Oofoot

Hi...

Finally got the Audio 10 working in my c230. The only problem with my first isntall was that one of the connections was loose. But now it looks, sounds, and works great. 8 station presets, in case you were wondering. Here are some pictures...

-Craig

Oofoot

Another:

Oofoot

The complete package:

WebGuyNJ

Nice pics, thanks for posting them!

Was there a special modification needed to get the tuner to work on the odd FM stattions in US as opposed to the even station which is the standard in europe?

Oofoot

No, actually, there were absolutely no modifications needed. Pulled out the old one, dropped in the new one, and everything worked great. AM is a little screwey, but the powerful stations still come in.

theLeland

Oofoot - How hard was it to install the CD Player? I've got mine sitting in my trunk, and I was going to try installing it after work today ... but having the dealer do it would only cost 82 dollars, so I'm wondering whether I should do it myself or have the dealer do it. Can you give me any advice from your vantage point? (I've got the instructions that were linked to a while ago...)

THANKS!

Buellwinkle

Good job! So I guess a code wasn't necessary. Does the radio sound any different? Worse, better, same?

young

Dts said that the audio10 had no way to scan w/in the tracks. (fast forward or rewind). not that i do much of that, but it is odd.

tommy

Young, maybe I'm missing this, but can you do that with our current cd changers? I didn't think so, but if we can, how? TIA!

C230Komp

Oofoot,
I just got my Audio 10 installed this week too. I love it. Question is, do you have an English owner's manual? I think there are features that I probably can't find without a manual, but don't know what they are.

As far as installation it only took maybe 45 minutes, but there are a bunch of little clips that really require that you know what and where they are or you can miss some steps. I have a series of about about 25 or 30 in-process installation pics but they are big. I can e-mail to anyone who wants them. They show you some things that would be hard to describe in words.

young

yes. the left/right triangles w/ the lines w/ goto prev/next tracks. the up/down triangles will scan back/forward w/in the track.

the odd thing is that the left knob looks the same in both the US deck and the audio10 so why is it different?

tommy

Damn, Beth's right - I'm dumb as a post. I've only used the up/down triangles to get the track time of the current song. So, I guess that you just hold it down, and it'll ff/rewind? Pretty cool.

Note to self: RTFM!!!! :p

C230Komp

By the way, the new radio sounds A LOT better than the stock unit (which is made in Japan). The Audio 10 has a much better range of bass and treble, and really "woke up" the speakers. I can actually feel my ears bleed now.

theLeland

I'm installing mine tonight, and I sure would love those pictures ... can you email them to me at hi@theLeland.com, and at leland@spaceadventures.com (just to make sure they come through ...) Thanks!

Bper

Oofoot

Where did you get the Audio 10? Cost?

Buellwinkle

OK, you guys are too excited so I got one. Even though I have a CD changer I still prefer the in-dash. I hope it doesn't get lost in the translation. I bough it for 175 euros but I offered him 200 euros after that to make it worth his while to get it to the U.S.

Oofoot

Converted you, huh.... you will definetly be happy when you install it.

As for the installation, this link that Buellwinkle sent me a while back certainly helped:
http://www.stormpages.com/arialis/mb/changer/index.html

The installation was easy, once you figure out where the locck on the air ducts are and where the clips on the front panel are and air ducts are. If you open the ashtray door about halfway, you can see metal clips above it. Just pop those off, unscrew the screws in the air ducts and undo the air duct clips, and the front aluminum panel comes straight off (after you pull the air ducts out). Note that you will need a special shaped screwdriver for all this.

If you have the right tools, the whole process takes under 45 minutes. I don't have an instruction manual for this stereo... but it is pretty straightforward.

Anyone need a software engineer in the Boston area? I hate my job.

Oofoot

Oh, and it cost 240 Euros... about 200 USD

DCX Engineer

Buellwinkle - where did you get your Audio 10?

I am thinking of ordering one instead of the cd changer from Autoclass.net. Is there a problem with AM reception? I like listening to Nascar when I'm on the road.

C230Komp

The only problem with the AM reception it that it skips over certain frequencies. I (used to) listen to sports on 1310, but it jumps from like 1305 to 1314, nothing in between. Some stations, like 820 for instance, can be clearly heard on 819 which is the closest thing.

theLeland

I got my in dash CD player in tonight - thanks in no small part to some help from C230Komp ... thanks again! I have the Bose system in my car and the increase in fidelity with the new head unit is PHENOMENAL. Swapping out the tape Audio 10 for the Becker Unit has definately boosted the quality of the sound by an order of magnitude. The only thing I miss are the nifty Driver / Ambient / Talk functions ... but oh well.

Tricky parts: the top latch ... you need to push the vent all the way up, then slide the top lock right while maintaining pressure to slide it up a bit more, then do the bottom lock to the right while maintaining upward pressure to continue sliding all the way up. Then you can get to the screw. Reverse order when you're spinning it down.

Getting the frame around the shifter was the only other tricky part ... there are two clips near the front ... you just need to pull up and a metal clip will slide out of its plastic casing holding it in. The other two clips are on the back end behind the shifter near the sides. You need to release these before you can start pulling the plate up and out.

After that, removal is pretty much a breeze. Oh - be sure to test the unit before you put it all back together to make sure it all works!

Rick

but does it play MP3 CD's??

DtS

Nope.

chronopassion

Does it still function the alarm?

CP

Buellwinkle

I'll have both, the CD changer and In-Dash because sometimes a passenger wants to listen to their CD and it's a pain explaining how to take the magazine out and load their CD. Also because the folks that have them say they sound way better and I need that.

I got mine, like I've been recommending for a long time, from Ebay.de. Just search for Audio 10 and make sure it's for the W203 because the other cars have a totally different Audio 10 (go figure they use the same model number). Also make sure it has a CD (it would be funny to get a cassette radio).

The one I bid on said in the ad that he would not ship out of Germany. so I bid on it anyway and got it at 175 euros (about $150) and offered him 200 euros ($180) to compensate him for his troubles. He agreed so far. I'll wire him the money when he finds out what shipping is but I've shipped stuff from Germany before and it's cheaper than UPS locally. Like most I've seen, he got a command system and pulled out the factory radio.