dorian_blue

When we bought our SLK 280 we ended up buying a "bridge" vehicle at a killer deal but it didn't have the command unit nor nav. After a bit of searching around we found the Kenwood DNX8120 to be the perfect solution. We had it installed yesterday and were extremely pleased with the result. Here are some pictures:

This is what the unit looks like with no power applied:




This is what the command menu looks like once power is applied. You have three different skins to choose from. This one seemed the least annoying to us. (Sorry about the blurred picture. I was shooting without flash to prevent glare back from the screen for this picture):




This is a picture of the iPod readout when connected and playing a song. What really impressed me was that the album art shows up on the screen. All those hours of grooming the song tags were not in vain. (Also note the glare from the flash... this is why the remaining pictures will be blurry as I wanted to avoid the glare). The iPod integration is perfect, even allowing for playlists and such to be selected.




This is a picture of the blue-tooth interface with the phone. Since the touch screen controls the phone nicely (answering or calling) I had the phone buttons on the steering wheel programmed to change songs on the iPod or stations when on the radio tuner. You can add up to five phones to the interface. If both my wife and I are in the car with both of our phones, the first one that was programmed in (hers, of course) will be the one that integrates.




I'm super impressed with how intuitively the blue tooth phone interface works. This unit supports SMS and even DTMF tones for all those tech support hotlines out there. Time to add photos to the contacts!




This is the GPS portion of the unit. (no, it doesn't show my garage as a street )



This is the unit after pushing the eject button so that we can toss in a DVD, CD, or SD flash card:



And not sure why we would use this (perhaps while riding a ferry to Victoria BC?), but here is what the DVD video looks like:



Pluses about the unit:
1. Touchscreen - very, very nice and easy to use
2. Full integration - steering wheel controls and speakers work great. Watching the movie while testing it caused me to lose track of time.
3. iPod and Phone integration is best I've seen.
4. Fit and finish are as good as factory (thanks to the installer, more on that later).
5. Ease of use - I only had to consult the owners manual to figure out how to turn up the NAV volume. Everything else was extremely intuitive.

Minuses about the unit:
1. Unfortunately there is no way to integrate the phone controls on the steering wheel unless you hire a digital signal engineer.
2. The mount kit for the SLK is not correct. Luckily the professional installer I worked with basically re-manufactured/machined the mount so that it fit seamlessly.

I can't give enough kudos to the installer. :bowdown: He quoted me $45.00 for the install, and stood by it even when he figured out that he had to modify the mount kit. The job is as professional as it gets. We will be going back to him to have the Smart Top unit installed in a couple of weeks.

Sorry about the lengthy post, but I know other folks are interested in aftermarket NAV units and I wanted to document this alternative.

MONEY MIKE

LOOKS SWEET , I HAVE A DDX7015 WITH THE NAV BUT NO SOUND SHOP IN VA WILL MESS WITH IT CAUSE THEY TELL ME THAT I HAVE TOO CHANGE EVERY THING, THE AMPS AND SPEAKERS. DID THEY USE A WIRING HARNESS IF SO WHAT THE PART NUMBER AND NAME. DID THEY CHANGE YOUR SPEAKERAS AND AMP IF NO SEND ME THE NAME OF THE SHOP YOU USED
THANKS AND ENJOY

dorian_blue

No speakers, amps, or anything else had to be changed to accomodate the DNX8120 in a SLK 280. The original radio unit came out (and is now sitting in my box of original parts in my garage) and the new unit went in. The adapter to adapt the DNX8120 to the Mercedes wiring harness came from "Best Kit". The adapter to integrate the steering wheel controls to the unit came from "Peripheral Electronics" as well as the adapter to integrate the alarm system with the radio. I don't know where the bezel (faceplate) adapter came from, the installer did it all and I just happened to see some of the packaging.

The installer is a company call Famous Motor Grupe. They are in Sunnyvale, CA, phone number 650-968-2589. http://www.famousmotorgrupe.com/ Their website is fairly new so they don't have a lot of info on it yet. They are a business that specializes in high-end performance mods (audio, engine, and body).

jay_mark_paul

Excellent install!! The new unit looks great. Can you tell us more about your steering wheel interface. What functions do not work?

dorian_blue

The only functions that don't work for the steering wheel controls is the bluetooth phone. Instead of answering and hanging up the phone on the steering wheel buttons, I have to use the touch screen buttons on the Kenwood. No big deal, the buttons on the screen are huge and easily recognizable. And we use voice command for the phone through the head unit.

So the installer mapped the steering wheel controls for bluetooth phone to actually change my radio stations on the radio, and to go forward and back through my songs on the iPod. The volume up and volume down buttons on the steering wheel of course work the volume for all audio components of the head unit (Radio, CD, DVD, NAV, iPod, etc...).

Something else of note worth mentioning: the microphone on the head unit is perfect for the SLK (or the SLK is perfect for that microphone). I tested the unit while sitting in the parking lot at the installer by calling my answering machine at home and leaving a message. Then, while going down the freeway at 75 mph with the top down I called my answering machine again. Once I got home and listened to the messages the call while I was on the freeway was actually the clearer of the two! You get no wind-noise at the microphone, and since I raised my voice instinctively on the open road the higher volume to the answering machine was perfect.

A week later and I am still very impressed with the unit. It will probably be another month before I figure out how to use everything.... if I ever do. There's simply too much that it can do.

hotelier

Is there a replacement Head Unit similar to this for a 2001 S-430 with Nav Comand Head Unit and Phone integrated.

dorian_blue

This was an aftermarket item installed in my SLK 280. I'm sure it will fit in your S-430 with the proper install kits. And even if the install kits aren't availabe, a good high-end car audio/alarm after market specialist can fab the install kits. Its not cheap, but neither is the Mercedes. Plan on laying down somewhere in the neighborhood of $2K for this type of aftermarket unit with installation. If fab work is required I wouldn't attempt to knock it out on my own.

If you have further questions about the aftermarket setup, communicate with these guys. They are the ones that did mine. http://www.famousmotorgrupe.com/

SLKSteve

Can you supply any more information about the steering wheel interface? ie model number as well as any other parts they needed to integrate the steering wheel control? I have a 2007 SLK 350 and am installing DNX8120 myself.

Thanks...
- Steve

fredbaum

This looks fantastic - I have a Kenwood 8220 (the same as yours but for Europe) that I am about to have installed in my CLK 55. I guess that you dont have an external amplifier in your CLK - maybe the old headunit was the amp.

Other Merc cars do have external amplifiers which may explain why yours was a straight forward swap - and others need to change amps. Your trim kit looks really good - your installer did a great job.