[Iain_L]

Checked our local dealer today for the price to bring my RNS 850 firmware and maps up to date (they’d not been updated since car was new in April 2016); £350 he said. Picked my jaw up off the floor, crawled back into car, and decided to contact Julian at VAG-Technik.

Well, a much more reasonable £80 inc postage, initial communication excellent, so now I just eagerly await the SD cards.

Apart from ‘follow his instructions’ and ‘keep the battery on a charger whilst you do it’ anyone else else got any tips? Was the process really as straightforward as it appears to be?

Fingers crossed.

 

[New2Tregs]

I've updated the firmware on mine only as the NAV latest updates available for N.A. are way outdated.
It was easy to do the firmware, very straight forward. Follow any instructions given to the "T", or search for threads here to find instructions to familiarize yourself with the process.
Definitely make sure the battery stays hooked up and the voltage doesn't go low because if the update process is interrupted it could brick the unit.
Firmware update on mine took ~ 25 minutes. I hear the NAV can take up to 1 1/2 hrs.
When your done you're going to have 2 faults in the 5F module that I don't think anyone has resolved in getting rid of, due to you updating the system yourself without being connected to the VW Mother ship.

 

[Davey2021]

£350?!?! WTF?!?! Money for old rope aint it!?!

I'm wary of running the update myself, murphy's law and all that...

Did you stealer dealer say what you actually get from the update for your £350?

Thanks

 

[Iain_L]

£350?!?! WTF?!?! Money for old rope aint it!?!

I'm wary of running the update myself, murphy's law and all that...

Did you stealer dealer say what you actually get from the update for your £350?

Thanks

That £350 would give you the latest maps and the activation code. Not exactly good value. He did seem to think any subsequent updates would be free, but neither he nor the Service Manager could say definitively.

 

[Davey2021]

Is that it?! With Merc, you get a year of live traffic updates and a year of free updates (confirmed, not wishy washy maybe, maybe not) too! Correct me if I'm wrong, but that feature from VW is another load of £?! And I am guessing they couldnt or wouldnt tell you how long the maps on the rns system will be kept updated?

I'm really giving thought to one of these carplay systems, that way I can use Waze (all map updates are free) and I will get realtime traffic info (for free)!

What freaking planet is VW on? They seem to want to charge over the odds for tech that is literally free nowadays!

£350 is about 1/3 of the cost of a CarPlay retrofit....

 

[Iain_L]

Well, looks like the update worked. Communication from Julian ([email protected]) was excellent, instructions were clear, and Julian answered any questions very quickly. The firmware update took about 20 minutes, and the map update possibly about an hour (I left for dinner during it so don’t know for sure). The map didn’t update through the standard update, and I had to follow the User Defined instructions, also supplied.

All in all very pleased, and now happy with up to date maps.

 

[Cass]

Well, looks like the update worked. Communication from Julian ([email protected]) was excellent, instructions were clear, and Julian answered any questions very quickly. The firmware update took about 20 minutes, and the map update possibly about an hour (I left for dinner during it so don’t know for sure). The map didn’t update through the standard update, and I had to follow the User Defined instructions, also supplied.

All in all very pleased, and now happy with up to date maps.

Good to hear this option is still open for map updates.

What was the cost and what version of maps did you install 🤔

 

[Iain_L]

Good to hear this option is still open for map updates.

What was the cost and what version of maps did you install 🤔

Morning Cass,

It cost me £80 incl postage to UK, SD cards took about 10 days to arrive. Once I had ordered and paid I was asked for my VIN (required for the activation SD card).

I updated my system from firmware HN+_EU_VW_P0822 to 0823, and the maps from ECE 6.22.3 to ECE 6.34.1

 

[Cass]

I’ve used Julian before to update my maps and it’s maybe time to do them again. I had my RNS850 media control unit replaced under warranty about 4 years ago and the dealer did them FOC but it’s probably time to update them again 👍

 

[Iain_L]

Yeah, mine were the original maps from 6 years ago, guess from the mileage on the car the previous owner never really went anywhere. Even up here in northern Scotland some roads have changed in that time 🤣🤣🤣. Have to say I was impressed with the quality of Julian’s speed of communication, instructions, and willingness to help out answering any questions during the process.