Restyled Interior
 

Has anyone done an overhaul to the interior of their A6 C5?
Basically to pretty much upgrade the cars cabin. I brainstorm a lot, so I was thinking what if it was done, like the seats from a C6, updated tech thru-out the car, stuff like that. We see so many exterior mods I was wondering if anyone has jumped on a project to modernize a C5.

Check out 5speed6 v.2 His build thread for his a6 is cool.

I'd like to think the interior of the C5 has held up well despite it's age. The gauges, buttons, MFD, radio, etc. still manages to look modern despite being over a decade old. I think an RNS-E upgrade to the Symphony radio can add some modern tech to the car, but I think the C5 interior is one of the best interiors I've had the pleasure of sitting in. There's immense utilitarian functionality, everything is very symmetrical and there's an understated elegance and sophistication to the design that still appeals to me today.

I agree. I kinda wish there was a nice factory option for XM radio and Bluetooth connection for our smart phone but ya, overall it's held up really well!

(Besides the crazy crappy cup holders that either break real easy or hardly support a cup, lol)

Well, if you buy an RNS-E, you can buy the factory satellite tuner and the factory bluetooth module that integrates with the RNS-E therefore integrating with the MFD, but the prices are insane for the modules.

$1200+ just for that RNS-E... >.< that's killer on a car that's this old and really the only thing to gain is satellite and Bluetooth. (I can't picture that cd based sat nav is better then an iPhone with a good sat nav app now adays)

You can do the sat radio upgrade, but you would need the Symphony II radio from 2004-2005 that has the Sat radio button, and do a bit of wiring work similar to the nav unit harness (quadlock connector on the back).

You can do the OEM Bluetooth unit, but the integration without the RNS-E is just okay. Better option is to look at aftermarket like Parrot or Moto for a good BT kit, which simply can plug into a connector in the back of your existing radio.

As far as other interior upgrades, you cannot retrofit easily seats from a C6, B6, B7 etc (the A4/S4 platform to get OEM Recaro seats), as the mounting points are different. I've seen it done a couple of times on the various forums, but nobody ever posted how they modified the floor pan to accept the different seats.

I've upgraded my 2002 A6 with quite a few goodies a few years back, including the RNS-E, OEM Bluetooth, OEM S6 Euro-weave carbon fiber trim (slightly different then the US RS6 carbon fiber...has blue specs), US RS6 seats, and RS6 alcantara interior (headliner and pillar trim). I also installed a DVD player in the trunk (plays on the RNS-E), but admittedly, I have not used that in over a year.

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Happen to have a part number for the unit with the sat button? Also, recommendation in which BT kit? I seem to get a lot of calls while I'm driving for some reason...

I don't have it handy, but can find it. You should check out this post (B6 forum, but same process) to see all that is involved before you decide to pull the trigger.

I'd probably get a Dension unit and hook up my iPhone instead of doing the OEM sat radio.

or you could get something like this and with a lot of the 21st century features built-in (i.e. BT, SD, etc...)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/7HD-Audi-A6-Car-DVD-Player-AutoRadio-GPS-Navi-Multimedia-Radio-Ipod-RDS-TV-/231108549876?pt=US_Video_In_Dash_Units_w_GPS&hash=item35cf249cf4&vxp=mtr