andrenj

Just completed the OEM bluetooth installation in my '06 C55.

The instructions provided here http://home.earthlink.net/~phdwebsit..._bulletins.htm for '05 models were very helpful, but there are some slight tweaks...

• I have SDARS (satellite radio) and SOUND so I followed p.6, but I did not have a TEL1 fiber optic. So I just had to change SOUND1 and SDARS1.
• No need to change anything in the tranmission tunnel area inside the car (p.7)
• Part numbers used were:
  • BQ6820965 - MHI Core Installation Kit ($110 - Dealer)
  • BQ6820907 - C-Class Sedan MHI Vehicle Completer Kit ($160 - Dealer)
  • B67875878 - Bluetooth Adapter ($110 - EBay)

The install took about two hours and did not require version coding. Paired easily with IPhone4.

I would rate this install as "easy". Hope this helps someone thinking about it.

mrobinso

andrenj, I have been thinking about doing this for a while in my '06 C55 and am happy to see that you figured it out. I purchased the Bluetooth adapter a while back and have been biding my time, trying to figure out if I wanted to move forward and buy the MHI completer kit and the MHI installation kit.

When you say that you have SOUND I assume you mean you have the Harmon Kardon system that utilizes fiber optic wiring?

Secondly, I thought I read somewhere that some people who have done the installation don't bother hooking the system up to the car antenna, and simply let the reception from their cell phone antenna do all the work. Did you hook up to the car antenna during your installation?

Lastly (for now), do you have the COMAND or the base radio? If you have the base radio, does the full 'phone' interface appear on the screen? And are your steering wheel buttons fully-functional to answer and drop calls? Phone book compatibility?

Very interested, hope you don't mind all the questions.

andrenj

I have the COMAND radio (w Nav) and "yes" the steering wheel controls are fully functional - answer, hang-up, scroll address book, etc.

I followed the instructions to the "t", meaning I did hook up the car antenna. However AFIK, I did not need to do this step, because unless you physically connect your phone to the car (i.e. do not use BT) the car's antenna is not used - and I will be using BT exclusively.

I have the HK setup. You can easily remove the right side panel in the trunk and see your wiring and fiber optic connections. My fiber optic connections were SOUND & SOUND1, SDARS & SDARS1 and TEL.

Send me a PM with your number if you need to discuss.

RES

Do you have the phone menu come up on your cluster? I thought that had to be added.

mrobinso

I may very well take you up on that. Need to purchase the two MHI components from the dealer first. Sounds like you got good prices for the core kit and the installation kit. Which dealer did you purchase from?

andrenj

Fully functional...phone menu came up in COMAND and cluster, phone book downloaded. I was pleasantly surprised that it also had descriptions for "mobile", "home", "work", etc.

No coding needed.

andrenj

I purchased from Mercedes Benz of Cutler Bay in Florida. Go to the Parts Depot on their website http://www.trademotion.com/partlocat...?siteid=214913

deeoh

Good job man! I was sitting on the fence because I wasn't sure if it worked with the iPhone 4 or not. Thanks for a great write-up!

mrobinso

Do the part numbers you listed correspond to the website you suggested? Can't seem to find the parts you are referencing there. Have seen them on ebay at a higher premium than what you are quoting.

andrenj

Drop the "B" and try again.

mrobinso

Ahhh, thank you.

lkfoster

Does the BT setup you installed play well with Teleaid/mBrace?

andrenj

Unfortunately, I am not subscribed to either of those services, so I can't tell. What I do know is that the little "i" and "wrench" in the armrest now illuminate (if they did before the installation I did not notice).

I am not too sure if the Teleaid/mBrace hardware would need to be activated in addition to the service; I'd be surprised if it didn't.

lkfoster

Finally got the parts together and installed today. Here's what I found;

-Pairs seamlessly with an iPhone 4 and a BlackBerry 9700 Bold. Address books upload with seemingly no limit on the number of listings.

-the instructions in the original posting were invaluable in locating all the different connectors. There was some improvisation to bridge gaps in the procedures but nothing too bad. It would have helped if I could get my shop manual from MB to work on a Windows 7 64bit machine, but that's another matter.

-no need to do anything in the passenger side of the interior. Don't know if it was because I already had the satellite, HK and CDC or not but I wasn't complaining.

-not all connectors were there, just skipped them if I couldn't find them.

-looked into the Viseeo puck but heard of problems so just got an old generation MB puck of off eBay.

-no problems with mBrace after the install.

-the dealer part numbers may show up as discontinued but they can still be ordered. One of the two (don't remember which one) shows as only 4 in stock after I ordered mine so you may not want to linger.

-as Andrenj did, I did the full install even though never planning to use the internal antenna.

