Hi all.

Just about to do the installation of a Chinese type Android thing.

The car is 2005 CL500 which has the BOSE branded system with the MOST type fibre optic.

I have this connector in the car:




The stereo comes in a plain box with no installation instructions. The pin-out info from the vendor is for a different unit.

The device itself has a pin-out sticker on the top so I think I'm going to be able to use this to do the installation.




I've been having a bit of back'n'forth with the supplier who was trying to make me buy the 6m extension cable which bypasses the MOST network. That would mean I'd only be able to use a few of the speakers and no sub. So I decided to go against their advice and I bought the PC0001 fibre optic decoder box. This should be able to take the audio signal from the front speaker outputs of the new head unit, convert it to fibre optic and then send it to the standard BOSE equipment in the back of the car for amplification and cross over. I think this is going to be far more preferable to the alternative of either very basic speaker connection or installing new amps to power all the speakers and sub/s.




The stereo is supplied with a CAN bus decoder device which is in what's called the 'power' cable. My interpretation of what it's doing is converting the various accessory functions of the headunit into a signal which is output from 2 wires (CAN HI & CAN LO) to the CANBUS network on the car. This device should control things like turning the device on and off with ignition key, reverse gear (for backup camera if I want one), and steering wheel controls.

I don't really listen to FM radio so I'm going to attempt installing without running any cables to the back at all.

My full list of connections I'm hoping will be enough are as follows:

1. Yellow power wire from fibre-optic decoder and from head unit both connect to RED/YELLOW wire of the connector to the original stereo.
2. Black wires from power connector on the stereo and the fibre-optic decoder can go to the BROWN wire of the original stereo connector.
3. Red ACC wires from fibre-optic decoder and stereo can connect to the power to the cigar lighter. I don't think this actually powers the stereo, it just tells it the ignition key has been turned on.

I've read elsewhere that there is a connection to the CANBUS network under the carpet by the left front seat. So I plan to get the carpet up and find that CANBUS terminal which is called the X30/5 connector.

When I find that cable I'll connect the green (CAN TX / CAN HI) and the green/black wire (CAN RX / CAN LO) from the headunit CAN BUS DECODER box to the car.

This is my plan, it should enable steering wheel controls, headunit with CD player, USB, Android and SAT NAV (I'll connect the SAT NAV antenna as well) and will connect to the original amp and speakers.

Anyone spot any problems or able to offer any help?

 

Seems I've hit a snag.

The fibre-optic decoder box I bought seems to be the wrong one for the car. I bought PC001 but I think I should have BS001

PC001: Erisin PC001 Fiber-Optic Decoder Box for Porsche Cayenne Benz ML/GL/R CLASS W164 W251,Others
BS001: Erisin BS001 Fiber-Optic Decoder Box for Benz CLS/E/SLK/SL Class W219 W211 W171 S/CL Class W220,Fiber-Optic Decoder Box

Basically in the model listings BS001 shows my model, PC001 does not. With PC001 wired into the car I don't get any sound from the speakers. Everything else works including the steering wheel controls and other CANBUS functions.

 

The observations from the previous post regarding the type of decoder seem to be correct as the sound is now playing successfully using the BS001 decoder box.

The only problem I have remaining is there seems to be some sort of confusion for when to start the BOSE system. I have started the car on a couple of occasions and had no sound. But if I stop and restart it'll acknowledge that I've started the vehicle and the Mercedes/BOSE sound system will activate and provide the amplification. Anyone any idea why it's doing that?

 

Just to update in case anybody finds this useful. I ordered a fibre optic loop. It's just a black plastic connector with an orange fibre cable which loops from one port on the connector straight to the other.

The theory is the MOST fibre system operates on a continuous circuit with interruptions for devices. So on the circuit you have the sat-nav unit in the boot, the amplifier in the boot and the CD changer. If you have the problem with the sound not starting every time you start the car then you should install the fibre loop in place of the CD changer. This fixed my issue. The CD changer is bypassed so no longer interrupts the circuit by trying to turn on and take over the sound system. With the CD changer eliminated the head unit always works every time you start the car.

 

I'm not a huge fan of the aftermarket looking screen, but I certainly understand your options were extremely limited given the dash you're working with. If you'd used the factory opening, the new screen would still be comically tiny.

However, I do want to compliment you on your thoroughness on this project and your execution of the project. Not many people are willing to do it right like you did.

Cheers!

 

Oh my Glob, so THAT could be the problem with mine never getting sound then?
I have tried this system on both my ML's and no dice, even with 2 different MOST boxes!
So does the loop get installed at the CD changer or off the amp?
My ML's changer is in the glovebox, pops down with a button press.
Cheers

 

If you think there's anything wrong with that you're mad. A couple of people who have been in the car thought it was the original stereo.

 

If you read all of the above there were two reasons why sound wasn't coming from my system. First I had the wrong decoder. There's two basic types, both the models are listed above and the one which works for the 2005 CL500 is mentioned. The second problem was the CD changer kept starting up and interrupting the signal from the stereo. In my setup the CD changer isn't required so I bypassed it. All of the devices on the fibre optic network are on a ring which goes around the car. One transmit laser comes out of the back of the head unit and goes in series to each component one after the other. Eventually it gets back to the head unit after going around the ring. If you look at the back of the CD changer it has two lights going into it. To bypass it all you have to do is disconnect the connectors in the back of the CD changer and fit the fibre optic loop in place and the CD changer will no longer be on the network.

