I have not had a chance to look deeper into this but, this is what i did find out.

Start car put in neutral, let coast - video will shut off as soon as wheels start to move.

shut car off, leave key in the on position and do the same thing, let coast - video will NOT shut off.
This tells me there is a way around it without any adapters.
this also tells me there is a power source (acc) to some module or something that tell the head unit when the wheels are in motion but, only when the car is started. has nothing to do with parking brake or being in park.
Kill the acc power to this and all should be good.

As soon as weather gets better where i live I'm going to check it out.
Will keep you posted

nice! cant wait to see what you find out. an alternative is to have your friends push the car while its off and in neutral, that way you can watch your dvds until you get to your destination.

blah blah blah...

it wont work; unless you plan to pull the gps signal from the back of your radio as well. the radio uses the wheel speed sensors + gps info to determine if the vehicle is moving and if it is the video goes out.

also if you cut power to the wheel speed sensors the car will spit out an unimaginable amount of errors...

do you have to do a series of key commands before you can watch it? Or do you just choose the dvd player as you drive? Also, if you get multimedia, does it come with a TV tuner? It says it unlocks TV, but didn't know if the w204 comes with the tv tuner.

Is this what you did with your car? So you don't need to buy any of those adapters for VIM but gets the backup camera to work on your MM system?

I was wondering if you can also post a photo where your backup camera was installed in the rear bumper.

Thanks

If you know a MB Tech with Stardiagnostics computer system. They should be able to activate "Video In Motion."

At least on the w203 models with CD based Nav. It's an option deep in the star Diagnostics program. It's set to "OFF" in the factory settings, just need to check in "ON" if it's available. I'll ask one of the techs I know to see if it's possible on the w204.

Lots of w203 owners have done this mod, I have it on my car with TV-tuner and DVD player, also have one other video source available for back-up camera, etc...

Has to be possible!

would it be possible to find out if such options exist.

Mine was a bit different. I had someone program my backup camera input to turn it on but yes, the idea is that you do not need to have a module present to turn on the camera input, just programming. Ill take some pics of the camera mount tommorow and post them here. The camera mounts to the right of the license plate in a little cutout area. IF you look up underneath by the handle you can see the square where it goes.

Nope, not possible. The video in motion feature was only present on euro cars because certain countries allow it. In the US the feature was neevr present even on SDS. Secondly the 204 uses the new platform SCN coding system which means there are no more selections to program period. Now the SDS machine puls your VIN and looks up your feature list at the MB corporate database and then programs the features all at once...

Thanks in advance XJ9 I'm looking forward to your photos.

Also if possible what particular brand of camera did you use and is it good in terms of coverage.

A screen shot from your MM would be great.

I would also like to know if your MM automatically pops up during reverse?

If it pops up does it go back to hiding once you disengage reverse?

It would be really great if this can just be done via programing.

Finally took the pics yesterday. See Below. The camera comes on automatically when you put the car in reverse and turns off when you take the car out of reverse. I dont think it works if you have the radio off but honestly I never checked. Ill try it out today and post back.

As a side note I saw something very interesting yesterday as well: The guys who put in my camera were able to program the camera on in another c class using just a laptop and an adapter cable.

EDIT: Checked the radio: backup cam only works if the radio is on and screen is up.

very nice! I spoke to one of my Tech friends, he said he has the update with w204 on his Star Diagnostics and should en able to activate drive in motion but has not officially tried it on a 204 yet.

Love the back-up cam!!!

I'm adding that to mine soon too.

wow, i need this done to my w204! that is awesome... how much did that all set you back??

I paid $999 for everything installed.

Could you let us know who programmed your MM system? If you already posted it, I apologize I did search for it but maybe missed it. Is it confirmed that this is something the dealer can do for us now?

Also, do we need to run the video signal wires from the camera all the way to the radio or is there a connector in the trunk somewhere?

Thanks for all the info & pics you've provided us!

^ I thought there was a un used video input with the MM? Not 100%

I got it done at a place called midcity engineering. Originally I had tried to have it programmed in service using a special procedure which was supposed to turn the camera feature on but that plan failed so I talked to the midcity guys who at the time were interested in figuring out the programming issue and they were able to get it working. The camera mounted on the trunk lid just over from the release handle and then the wires had to run all the way forward to the radio where there were a couple of things to hook up. There were some special connectors that they had to get as well; the radio does not have like a normal RCA jack for the camera.

Wonder what particular adaptor was needed in the absence of a normal RCA jack.

Well one thing I hope can be done to your existing set up is for it to work by automatically popping up the screen during reverse like in the movie national treasures.

http://www.navtv.com/manuals/W204/W204.pdf


you can see the adaptor in there.

this includes camera and vim mod?

looks great btw.

I paid $999 for the backup cam,connectors, installation and programming. I didnt get the VIM unit at the same time. I did however hear a rumor last time I was there that they were working on building the camera function into the VIM so you would just buy the one piece.... I looked on their site but didnt see anything about it yet.

Feb. 12 (UPI) -- A New York state man has been charged with watching videos as he sped through an Ontario Provincial Police speed trap near the Canada-U.S. border, police said. The speed trap was set up Monday near Gananoque, which borders upstate New York along Lake Ontario.Police said a Jeep Commander with New York license plates was clocked doing more than 50 mph in a 40 mph zone and pursuing officers reportedly noticing something unusual on the dashboard, the Ottawa Citizen reported Tuesday. When the Jeep stopped, an officer said he saw that a laptop computer was attached to the dashboard with Velcro and was playing a DVD.The unidentified driver admitted he had been watching the video along with his passengers, and was charged with speeding and viewing a television product while driving, police said.

dude was speeding, he got what he deserved.