Aftermarket Head Unit / ICE System

Hi folks,

Have just purchased myself a 2012 VW Passat wagon and looking to upgrade the ICE system. The unit I have does not have GPS so figured I would go for a full upgrade.

Was looking at getting something similar to: ES7698AU 7" CAR DVD GPS OBD OPS Wifi VW Seat Skoda Passat EOS Caddy Golf 5 6 T5 | eBay

If anyone has any advice or recommendations I am open to options as I have not purchased anything yet. Ideally the new unit would have GPS, would link into the OBD system displaying boost pressure etc and would be a straight fit with no splicing/modifications of existing wiring.

Thanks in advance.

Hey mate, copying my answer from a thread down the page a bit.

There are heaps of options, and really depends on how much you want to spend and what you want out of it.

The easiest option is to just get an OEM RNS510 (various versions, theres a second hand one going on the forsale forums, but can also look to import one overseas, or people like jku.com.au who is a forum sponsor). Roughly ~$1000-1500 depending on version, and might require activating in VCDS. If you don't have bluetooth, you will need to buy the unit seperately (~$300-500), plus MDI cables for iPod integration etc.

Then there are aftermarkets, ranging from cheap chinese WinCE or Android units (~$300-400, Eonon), to higher end WinCE units/engineered OEM replica units (Audiosources ANS/DNS, Zenec, Dynavin, ~$600-1000), to tier 1 units from Pioneer/Alpine/Kenwood, plus fascia kit and interface kit (iDatalink) (~$1500+). Each has their disadvantages and advantages.

All of these units have the ability to hook in a RVC, and most will have the same basic functions etc.

I'd definitely recommend staying away from the generic, no brand chinese units, they're universally pretty awful. If you can't afford to spend much, definitely stick with a known brand like Eonon, either their Android or WinCE version.

But yea, really depends on how much you want to spend.