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I have other plans for the space taken up by the rear cup holders, which appear to be glued into the rear armrest.
Is there a way to remove them, short of brute force? Or to remove the rear arm rest and replace it? Something about an EU-spec one that is empty for first aid kit or other storage?
Any simple unobvious way to release the arm rest from the rear seat so it can be worked on?
I have other plans for the space taken up by the rear cup holders, which appear to be glued into the rear armrest.
Is there a way to remove them, short of brute force? Or to remove the rear arm rest and replace it? Something about an EU-spec one that is empty for first aid kit or other storage?
Any simple unobvious way to release the arm rest from the rear seat so it can be worked on?
Nothing in the parts catalog to replace it with. Only thing that goes in that space is the cup holder. The cupholder insert in the Q5 is also the same part for all other vehicles except the A8 line.
That's another beer I owe you! But I feel cheated, no special service tool required? How does that make me feel, not requiring special tools for my special Audi? (VBG)
North-
The space is just about the perfect size and position for a cell phone booster, which will boost the signal to/from all cell phones that are in the car, to an external antenna. Some folks don't understand the physics of it, but having the external antenna typically buys you two or three extra bars of signal, greatly extends your range in the boonies, and even in crowded areas, the way cell phones work is the "fm capture effect". The nearest towre may take the 100 strongest signals and if you're #101...your call gets dropped. So putting a little antenna on the roof (as well as boosting the signal power, from 600mW to 3W) pretty much gives you solid communications, in or out of town, when everyone else is saying "Can you hear me now?" (Best line that Verizon ever came up with.(G)
There's ot much to write up. The booster is a metal box, the size of a paperback book. There are three cords that connect. One, 12v power. That will run straight down to the rear fuse panel. The second is a "patch" antenna, the size of a bookmark, that is preferably installed vertically in the car. That's a compromise, since you don't want antennas near you head, groin, or body in general but you want this one close to wherever the phones might be. So, also installed in the armrest "under" the box, it will be vertical and facing forward, in the clear, through the bottom of the armrest. Which is normally "up" in the empty back seat.
And that leaves only the cable for the external antenna, which is a 6" whip as supplied. Until I can do some serious plumbing with the factory "shark fin" and replace that, I plan to just take that antenna cable out the rear door or the rear hatch when I'm doing a road trip. And replace it with a higher gain (taller) antenna that I already happen to own.
Really no big deal, finding a hollow place to stick the box was the biggest challenge.
There are similar boosters that require your phone to be in a "boosting cradle" and just work for the one phone, but that can also be a PITA with the need for a phone charging cord, fitting different phone sizes, only working for one person, etc. This makes it simple, although more expensive. (And still way cheaper than an Audi solution.)
PITA to access the sharkfin in the roof, pulling all the rear trim to get at it, but eventually the ToDo list will get short enough and I'll fit the antenna up there.
RSAP Roadside Safety Analysis Program (National Cooperative Highway Research Program)
RSAP Remote Service Access Point
RSAP Response Session Abort Positive (ITU-T)
RSAP Runway Safety Action Plan
RSAP Registered Substance Abuse Professional (Missouri)
RSAP Rivest, Shamir and Adleman Problem (number-theoretic reference problem)
RSAP RadioShack Answers Plus (in-store credit card)
RSAP Rated Staff Allocation Plan (US DoD)
Or you mean rSAP?
"This profile allows devices such as car phones with built-in GSM transceivers to connect to a SIM card in a Bluetooth enabled phone, thus the car phone itself doesn't require a separate SIM card. This profile is sometimes referred to as rSAP (remote-SIM-Access-Profile), though that name does not appear in the profile specification published by the Bluetooth SIG. Information on phones that support SAP can be found below:"
See, rSAP won't accomplish anything UNLESS Audi builds the complete GSM transceiver into the car--which they currently don't as a standard feature. You might get it in the MMI option, but since Audi doesn't mention it, who would expect it to be there?
rSAP apparently only "borrows" the SIM chip in your phone, if another complete "phone" is in the car. No gotz. Also, a full-fledged car phone is a 3 watt phone, a handheld is a 600mW maximum phone, that runs closer to 60mW when there is good tower coverage. So unless Audi were to build in full power phones...still no bargain.
The boosters, depending on make and model, will work with all modes, all carriers, and put out the full 3W of power when required. They'll also work with gain antennas, instead of the toy that's buried in the roof or the shark's fin. No rSAP needed, it is a picocell, also called a femtocell. Even works with phones that have no SIM card at all.
I suspect rSAP is at best half useless in the US, since it mandates that the car itself use a GSM-based carrier, and neither Sprint nor Verizon is one. Verizon being Carrier #1 in the US for some time now, and growing.
So heres the thing about all of our cars and rSAP...If you have a vehicle that has AudiConnect, then all of the necessary hardware is there. In Europe they have the wonderful option of pairing a bluetooth rSAP GSM phone to the vehicle which in effect turns the car into an actual cell phone itself. When this happens, all of the AudiConnect and GoogleMaps data runs over your own cell phone data connection. They still have the option to insert a sim card into the dash which would override that data connection and force it over the separate sim card's data connection. You see, we dont have that luxury here. They want to force us to pay for AudiConnect separately (The carriers make more money that way). Heres a blurb right on AUDI UK's build site for a '16 Q5:
I think here, this has to be bought with the MMI package? And that no hardware is actually in the car, unless you buy it that way. Or rather, if you buy the MMI, the hardware is part of that package?
Either way...the MMI was so poorly explained to me, and the price so extravagant, that I wasn't interested. (Let's see, Honda can offer standard backup cameras as a safety feature on cars less than half this price, but Audi won't?) Also of course, 3G phone equipment is actually being obsoleted as we speak. AT&T and others are actually shutting down 2G equipment starting in 2017, the same way they shut down analog and TDMA ten(?) years ago. 3G equipment, with less fanfare, is also being shut down and replaced with LTE equipment. Not just "4G", that's also being allowed to wither and die. Not that the speed matters to many of us, but 4G-LTE equipment will be most likely to connect to the towers, as all the new installations are for 4G-LTE expansion and coverage.
So being forced to buy a module that can't be updated, can't be replaced...really, they should be using double-DIN standard radios, and at least an "Audi standard" telecom box that could be upgraded as needed!
I love the way carmakers say "Well, map updates only come out every second year and we have to charge $300 because that's what the map companies force us..." Uh-huh, the same NavTeq map base that Garmin and Magellan can somehow sell for $75, lifetime updates, four times a year?
There used to be a saying among the MBAs in the canyons of Manhattan:
"Don't *iss on my head and tell me its raining."
06-25-2015, 04:03 PM
Remove, Replace, or Gut the rear arm rest?
