I have searched and searched....

there doesnt seem to be a concensus on how to add an aftermarket HU to a bose fiber optic system.

I read threads that say it's impossible without replacing the bose speakers,amp, and rear sub.

I read threads that say that the bose amp need to be replaced along with the rear sub only.

I read threads that say a simple VW harness plugs right in and no changes need to be made to the speakers, amp or sub.


I am in the process of replacing my HU with an eclipse avn5500. Just need info before buying the damn thing and dropping $1000.

please do no respond if you are just giving another opinion

I would please like to hear from those who have actually done the aftermarket change to your clks.

please help!!

 

I have worked in the car audio field 14 years now and I have a c32 with the bose d2b system. There is not a way to put any aftermarket radio, with the fiber optic system we use. You can use some gear after the amps for subs. I love my eclipse head unit in my bmw. I havent pulled the trigger yet to put my 4k worth of stuff out of the 328 to put in the c32, but I have had enough of the bose. All the benz stuff needs to go.

 

VW Harness will work, you loose the changer. You have a D2B system in the CLK500. SVEN4 or Soundgates OEM4A will work. You'll need a CANBUS adapter to retain steering wheel controls and VSS for nav.

 

dont both those devices work after the amp though, and still require the use of a second amp.

 

i am going to chime in my 2 cents, since you state bose and fiber optic, I have narrowed down to modifying the board on the amp for the audio input, but not have successfully completed it. plus it was only 2 channel at this time with no fade or balance. but your amp is the gateway controller. replace the head unit, and the amp and everything else is worthless in the vehicle. So i suggest run your 4 pair of speaker wire from the eclipse (sorry to hear about you having eclipse ) to the amp output wires. there you will hook it up to the speakers. if you have multiple speakers for a front side, series them. the sub amp needs to have a small amp on it. a cheap mono alpine amp will work with the coils in series

not your vehicle but I found this...

http://www.esotericsoundandperforman...view_album.php

 

No.

 

I read through both product descrips and both use high level speaker wires to convert to rca leads. In reality they are used after your existing bose amps. They dont convert after market headunits rca outputs into thr D2B digital inputs the existing bose amps use. In you sig you list your alpine amps. they are the same amps I use in my 328i

 

the D2B fiber cables have nothing to do with the amp. they are for the phone,CD changer and stereo to comunicate. the amp is just a simple HI level in. The parts ldangeli listed are to limit the output of the new stereo so that the volume is not blasting at 3 or 4 on the new headunit. the only issue on the 03 is speedsense for the nav and retaining steering wheel controls.

 

 

So the final outcome was that the AVN5000 is functional with some sort of Volkswagon controller, (via the search feature, this magical part is stated in other posts but no real details other than acronyms and 1 part number that turns out to be nothing to do with stereo equipment or wiring). Googling CANBUS will put you into hours of enjoyment reading about wonderful complicated and various wiring designs irrelevant to Mercedes or radios.

This thread has the most relevance with more information but there is still no concensus...

The status of powering the speakers is still debated
a) about 30% say yes you need to purchase new amplifiers and replace everything Bose related
b) about 70% saying no you can keep it with wiring or some sort of soldering/overly complicated solution

The status of the "D2B" controller is pretty standard in that the factory CD player will be nixed, I presume that's not significant since most would be replacing their CD players with something more functional anyway.


In the search for an aftermarket double din option to replace the factory single din factory radio, it seems the best option is have the dealer handle the conversion or travel to Europe/California/Georgia.

Looking for anyone who has done the conversion for W203/209 from factory to give insight?

 

the source of the confusion has to do with misunderstanding of the way the mercedes optic systems work and variations in how they are implemented. all mercedes models in the past8 years use optical fiber to transmit audio as data streams..... of those models a large percentage have factory amplifiers and of those a large percentage use the optical fiber as their input.

If you have a system without an amplifier, you can install an aftermarket HU, usually using a VW harness that may require some minor wiring changes but nothing difficult. the factory speakers are 4 ohm impedance so the HU will power the speakers directly or you can add your own aftermarket amplifier without issue.

If you have a system with the factory amplifier that uses the non optical input, you can install a HU and keep the existing factory amplifier. you will need the VW harness and a balanced line adapter (to convert from line level to the specialized bose inputs). this is desirable since the bose speakers are low impedance and matched to the factory amp.

Finally, if you have a system with a factory amplifier that has the optical input (most models in the past 4 years) then there is no (easy) way to install an aftermarket HU and keep the factory amp. the factory amp is again matched to the speakers so changing the amp means also changing the speakers. the main caus of all the problems is that there are currently no aftermarket modules that convert from analog audio to optical (D2B or MOST).

there are however two more complex solutions that may be employed: first, as jbondox posted above, it is possible to have someone who understands electronics to open the factory amplifier and patch in line inputs past the optical D/A converter. this will allow the factory amplifier to essentially be used as a normal amp and have full control over each channel if done properly.

secondly, if the existing HU has an auxiliary input you could use a stripped down optical ring to act as the interface. this would involve removing all unnecessary components from the optical ring (e.g. sat, changer, phone) leaving only the HU, audio gateway, and amplifier. the HU is relocated to the vehicle trunk and RCA cables are run from the front to the aux input connector on the HU. the HU is then simply left on auxilliary input. the new aftermarket HU can then be installed up front with the non-fading rca outputs being used to feed the aux source on the factory HU. the only drawback is that there will be no fader or subwoofer control on the new HU as thos are controlled via the factory HU. they can still be set by acessing the factory unit in the trunk.

 

Thanks Rob for the clarification. Today I'm having the Alpine IVA-W205 put in and the installer says it won't be too bad even though I mentioned mine will probably have the optical power from the HU to the amp. I'm not sure he knows or is aware of the amount of work he's doing, let's hope I'm wrong!

I will comment after the install is complete, maybe I can take some pics as their doing it to help others. The total cost of the install including base unit is $1k which isn't too bad, I expect there to be more charges honestly as they delve into the fiber optic world