Please hell with my car audio,i am so done with it,if i need to replace it so be it
That should solve everything at once in way less time that trying to check every connection on the board, but if you have a magnifier and can scrutinize every solder joint, sure, have at it.
The speakers are easy to isolate and test. But unless you've been blasting the volume, odds are it is just the "board" and possibly wet corroded speaker wire connections at the board.
If a place can properly repair it, go for it. But probably just as easy to replace it. https://www.ebay.com/itm/398045034304 The one tradeoff there is a replacement then requires the component protection to be reset. So a dealership or shop with ODIS that can do it as cheaply as you can find. A shop half hour would be a lot less than a dealership if the dealership charges a 1hr min. The task probably takes 10 minutes max.
As for what's actually wrong with the amp, who can know. Especially remotely.
Are the audio issues only with the radio source, or also other sources? Because the radio unit is right below the amp. When my amp got nuked by water from the sunroof drain coming down the headliner (you'll notice it's shaped to drop the water off right into the fan opening on the amp), I only needed to bother with the amp; the radio was fine.
In my case, the left side audio plays without resetting the CP, so I just listen to it like that. Not worth $160 or whatever and an hour trip to the dealership just to reset that. If something happens and I can just toss that in on some visit, sure. Otherwise, I have a different long term plan that'll remove the entire entertainment stack in the left rear (because I'm MMI 2G; wouldn't be feasible with MMI 3G).
Dealer programming hurts. But in the US, 2G was (they swear) discontinued years ago and even though US 4G (not the same as worldwide 4G, which is called 4GLTE here) is actually 3G with fast tower connections...3G was supposedly discontinued here too.
So installing a new 2G or 3G anything is a painful thought.
DIN standard sizing made life so much simpler! Sometimes I get tempted to cut a nice double-DIN sized hole in my dashboard and do what Audi should have done!
Last edited by Redd; Jun 17, 2026 at 04:32 PM.
I got away from the aftermarket config when I got my G35, which had that integrated setup with the climate controls board. Took too long for Metra to finally work out a mounting kit. And what things are out there these days as factory upgrades appear to all leverage iDatalink Maestro, which just happens to not support our vehicles.
Should be standard form factor and standard bus interface. But we see where it all went. Proprietary control. Now Audi has an app store in the car, and you can spend money to buy virtual cockpit themes. The sad part is average people today probably thing that's a cool thing.
I cheat, I use a Trimble GPS in the lower left of the windshield (above the air vent) or Velcro an older smaller Garmin (which can call POIs on my phone) right over the AMI display. Oth with lifetime maps and quarterly updates at no extra charge.
(That is what the basic orange display is called, yes? AMI? Or is that what the glovebox plug is called?)
Last edited by Redd; Jun 17, 2026 at 08:44 PM.









