RNS-510 - blown hard disk after 400 miles / 1 week

monstersinc1

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 7, 2011
Location
Central NJ
TDI
2012 Passat TDI SEL
Just learned today my RNS-510 unit has to be replaced. About a week after I got the car (approx 400 miles), I turned on the car one day and it was asking me to insert a NAV cd/dvd. In addition the MDI (ipod) input stopped working as well as SD card input. Radio (AM/FM/SAT) continued to work fine. Dealer finally got me in today and they have diagnosed it as a bad RNS-510 (hard disk?). They have to order one in (from Europe) with a two week lead time.
 

740GLE

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Location
NH
TDI
2015 Passat SEL, 2017 Alltrack SE; BB 2010 Sedan Man; 2012 Passat,
ask them how much that'd cost if it wasn't under warranty, you'll be amazed!

Good luck with the dealer.
 

MyAvocation

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 9, 2004
Location
Hoffman Estates, IL
TDI
2017 Passat SEL TSI
Once outside of warrany, my recommendation is temporarily move the drive to a computer and run SpinRite on it. If it fixes the problem, save an image of the drive, buy replacement, restore image and you're good to go (also run SpinRite on the new drive -- should do so on EVERY one you own).
 

MyAvocation

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 9, 2004
Location
Hoffman Estates, IL
TDI
2017 Passat SEL TSI
So poking around a bit, seems our friends in Oz have tackled upgrading the RNS510 to larger drive capacities, partitioning and SSD! The main benefit of SSD is faster load times & scrolling, but overall not a fix to all lag issues. It should be noted the drive interface is IDE/PATA, so either that or the CPU are the bottleneck.
VWNAVI.COM
VWwatercooled.org.au

If this type of DIY interests you, I wouldn't wait too long to buy the drive. Computers are no longer built with this interface, so finding direct fit replacements are sure to dry up. And it doesn't appear there's room to install a SATA-PATA adapter.
 
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