Star4life

also if you see a volume bar to show volume level, that is also how you know if you have newest headunit hardware. See above picture!

in another thread a guy said a retorfit shop swapped his head unit to the new part number and everything worked.

A new head unit and code may be all that is needed. it makes sense. someone else also said a retrofit is avaialble in february. I will wait until then to see if that is true. i think we should all be able to get carplay in 2018 if wanted one way or another.

alyshehata

Good point! Much easier than the method I posted So you don't think all the other parts you mentioned are necessary? Will all the cables from the original HU fit the new HU without needed any harnesses etc? For the SD card reader, I would assume both parts are the exact same but have different part numbers due to one having the "Phone" logo on one of the USB ports? I don't think the actual hardware would be different.

Star4life

I think a radio only swap with software update would probably be only thing you would need. I agree that new part number for the card reader and usb hook up is most likely the only difference is the logo on the front. You still need power and data to stream music. But not sure why there would be a different harness to head unit if that was the case. That is my only question mark regarding that.

I wanted to lay out all the framework though so in case someone does the HU swap and it doesnt work or some functionality is lost, it can be traced down to the only changed parts whihc I noted above. I always tend to explore every avenue as an electrical engineer. just my method haha.

Im pretty excited. Spending money other places for the holidays so will be getting to this late winter/spring. Our Lincoln has carplay and i love it. Cant wait to get it in the benz. the only other things i need to figure out are teh ILS after this haha. And by figure out, i mean how to do all this as cheap as possible.

tres55

Has anyone tried having the dealership enable it?

ecmexchange

Same question.

cstraface

Does anyone have a part number for the SA154 headunit? I can't even find 2018 OEM parts available online. Newest year on all of the sites I'm finding is 2017. If I try to search my VIN, it says nothing found. Regarding the OBDII module/method: I decoded my VIN using this site and it looks to me like I don't have the compatible unit according to the Unchip-tec website. I have SA531 COMAND APS NTG5/NTG5.5.

Hoping it's as simple as buying the SA154 headunit and loading some software...

BlueNSX

I'm in the same boat. The decoding site just says 3U2 - head unit America. Not sure what that means. But I don't have the iPhone icon on the USB port, and no volume bar. So I guess I'm screwed, even though my car supposedly was manufactured in Nov 2017.

ecmexchange

Don't you just love the consistency between cars? /s

Star4life

if your car is not a 2018 model it will not have the new head unit for the c class. if you have volume bar your head unit should be capable.


if you read the original post above at all. i posted the part number for the current panasonic headunit.

if you didnt buy apple car play from factory you wont have the parts. its really as simple as putting in headunit and a sofware update.

if you read the original post above at all. i posted the part number for the current panasonic headunit.

monteeyah

Hi Star4life
Mighty right up for sure! But to be clear, for those currently waiting c43s right with command nav system I will not need any hardware likely? Or will I need a new usb port? And Just an update/coding? I am sorry for being dense if you have have clarified this :-)

cstraface

I have the volume bar, and a 2018. But again, if I go to the unichip website, according to their recommendation and my build sheet when I decomp my VIN, my head unit isn't compatible. I guess that's why I'm confused...

Star4life

if you got command. OEM apple carplay is not possible. now i saw on cla and gla with command there were aftermarket companies offering the upgrade, but the c class is only available with oem carplay if you did not get command.


that site is most likely not updated considering the 2018s just came out and that is the first year the c class has had carplay oem. if you have volume bar, your head unit is capable of carplay. i would recommend just going to dealer and having them add it for $300.

BlueNSX

So my car is 2018 but I don't get the volume bar. Furthermore, I don't get Serius live traffic signal either. Furthermore to that, my tpms sensors have the old 2017 codes.

​​​​​
... Is there grounds for someone like me to go back to dealer and complain we got 2017 parts on our 2018…?

Star4life

yours may be an early 18 and they used up old radio inventory. and since you didnt order apple carplay there was no need for new HW. i would say if they delivered the car as ordered there is no grounds to complain.

alyshehata

I would still be really angry to get the old technology. The new HU is by far much smoother and faster. I've been trying to find a cheap one online but the cheapest I have seen is around $1k as OP mentioned.

BlueNSX

Where can you buy these head-units from? other than the dealer which here in Canada claim they don't know what we're talking about...

Star4life

dealer or any oem parts distributor online. should be cheaper from the online wholesalers.

BlueNSX

My dealer insists that there are no new head units for 2018's. They say no head units will support Carplay AndoidAuto.

And as why I don't get satellite traffic feed from SeriusXM Canada, they want to download the software from my headunit and send to Germany to be diagnosed.

Such idiots...

Eugene Golubev

Big thanx for your investigations!
Is it method applicable to the x295 (glc220d)? I'm going to order HU A2059004533 anf USB HUB A2538206100 and find the dealer to install these to my my car.
Thank you in advance for replay.

ecmexchange

Did you mention to them the upgraded head unit is a Panasonic unit? Might jog their memory.

alyshehata

Any updates for those who are attempting the retrofit?

ziachu

Hi Star4life, Hi All,

First of all nice job you're doing! Thank you! I've went through all the posts in this thread and in "Retrofit CarPlay in W205".
I'm currently seeking for some support in my case. Recently I've visited MB with your HU part numbers (2059003829 for old and 2059004533 for new one), but it seems that it won't fit my configuration as I've Audio20 USB (no CD, no GPS/Garmin installation, no CardReader), with HU 2059009430. MB service can't find newer replacement as this part is not yet discontinued. What is worth mentioning they would like to replace my HU for free, as it is malfunctioning (clock is delayed by 1minute/week - problem which only exists with this particular config). My fear is it won't solve the case if they use the same HU 2059009430 (my best guess it is Melco's crap).
Therefore I kindly ask if you maybe have knowledge/resources to check what is a part number for Audio20 USB with CarPlay/AndroidAuto made by Panasonic (for sure such configuration exists)? Or maybe someone with such configuration can share VIN number, so it would be possible to check EPC?

I'm scheduled in MB garage on Friday 16th and would like to be prepared to give some alternatives. Looking forward for any reasonable answers

Star4life

the dealer wont be able to look anything up as this is not an official Mercedes retrofit.

2059004533 is the audio 20 USA version part number you need to install to have carplay. There si a newer part number for that as well it is . 2059005136 is most recent part number for carplay head unit. You will need to have them isntall that and then calibrate backup camera and connect to your car.


If you are not USA model i cant help you as i only have access to USA part lookup.

ziachu

Thanks for answer. Sadly it does not bring me closer to solution. My car is European version and mentioned part numbers are not available on local market
What is also problematic, mentioned parts are for Audio20 CD and I have Audio 20 USB which has different HU. Issue on the each corner.
Nevertheless I was trying to find part number for HU Audio20 USB that is manufactured by Panasonic, not by Mitsubishi. I've found only one part matching: A2059004333
Can you maybe check if you can see any details in EPC? I know that you have US only access, but I'm trying to check all options. Especially that this number is very similar to what you have found previously (2059004533)
At official MB online catalogue it looks like that:
https://www.mbgtc.de/Teileart/Audio-...-oxid-144.html
What is strange, its weight is twice as Melco unit and requires equipment, which I'm not able to identify: 154 UMST HU-Entry von Melco auf Panasonic / Optimi. HW (154 UMST HU-Entry from Melco to Panasonic / Optimi. HW).
The rest would fit.

Star4life

i know one foreign number is 2059004433. see if they have that.

i am not familiar with a radio that doesnt have a cd. so i cant help you there. most radios have cd now so id be surprised if yours didnt.


that one you linked should work. it has sa code 154.