j_terron

not yet. discovered that after
i was putting it together.

just go it installed last week.

right now i just have it tight fitted
and pushed the way back. and i glued
the trim ring so its kinda solid.

but i might have to look for better way.

sirswift93

Well I held off on installing the Avic-Z Series and am now looking at the Avic-Z110bt. I have a 2001 CLK 320 Cab and just upgraded my teleaid II to Digital. Will swaping the bose head unit for the z110bt prevent the mbrace or teleaid from sending it's spoken message over the car speakers? I was told that the only thing in the audio system that was fiber was the cd changer and that if I kept the amp I could continue to use the teleaid since it just sends it's spoken message through the amp.

Thanks!

kas1419

So I just purchased a pioneer x910bt for my 2001 CLK 320. After reading multiple forums, I have come up with these tools that I need for the install.
1.) tool to remove old head unit
2.) antenna adapter
3.) steering wheel control adapter
4.) wiring harness
5.) dash kit, double-din

There are still some issues before I start my install though that I would appreciate help with and hope it can help others. The GPS install manual says to connect one wire to the Speed control and one to the parking brake. Is this necessary? will everything work without doing this? Also, will the speakers work without an adapter for the sound system ?

MarcusF

The Bose converter is less than $30 at Amazon. I paid less than $15 at Crutchfield. At those prices, I can't see why anyone would not use the converter.

Regarding the speakers, if you use an aftermarket HU to feed the Bose amp, the speakers will work but they won't sound as good as they would with a converter. If you use either the HU or a conventional amp to power Bose speakers, both the amp (or HU) and the speakers will most likely die over time. 1-ohm of impedance in a system designed for 4-ohms is the problem.

kas1419

Can you provide me with the part # or link to the adapter? I would really appreciate it. Thanks for all of the information.

MarcusF

It's a PAC-OEM2. Three are listed on Amazon for $28. Here's a link.

Here are some notes I took when I changed mine.

I hope that helps.

LAWYER2

So those of us w/ 98-99's, we don't need the PAC because we don't have steering wheel controls?

LAWYER2

Has anyone customized their splash screen to look OEM w/ the MB logo? Was it easy? Pics?

GiZzO

I have a nice round booty shot on my splash screen...feels pretty OEM to me!

Theres a bunch out there black background with star or just AMG.

MarcusF

There are several PAC converters. One set for the steering wheel controls, which you won't need, and another single $28 unit to make the Bose sound better.

BTW, GiZzos wallpaper looks nice!

kas1419

Ok first thank you everyone for your help with the install. Just to clarify for those of you planning to upgrade... if the unit comes with a separate set of rca plug YOU DO NOT NEED the pac-oem-2. Whether or not it provides better sound I do not know. The goal of using the pac oem 2 is to lower the output of the unit however the rca plugs already accomplish that. You will only need the adapter if you are connecting at the line level or in other words hardwiring the speakers from the unit to the harness. I wasted 40 bucks on it and wanted to prevent anyone else from doing the same.

As for the steering wheel controls, you will need two adapters. one that is unit specific..swi-jack or swi-ps and you need one that is specific to your connector swi-can-2 for me.

One other piece of information is that you will need to tap into the cigarette lighter to connect the red wire on the harness.

I installed the pioneer x910bt and used the dash kit adt-va133 which looks like it came out of the benz factory.

I will post pics soon

MarcusF

Bose amps are designed to receive a low-level balanced differential signal.


The PAC-OEM2 does two things:

• If needed, it converterts line-level signals to low-level
• It converts the unbalanced differential signal to a balanced, differential signal.

The RCA plugs on the Pioneer (and other HUs) produce a low-level/pre-amp output. Unfortunately, they still produce an unbalanced signal. Most consumer HUs produce an unbalanced signal. If an unbalanced signal is used to power a Bose amp, it will work, but it won't sound as good as it will if the amp receives the balanced signal it was designed for.

You can always sell your OEM2. Unfortunately, $40 is a little high - I paid $15 from Crutchfield with free shipping.

kas1419

Thanks for all of your help Marcus. Your write-up was key to my install.

What I don't understand is why my sound is better off the rca cables than it was with the factory stereo and amp? and I mean MUCH better

sirswift93

Hi Marcus,

Do you use this PAC unit instead of the Metra 1748 harness? I had a local installer use a harness without the PAC OEM2 unit and I don't even see where he connected the sub-woofer.

SirSwift93