 

Yeah I bought the male/female loop last night on Amazon.
Should be here sometime today if Amazon doesn't ***** the bed on the delivery, as they tend to do.
I watched a vid last night regarding the 6 pack CD and saw the optical input.
Will remove the glovebox today and get that installed and HOPE it works!
It has to be the reason as I see no light on the receive or send via the fiber cable, it's being stuck at the CD player I suspect.
Thanks for figuring this out...it's been a year long frustration lol.

 

Report back with your results as it may help someone.

 

For sure I will.

 

I just went out to remove all the stuff to have it ready for when the loop arrives and it arrived just as I removed the optical cable from the CD changer.
Plugged in the loop and no dice, STILL no sound.
I checked the optical cable to see if there was a light and nothing.
It's like as soon as I remove the stock stereo the amp and optical system just shuts down.
I get no lights from the cable to the deck nor lights from the CD.

Is there any other locations that send a signal from the amp I wonder?
Does the phone/TeleAid that came stock in the arm rest work via optical/fiber as well?
I suspect it does.

 

The process to follow is to eliminate one component at a time. So you've tried the CD changer and that didn't work. Try removing the sat-nav and see. And so on...

 

All I have is the optical to the deck optical to the CD changer and obviously an optical to the tele aid box, which I cannot seem to find anywhere on the internet where it is located on a w164.
It appears it's under the right passenger front seat on the w163 but that is where the battery is on a w164. It might be tucked away beside the battery so I will have a peak tomorrow.
I'm sure my vehicle like all of them at the time probably has the satellite navigation already intact because it does have a compass however if you didn't pay for that option then it's not activated and I know one of the fakra connectors is folded up and taped into the harness.

 

Messed around with the deck again today but still no dice.
I took the optical cable out of the MOST box and sure enough I had a red signal light so immediately put it back into the MOST box but didn't get any audio.
Checked the optical cable for the CD changer via removing the loop and it has a white light coming from it, which was odd I thought so I cupped my hand around to make sure it was not catching light from outside and sure enough it was illuminated a dim white light.
I am ready to just say F this...it's so frustrating & after watching all the YouTube videos where people install theirs and it works the 1st time....argh.
2 cars, 2 boxes, same damn symptoms.
Unless my deck is the culprit but I have checked the RCA outs and they are giving low output audio so no idea.

 

What original system dose your car have? Has it got the optional BOSE or Harmon Kardon stereo upgrade?

Another part of the installation is to install the decoder box to the car. That involves splicing into the CANBUS network somehow. The way I did it was to get a spare CANBUS 2-pin connector from a scrap Mercedes (it came from an old van) and then use that connector to add my CAN decoder to the network in the car. You have to connect the CAN decoder so your steering wheel controls work and so the stereo knows when to power on.

 

It's the HK Logic 7 system.
Yeah my Canbus is included in the entire wiring system and works when the deck is installed.
Shows when my door is open, steering wheel controls work etc.
I wired the yellow B+ constant to a constant on the original Benz harness for the stereo.
The ACC is to the cigarette lighter that* powers on only when the key is turned, and the ground to the ground wire on the cigarette harness.
I have tested, with my meter, the plug for those wires that goes to the MOST box and they are all operational.

 

I ran across a video that pointed out the cell phone module as being a common failure point on the fiber optic loop. On that car, the module was located under the rear seat. He installed a bypass and the sound system started working.

 

By that car I assume you're referring to the w215?
I still haven't been able to locate where mine is on the w164.
I had a feeling it has to do with the tele-aid

 

Well I just folded up my back seat on the driver side got underneath the flap and tried adding the fiber optic loop to the control module that was there and no change still no audio. I took the control module off and underneath was the Sirius satellite module, added a loop to that and no change. Both of those modules and their respective fiber optic connections have no lights on them at all so no signal is even reaching them. I don't know if the tele-aid is different from these two modules but if so that's the only other place that could be causing the issue but I have no clue where the telaide is I cannot seem to locate it anywhere in the car.

I think I'm just going to throw in the towel on this and admit defeat, this is just pointless

 

It's a shame you've not been able to get this to work. If the fibre optic connection is working you should see red dots inside the connector where the red laser light is being transmitted through the fibre. If your fibre is dark (i.e. no red light) one of the components on the bus / ring has failed and isn't powering on and transmitting signal.

I think if you took this to a car audio professional he could sort it out for you. They're not complicated once you understand.

 

Oh I understand it.
I have installed car stereos, amps, speakers, subs, etc for almost 30 years.
I get a signal via the MOST system when connect to the original head unit but not via the aftermarket MOST box.
2 different ML's, 2 different MOST boxes, same issue hence why I mentioned that the only plausible issue is my 4GB/64GB Android deck.
I do get audio out of the RCA's (not amplified of course) as well as all 4 speaker terminals.

I am not going to buy another android deck thus why I went for an external Android Auto screen with my installed/hard wired BT receiver.
Works perfectly.

 

Ejenner great thread, i'm installing a Kenwood unit in my cl500, and want to use the original amp with the new speakers to save rewiring the car, can you tell me where you got the BS001 adaptor and fibre optic loop? Thanks

 

Here's a link to the BS0001: Erisin BS001 Fiber-Optic Decoder Box for Benz CLS/E/SLK/SL Class W219 W211 W171 S/CL Class W220,Fiber-Optic Decoder Box

Here's a kit of male and female fibre optic loops: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/195418333017

You can buy the loops singularly if you wish. Just search eBay.

 

hi OP, do you still have the link to the unit you bought/installed? Im on that boat now.