K9ff

anyone with a w203 without command try upgrading to an aftermarket headunit? if so, does your headunit fit flush against the black plastic bezel around the deck? i have a 2002 c240 with a kenwood excellon 859 hu and it sticks out a lil bit from the replacement plastic bezel piece made for the aftermarket stereos. is it the deck, bezel or just the way the center consol is designed(slightly curved with minimal clearance in back) to prevent a flush fit? thanks!

MBDOCTOR

mbdoctor.com
Why would you install after market when you can have OEM working fine
I would not recommend any after market parts to install on MB

And when you install any of this flip screens you will not be able to function any of your knob on the upper control panel

55fanatic

can you post a pic, Im not to clear on whats sticking out... im also not familiar with the excelon decks...

And MB Doctor, the reason why someone might install Aftermarket into factory is because it sounds better... and allows you to have more control over your sound. I had factory navigation in my ML55... scrapped it for an aftermarket system, doesnt look as good as the stock unit but my aftermarket navigation is a hundred times better than the factory... also with the rest of the audio equipment in the vehicle it makes it sound even better... makes the rest of my money spent worth it...

shanusanus

This is really a crazy comment - I had MB Command in my 2002 CLK - great as it was it was no where near as good as my friends AVIC-X1, so I got one myself and used an aftermarket fascia to fit teh Pioneer in - not only do I get to now play DVD films (which Command didnt) but I have MP3 playability, better SAT NAV as its got Europe all on one DVD rather than Commands 3 CD's that I needed, and the sound is SOOOO MUCH BETTER!! All I can suggest MBDOCTOR is to not comment on something you havnt tried. I would also have said before that to have Command fitted woudl be better than a Pioneer flip screen BUT now I have tried it I woudl never go back to Command! Oh and on the flip screen stopping me using the upper control panel - wrong again mate - the aftermarket fascias have 2 DIN slots - I use the bottom DIN slot which means the flip screen covers the area the Command used to - upper control panel free to use!

miroj

So long as it can still read the steering wheel, operate the phone, use the CD stacker and interface with linguatronic then there is no reason to ignore this amazing technology. Naturally Benz would never have thought of using a DVD comand being 2005 and all.

I think some ideas are for the Lemmings.

shanusanus

Another crazy comment posted - yes MB have now got a DVD command unit out - BUT what if you have an 02 model W209 CLK with the OLD Command unit mate?? Oh yes - I cant play DVD's - damn what shall I do? Hence the wonderful AVIC-X1 (N1 in US) - and even then - the AVIC still has better functionality than the new command unit - complete control of the sound via a superb graphic equalizer etc- totally brilliant and much better than even the new command unit.

scorchie

If you would rather play DVDs than do all those other things that the OEM radio does, then that's your subjective opinion. To me it is "crazy" to want to do what you want to do. Playing DVDs is really low on the list of important features to me after the instrument cluster/steering wheel operation, phone integration, and integration with the vehicle. If I needed DVD so badly, I would just add an aftermarket player to the original.

As much as the OEM navigation "sucks", it really has never failed to get me where I am going, even in places like London, Los Angeles, Paris, or Germany.

-s-

shanusanus

Scorchie,

please dont get me wrong I am NOT slating MB Command system at all - hence the reason why I bought my car with Command in it - but DVD was high on my list as I have a family - I want to keep the kids quiet in the back! Also I didnt have my phone etc all integrated - and to be honest most users on here probabaly dont get the full works on their cars! In veiw of this The AVIC makes perfect sense, and as I said it actually is much more accurate than Command and gives so much more control over the sound, voice activation etc - the whole package is so much better than what is on offer with mercedes - and to get the same with the merc you would be forking out a hell of alot more cash than the Avic cost! from that point of veiw imo teh Avic wins easily.

scorchie

No worries mate! We each have our priorities, that's my main point. I can't fault people for what they want and what fits their needs, as long as it works for them!

DVD can be added to stock.

But yes, the aftermarket will always stay a few steps ahead of what is installed in cars originally. It's just the way it is.

-s-

miroj

If family is such a big thing then there are two reasons then why the CLK for starters ?

Rear screens and rear doors belong to CLS, E-Class.

55fanatic

scorchie for the most part the Avic N1 or X1(for our non US members) has the ability to do all of those things that you mentioned. Pioneer makes an endless number of add ons for it. In addition to what the factory has the ability to do it is possible to much more such as get vehicle stats... like you said, its about priorities, lol

scorchie

Show me the instrument cluster integration with the N1 (or the replacement N2 when it becomes available). Or with my original steering wheel controls. Your M-class doesn't have those features; but nearly every other Mercedes model does, and the replacement M-class does as well. For the US-members, replacing ALL amplifers, speakers, phone kit, TeleAid and CD changers will be quite a job if you have a model introduced after 2000 with any sort of options.

-s-

miroj

I think this only applies to the lucky few with little or no option levels.

55fanatic

Steering wheel integration is easy to do, there are many adapters on the market. I installed one on my cousins Range Rover when I swapped out his factory radio that died. You are correct in the fact that it does not have insturment cluster integration. I remember reading something about a Teleaid relocation kit( I think metra or American international was in there final testing phases of this kit)... something similar to the RDS and onstar relocation kits that are out there. They are pretty detailed coming with there own speakers and microphones...

miroj

About as useful a spoon in a knife fight.