Thanks to Andrenj for bringing this up. I had believed that the install was up around $1,200 but did it for less than half that.

deeoh

Are you a current subscriber to mbrace? I'm planning to add the BT package also, but I'll wait till next week once the dealer upgrades the teleaid box to accept the mbrace signal...

lkfoster

Yes, signed up under the $300 lifetime plan awhile back. The main reason was that the American wife tried calling Roadside Assistance a few years ago when she has a flat tire in BFE Nevada and they couldn't find her. One would have thought that a US highway would have been findable.

I had the change made while in for a service. I don't know what they did but it took them awhile to get it to connect. It's worked fine since.

deeoh

Cool, that's good to know! Btw, 1 more question for you. Are the part numbers listed above still good other than listed as NLA or discontinued? Thanks fo your help.

-David

lkfoster

Yes, all three numbers are current. I was told by a couple dealers that the first two were NLA but my local dealer could and did order them. I got the puck from eBay.

deeoh

Yep, that's what I plan to do also. Thanks again!

mrobinso

These prices are based on Mercedes of Chantilly in Northern VA (see bold).

• BQ6820965 - MHI Core Installation Kit ($110 - Dealer) Just quoted $176 from dealer, this part is discontinued though so its first come first serve
• BQ6820907 - C-Class Sedan MHI Vehicle Completer Kit ($160 - Dealer) Just quoted $260 from dealer
  
• B67875878 - Bluetooth Adapter ($110 - EBay) Already have this part from eBay

Still mulling this over.

mrobinso

To anyone interested in doing this, after obtaining the quote from Mercedes of Chantilly I previously posted, I did some online research and found the parts for you guys (even the discontinued core installation kit) for even cheaper than the OP paid! I know I know you can thank me later . I went ahead and bought both the completer kit and the core kit for way cheaper than I could have imagined. It just took a little bit of searching through various part warehouse websites to find both parts for cheap. Needless to say, I am pumped to do the install.

• BQ6820965 - MHI Core Installation Kit (OP Price Paid: $110 - Dealer) Dealer Quote: Just quoted $176 from dealer, this part is discontinued though so its first come first serve

Found this part here: http://www.mercedespartscenter.com/p...&siteid=215720

What I Paid: $83.60 plus shipping [$10.95] (not to mention they had it in stock)

• BQ6820907 - C-Class Sedan MHI Vehicle Completer Kit (OP Price Paid: $160 - Dealer) Dealer Quote: Just quoted $260 from dealer

Found this part here: http://www.primepartssuperstore.com/...&siteid=215236

What I Paid: $128.00 plus shipping [$13.95]

lkfoster

Me thinks you need to find a new dealer. Everyone I checked with quoted the $110 and $160 list prices.

mrobinso

That's Northern Virginia for you my friend. Just to set the record straight, those prices, although being quoted by Mercedes of Chantilly, were actually coming straight from Mercedes of Tyson's system. The parts needed were all located at Mercedes of Tyson's.

I almost felt bad (almost) when I asked the parts guy at Mercedes of Chantilly, you know I can get these parts for 50% less online? He gave me an honest answer, stating that most Mercedes dealers don't buy parts in bulk and therefore have to special order for most obscure parts like I was asking for, and thereby they don't get wholesaler prices on the parts and also charge a mark-up.

mrobinso

I just wanted to update my previous post to indicate that PimePartsSuperstore did not in fact have the Vehicle Completer kit in stock as they indicated on their website. I was, however, able to find the Vehicle Completer kit for the same price through Mercedes Benz of Fort Lauderdale's website (see new link in red above).

mrobinso

Has anyone installed the bluetooth setup in their C55 who has the Harman Kardon sound system but does not have satellite radio?

I am so close to finishing the install in my car, however, I am running into the problem that I only have SOUND (plugged in from factory for regular pre-wired for phone setup) and SOUND1 (plugged in for installation of bluetooth phone setup) and TEL (no TEL1 or TEL2) in my trunk and I need to find where the other end of SOUND1 is located, which I believe should be somewhere in the "Transmission Tunnel" within the cabin of the vehicle or near the front panel near the passenger side foot well. Can anyone point me in the right direction where the other end of SOUND1 may be located?

The instructions listed here: http://home.earthlink.net/~phdwebsit..._bulletins.htm state that I need to go to the "Transmission Tunnel" area in the cabin of the vehicle and reconfigure the MOST ring to match the image displayed on page 10 of the document. I think this is the last step that I need to complete:

(as written on page 10 of the 2005 C-Sedan pdf) At the exposed transmission tunnel area, find the MOST couplings and configure the MOST ring (Figure 22) according to Figure 39.
TEL OUT > HU/CDC IN

Any help here would be greatly appreciated! I have spent the last two nights in my cold garage trying to sort this out with no luck!

P.S. Shout out to Andrenj - thank you very much for your support on this. You have been extremely helpful thus far!