Reinstaling the original Audi Concert radio year 2000

A

a2lover

Member
Hello everybody

When I bought my A2 from the year 2000 it did.not had the original radio, it had installed a Sony radio shown in the image.
I would like to put the original radio back, however I am not sure whether or not changes were made to the docking system to install the current sony radio. Can you see from the photos if changes were made to the original installation?

Additionally, if I want to install the original radio, would i just need to fit the new radio? Can Audi Concert radios from the year 2000 be used from other Audi models such as the Audi A3 from the year 2000?
Do I need a code if I buy another car radio to get it working?

Thanks
Regards
 

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Good Evening,

I am not into all this head unit tech so not the best person to answer but I will have a go anyway.

Yes, no reason why you cannot revert to OEM. A year 2000 A2 would have had a generation I head unit such as the Concert I or Chorus I (cassette based). The unit you are showing I think is a Concert II from year 2002 on, why are you focussing on this? It matters as generation I and II work differently and are not fully compatible. A generation II will work to a large extent in an older car and wiring can be arranged to make it fully compatible if you know what you are doing, or engage somebody who does.

Other Audi model head units like picture 3 are basically the same but often will not fit by being too wide for our A2's, only a few other models have the same width and you have to know which. You can 'chop' other units from other Audi models down if you are up to it and do not look too bad but far easier to buy an A2 unit, always coming up in our Marketplace (You are a member?).

Pictures 4 & 5 looks standard but any prior nasty butchery will be of the cables supplying the head unit, it is these on which you should focus and show.

If a head unit is not sold with a code you have to buy it, ebay circa £5.

I tried, goodnight.

Andy
 
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Agree witht the above, easier to find original unit from an a2, the hard part with be if the loom is chopped. If it hasn't then it's easy to plug in a period correct model. From sketchy knowledge I heard that early cars had non canbus wiring with a change around 2002 to full canbus. May want to research a bit more on that before you place a wanted ad for an early unit. 😀
 
The Gen.I OEM headunits used the 'traditional' power and illumination live-feeds from the ignition and lighting circuits. The only OEM oddity was the drive to the rear speakers (if fitted) - with the separate rear amp handling a flat output from the headunit. So if you wanted to put an OEM headunit back into an early A2 (pre-2002 model year) with a non-OEM unit fitted, you might not find too much butchery behind the dash - I guess, depending on any difference between the connectors used.

The problem with any OEM Gen.I headunit though, is that they all suffer from a firmware fault on one of their chips. This dooms the unit to eventually output at either zero volume or maximum volume, with no further adjustment possible. If you buy a working secondhand unit, you've no way of knowing if it is near this point, or if it has potentially years of service left.

The Gen.II units, like the Concert II pictured, sit on the car's CAN network. They receive illumination control via it, also potentially volume/skip commands from an MFSW, and they can also output data across the CAN to the DIS display. If you want to fit a Gen.II headunit to a pre-2002MY A2, then you need a CANbus extension from the existing network into the back of the headunit, otherwise you won't be able to see its controls in the dark.
 
Proghound said:
The problem with any OEM Gen.I headunit though, is that they all suffer from a firmware fault on one of their chips. This dooms the unit to eventually output at either zero volume or maximum volume, with no further adjustment possible. If you buy a working secondhand unit, you've no way of knowing if it is near this point, or if it has potentially years of service left.
Click to expand...
I had this problem. I bought reprogrammed chip which should solve permanently the problem.
Also, if I remember correctly (I might have mixed the manufacturers) models manufactured by Grundig have this problem, models manufactured by japanese manufacturer do not have it. But these are secone hand info, so I do not know if they are 100% correct.
 
mtl said:
I had this problem. I bought reprogrammed chip which should solve permanently the problem.
Also, if I remember correctly (I might have mixed the manufacturers) models manufactured by Grundig have this problem, models manufactured by japanese manufacturer do not have it. But these are secone hand info, so I do not know if they are 100% correct.
Click to expand...
Several members in the Mk1 TT Forum have done the chip fix, and it works.
It's the Blaupunkt version that fails. Plenty of info on YouTube. I have no idea who can spp the chip. A guy in Poland I think.
Mac.
 
Hello everyone

thank you all for your answers they helped me to get an idea of what might be the best solution.
So the best thing in my case would be to look for a first generation concert unit and try to install that unit right? did the first generation have a cassette player? It's curious because I don't see the slot for the cassette player removing the current radio.

Is there a video or tutorial on how to reinsinstall concert i?

thank you all for sharing knowledge

greetings
 

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Good Evening,

As I said earlier I am not into all this head unit tech but looks to me you have only removed the front facia of the radio, you are looking at the front of the rest of the radio. No idea how it will come out but I would remove the infill strips on each sides and inspect. Thinking about it you will have what has been removed which will bear identification, Google the original installation/manual it may well include removal instructions but certainly give insight.

Andy

Edit. Looking now at your first post it is a Sony unit, identify the model number.

Edit. Personally I would put in a Concert II and sort out the minor incompatibility issues later.
 
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Andy is exactly right. Sony (and others) had removable facias on their radios, as an anti-theft device.

Please work out how to remove the entire Sony radio, and then come back with a clear photo of the space in the dash where the radio had been.

Whether or not you will be able to fit a Concert II (an upgrade on the original) will depend on whether or not you have access to an appropriately skilled auto electrician. You don't appear to be based in the UK, so please update your profile here so that we are easily able to see where it is you actually live.

Not all Concert / Concert II radios will fit into the A2, since Audi made the same radio with a series of different sized facias to fit into different models of car.
 
I have just gone through such a task.
I was lucky as the aftermarket Sony Item was fitted using the original Audi plugs.
My first recommendation is to remove your aftermarket unit and see what electrics are like behind.
If still all original, with any chance you can simply plug your OEM Audi unit in..
The OEM unit is 22cm wide (front face). Make sure you check this before purchase..
Best of luck...
 
It's likely that the Sony is fitted into a metal "cage" that is, in turn, fitted into the dash recess that held the original Audi unit. If at all possible, you should find a pair of Sony removal tools, to get the radio out of the cage, (into which it is latched, hence the need for removal keys). Then removing the cage. Once that's out, the original radio should fit, it latches into the dash recess, no cage. You'll need a pair of Audi removal tools, so that you can test fit the Audi radio, and remove it again.
Good luck.
Mac.
 
hey @a2lover did you sort this out? i have the same aftermarket sony as you and looking to revert back to stock. id be interested to see how you got on
 
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