# How to update the RNS-510 Navigation Database (illustrated how-to and what-to-expect guide)



## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

My aunt recently asked me to update the navigation database (the maps) in her 2010 Tiguan. I was a bit surprised to find that the process was not quite as straightforward as updating the maps in my 2004 Phaeton (for that, I just buy a new set of CDs and stuff the appropriate new CD in the reader) or updating the maps in a Garmin device (hook it up to the internet and press a few buttons).

It seems that the RNS-510 - at least, the version in the 2010 Tiguan, anyway - stores the navigation database internally, inside memory capacity in the device itself that is dedicated to storing the cartography. Hence, updating the maps involves getting media with new cartography (a DVD), stuffing the DVD into the RNS-510, then waiting a while until the RNS-510 copies the new navigation data from the DVD onto its own dedicated memory. Once that copying process has completed - about 2 hours - the DVD can be removed and it will not be needed again.

I get the impression that there may be more than one manufacturing variation of the RNS-510. So, to avoid any confusion, the device I am talking about here is identified by a diagnostic scan (VAG-COM or VAS 505x) as follows:

*Details from VAG-COM Scan*

Address 17: Instruments (J285) Labels: 5K0-920-xxx-17.clb
Part No SW: 5N0 920 871 A HW: 5N0 920 871 A
Component: KOMBI H05 0305 
Serial number: 00000000000000
Coding: 310D00

Address 2E: Media Player 3 (J650) Labels: 5N0-035-342.lbl
Part No SW: 5N0 035 342 B HW: 5N0 035 342 B
Component: SG EXT.PLAYER H13 0090 
Revision: A1001003 
Coding: 010000

Address 37: Navigation (J0506) Labels: 1T0-035-680.clb
*Part No SW: 3C0 035 684 C HW: 3C0 035 684 C
Component: RNS-MID H04 1000 *
Revision: AB001001 
Coding: 240700000100008600

Address 47: Sound System (R12) Labels: None
Part No HW: 5K0 035 456 
Component: KonzernAmp 8K H06 0340 
Revision: -------- 

Address 56: Radio (J0506) Labels: 1T0-035-680.clb
Part No SW: 3C0 035 684 C HW: 3C0 035 684 C
Component: RNS-MID H04 1000 
Revision: AB001001 

I kind of suspect that the only information essential to identify the RNS-510 is that contained in Address 37, where the device is identified as a RNS-MID with hardware version H04 and software version 1000. But, because I don't have any experience with this vehicle or this navigation system, I've included the additional information about related controllers just in case anyone needs it.

The first thing I discovered was that the price of the nav database update was a heck of a lot more than I expected it to be. The update has a list price of USD $199 at the navigation.com website, but that doesn't include $30 in shipping (cheaper shipping is available, but only in the USA), and the price is in USD. Converted into Canadian $, the darn update cost me $263, which is a heck of a lot of money, especially considering that one can buy a complete portable Garmin navigation device with lifetime map updates for the same price. Heck, Garmin only charges $99 for lifetime map updates of a Garmin device that was not sold with the lifetime update package included. I know Garmin uses Navteq cartography, and I am pretty sure that VW also uses Navteq cartography. All I can say is that I think the automobile manufacturers - and VW is not the only guilty party here - are going to have to wake up and smell the coffee, otherwise, customers are just not going to bother buying OEM nav equipment in the first place, let alone paying $250 a year to keep the nav database current. Garmin and other aftermarket manufacturers are going to eat the OEM's lunch.

Anyway, the ordering process was pretty simple, the usual internet purchase with a credit card, and the DVD arrived a few days later. It came with a pretty comprehensive little instruction book inside.

*The Update DVD*




I noticed that the DVD carried a part number that looked an awful lot like a VW part number (7L6 919 859). Before starting this process, I had asked my local VW dealer how to get a navigation update disc, and they told me that VW parts did not supply the discs, they had to be ordered via the navigation.com website. I'm going to guess that my VW dealer was probably trying to distance themselves from the wrath of customers once the customers discovered that the darn update disc cost over $200. But, then again, maybe it is not possible to order this via the VW parts system, even though it has a VW part number on it.

The instruction book enclosed in the disc caddy did a pretty good job of explaining - in writing - how to go about carrying out the update, and what to expect. The gist of the instructions is as follows: _"Stick the DVD into the RNS 510, and leave it there until the RNS-510 tells you to remove it"._ That's pretty simple, but the RNS-510 will not tell you that you can remove the disc until you press the eject button (presumably to stick an audio CD in). I think that if you just stick the navigation update DVD in and leave it there, it will remain inside the device until you attempt to eject the update DVD.