55fanatic

scorchie, I can understand where you are coming from though... why bother do sooo much to gain very little. I am an installer, I would say I am good, is there better, DEF. I also taught myself how and went and got certified. Sometimes I see what people want done and dont understand it. I am a part time installer. If I had all the options that are found in your vehicle I would leave the factory head unit with Navi(have DVD option installed) use my RCA trick into a line driver and then strip out the entire system and do it up NASTY, lol. no punk kid knows the difference and leave your vehicle alone!!!

55fanatic

what does tele aid do? All I have read about it is that it is worthless?

shanusanus

Another crazy comment miroj - why should someone have to have a 4 door car just cause he has a family? what about teh times when the kids arnt in teh car as well? A car is about individuality and what someone likes and teh CLK has ample room in teh back for passengers - so what if it doesnt have rear doors - its not as if they are 'trapped' in teh back is it - the front chairs DO allow ppl to get out mate!! Also I personally think its SAFER for children - no doors to play with and open and no one can open teh door and ****** teh kids - much safer!

miroj

I have no idea why your idea is vastly superior than mine ..... obviously there are more people that agree with you on the cars design.

55fanatic

ahahahaha... children play nice... if shanus thinks a clk is good enough for children then let him be. Shanus it does raise an eyebrow though doesnt it?

scorchie

I think I see the problem. You've "heard" about all this stuff... but none of it exists. There are no steering wheel control, TeleAid, and instrument cluster integration devices available in the US marketplace for any Mercedes model. Period. Things that are available for other cars don't really matter to us as Mercedes owners, right?

If there is ONE steering wheel button adapter for any aftermarket head unit available on the US market, please name it. (I've a background in electrical engineering, and after I learned how the steering wheel buttons on the Mercedes work... I decided it wasn't worth it to tap into it.)

On many cars the TeleAid works via D2B (fibre optic) and if there aren't any adapters for that.

You may consider TeleAid to be worthless... but you would be surprised at the number of people I talk with every day that do not want it disconnected when they have the opportunity to trade TeleAid for some other functionality (this is a requirement for some phone systems and some other upgrades).

-s-

miroj

All of the adapters are matched to the head units - there is no such thing as a generic adapter. And yes ..... being a Mercedes owner gives you high levels of integration that others can only envy.

55fanatic

Actually the only thing that I have "heard" of was the tele aid relocation unit(I am still not sure what this system does as my ML does not have it or I have never used it so please tell me). And I didnt "hear" about it. I read about it one of my company's magazines speaking about upcoming releases from our vendors. There is very much so a universal steering wheel adapter out there in the market. I used it on my cousins Range rover. I dont know the name of it, as far as I know we still do carry it in my install bay. If I knew I was entering myself into an argument, I would of got the name while at work today. It actually translates the "electrical" signal your steering wheel control gives off into an IR transmitted signal that your aftermarket HU would use.

You are correct in saying that it does not plug and play, there are no adpaters for this on the market. It is not saying its not possible, there just isnt a big enough demand for them to make it worth while for an aftermarket company to spend the R&D dollars to do it. They would much rather spend there time and money coming up with ways to allow aftermarket radios to be used in the new accords where there climate control and radio display are integrated into one unit. New mercedes owners are not at the top of any aftermarket audio/ electronics company's target market unless it is something like JL's clean sweep, for example.

Mercedes does create total integration. They do this for a couple reasons... 1 for comfort to owners of there cars, 2 makes the vehicle look that much more superior to anything else out there, and 3... because they dont want aftermarket hungry owners to go out and strip entire systems out of cars to for the most part screw things up.

And simply because you have a background in electrical engineering and do not see it worth it to tap into a vehicles electrical system to create something more unique or do something different than anything else out there on the market doesnt mean there arent another dozen people already on it. My intent on posting in this thread was not to start an argument. I am just letting our fellow member know what is out there and what is on the horizon!!!

The parts I speak of arent at just a best buy or a circuit city, good luck with that, I work at BBY we barely have enough to do normal cars. Its when you start that little web amongst other install bays in the area( in boston area we speak with SIM- I believe they may be in this months car and driver or Rich's Car tunes- home of Ritop, one of the handfull of install schools in the US) and especially with sales reps from the vendors to see what is really available. I am sure there is some company operating out of a garage that has created a system integration adapter, it is only a matter of time if not...

miroj

A universal adapter was first published in the car forums indicating that any steering function could be programmed to a relay. Simply changing the HEX offset to match the button you are pressing will actuate the relay. It doesnt get any simpler than that.

However ...... that is a FAR cry from onboard diagnostics and integration with the cars health systems.

Im quite certain that the car schools dont care about the infinite detail utilised by Benz. They look for shortcuts and results.

55fanatic

I was not speaking about "full system" integration... it is a possibility an unlikely one. I was simply stating the argument that all the factory integration that MB or other car manufacturer's use at some point or another can be used with a number of aftermarket adapters!!!

And as far as the people that are attending the schools, generally they know little or nothing or are taking specialized classes in fabrication and such. Those that are doing the teaching we have a relationship with... they are also closer to the development of certain adapters and integrators...