Just got it installed in my 2001 CLK 55 AMG... sounds amazing. And no i did not have to replace any stock bose speakers. They sound ten times better now, than they ever did with the stock head-unit. Also, IPOD is fully integrated, DVD viewing and full bluetooth. I dont know how he installed it, I can only tell you where i got it done.

 

Stock speakers will sound better on a After Market HU due to the sheer power increase. Where did you have it done..

 

Can you post some picture of the finished product. im thinking about uprading my stock HU to the kendwood as well. Just want to see how it looks afterward. How much did you pay all together ?

THanks

 

Why did you pick with Kenwood. Just curious?

 

My DNX7100 will be in next week. I picked it because it is a HDD based navigation. It still has bluetooth support, it supports direct USB flash drive music, and it was $500 cheaper then the AVIC-Z2.

 

Personally I would have gone for the dock and roll from Alpine. Better value for the price.

 

I prefer kenwood because i think they make pretty good product, you have all the features plus HDD nav for about 900. It got some bad rep for not having a user friendly GUI interface for the dvd but that is not important to me. What important to me is, i want the double din to look flush and stock. with alpine, pionner and eclipse, all of them have some type of silver bar or button that stand out too much and will not fit in with the rest of the console. The kenwood have the most appealing appearance as far as stock goes. Thats why i chose kenwood. alpine is my next choise but with the slap on nav it add another 700 or so which make the total system near 2k. Not worth it.

 

No Alpine. Alpine is messed up, the dock and roll thing is cheesy. 7100 isn't bad, 8019 with nav isn't bad... I will be honest, the Pioneer has something cool, though I never owned one, I used to be all about Alpine, except these past few years their quality went down, and the gear has became crap.

 

I thought about the Alpine, but it was only $100 cheaper then the Kenwood and that was without the Blackbird nav unit. The Blackbird was another $600 if you could find someone that had them in stock. Also, no one could tell me if the on-board Bluetooth support on the Blackbird would allow me to use my phone with the Alpine headunit while the Blackbird was docked.

So Kenwood with Nav, DVD, and Aux input for my Zune=$1000
Alpine with Blackbird, DVD, and Aux input for my Zune=$1500.

With those prices the Kenwood was the better value since it wasn't worth $500 to be able to undock the Blackbird and carry to another car.

Besides, If I need portable navigation I will just use the VzNavigator that is built into my phone.

 

PICS please! There's a ton of CLK-owners trying to figure out the best Audio upgrade on these forums!

Glad you're happy with yours. Couple questions: Were you able to retain steering wheel controls of the radio? Did you keep the BOSE subwoofer and if so, did the installer run new cable to it to replace the fiber cable?

 

pics of kenwood DNX7100 in 2001 CLK 55 AMG. Paid $1200 which included installation, bluetooth, and ipod connection. Everything remained stock except for HU. I did not retain stearing wheel controls, but the unit comes with a remote so its a non-issue.

 

looks pretty good, can you get your installer to put on the matching laminate around the radios trim ring. Also do you have to be out of park to get a dvd in?

 

also I don't want to spam or think i am a cheerleader for this, but...

here is the big dog 8019 Kenwood unit in a C

Second image down has a gallery section


http://www.esotericsoundandperforman...tpage&Itemid=1

 

No I dont have to be out of park to get a DVD in. However, when you update the maps with a SAN disk you may have had to take it out of park. I will check tomorrow when I am in the car. Thats not really a big deal though, updates on the Garmin site are not very frequent, also I live on Long Island, so the roads very rarely change for new construction.

 

thanks for the reply, also you can look in garmin's site and see what exactly has been upgraded, I figure once every 2 years would be good if it is in your area.

 

Beautiful Installs!!!! What are you guys using to match the OE trim laminate or SEM or something similar? Are you soldering your outputs from the kenwood to the board of the most amp or using the Aux input and relocating the stereos?

 

They have a full custom fabrication facility, Metal work, wood working, paint, leather, then all the other stuff like detail, showroom yada yada yada...

the tables saw itself is 14 feet by 7 feet, router banks, 16 feet by 4 feet...

Plus they are about to go through a $7mill renovation...


as for that install it was textured and dyed, the Porsche's on the front page are all painted to match, in fact the whole center cluster is removed and everything is painted at once on the Porsche's to ensure it is matched

for wood grains, it is real wood and hand crafted to match, no cheesey crap

They are still working out the kinks, but after the remodel, I know for a fact it will be the best thing in Cleveland and the hottest.

 

this is the building of the table saw...

Since then it has been edge bound and filled smooth... waxed like 2 times a week... 14" blade also...

 

here's the dnx7100 in my 07 C230

 

I want to get the plastic trim like the one will20 has, does any one know where i can get one made ? and how much does it cost. thanks

 

Will...I was planning to get Euro COMAND from MBenzNL but they could wouldn't take paypal or credit cards. I don't like to get anything with out some protection if anything goes wrong (even though Steve's company seems very reputable), so I headed in your direction.

I just bought the Kenwood DNX7100 with the bluetooth option, tv tuner, and backup camera. I talked to my installer and he can make a trim ring that will match the surrounding wood trim in my E. I'll post pics after the install is finished.

I was going with stock COMAND w/ separate Garmin GPS (Nuvi370), another front monitor/dvd player/tv tuner, a Sirius S50 docking station, and a MB Ipod integration kit. I changed my mind and wanted everything integrated and I like the Ipod connection with the DNX7100. The only other additional piece is the Sirius S50 unit that will connected to the DNX7100 and placed in the center armrest.

Thanks for your info on the Kenwood unit.

Jon

 

Did You Have Too Hard Wire It Or Did You Use A Wire Harness