Here's how the update process went: 

I connected the battery of the Tiguan to a battery maintainer (more information here: Purchasing and using a Battery Maintainer for your Phaeton), because I had no plans to drive the Tiguan and I knew that it would take a while to transfer the new cartography from the DVD to the RNS-510's internal storage. I suppose I could have left the engine running for the two-hour process, but it was easier all around for me to just hook up the battery maintainer.

I stuffed the DVD into the slot in the face of the RNS-510, and was presented with the following message:

*Messages that appear when new navigation database DVD is first inserted
*

*followed about a minute later by*


I was a bit disappointed by the second message - it was not as clear, lucid, and unambiguous as I would expect from a fairly new navigation system. By _"prior entries will be discarded"_, the system meant that any active routes presently being navigated would be cancelled. The wording of the message left open the risk of interpreting it as _"Keep doing this, and you are going to get your address book of personal waypoints erased"_, which was not the case. The statement "The database on this DVD is different than the previous one" didn't provide as much information as it could have - a message to the effect of "This DVD contains North America database version 7, the database present in the navigation system is North America database version 6" would have made things a lot more clear. I was left wondering if it might even be possible to inadvertently downgrade to an even older database if the wrong DVD (for example, a version 5 DVD) was inserted.

I pressed the CONTINUE button, and nothing further (visually) was presented on the screen. I could hear the DVD whirring around inside the device, so I knew something was happening. But it sure would have been nice if a message to the effect of _"The new database is being loaded" _or similar appeared after pressing CONTINUE.

I had read the instruction booklet that accompanied the new DVD prior to starting, and had seen a statement in the instruction booklet that if the EJECT button was pressed once the update process began, the RNS-510 would offer the option of either cancelling the update, or notifying the user when the update was complete. Because I had no plans to use the vehicle after the update was done, and because I wanted to get the update DVD out of the vehicle at the end of the update process, I pressed the EJECT button a few minutes after the update process had started. But, nothing happened when I pushed the update button - the whirring didn't stop, no messages appeared on the screen, nada. So, I left the vehicle alone and went inside for about half an hour.

When I returned a half an hour later, the message below was present on the screen:

*Message that appeared many minutes after pressing the EJECT button*


I wanted to get notification of when the update was done, so, I pressed the NOTIFY WHEN FINISHED button. I don't know if the system would have notified me that the update was finished if I had not pressed the EJECT button to bring up this message, the instruction booklet was not clear about that.

After about another hour (in other words, about 90 minutes total since beginning the process), the following message appeared:

*Message at end of data transfer process*


I suppose a question such as the above makes sense in the European region, where it is possible to purchase multiple different databases (one for Germany, one for Switzerland, one for Poland, etc.). If a driver is just going to make a day trip to a neighboring region, it might make sense to not over-write the 'home region' cartography with the cartography for the region that is just being temporarily visited. But, for the North America marketplace, this struck me as a pretty stupid and unnecessary question. The North American database contains coverage for all of Canada, the USA, and Mexico. What tiny percentage of North American database users are ever going to need any cartographic coverage outside of those three countries? I think it would make a heck of a lot more sense if the system just automatically wrote North American database updates to internal memory rather than asking the above question, but that's just my opinion.

I pressed the SAVE button. The 'Please Wait' message appeared and persisted for a couple of minutes, then finally this message appeared:

*Last Question of the Process*


I pressed the EJECT button, and that was the end of the update process. The DVD was ejected. Because the new cartography was written to the internal memory of the RNS-510, it was not necessary to leave the DVD in the device. I think that the only possible future need for the DVD would be if the RNS-510 unit failed and was replaced with another one - in that case, the Version 7 information could once again be loaded into the new device.

I was a bit surprised that there was no 'unlocking' process for the new data. All one had to do was just stuff the new DVD into the RNS-510, and let it rip. In theory, one navigation update DVD could be used over and over again in multiple different vehicles, although I would never dream of doing that because it would be a violation of the licence agreement. I mean, after all, if the vendor is so gracious as to only charge me CAD $263 for a single navigation update, how ungrateful would it be of me to violate the licence agreement and let someone else use the DVD in their vehicle? Perish the thought...

...but, before the thought _completely _perished, I did a little investigation, and found that the navigation DVD that I had purchased would work in all of the following vehicles:

*List of Vehicles That use this Exact Same DVD
*

Fascinating, eh?

