bavarianfanatic

After days of combing through this and other forums (hat tip to @bamberger_1 !), I'm almost done with the replacement of the old COMAND 2.5 system in my son's 2000 CL500. I knew going into this it was going to be tedious due to the lack of info online and do see more of the basics covered on W220 pages. Here's my install:

Pioneer AVH-2500NEX double-din head unit
Rockford Fosgate R600X5 amp
Axxess ASWC-1 steering wheel control interface
Retaining all stock speakers
Kenwood backup cam

I'm installing the amp in place of the existing Bose amp and have grabbed the wiring for all of the speakers from the factory harness. I didn't realize this car had a center channel, so I don't have the center connected for now. I hope to find a standalone processor that will take inputs from the right and left channels, but that's down the road. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any. I've seen several DSPs mentioned in older threads, but they're all discontinued.

I ran new RCA leads from the trunk to the cabin along with an amp trigger lead, the camera harness, and a lead for the backup light.

I used a Metra connector to power the head unit that I've stripped down to include only the maintained hot, ground, and the blue "trigger" wire (more on this in a minute). I grabbed the switched power and lighting signal from the ash tray.

I identified the appropriate CAN Bus Hi/Lo leads from the original harness and have been successful getting the steering wheel controls functioning as expected.

I'm in the home stretch, but have one lingering issue. I have horrible radio reception. I've found many different discussions about the antenna trigger, but none seem exactly applicable on this car. I had originally forgotten all about the antenna and found that I had absolutely nothing but static when I tried out the tuner. Remembering that I needed to trigger the antenna, I then connected the blue/white lead from the head unit (also used to trigger the amp) to the plain blue lead in the Metra harness. I actually do have very weak reception now, but not nearly what I'd expect. Am I really connected to the correct trigger? Most comments I've read mention a blue lead with with stripe, but I have a feeling this is on later cars. I've confirmed that mine is plain blue with no stripe.

I've also spent a bunch of time reviewing wiring diagrams in WIS and am now more confused than I was before. I've seen folks mention applying 12V to pin 1 on the antenna, but looking at WIS, it looks to be labeled as "data" which gives me pause. I'd rather not blow anything up.

In short, I'm looking for the proper way to trigger the antenna on a 2000 CL500. Any and all help greatly appreciated!

JRAZ305

Did u ever figure it out ?