2015 A3 Cabriolet: Is voice disabled?/rear seat headrests
 

Just got my Lotus Grey 2015 Cab yesterday. Stunning. The aluminum inserts in the interior are gorgeous. The B/O sound sounds amazing, especially with my Pono player, using a $12 AMI cable from Amazon.

I've only started to scratch the surface of the MMI/Audi Connect. It will need a whole weekend. But is the voice control disabled on the A3 cab?? There's a mention that that is so for the A5, etc.

And: do the rear headrests come out? They TOTALLY block the rearview.


Looking forward to figuring out the nav system. I'm a geek, and this seems like some complicated stuff!

Congratulations!

I've had mine for a couple of months and can confirm that yes, the voice control is disabled. However, in a live Audi event a couple weeks ago, the Audi folks confirmed this as well as said your dealer can enable this for you.

I checked with my dealer and they said they could do it. I'm holding off until my first maintenance to have mine enabled because I don't want to bring it in just for that.

The B&O certainly sounds great and the NAV/MMI is easy to use once you get the feel where everything is. I've used the MMI Connect app on my iPhone to stream as well as update destinations.

I don't know about the rear headrest as I've not tried to take them out.

The temp today was in the upper 50s so I put the top down on the way home from work. Loved it. Can't wait for warmer weather.

Mike

To remove the rear headrests, you must push in the release button and hold it, while lifting upwards on the headrest, but that's not all: Opposite the release button is a small hole. You must insert a nail or other skinny rod into this hole and hold it in while you push the release button and lift the rest. Also, it is easier to get the proper leverage if you first release the seatback latches in the trunk, so you can lean the rear seatbacks forward while you pull up on the headrests. You won't believe how the rearward view improves! Too bad we can't get the Euro-style ones here that retract almost all the way into the seatback when not needed, because I feel I have to keep the removed headrests in the car just in case.

FYI Regarding Voice Command in the Cabriolet. I had nothing better to do today so I made an appointment with my Audi dealer to have the Voice Command activated. I spent about an hour there, and when I got my car back the voice command was operational. Woo Hoo! Now I just have to figure out how to use it. LOL.

NOTE: This coding change was not possible with model years prior to 2015 according to my dealer. I had spoken to my salesman in advance, who contacted the service department, who then contacted Audi because they had never done it before, and did not have the codes/instructions to do this procedure. Sure enough, Audi provided them with the necessary codes and instructions to carry out the job. The point is, notify your dealer ahead of time to make sure they have the ability to perform the job. If they're like my dealership, they'll need a few days' lead time to get the information from Audi as this process is new for 2015, at least according to my dealer.

They do come out completely. My 89-year old mother (coolest woman I know!) bought a red w/black top A3 Cab a few months ago and like you, she found the headrests obscured her view out the back. My salesman showed me how to remove the headrests. There is a slot at the base of the plastic fitting where the metal prongs slide into the seat. You get a not too wide flat head screw driver and gently push it in while you pull up the headrest engaging the release button as you would for a normal height adjustment. Sounds like it might be hard to manage with just two hands, but it really isn't. They came right out.

I don't suppose you could have your dealer contact my dealer to get those codes? I've had mine looking into doing this for me for the last 3 weeks and everywhere they turn they get told it's not possible (I do have a 2015 A3 cabriolet). I'd really like to get the voice commands working (at least for the phone) so that I can be more hands-free.

My dealer had to contact Audi of America to get the proper codes and the procedure for updating the system, as they had never done it before. They told me it wasn;t possible with earlier versions of the MMI, as the 2015 A3 has a newer system than the rest of the Audi model lineup. I haven't used it much, but I did try it to make sure it worked after they did all the programming, and it seemed to be working just fine for me.

If your dealer is having trouble getting the correct method, maybe they could call my dealer and ask to speak with someone in the service department, as they definitely were able to do it successfully on my 2015 A3 Cabrio. My dealer is Audi of Wynnewood and the number for their Service department is:
(888) 903-0439

Best of luck!
Peter

Thank you for the contact information, Peter. I'll have my Audi dealer reach out to understand what's involved!

-Steve

2015 A3 Cabriolet rear headrests
 

Just purchased a new Premium Plus A3 Cab and the rear head rests cause a visibility issue and detract from the looks of the car whit the top down. I have removed the rear head rests but as I watch European reviews of the A3, I see a sleeker rear head rest design that does not interfere with rear visibility and they look much better. Does anyone know if these are available in the US?

Agree 100% on the headrests. I had the salesman at the dealership remove mine before I left the lot with my car. Given the amount of room in the back seats, I don't suspect I'll ever have anyone actually riding on the back so I'm not the least bit worried about them not being there!

Question on the voice enablement...did the dealer charge you to do enable this?
Sam