Anyway, to sum up the whole process:

- It takes about 90 to 120 minutes to update the nav database. This time might vary if newer or older RNS-510 devices are equipped with faster or slower internal storage media.

- It's not necessary to leave the vehicle sitting still with a battery maintainer hooked up or the engine running while the update is carried out. The instruction brochure explains that you can, if you wish, just stuff the new DVD into the RNS-510 and go about your normal driving, and eventually, the system will finish the update (presumably this might span several different driving cycles).

- It appears that there are numerous different hardware and software versions of the RNS-510. My experience above applies to the system in the 2010 Tiguan. I have been told that the very newest RNS-510 units use a SD (Secure Digital) card for navigation updates, and I am going to presume that the SD card probably has provision in it to limit application of the update to one vehicle only.

The one question that I could not find an answer for:

How does one determine what version of the navigation database is present in an RNS-510 unit? I couldn't find a menu item to display details about the currently loaded cartography within the SETUP menu of the RNS-510, and the instruction booklet did not contain any information about how to confirm (after ejection of the DVD) what cartography was present in the RNS-510. If anyone knows the answer to this (the answer probably being some magic combination of button presses, for example, put the car in reverse, move the electric seat all the way aft, honk the horn and then the nav version will appear on the RNS-510 screen), please let me know.

Best regards,

Michael


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## soda_speak (Nov 22, 2013)

PanEuropean said:


> How does one determine what version of the navigation database is present in an RNS-510 unit? I couldn't find a menu item to display details about the currently loaded cartography within the SETUP menu of the RNS-510, and the instruction booklet did not contain any information about how to confirm (after ejection of the DVD) what cartography was present in the RNS-510. If anyone knows the answer to this please let me know.


Press and hold the SETUP button and the NAV db version number will be displayed...I think V7 corresponds with v.8050.


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## DavidPaul (Nov 28, 2009)

PanEuropean,

That was a very nice write up.

You are correct in that VW is dropping the OEM Nav unit ball. 

My 2009 Eos has an RNS510 that I installed a couple of years ago.

My 2013 CC, Sport Plus has an RNS3315 that was OEM.

Until recently, when all RNS510 updates were via DVD, my dealership would allow me to borrow theirs for updates, even though they didn't get a new one until it was a year old and the next version was available.

Now that the updates are coming out on an SD card, the dealerships are no longer getting updates.

My RNS315, which came in my brand new 13 CC, over a year ago, came in with an old version of the map. Again, no update is available except through the normal $200 cost process via Navteq.

So, here we have a brand new OEM nav unit (RNS315) with an old data base and I have to pay to have it as updated as the car is. When my 13 CC was built and the Nav unit installed, the new version was available but was not installed.


You are also right in the fact that VW and the dealerships want to get themselves as far away as possible to the wrath that new customers will have regarding an old map data base.

Since I plan on keeping my Eos indefinitely, I will eventually bight the bullet and purchase a new data base for the RNS510 but not so for my 13 CC.

In 2 years, if not sooner, my 13 CC will be replaced by a different brand and you can bet that I will make sure the manufacturer has enough sense to give me a nav unit that is updatable without spending an arm and leg.

If that is not possible, I will definitely go after market. There are too many nice units out there and few, if any, cost as much as OEM.

Speaking of which, I only paid $1,000 for a brand new RNS510 a few years ago that I installed in my 09 Eos. It was a North American unit that was in a brand new Eos sent to Belgium under a Foreign Service agreement. 
Since it was useless in Europe as a Nav unit, I was able to get it for this low price. I would never spend more than that for a nav unit.

Once again, that was a very informative write up that you did and was totally accurate. I have had the same experiences with my previous upgrades and often doubted what was going on during the process.

Navteq believes they have us over a barrel and really think we cannot live without them regarding updates for OEM units. Easy solution, no more OEM units unless a dealership will guarantee me free updates for the entire time I own that car. 

Probably isn't going to happen.


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## denm33 (May 29, 2007)

Hi Pan, Enjoyed your post about the 510. 

I want to update my 2010 passat RNS 510, I am just trying to find out how to determine what firmware version i have. I have tried two suggestions to make the specs page come up:

1. press and hold setup. 
2. Press<> and the day/night (sun- half moon) buttons at the same time

Neither of these work on my 2010 radio. Any suggestions? thanks!

Also, I am trying to load WMA files (already have some MP3's on there) and I cannot get any to load. They copy, but there's an error on playback that says bad format. 

thanks for any tips you can provide. 

DenM


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