Got a standard Stream head unit in my 2006 pre facelift vrs what's the best nav head unit to put in that will pretty much drop straight in

You can fit the columbus unit but you will need to upgrade the can gateway to avoid the battery drain issue.

How and what is that? Sounds complicated

On that age of car it should be super easy as it lives behind the glovebox. It will need coding to your car after fitting, a task for any one who is local to you with VCDS.

As Langers has said remove glovebox should be there. Pm Eddie-NL on here for a new can gateway. He should be able. To code it for you aswell.

What's your budget?  You can fit the Kenwood DNX-525DAB.  You will need to replace the stereo surround with the Octavia NAV one, which is straightforward.  It's another option for you, and it works with the existing CAN gateway, but it's not the cheapest option.  It will give you NAV, DAB+, USB, Bluetooth (2 phones at once) and MicroSDHC inputs, as well as CD/DVD (it will play DVDs) and video file playback, and the ability to accept a couple of audio & video inputs, smartphone screen mirroring & a reversing camera (not included).  Dealers offer it as an alternative to the standard-fit head units.  The illumination colour has a preset to match the Skoda's green, but it can also be set to any other colour.

 

Fitting the DAB is the trickiest part, as everything else just plugs straight in, and mounting the GPS aerial (right behind the head unit) is easy & invisible.  The DAB aerial requires fitting to the screen, and then the A-pillar trim needs to be unclipped to run the wire, but it's not tricky.  Probably on a par with with removing the glovebox to swap the CAN gateway.

 

The cheapest I've seen it, with everything you need apart from the surround is £750 from a Skoda dealer via eBay.

 

I've got one, and I rather like it, but I've never tried the columbus unit so I don't know how it compares.

I had looked at aftermarket ones like pioneer and the Chinese lookalikes but wasn't sure on compatibility. Don't really want to be messing with the can gateway and dab isn't important to me either. I had seen a pioneer unit in VAG style anyone tried them?

Edited 18 July, 201510 yr by VRsGlos

Brodit phone holder and Google maps. Sorted

I had a Chinese clone for a while and will be upgrading to an android unit.

You can fit the columbus unit but you will need to upgrade the can gateway to avoid the battery drain issue.

There is a modified firmware available for the Columbus when retro fitting to an older vehicle with an older CAN gateway.

Look on RNS firmware or My Gti websites.

What's your budget? You can fit the Kenwood DNX-525DAB. You will need to replace the stereo surround with the Octavia NAV one, which is straightforward. It's another option for you, and it works with the existing CAN gateway, but it's not the cheapest option. It will give you NAV, DAB+, USB, Bluetooth (2 phones at once) and MicroSDHC inputs, as well as CD/DVD (it will play DVDs) and video file playback, and the ability to accept a couple of audio & video inputs, smartphone screen mirroring & a reversing camera (not included). Dealers offer it as an alternative to the standard-fit head units. The illumination colour has a preset to match the Skoda's green, but it can also be set to any other colour.

Fitting the DAB is the trickiest part, as everything else just plugs straight in, and mounting the GPS aerial (right behind the head unit) is easy & invisible. The DAB aerial requires fitting to the screen, and then the A-pillar trim needs to be unclipped to run the wire, but it's not tricky. Probably on a par with with removing the glovebox to swap the CAN gateway.

The cheapest I've seen it, with everything you need apart from the surround is £750 from a Skoda dealer via eBay.

I've got one, and I rather like it, but I've never tried the columbus unit so I don't know how it compares.

I quite fancy this unit, can't seem to fathom which surround of need on eBay, can you point me in the direction of which one it is? I currently have the bolero unit in my mk2

Cheers!

I quite fancy this unit, can't seem to fathom which surround of need on eBay, can you point me in the direction of which one it is? I currently have the bolero unit in my mk2

Cheers!

 

This one (on Skoda Parts) if you just have the manual heater/AC controls (like me):

http://www.skodaparts.com/product/octavia-radio-trim-for-sat-nav-2004-2008-50284

This one (on Skoda Parts) if you just have the manual heater/AC controls (like me):

http://www.skodaparts.com/product/octavia-radio-trim-for-sat-nav-2004-2008-50284

Ah great! How is the install? Relatively plug and play?

Ah great! How is the install? Relatively plug and play?

 

Pretty much, just need to remove the LH pillar trim to fit the DAB aerial, the LH dash end to run the cable through, and you need to fit the GPS antenna to the cross-car beam behind the dash (easily accessible & obvious when the old stereo is out).  The kit includes a box to interface to the CAN so it switches on with the ignition, and senses the handbrake and reverse gear (for video playback and reversing cam, if you fit one) - you can bypass the handbrake by cutting & earthing one wire, so your passenger can watch video on the move.  I believe it works with the MFSW as well, but I don't have one.  It also provides power to the FM aerial, and works with a single or twin (diversity) aerial connector - if you only have a single aerial, it's pretty easy to persuade the connector into the number 1 side of the twin fakra connector.  There's loads of room behind & around the stereo for all the wiring to tuck away.

Pretty much, just need to remove the LH pillar trim to fit the DAB aerial, the LH dash end to run the cable through, and you need to fit the GPS antenna to the cross-car beam behind the dash (easily accessible & obvious when the old stereo is out). The kit includes a box to interface to the CAN so it switches on with the ignition, and senses the handbrake and reverse gear (for video playback and reversing cam, if you fit one) - you can bypass the handbrake by cutting & earthing one wire, so your passenger can watch video on the move. I believe it works with the MFSW as well, but I don't have one. It also provides power to the FM aerial, and works with a single or twin (diversity) aerial connector - if you only have a single aerial, it's pretty easy to persuade the connector into the number 1 side of the twin fakra connector. There's loads of room behind & around the stereo for all the wiring to tuck away.

Can tell it's been a while since I've done anything remotely technical, I struggled to read and comprehend what you said at the same time! While browsing the Skoda parts site, am I dreaming or is the price different between manual heater control facia and the climatronic facia a bit extreme?

Can tell it's been a while since I've done anything remotely technical, I struggled to read and comprehend what you said at the same time! While browsing the Skoda parts site, am I dreaming or is the price different between manual heater control facia and the climatronic facia a bit extreme?

 

Everything plugs in to pretty obvious & unique connectors, there are no wires to splice or anything (unless you do the handbrake mod - not essential).  The old fascia pops out from the bottom, and can be carefully levered out from the sides and top (use plastic trim tools to do this), then there are four torx screws to remove the old stereo & fit the new one.

 

As for the radio surround prices, silver plastic is clearly more expensive than grey.

Apart from a slightly stubborn quadlock, it took me 10 minutes to swap my Bolero for a Columbus (thanks Eddie!). As a added bonus, the nav directions are on the maxidot without needing any re-coding! For £230 (unit plus surround) I'm a happy boy!