liveniceguy

Hello all,

New to the forum. Love the search function. Its been real helpful so far.

Got a few questions though....

I'm going to buy a 6 disk changer on ebay. Either a MC3010 or MC3198.
What is the difference between the two? I would assume that one is newer than the other? Which one is newer?

Found great threads on pulling the HU out! But not much that coveres the Fiber Optic connections. I will be putting it in the gloxebox. I found the power connection but not the Fiber. There is a Fiber cable on the back of the radio that I think goes down to the Tele. Do I need to buy the Fiber cable that gets looped into the changer? Anyone have pics or a thread of the loop connections? What about a part number for this Fiber cable?

Any help would be great!!! Thanks!

KIRA

ask your ebay seller

for me it doesn't come with it, but you can buy one from your dealer for around 20-40bux

ML55CLA45

dont need to buy FO cables.... some extra FO cables are located in the trunk from the factory.. i can take pictures if you want and show you where to find....

i also have (2) mc3010's if your interested $175 shipped and it will come with the 40-50 dollar oem bracket for the glovebox.... only thing it desnt come with is a cd magazine... you can get those on ebay for like 10-15bucks

-charles

charles@carino.com

liveniceguy

Charles,

Would love to see a pic of where to find the FO cables. Can you post it here or do you want to send it via email?

I will be interested in one of your mc3010's. Once my tax return check comes in that was my next purchase. I will contact you on that!! Do you know the difference between the 3010 and the 3198?

Thanks!
Robert

ML55CLA45

do be honest... no i dont know the difference... ill post pictures later on tonight......

liveniceguy

Charles... any luck with pics? Or just tell me where in the trunk, behind a panel?

ML55CLA45

1st picture is your trunk

2nd trunk linner removed exposing the black plastic cover

3rd remove the cover buy removing the 2 piece that look like this.. one on the right.. the other on the left.. just use a flat head screw driver and pry them up...

4th shows the exposed box.. in there should be some extra fiber optic orange cables... in the picture of mine... the extra FO cable is gone because i used it for my navi...

good luck

raymond g-

MC3198 is superceded by MC3010 and (fuzzy right now 3111 or 3011). the
newer one(s) touted to have better skip resistance. 3010 is also a shade
shorter in length.

3198 has spring loaded door and 3010 has simple manual slider

ML55CLA45

i have the older mc3010.... i cant remember the last time it skipped on me... i dont even think it skipped when i got rear-ended...

but anyways... im sure either will work...

raymond g-

folks occasionally will reposition the changer and neglect to reset the
horiz/vert adjustment on the sides of the casing. this may lend to
skipping or sporadic operation

liveniceguy

Charles,

Thanks for the pics! I pulled the spare FO cable out this morning. It was pluged into a cable that ran thru the car. I disconnected it and looped the car end back to itself with one of the two clips. That made the most sense instead of leaving the FO ends hanging out unprotected. Does it matter if I looped it back? Probably not hooked up to anything on the other end I guessed.

Great pics!! Thanks!

liveniceguy

So out of the MC3198 and MC3010. The 3010 is newer or older? I must be going crazy.....

ML55CLA45

mc3010 is the older...

raymond g-

my notes are indicating that 3198 is older than 3010 - que ¿

miteclspdr

quick question with this. im also installing one in the glovebox of my C and i have the changer, the magazine, and the extra fiber cable from the trunk. is there a seperate power cord as well? is that in the car behind the HU or i have to purchase that seperately?

miteclspdr

hate to be a pest but i wanted to install this cd changer in the glove box tomorrow, have the bracket, changer, and orange optical wire..just wanted to know if there is another wire or the orange one is all you need? I heard there is an addtl wire (for power?) located behind the headunit, is that true? any help is appreciated

JohnCL

You will need the power connector and it has 3 wires going into it. It should be around somewhere in the car.

miteclspdr

thanks for the reply. ill look around for it. is it orange as well or is this one black?

raymond g-

should be black....

miteclspdr

ok ill look for it and thansk for the pic. i found the orange one just lying in the trunk compartment with the foam protector still on it and all so that one should be fine. now i have to see if i have the other one before i make a trip to the dealer. thanks again

danaps

i, also am looking for the 3-pin power wire.. ive torn this car to pieces looking for it. this particular car was prewired for the phone kit in the trunk (found the orange optical wire, a 4-pin power wire, and antenna wire).. im assuming this is for the phone kit. i purchased a kit from mercedes that came with the glove box bracket and optical wire to run from the deck to the changer.. but no power wire. i dont mind buying the power wire but does anyone know where the other end of the power wire would connect ?? doesnt seem to be any available connections on the deck .. any help is appreciated

C230 Sport Coup

OK, so the extra cable in the trunk is there for some folks where something would've been connected back there but isn't.

If you have the phone kit, um, you might need that.
Yes you have to loop the CD changer into the loop.

The power cable on my car was way buried, no where near the radio,
I pulled all the trim pieces and ended up finding it in and around the gear shift.

The D2B ring (optical) has an order it must follow, see attached doc.
And lastly you must have someone with a SDS computer, set the ECU
as having the Changer installed.

I recently purchased a new optical cable, the PN is 2035403308.
About 30 bucks.
The red side of the cable always goes on the "Chamfered" side
of the connector, or rather the side that at an angle , not 90 degree.
Be gentle with the optical cable, if it gets damaged in any way, it won't work. Don't bend it too tight, or let it get nicked or crushed.

I suggest wrapping a little electric tape at the point where it goes into the glove box. My optical cable eventually got kicked from day to day vibration.
I would suggest doing it with the power cable as well, as it's more than a power cable.
One wire is an 'electrical wake up' wire that carries a digital signal.
I have a larger troubleshooting doc is anyone needs it,
pm me with an email address.

I still haven't gotten mine to start working again, but it might be that
wire as it wasn't the optical cable, radio, or cd changer.

danaps

i understand the looping but after looking at my car im confused.. i dont see any looping. the only fiber run ive seen runs from the stereo to the trunk and its connected to nothing. i disconnected that fiber from the stereo and used the shorter fiber cable that came with the kit from mercedes and ran it from the stereo to the glove box where it connects to the changer. im hoping im not making things worse... still no idea about the power cable ??

lifestylehvc

This was a great thread guys , I just bought a 2002 c240 and it dosent have a changer in it so that will be one of the first improvements I do

rsmith7

C230 Sport Coup,

Do you have any information on the fiber ring? I am trying to install an Argos bluetooth module in my 2002 C230 coupe and having trouble. When we purchased the car we had a CD changer installed at the dealer. I have a feeling that the dealer disconnected the ring and only has the CD changer plugged into the HU. I think this because I found one red end cable in the passenger foot area, next to the transmission. This cable went towards the center console.

Is there an easy way to trace out the fiber.

The car does not have any upgrades like Bose, navigation or telephone.