Motorway cruiser ICE upgrades

[Hinny]

Hello all!
Long time lurker, got a Q which I haven't seen come up.
Got offered a contract all the way down south so i'll be doing at least a 700 mile round trip every weekend with probably 200 miles thrown in during the week.
I read the hell out of the best used motorway cruiser threads which basically summise as: (for diesels)
Audi A6 (2.7) A8 (3.0/4.2)
BMW 530d or 730d
Merc CLA, CLS or E class (270, 320, 350 all models)
Volvo S60 or S80 (2.4 all models)

and I've narrowed my choice down to either the A8 (3.0) or the CLS 320 as both seem like excellent shouts and won't be too numbing for the 20 hours a week i'm in the car. (also open to suggestions, though I'm not convinced by anything Citreon)

Tech has most so bloody fast lately my phone doesn't even have an Aux out and these cars don't appear to support bluetooth for music!

What can I do to upgrade the head units so I can have spotify, sat nav and the rest? Would appreciate any help!

[DocJock]

Bluetooth adapter

[giantdefy]

Or one of these

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bluetooth-TaoTronics-Hand...

[ZX10R NIN]

I replaced the unit in my CLK63 with this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pioneer-car-stereo-SPH-...

It's a fantastic unit & works really well.

[Hinny]

Any chance of a picture of it installed please? I guess it just has a facia round it?

I had looked at the Bluetooth streamers but Im looking for a factory like option rather than cables an wires everywhere if I can

[Condi]

What is your budget?

Alpine do some incredible ICE replacements for specific models which ensure full functionality from steering wheel buttons etc. The ICE for an Audi A4 is about £1500, but will do everything you could ever ask of it.

https://www.alpine.co.uk/p/Products/headunits-for-...


EDIT: I'd not discount the smaller cars from Audi, BMW, Merc etc. The A4 with S-Line seats is a very comfortable place to sit, and in 170hp 2.0, or 3.0 diesel versions are more than capable of motorway work. The Merc C class is similarly capable, and no doubt a 3 series the same, although maybe you want something more 'wafty'.

Edited by Condi on Sunday 2nd June 09:58

[ZX10R NIN]

Hinny said:

Any chance of a picture of it installed please? I guess it just has a facia round it?

I had looked at the Bluetooth streamers but I'm looking for a factory like option rather than cables an wires everywhere if I can

I'm away at the Isle of Man but if you go onto google images you'll find images of your car with a double din unit, I've had my surround wrapped to match my gloss back centre, I'd say you'd want to wrap it so you don't have a lot of plastic on show.

[Hinny]

ZX10R NIN said:

I'm away at the Isle of Man but if you go onto google images you'll find images of your car with a double din unit, I've had my surround wrapped to match my gloss back centre, I'd say you'd want to wrap it so you don't have a lot of plastic on show.

Thanks mate good shout, enjoy!

Depends which car I eventually buy, but wouldn't worry if I spent 7-800 for a head unit all in. Never looked at the alpine stuff before, looks good thank you 😊

I just had an A4 Quattro black edition B7 for a daily, honestly, I wasn't impressed with the road noise on the motorway. Compared to the xtype I had before that or my mates 5 series it was louder. Excellent car in all weather's for driving, but for cruising up n down for hours at a time. Would have rather have had an A6 in the end, was loud, crap for passengers and the ride was a bit stiff. Quattro though was ridiculously good

[markirl]

Had a D3 A8 and pretty much the only negative I could find was the fact that there was no reasonably priced way to stream music from my phone!