RD45 Upgrade - What to buy?

[asaf400]

Hello, I'm a proud new owner of a C5 X7,
After reading on here, and contemplating on what to do,
I have decided to stay with original equipment and only upgrade the existing RD4 unit and replace the busted display (pixels are burned out)
With the RD45 which includes Aux and Bluetooth support..

Now from what I can see, there's either Chinese clones? of the RD45 on AliExpress,
which forum peeps have reported to successfully install them, and that they work,
Or I can go for Original 2nd hand ones from eBay sellers..

Which one should I go for?
taking into consideration that Audio Quality and Unit reliability is important to me,
and that in my country there isn't any fancy features like NavMaps..

My VIN is:
VF7**************[VIN obfuscated, can be read by forum staff]

Also one final thing, my current unit is I guess rare in that it is colored gray, and not black, as part of the 2 tone interior

[xantia_v6]

Some, if not most of the RD45s on Ali and other sites are not clones, but are "recycled" units that have been pulled from new vehicles which were being upgraded.

There are several different front panel versions for these radios, and some are rare or non-existant on an RD45. For my conversion, I transferred the original RD4 plastic panel to the RD45, but this requires trimming the plastic and modifying some metal tabs to fit.

Also be aware that most European RD4s have dual antenna inputs, but most of the available RD45s have only a single antenna connector (ignore the green connector on the RD45, it is not functional).

[GiveMeABreak]

The actual trim colour for the interior is called 'MATINAL ANODIZZATO'. Of course if you have decided to not just replace the screen which is likely faulty , and have instead opted to upgrade to RD45, then you'll need a different screen compatible with the RD45 as well as the RD45 unit itself and it will need VIN coding and configuring. You also may not have the microphone wiring available, so be prepared to have to wire in a separate microphone.

[asaf400]

@xantia_v6
Thanks for the clarification of the origin of those Ali units,
I read about the single vs dual antenna deal, I haven't checked yet what I currently have,
since I just got the car 2 weeks ago, there's lots to do

@GiveMeABreak
First let me say that you are an absolute god send,
you answers are in practically any topic I've read so far about the C5 X7 \ Radios,
And I was sad to hear about the steering rack problems you had \ have..

Thanks for telling me the name of the interior, I've seen those different options in the Docs Backup VM I have,
I didn't know what mine was.
and also thanks for giving me the heads up about the VIN coding in the radio units,
I read online they replaced the code from a simple 4 digit password to just VIN locking,
it was actually this forum that gave me the code for the original radio unit in my Xantia.

so yeah, I'll make sure I'm buying a 'kit' from someone that validated the screen & radio are working together, and that they code my VIN into that.

and I'm not scared of tearing stuff off, take a look at my poor Xantia, my Sony earbuds fall behind the radio,
apparently there's a small hole in the corner of the radio sliding door..
I had to tear up everything to get them back, funny thing is, AC works without the AC controls
I will get everything back in place this weekend

[GiveMeABreak]

Your current RD4 unit in the C5 is only a Mono Tuner Unit, for clarification. But also be aware that apart from the VIN coding, you may need to change the parameters in the BSI for the new screen and head unit as some of the features may not be activated or configured for an RD45.

[xantia_v6]

The RD45 also needs to be programmed for the presence or absence of analog and usb auxiliary inputs.

[asaf400]

I do have a Lexia Chinese clone laying around which I bought for the Xantia years ago, but I'm not sure if it's full-chip,
and I haven't used it in years, but it did work for the Xantia,
I'll need to reinstall diagbox on a laptop, (32-bit windows 7\8.1) and I already read that 7.XX are the versions I would most likely need,
as I understand that Diagbox 9.XX doesn't have the ECU coding capabilities..
(viewtopic.php?p=695799#p695799)

Worse case, I'll visit a garage\shop that has Lexia and pay them for using it to fiddle around with the RD45 programming

@GiveMeABreak
Thanks for the clarification about my tuner

@xantia_v6
Also I forgot to mention, thanks for letting me know about the front panel transfer and modification you did,
I guess that is the option I'll go with as well

[asaf400]

Good news, I've just installed Diagbox 7.58 on Win8.1 32-bit (Vmware VM), plugged in my existing VCI to it,
hooked up to the OBD, and BAM, it all works !!

I should now have a way to:

• Reconfigure the EMF-C or Radio for Aux, Bluetooth support, etc..
• Reprogram Immobilizer keys + resync remote transponder
  the car was sold to me with only a single remote and key, I bough an extra key with remote (ASK modulation) on Ali, and I wanted to program and sync that
  (I've that that programming before on my Xantia but not on Diagbox, it was on the Key duplication shop, with a specialized device, nonetheless I know the procedure, and that both keys needs to be present for reprogramming, as well as the Immobilizer Code, which I should be able to get from the local dealership)
• Recode the VIN on the Radio in case the seller on whatever site I buy the RD45 on forgets to do it for me

One question though, I read this comment from you @GiveMeABreak
viewtopic.php?p=719492#p719492
Can you elaborate on that, could I not reprogram the radio \ screen offline with diagbox?


