underwhirled

The unit has shipped and according to my tracking numbers the unit will be delivered on Friday the 20th as promised by Incartronics. So far so good. I may make an attempt and installation/ documentation this weekend.

Benzmodz, I hope that they include information on which fuses need to be installed. I don't want to face half a Saturday fighting a fuse box. Surely, they've included that information in the installation instructions?

benzmodz

Depends on whether or not your car is pre-wired for cd-changer. Some are and some are not. It depends on the month and year.

The CD stacker fuse runs to the end of the dashboard where there is 10amp fuse and a large fuse block behind a cover. It is listed in the fold out paper sheet kept in that area.

If you dont have it then you need to butcher the head unit wiring and use that power.

Hard to know what instructions they have. Some kind of industrial secret. It was meant to have a 3pin to 4pin adapter so that you can plug power directly in.

Cutting wires and crimping is very very 1980's.

Skylaw

underwhirled,

Nice screen name. One of my favorite bumper stickers is "Visualize Whirled Peas."

Let us know how it all works out.

benzmodz

I think Mercedes is quite on top of things.

http://www.emercedesbenz.com/Jun08/1...hitecture.html

The new factory phone kit only days before the new phone.

underwhirled

Not the road taken in my case. However, the new itronics device has arrived as promised from incartronics.

Looks like it should be quick and painless, but I can't do it until Saturday morning.

benzmodz

If you are going to install it in the same place as the currently installed phone module then you dont need half of those parts. Did you figure out how you want to install it ?

Option A - the head unit area:

This location needs a lot of dismantling plus also the area under the dashboard gets warm on the passenger side.

Option B - OEM location:

If you look in the RHS trunk liner you will see that the phone module lives just behind forward of the tail lamp assembly. You can undo some clips to get at the liner but the safest method is to remove the trunk lip which is held in with about 10 clips or so. That clear the liner to come out easily.

To get power in that location you could take it from a number of modules. If you remove the phone module be sure to make it easy to put back in. The optics will just pop out of the 2+0 and go into the 2+4. Then the 4 pin mobridge harness attaches to ground and power. There is a huge ground lug near that location normally used for BOSE / Harmon Kardon and TV. The power can come from the line which feeds the factory phone module. As far as I can tell that is one of the easier ways.

In the rear of the car are also the microphone cables which junction at the mirror. If you have the right crimping tools and the right connectors you can use the MB roof cable for the microphone run. Just depends on which tools you have and how much effort you want to put in.

There is a hole in the overhead control panel which can conceal the microphones so that they are not even visible. This applies to C and CLK.

underwhirled

I like the trunk idea better, but I'm not sure I can follow the 22 page factory phone installation instructions. Also, I'm not sure that I can run the provided microphone to a good place from the trunk. Any suggestions?

Diesel Benz

I'm assuming this cradle would fit equally the old iPhone? In that case it would not be available before the actual phone, but this way is better .

slester

I received my unit yesterday afternoon and am considering installing it this afternoon if I can get out of work early.

As for the installation location; my car never had a phone system installed (or even cabled) and I ordered the unit with the iPod integration option I plan on installing mine behind the COMAND.

I still have to figure out where to terminate the iPod cable and if I want to use the factory mic or the one they sent. According to InCarTronics the factory mic is not as clear as theirs so I may use the new one. As for the iPod cable the glove-box is probably the easiest place but what I'd like to do is replace the CDC with a storage tray and put the plug in there. That way the cool little door on the dash doesn't go to total waste.

I'll take pics as I install and post the information here next week. The very limited documentation provided indicates this should be straight-forward but for some reason I think the picture they paint may be done wearing rose-colored glasses.

benzmodz

Ok that clears things up quite a bit. Seems like you are stuck with doing the harder version of the install. I hope they are giving you some money for writing the install manual for them.

stratofortress

I installed mine yesterday morning, and I would suggest that the best location for the box is up inside the trim panel right above the passenger footwell. There's a big cavity in there, and you can run the wiring straight into the area behind the ashtray, so you don't have to worry about removing the CD Changer or the COMAND unit.

