Confirming AMI self install is quite possible--succeeded today on first try. Lots of info inside...

[MP4.2+6.0]

Just completed it and seems to function in full just as others have described from the handful of dealer installs.

My car: a 2006 W12. From prior posts what is important seems to be your glove box has the second drive bay to the right of the CD player (with the dummy felt covered plastic box in there before the install), and that your MMI software is up to date.

Tools needed: Very little; 1. small screwdriver--basically about the largest jeweler's size--to do the connector related changeover work. 2. Audi radio removal tools--the little forked things that sell for about $10. I hadn't caught this in the prior AMI posts, but I had them already from prior Audis; turned out they were included in the AMI unit box too.

Time: About 2 hours (same as what some posts have mentioned Audi dealers quote basically). I took my time, reading the instructions carefully at each step. With experience, it should take an hour or a bit less. All done sitting in the passenger seat. You never have to get on your back under the dash, at least if you skip the glovebox removal as I did. The instructions are actually painfully detailed, apparently to cover every possible scenario across A4's, A5's, A6's and A8's. They are in a stapled booklet in a bunch of languages. 11 pp. for the English section, including clear drawings for the wire and optical connector changeovers. It was worrisome when I saw only German on the cover, but then I saw the English ones deeper inside the booklet. The instructions come with the wire and optical loom part number--basically a box that was 90% air, the wire loom in a bag with the optical ends all carefully capped, and the installation instruction manual.

Degree of difficulty: Call it a 4 out of 10 compared to stereo wiring I used to do. Very little disassembly and no drilling, wire crimping, user splicing or anything like that. Hardest thing was simply getting the CD player out with the cheap removal tools. Eventually I pulled out the dummy box to the right where the AMI unit later goes in. Doing that first allows you to get your hand behind the CD player and then push forward as you fiddle with the removal tools. If you have ever worked with modern Audi wire connectors, none of the wire and optical loom changeover stuff will seem hard; the instructions are very detailed on this step. Way, way easier than the older days of pin by pin rewiring for D Navi on D2's and C5's a few of us dealt with once upon a time.

VAG COM programming. Both the instructions and some posts refer to some coding of 050 170. Still not sure where that was. Instead, I just told VAG COM in Group 19 that I was now using media unit position 2 (the right hand drive slot) in addition to media unit position 1 (where the CD player goes). The Audi instructions refer to something similar, though of course they discuss it with the dealer computer equipment instead of a VAG COM. In VAG COM it is done using the user friendly short cuts to the "long code" method. You just check the box and then store the new long code string it gives you back. I will look at more posts on the 050 170 code stuff, but meanwhile I confirmed it all seems to work--MMI display, console control, steering wheel control, charging the iPod, etc. After I was done I re scanned for errors and had none; you do get some as you first enable the second media unit (which the instructions seem to confirm would happen since they refer to clearing the fault memory at a couple of steps right at this point).

MMI programming: I wasn't sweating this, since I had mine previously updated to fix the "lost surround sound settings overnight" per the magic words of the TSB on it. And, no issue arose here (other than still wondering what the 050 170 stuff is; some other posts I had scanned suggested perhaps that may be more important in an MP3 application).

Basic parts: Three of them just as have been posted before by part number: the AMI unit, the combo optical and power cable that splices into the existing CD connection, and the end connector to the player (in my case for an iPod). As I expected, the combo cable is basically just a one into two splitter for the electrical power side, and on the optical side it extends the optical loop to route from the CD player to the AMI and then back into the car fiber optic loop for the electronics, instead of just in and out of only the CD player. All the optical stuff has the ends terminated already; you are just moving one of the optical cables from the CD connector over to a joining thru connector included with the loom for the other end of what becomes the AMI optical connector.

Other supplies that would have been good to have: the Audi type cloth tape you find around wiring looms. I used a thin black quasi duct tape instead to improvise. Helpful to minimize wire rattling. I also used it where the optical cables met at the connectors, since the Audi hard plastic protective sheath didn't quite reach the connector which could result in the optical cable getting kinked there if you aren't careful putting the units in.

Tip: Instructions say you need to take the glove box out. I found you didn't, which saves time. The only reason I could see to do so would be to use plastic tie straps on the wires---not enough room to get in there without removing it. But, with cloth tape on any of the hard plastic connectors, I was pretty satisfied it wasn't going to rattle; the cables are pretty stiff. The wrap around self stick foam wire cover would have been a great solution here had I known ahead of time.

To 06A8's prior posts about the Canadian dealer problem not comprehending the parts needed, an interesting note is the AMI unit was factory packed inside of a CD changer box, with a picture of the changer just like the A8 uses on the outside. At first I thought I got the wrong thing. The box does have the right part number on the factory sticker (4E0 057 785), though even the Audi warehouse routing sticker says "Material description: CD-CHANGER." Inside, the styrofoam is obviously shaped to the AMI unit rather than a CD player. Just some early/prototype Audi packaging snafu I guess.

Parts: I sourced mine at Clair. The Riverside parts prices previously posted are somewhat cheaper. But Mack at Clair always gives me good attention and parts number support (like my sway bar research), and if there was a parts number mix up, I expect they would have taken them back without much hassle. Mack seemed to be saying all the parts were showing as available when I ordered them about a week ago. The dealers usually already have the iPod cable in stock.

[Rowlie]

Thanks for this helpful and thoughtful post. I'm working up the courage to do this myself since my dealer seems unwilling.

[PaulW]

I finally went to a hockey store and bought a few rolls and it makes really nice wiring harnesses.

Sounds easy. Congrats!

[Mister Bally]

Will the AMI work on a 2004 A8L with Satellite Radio and CD changer?

I may have to get with this iPod stuff someday.

[MP4.2+6.0]

But all the posts point to needing to have the MMI software up to date, and the install instructions seem to read on this too--though they make a global statement about using the dealer programming equipment to check coding of all the systems to be sure it's current.

Instructions also read like early A8's don't have the two bay glove box set up, You will need to check that. Could mean a glove box replace too, which the instructions talk about.

[Maxster4.2]

[Rowlie]

I'm anxious to get this installed, but am thinking I would prefer to have the AMI closer to the driver's seat than the cd changer. I think I'll be plugging in my iPhone a lot more frequently than changing CD's.

Is there enough play in the cables to allow this to happen?

[MP4.2+6.0]

Seemed quite possible. Lots and lots of cable back there. The power cable was slightly tighter but I don't know it even mattered which unit you plugged into which power lead, since the harness was basically a splitter.

In fact the only real argument I saw for dropping the glove box was there was an excess of cable to where I didn't want to pinch the optical as I pushed it back in and have it get unexpectedly kinked.

[Rowlie]

[A8 - 4.2L]

MP4.2+6.0, I'm contemplating this install and was interested in the actual instructions/box/etc. that came with your unit - if you have no further need for them, I'd be interested. Please let me know. I tried to email, but the link isn't there.

Regards,
-Harry