CD upgrade from standard Chorus unit

The Car Spy

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MY GF's 2001 A2 has a tired Chrous radio/cassette unit and she would like to upgrade it to a CD player. Can anybody suggest a suitable Audi head unit that will fit the A2? Failing that is there a decent (halfords-sourced) after-market unit that will do a decent job? Many thanks! I rashly purchased a smart-looking Audi Concert unit on eBay thinking it would fit but it is over-sized for the little A2 :(
 
Forgot to mention, the concert/symphony II radios run from the comfort Can and not the infotainment.
 
Spike is usually right on these things. Mine is March 2001 and I'm sure I don't have CAN to the headunit.
 
You might not have CAN to the headunit, but I have found that all it requires are the two wires from the cluster to the HU. You can usually move a couple pins from the clk/data/enable lines to the canbus pins. I never said I was right about it, I said it might be possible, but after 8 years of installing radios and navs into Audis I could be wrong :)
 
Ok, looking at the cluster pin outs, unless it has a DIS then it won't have clk/data/enable lines as they are in the grey connector which is not there if there is no DIS. So the convenience can wires are in the green connector on pins 22 high and 23 low. So it might just be a case if running a pair of wires from these pins to the CAN high & low of the new concert.
 
You might not have CAN to the headunit, but I have found that all it requires are the two wires from the cluster to the HU. You can usually move a couple pins from the clk/data/enable lines to the canbus pins. I never said I was right about it, I said it might be possible, but after 8 years of installing radios and navs into Audis I could be wrong :)

I wasn't saying you're wrong, I was simply referring to Spike providing the May 2001 switch over date. As the difference may result in how the OP might approach to fit his new head unit. But you could be quite right about the wires too http://www.a2oc.net/forum/showthread.php?5026-Concert-2&p=38873#post38873 but I only recall someone rewired CAN on a later continental European model that strangely didn't have a headunit. I don't remember anyone else with a early 2001 car attempting to re-wire from the clocks. It'd be interesting if someone does it though. But I think the common perception is that, getting an ipod connector is better and easier and no one bothered to try the re-wire.
 
In our different ways we have all had the interests of our club members at heart and these are the key factors from all our posts -

. A2 head units are the only ones which are a direct fit in the dash but radios from other Audi models can be made to fit by trimming the front panel.
. Consider using an ipod rather than going for a new radio / CD head unit or adding a CD changer.
. To update from a series1 chorus / concert radio cassette head unit to a series 2 unit with CD player then be aware its not plug and play.
. If they can remove the instrument cluster and have wiring skills its possible to run CAN high and low wires to the radio to make it work correctly.
. If they don't want to run the new CAN wiring then a canbus emulator is an easy but expensive way to make the series2 radio work in a pre May 2001 car.

Cheers Spike
 
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In fact, I might be trying out the re-wiring on mine. As my concert I volume bug is getting quite bad which affects everything including the ipod. It'll cost £90 to get it fixed while it isn't much more to get a decent aftermarket unit. But none looks OE, understated enough I might bid a used concert 2 just for looks. Just need to find time to fiddle with wire crimps and panel trimming.
 
If they don't want to run the new CAN wiring then a canbus emulator is an easy but expensive way to make the series2 radio work in a pre May 2001 car.

If I may resurrect an 8 year old thread - my car was produced June 2001 (no DIS) - according to the above it should have CAN, correct? Or is it that both the date and the existence of DIS governs CAN? Can I tell by just removing it and checking at the back or is this info not true anymore and only post 2002 cars have CAN?
 
The CAN extension to the radio arrived with the 2002 model year ('51-'02 reg) I believe. If your car has an OEM headunit with one central knob, it's still the 2001 model year.
 
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