Oh, and you're right about the instructions. While they may be fine for someone who's an MB tech, I found them to be wholly inadequate.

benzmodz

Hmmm .... it gets hot under there. Its under the heater box.

gvaughn

Have you successfully installed yet? I'd be very interested in seeing your write-up and pictures. Thanks.

tiggerfink

I have the same issue. It sounds bad on the receiving end when I use Argos in my 2002 SLK320. My unit was one of the early models, so they may have improved the quality. The Mercedes Bluetooth solution sounds great in my 2004 SL500. I am debating of buying a new Argoes unit or try to find a Mercedes phone system for my 2002 SLK320. I pm the incartronics folks, but they never answer.

robwill54

I put the Argos in my '03 G500, under passenger seat. All the stuff was there to plug & play. Sound quality is good, in other words, I have had no complaints & have asked numerous callers how it sounds on their end. Phonebook uploads. Need to visit a service center to enable my speedo display.
Bob

gvaughn

Underwhirled: Did you successfully install? I'd like to hear a good report from someone on these forums that has had more than 5 or 6 posts. Not to slight the new members...but it's strange/suspicious that of ALL of the people who were interested in this, the only successful feedback we've gotten, that I can recall - of the new itronic for MOST, are from those who are completely new to these forums and have very few posts. Any longtime members with any positive or negative feedback?

UK-C200

+1 - there's a lot of "oh, it's the best thing since sliced bread" comments, but it would be really nice to have some feedback from members who have had experience with other products and been around for more than a couple of posts. I also took the opportunity to speak to my SA in Louisiana, and another at one of the larger Houston MB dealers, and neither had heard of any dealer agreement. Was wondering if there was an "approved" MB dealer list from Incar we could publish?

underwhirled

I did complete my install. The installation went easy and was step-by-step. I took it really slow. The phone book displays on the stereo and the MFD. I have both my Razor and my work Blackberry paired successfully. Call quality is very good as I used the addtitional Parrot microphone included with the kit.

They posted some very useful videos on YouTube that showed further video directions. This was much more useful than anything they could have included in a written format. Everything was basically plug and play.

I've had a few calls dropped due to bad calling areas. This is more my service provider as this happened using the hand held in these areas. Also, I've had it about a month, and there have been two times when during a call the unit has "hung" and I have had to restart the car to correct the problem because the HU became non-responsive. Both times occurred during very long calls (30 min plus).

They are actively trying to solve the problem, and are releasing a software upgrade. Overall, the unit is functioning very well, and the support staff have been amazing.

gvaughn

thanks for the feedback. I saw the videos and thought the install looked pretty easy as well - just wanted some confirmation.

musicmax

Can you provide a link or their YouTube user name so I can see the videos? Thanks!

gvaughn

If you go here...there is support info for their various products.

http://www.incartronics.com/index.ht...ortmanuals.htm

The first product is the one we are discussing here: Mercedes iTronic BT (for the MOST). Included in the support info are documents as well as videos.

zitsky

If you install the iTronic in a 2006 E350, do you completely lose the ability to use the CD slots behind the buttons on the dashboard? Or is it only if you have an older style CD changer in the glovebox?

underwhirled

UPDATE: I neglected to post that incartronics did send me an email with the needed files attached. I then put on those files on an SD card and loaded them into the itronic unit. The unit updated, and I haven't had a problem since.

GaryRudolph

Is the limitation of 98 tracks (i.e. max 98 playlists, artists, albums, etc. would be displayed)?

Does the random function work for a playlist, artist, etc.?

Did your phonebook download? What phone are using?

robwill54

Here's an update from the +1 crowd. I visited my dealer and he enabled my instrument panel display. All the features are available and working. And yes, it does drop the occasional call. So does the factory setup in my wife's ML; a fact of life with cel phones.

Bob