GotMyA5

My 2012 A5 came with Audi's radio. Unfortunately, and probably illegally, it seems that XM Radio made a deal with Audi to not allow any auxiliary connections to the stereo. That's right, no Bluetooth or USB stereo connections. Even though Bluetooth and USB audio were both over 15 years old at the time the car was made, and the car has a Bluetooth receiver, Audi / VW decided to block stereo over Bluetooth.
I bought this Bovee Bluetooth adapter which seems to be the recommendation. It works ok, however it seems like as soon as I click unlock (to unlock the doors), the Bovee gets powered up, and if my phone's Pandora isn't open at that time, the Bovee is somehow never able to connect to it until it has fully powered down. That state of being fully powered down takes at least several minutes (seems like 10 minutes) after the car is shut off.
In other words, if I don't remember to open my phone and start Pandora before I unlock my car, I won't have music as I'm driving.
This is extremely irritating and makes me not want to buy another VW product. However...
Is there some solution to this? Is there something better than this Bovee device, or can I replace the Audi stereo with something else?
I really only need a stereo that has a volume **** and USB / Bluetooth support. It doesn't need streaming support, just plain old audio profile support, which Bluetooth and USB have had since the mid-90s. Is it practical to replace their stereo, or is it so well integrated in the car that it's a big operation to change it?
This is my main irritation with this car, and it's a big irritation every time I get into it.
I asked Audi if there's a software fix for it and they say no, but you can buy a new Audi and it will work.

captain_video

Which Audi sound system do you have in the A5? If you have the basic Audi Concert system then Alpine makes a head unit for the European market that is an exact replacement and interfaces with the car's CAN bus. If you have the B&O or a system with navigation then they apparently make an adapter that allows you to interface it with the factory system. You can also get a backup camera that integrates with the system.

Alpine X702D-A5

You can find these units on ebay from European sellers. You can also try contacting Christian at EnfigCarStereo.com. I believe he was looking into importing these units for sale here in the U.S. You can download maps for North America and install them for use here in the U.S. I have the 1st generation X701D-A4 in my 2014 A4 and it works great. It has both USB and Bluetooth interfaces. There are several threads on this unit in the Car Audio & OEM Integration subforum over at the Audizine forums.