ml3504me

Ok I am here to vent about the ripping off of Mercedes Owners that goes on at local dealers for labor. My wife and I recently purchased a 2008 ML350 with no Nav, this was a Demo unit we got a good deal. It had less than 5K miles and 100K warranty for under $37,000.

My wife wanted the Nav pretty badly so I inquired at the dealer, and online here and Ebay.

I was quoted at the dealer $1350.00 for the actual nav unit. He said this was his cost HE SAID IT WILL BE $500 FOR LABOR WHICH IS $125 PER HOUR AT 4 HOURS. That made the total $1850.00 plus taxes, and parts which would have added at least $200 more.

Next I asked around on the forum, and got with a member AM BEAGLE and XJ9 who really were great in assisting me (thank you guys for the HELP ). I found a Nav unit on Ebay for $550 shipped, I bought the Nav DVD for $55 and the Antenna splitter from the dealer for $60 which was also highway robbery.

I DID THE INSTALL WITH PICTURES FROM THE MEMBERS, AND FROM THE SITE, AND WITH 1 TOOL. I AM A NOVICE AT THIS, I CANNOT CHANGE MY OWN OIL. I DID THE SWAP OF THE HEAD UNIT IN ABOUT 17 MINUTES, AND THAT WAS BECAUSE I DIDNT KNOW WHAT KIND OF DRIVER TO USE FOR THE SCREWS, AND I DIDNT WANT TO BREAK ANYTHING PULLING THE UNIT OUT. UNDER THE REAR SEAT IS THE CONTROL BOX WHERE THE ANTENA SPLITTER WENT. THERE WERE NO TOOLS NEEDED AT ALL AND THAT TOOK ME ABOUT 10 MINUTES BECAUSE I WANTED TO BE DOUBEL SURE I PLUGGED THE RIGHT ENDS OF THE SPLITTER TO THE CORRECT WIRE.

I did the install in a total of 27 minutes because I am a complete moron, and I was being extremely careful. Can you imagine a dealer that does this for a living? I mean what 7 - 10 minutes tops? Why do they need to rob people? Why do they need to charge $500 for 9 minutes labor? Why does my sales man need to lie and tell me he is doing me a favor? Is this Mercedes that *** customers like this or is it the Dealer?

If you want to comment please do so... If you think I am full of sht then come to my house I will do your nav install for free in less than 30 minutes, or I will pay you $500.00

MBenzNL

versioncoding the headunit, the nav drive and the instrument cluster takes longer then installing the nav drive and splitter...which brings the total time for a dealership to 1 hour and the costs for using the stardiagnose...




still 3hours short of 4 hours labor though

greetingz,

ml3504me

What is Versioncoding the unit mean? Mine worked with no trip to the dealer, no scan nothing... Why would my nav work with no coding?

whoover

You're supposed to need to reconfigure your fiber ring with the dealer's Star Diagnosis to make the new components work. You might have lucked out because you don't have some components, like CD changer or phone, that might have stopped working properly, or you might still discover little glitches. Does your nav info show up on your instrument cluster?

Even if everything seems to be working right, it's safest to have the dealer reconfigure the ring at your next service.

UK-C200

I think on MOST cars the version coding is only needed to allow the directions to show up on the MFD? In any event, I think you ended up with a less than honest dealer who tossed in the COMAND install labor rather than the NAVI retro-fit. I can completely believe that a new NAVI costs the dealer $1300, though...

MBenzNL

offcourse it does - cause you only added a nav drive to an MCS II comand unit...however - you do NOT have any navigation help displayed in your instrument cluster AND your MCS II will be throwing some error codes (only to be seen with stardiagnose) due to the conected nav drive that it didn't get programmed (nothing MOST related as posted above though).

Versioncoding is done to minimize errors and failures (usually software related)...

ow - and 1300USD sounds about right for a nav drive (even as dealerprice)...it is just the 4 hours that are a bit too much, but knowing that that includes a free car wash, coffee, nailsalon, pedicure, golf court and I don't know whatever other useless services one finds at US dealership that still isn't too bad.

greetingz,

lkchris

Your dealer quoted you VERY reasonable prices.

Most of the time the cost difference between factory- and dealer-installed can be near 4X

Skylaw

Sorry - I can't buy that it was a reasonable labor charge, at $500. If it indeed takes under an hour to install and an hour (the minimum shop charge I have seen for a hookup to STAR diagnostics - and probably 30 minutes of work) for version coding, the labor charge should be less than half that.

