6phoneprep.html

MK also updated my HomeLink notes on the sites. Thanks guys on this thread for the help, I documented it here for future referencing:

Retrofitting notes: HomeLink for Audi A5, A4 B8 and A6 etc.
http://www.geocities.com/a6retrofit/articles/homelink.html

 

[55 JWB]

cool, I will look into that more, the unit it around 380 euro's from Kufatec

 

[Bungle2822]

Update from Parts Department

I got a call from my parts manager today, telling me the price he quoted for the Transmitter was wrong.

The £80 he quoted was for the holder screws etc and wiring loom coming from behind the grill, the actual transmitter itself cost ......






wait for it




......











£430


My jaw dropped a mile, how the hell do the justify that..

He said its because must front end accidents will require the grill to be replaced and the transmitter is probably more than likely to me smashed aswell, so profits ahoy ... another reason our insurance premiums are so high!!

Oh well that seals that one then

 

[55 JWB]

My £50 fix looking quite attractive now

 

[loc]

Ay Caramba!! I need to update my article too...

 

[andyhud007]

Ok guys, old thread I know but just thoughts I'd update as I was snooping round ETKA and found the following diagrams/parts

These show the part numbers that I can find for the Homelink system, the only part I cant find is the wiring loom.

Bracket for control module
Control Module
Home Link buttons
New cover for roof button console to accomodate homelink buttons
Connectors
Wiring Loom?(which I cant find.. unless its already in the car?)
Nut for bracket

I've also put a screenshot up of the current cover without Homelink so you can see the part number differences and a couple of diagrams

Loc/Bungle..not sure if your still about or not, but hope this helps..

Oh, and the costs of course! (In UK Sterling)

Cheers

Andy

 

[turbo97se]

Homelink retrofit for US$85

Mine is actually an Audi A6 but would have to do the same kind of thing. I bought the dome light console from Ebay, took apart the button switch and soldered wires to a small fob garage door opener. The fob controller is 12V so you can wire it in to a 12V source in the console. The button pcb board needs to have all the components removed before the buttons can be used to operate the fob controller.

The range probably isn't as good as the OEM one but does the job

Ebay console with buttons $50
Garage remote $35

Homelink for $85!!

My only issue is that the colour of the cover I bought is white and not beige. How do I find the beige cover? I had thought about cutting the old plastic piece since the shape can be cut out from the back side but prefer to just buy it. Is there an online version of ETKA? Mercedes has EPC Startek info which is available on line or as DVDs. The only one I found only goes to 2005 and not 2008 which is what I need.

Thanks!


Thanks!