Funny how fast you get used to new technology. Only for some years ago, you definitely wanted that navigation system in your car. And ouch, the € 2.500,- was a pain, but hey, worth it. The VW RNS510 in my campervan worked fine. Even the navigation was ok. But the sound was not too good and how do I connect Spotify? So I needed a new headunit. In fact: only a screen and Apple Carplay (and Android Auto for my son) was needed. This is all I need: Google Maps (or Waze), Spotify and a radio app like TuneIn. Okay, give me DAB for free, but probably the antenna won’t work as promised. At first I wanted an OEM headunit and found the RCD330, only sold in VW in Asia, not in Europe, but with only FM radio and Apple Carplay. Beware: there are many fake RCD330 on the market, sometimes named RCD360, or without the memorycard slot. You don’t want this. I found an original one in Germany. But it did not fit. Why? I learned that a California has a Multivan dashboard. And that is different from a standard and more common VW Transporter dash, including the size of the headunit space!
Then I bought the Alpine iLX-702D with
- VW Multivan dashboard mount trim (be aware, this one will fit, but in my opinion it’s not the right one)
- APF-X300VW CAN adapter cables for retaining the parking sensors and displaying (nothing more) images for airco settings. I don’t have a multifunctional steering wheel, but this should also work with the CAN.
- USB cable
- Double-Fakra antenna adapter with phantom feed
In the video below you will see my first vlog and hassle to replace the RNS for the Alpine. In short: definitely an upgrade in sound, fixating the 1 DIN headunit did not work out and in my opinion the Alpine graphics are poor. Stated before: switch to Apple Carplay and everything works fine! If I should do it again I think I choose the Alpine iLX-903D. Looks a bit better, you can place it more upright so there will be less sunlight reflection and hopefully a better mounting in the dash.