And another issue would be the $200 for "parts" - is the dealer buying the brackets separately from the unit? Is he charging $200 for a new Nav DVD (not an e-bay copy)? Determining what parts would give an indication of the fairness of that charge.

dan2010

Where did you find a US command for $550 on ebay?

I'm looking for one for my C and can't find one for less than $2500 bucks and quick look I couldn't find one for your ML less than $1500. So you got a killer deal on ebay, doesn't mean everyone else can be so lucky.

UK-C200

Be careful here - he bought the NAVI module for $550, not a COMAND HU. Some Mercs - my SLK included - have a COMAND HU that requires an optional NAVI model for navigation.

usc96

Feel glad you did it yourself. I just bought the 2008 nav disk for my 2006 E350 and had the dealer install it. When I tried it, I was miffed that the upgrade wasn't much of a change. Then I looked in the trunk unit and found the 2006 disk. I was pissed, thinking I'd been ripped off. Then, I checked the cd unit just in case. Guess what, the 2008 dvd was in the cd unit.

Diesel Benz

The car seems sensitive about the correct position of the DVD.

I agree about the work the original poster did. Even if version coding was missing, the set-up already worked while mainly the IC navigation menu was missing (does this car have the IC navi menu?). ml3504me should feel proud about the installation work he did and always useful to post about experiences like this.

ml3504me

NO

I bought an entire unit, like new comand, and the nav dvd drive inside with the antenna. The only thing NOT included for the $550 was the DVD

ml3504me

He was an international seller. He had 175 positive feedback, and his email address is agediminas@hotmail.com I am not sure his ebay ID I deleted the auction.

He said he had 2 or 3 of these units again that he imported and swapped with euro units.



I am happy I did the work and got it done and working perfectly. I am not happy that the dealer takes advantage of us and I am even more shocked that some of you think this is fair value. I mean come the F on guys this is a joke to me. If I would have paid it, and gone back somehow to hear how easy it was, I would flip out.

It annoys me actually that people pay these rates for things like this install and think nothing of it they don't realize the biffing they are taking. It would be just like paying someone $500 to change your oil at a Jiffy Lube for a Chevy Cavalier. That is just as ridiculous as this.

UK-C200

ml3504me - I don't think anyone is minimizing what you have done, and the general consensus is that the labor was outrageous. I also hope you have good luck with the dealer on any electronics problems that you may have on the vehicle - I've run into problems in the past with a retrofitted COMAND.

I'm also curious as to what HU you ended up with - do you have the part number of the unit you bought off ebay? I ask simply because the retail on an '08 ML COMAND is significantly higher than what the dealer quoted you, and a hell of a lot more than the $550 you paid - so you got a great deal.

ml3504me

Well

To tell you the truth I scratched the one that I bought from him (1/8" at the most)... I ended up removing the DVD drive, and installing it in my original wifes Comand.

The part number I bought from him was A164 820 07 79 model MCS model number BB0541 (this unit is for sale by they way, with no nav in it for $200.00)

UK-C200

All I can say is you got a great deal - what he was quoting you on was - hopefully - the A164 820 58 85 Navi processor for MCS-II systems, which sells for a hair over $1300.

ml3504me

im not sure what he was quoting for $1350 but I guess that sounds fair.

He said he was doing me a favor since I sold 4 cars for him and bought one

Air-Force-1

I was quoted $10,000 or £5,000 to install COMAND 2.5 in my S CLASS W220 2001
Like you, I did it myself, for $600 or £300. That was for the parts and my free labour One hour to install with an adapter, and they said it could not be done !!

jbondox

so does the instrument cluster show navi?

Air-Force-1

Yes it shows Navi. I had to get it coded on STAR at the dealer-- $30

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/sh...07&postcount=6

http://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/sh...ght=comand+2.5

ml3504me

While I have some attention from you guys with this thread I wanted to ask. How is the cheapest easiest way to add either Sirius radio to this car, or Ipod integration?

Here is a link below will this work? Also does the car have Sirius wired or is it a pain to add it?

Thanks!

Paul

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2006-...mZ150182945667

UK-C200

So I'm not an ML guy - but I've seen this kit before. Basically it replaces the AUX-IN that's in your glovebox with a docking connector for an iPod - the only advantage is that it charges the ipod while you are playing it. It's not really "integration" when you look at what the MB or Denison kits give you, but it works. If you are happy with your iPod today, the only difference will be not worrying about battery life!

I've no idea on the Sirius question at all - sorry!

ml3504me

So there is an aux plug we could use in the glove box already? LOL woops...

Guess I should tell the wife!

UK-C200

I'd check first, but yeah, as far as I know all ML's have the AUX jack in the glove box.