P.S
Thanks this fellow for the tip about activation error ( hopefully okay to link to other forums? )
https://mhhauto.com/Thread-Diagbox-erro ... pid1902824

[GiveMeABreak]

That comment was relating to another topic and just meant in context that Diagbox needs to be in internet-connected mode to PSA servers when performing an automatic download or ECU configuration.

It's not needed to pair the fobs though, so you will be fine, as this is a specific maintenance operation not an ECU download.

[asaf400]

Ahh got you, Okay yeah, thanks for the info once again

[KSTD22]

Hello!

I have changed my headunit in my Citroen C4 (2007) to RD45. It works perfectly with absolut audiofil quality sound in my JBL system. I like it very, very much, but my slight colour display (96 609544ZD-01), and the Cd changer (5 discs Blaupunkt) is not compatible with this unit. Can You help me somebody with the compatible colour display and Cd cahanger units?

Thank You very, very much!

Peter

[GiveMeABreak]

If you have replaced the Head Unit to an RD45 you of course will need to update the MFD to an EMF-C display with an appropriate software version, as the EMF-C screen also contains an ECU that manages some functions of the the RD45. There is also the likelihood that the configuration options for the RD45 need changing to allow the CD Changer option to be enabled if the RD45 was new or from another vehicle as it may be retaining older settings with the CD changer option disabled.

Although it's possible to add the RD45, it was never offered as an option on the original C4, and I don't know what year your C4 is. Furthermore, on the original C4, the CD changers fitted were Bosch, not Blaupunkt, so may not be compatible, which is another thing to consider.

[KSTD22]

Yes, I had EMF-C display, but I changed it coloured EMF-C one. Thats number is 96609544ZD-01.
My car's date year is 2007 (Citroen C4 exclusive).
The display programmed by everything (Cd changer option, handsfree option, parking sensor, etc.) The bluetooth streaming and USB option weren't in the display options by DIAGBOX. If I know well, this options started after 2010 year modells, marked "EMF-C BL".
My colour display is from C5 car and it has not BL marking. That is why I am searching for a colour display identification from Peugeot or Citroen wich has these options.

My car's genuine, factory Cd changer in the armrest is 5 disc Balupunkt. I can send photos about everything.

The RD45 Cd changer connector has fewer pinouts than it needed. That is why I would like to get help how can I connect the Cd cahnger to RD45? When I connect my genuine one, it starts the test provedure and goes to standby. But because no SOURCE option, I can't use this.

[asaf400]

Just jumping in here to report that my new RD45 arrived within less than 3 days,
And I just couldn't wait, I installed the unit and replaced my burned out screen in the middle of the night.

Everything just worked straight away,
I now have Bluetooth, Aux, Handsfree calling (built-in with RD45) with the stock PSA hardware, both units (radio + display) came in very well packaged and protected,
And it all looks brand new, clean and shiny, and both in pristine condition, I'm very happy with this upgrade
I'm glad I bought from the UK with 6-months warranty,
It was item on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/112813449128, from this fellow: https://www.ebay.com/usr/oem_car_audio? ... 3561.l2559

The seller pre-programmed my VIN into the unit correctly,
and even asked me about the configuration of my car for the options ( CD changer [no], Parking assist [no, I have 3rd party system installed] )
The Unit was manufactured in the Czech Rep.

I'd like to thank this forum for helping.


@KSTD22 Personally I'd recommend you would create a topic of your own,
nothing against the discussion but my thread's title is mainly about the origin of Chinese Ali express RD45 units,
and for reaffirming that my plan for the RD4 to RD45 is a sensible decision..

Also, as other posts in the forum have stated, Diagbox options available depend on the version of diagbox, and it was recommended to use 7.57 for C5 III X7 (RD),
I'm not sure about 2007 Citroen C4 exclusive..

Edit:
also note that the colored display is quite rare I think,
in my search I have never seen it, never knew it existed, until you brought it up in this thread..
I would have wanted that for myself as well, but it felt like it is more non-standard, more unconventional, so I opted to just use the more common? Amber pixelated display
(I may be completely wrong, I honestly don't know..)

[asaf400]

@xantia_v6
I already dismantled my RD4 for the face panel transfer, I see that it is indeed possible, but does require some tinkering and adjustments,
Thanks for the tip, I'll post a picture once the transplant is done [hopefully]