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I recently purchased a 2005 S55 AMG (w220) and have been researching how to get an Aux audio input added to the stereo.
The Command system in my car looks identical to the one pictured above, I've seen it referred to as "US Command V2" and "Command NGT1". My vehicle has the CD changer located in the trunk rather than the glove-box.
I've spent about the last week or so reading across various forums to find solutions to this issue and the only concrete solution I found was a forum post on here by a gentleman named 'Skylaw' who had an extensive guide detailing his installation of the Dension Gateway 500 system on his 2005 S500 here.
My problem with the Dension is that I don't believe there are any shops around here that would be proficient/familiar enough with the fiber optic system in my S55 to do the installation and I'm not confident enough in my abilities to attempt it solo.
Another issue I'm having is a lot of forum posts and information regarding this topic focus on iPod/iPhone integration with the Command track-list navigation ect. I don't actually care for any iPod/iPhone integration, I literally just want an Aux input for audio playback from my Android phone I don't need any track navigation integration with the Command or anything like that.
That being said, I'm wondering if there's a simpler solution than the Dension that would just give me the Aux input, maybe something that doesn't involve me screwing with the 'fiber optics ring'. I've read that some people have gone to Mercedes dealerships and received cables that allowed them to install glove-box Aux inputs (As seen in these forum posts: 1, 2, 3, 4). I wonder if a Mercedes dealership would be able to give me more information on this topic?
If anyone has any helpful information or advice on this topic I'd appreciate it, thanks for your time.
That looks pretty cool. The only issue I see is from reading that product's documentation it appears that they're assuming the CD changer is in the glove-box, where as in my vehicle it's in the trunk. That may make installing that product difficult as it requires access to the CD changers fiber optic IO cables while also requiring access to particular power cables which I believe are located behind the Command unit. This is one of the reasons the Dension Gateway 500's installation was also very daunting to me. I could be wrong though.
This product also looks pretty interesting. Bluetooth audio streaming would actually be more desirable than an Aux input since then the stereo's digital audio converter would be used instead of the phone's which would result in higher quality audio. Those installation instructions make no sense to me though.
^ Scratch the above, I forgot Bluetooth is a low bandwidth protocol, quality--.
Last edited by SeanR1700; Oct 19, 2015 at 10:53 PM.
Reason: Incorrect Assumption
compaddict, what is the Dennison kit and where did you get it? This is all new to me. I just got my 05 SL55 and trying to figure out how to use the phone in it or if its outdated and wanting to set up an Aux so I can play my IPhone. any insight from anyone would be greatly appreciated. Thanx
This reply is probably a little late to help anyone but I'll post it anyway.
I did end up buying the Dension Gateway 500 unit. I got mine from Enfig Car Stereo as they had the best price I could find and very good support.
For the most part I followed a guide written by a gentleman on these forums here. The details of this guide were verified by the people at Enfig.
The 2 big issues, assuming you are going to have a similar car to mine which was a 2005 S55 AMG, are the trunk mounted CD Changer and the fact you will most likely get a Dension GW 500 Version 3.
Since this product works by replacing your CD changer in the fiber optic loop of your car's MOST system it must be inserted into the loop after the Head Unit and before the CD Changer. This is detailed in the guide I linked to. To overcome this issue you basically have two verified options.
Your first option is the official solution from Dension, which is to buy this MOST system extension cable and somehow run it from the Head Unit back to the trunk to the CD Changer. Since I did not feel like fooling with running a brittle fiber optics cable through my car I skipped this option.
The second option as recommended by the guide I linked to and the people at Enfig is to swap the Fiber Optic IO wires between your CD Changer and whatever is actually directly after the Head Unit in the Fiber Optic ring in the trunk. In my car that was the Voice Command Module. This allows you to simply install the Dension Module behind the Head Unit and have it be in the correct order in the fiber optics ring to replace the CD Changer. This can get very tricky though.
The second big issue that I mentioned involving the version 3 hardware, basically the version 3 hardware expects you to run one set of Fiber Optic IO cables to the head unit and another set to the CD Changer. Since I couldn't run one set to the CD changer this meant I had to food with the settings and do a non traditional installation. This is outlined in the guide I linked and was confirmed by the people at Enfig. You set the little switches on the side of the unit with 1 through 5 down and 6 up, ignore the Fiber Optic IO port for the CD Changer and install it just to the Head Unit.
I managed to get my unit installed using the above methods over a couple frustrating weekends. Mine "works" but I still have an issue in that the menus it's supposed to display aren't there. It will still play music from the Aux source and from the USB input (I don't have an Apple product to test the iPod/iPhone integration with) but it doesn't have any of the display lists or anything that it's supposed to. It simply under the CD Changer section of the Audio lists 2 CDs as being available, CD 5 with 99 untitled tracks that somehow represents the Aux input and CD 6 with whatever number of untitled tracks are on the USB stick you give it that represents the USB input. Perhaps this issue would clear up if I updated the software on the unit, for now I'm just happen I can play music off my phone and for all the frustration the unit does sound pretty good.
I actually went to the best car audio guy around here and asked him for a quote to specifically to get an Aux input in the car as that's all I really cared about. He was going to install the Dension GW 500 and charge me $800 when all was said and done, I figured I could probably find the product cheaper (I did) and was willing to fight out the installation process to save a few hundred dollars.
On a funny aside as part of the installation process I unjammed my CD Changer, and to my horror and delight it was still full of CDs from the previous owner. "Now that's what I call Music! 18" followed by 5 burned mix CDs of the finest Arabic pop music. "So that's why all the buttons in this car are sticky," I said to myself nodding knowingly.
just get the mostaux from navtv, doesn't have any of those issues, jay@navtv.com or the guys at access1alarm.com have them PAC Audio also has the iss3.5 or isimple which is a panel mount aux jack for $25 to add to the mostaux
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