HU upgrade questions Octavia2 prefacelift

[halfv8]

Hi,

 

I recently got an Octavia 2, it's an early 2004 pre-facelift with Stream HU. My old car had an Alpine HU with an Ipod Classic permanently connected, giving easy access to my entire music library from the HU controls and display. I want to do the same in the Octavia but keep it looking stock so considering perhaps something like a used Bolero with a Dension BT unit to connect the Ipod and perhaps also A2DP music from my Android phone as a bonus. I've started to read threads about swapping the HU which seems far from simple. If I'm understanding correctly I need to buy a canbus gateway and then find a garage to read the old vcds coding, then have them code the new gateway to avoid the battery draining. It's an old car and I' don't want to invest too much £££s so a newer HU + Dension + canbus gateway + coding is starting to sound expensive and a bit of a faff. Have I got this right or is their an easier way of going about this? Is there an idiots guide? Would an aftermarket HU be plug and play or is it the same issue?

 

Sorry if this has been covered in old threads but I've used the search function and have found snippets of info in various threads, but I'm struggling to piece it all together coherently.

Edited 26 September, 2017 by halfv8

[JakeG]

after the similar thing for myself (want to stream Bluetooth music to HU)  did you find a solution to this?

[halfv8]

I went for a Dension Gateway Lite BT, installed it a couple of weeks ago. You have to use the mobile or ipod to select the music which is not ideal when on the move, but it seemed too much faff swapping the HU. It's a compromise, I might change my mind in a few months!