Hello All,

New CL55 owner here (as of today in fact). I noticed the navigation head unit accepts CDs and DVDs. I slid in the Bourne Identity movie and it actually played the DVD. I can change screen format, chapters, pause, subtitles, etc. The only challenge is the screen won't actually show the movie (the sound of the movie is coming over the speakers though). Instead, I get a message saying the "video has been dimmed for the driver's safety..." or something like similar.

Has anyone been able to play DVDs and get the video portion to be visible while driving (or even while parked)?

Thank you,

Darren

 

I thought you were looking for a CL600. How did the CL55 come about? Come on man... we need details!

Congratulations!!! Hopefully, I will join the club in the spring.

Tom

 

TMC M5,

I was looking for a nice slightly used CL600. The dealer brought in a 2005 CL600. I loved the seats (they are very comfortable) which is what I need since I'll be doing a lot of highway driving soon.

The engine is very very quiet. The power delivery is different than the 55's. This must be due to the turbochargers and their need to spool up. There is a slight delay when you go wide open throttle, but only a instant longer than the 55 takes to downshift and the supercharger clutch to engage. The power in the 600 picks up fast and you can tell when the turbos are working all the way. I liked the feel of it and I was looking forward to putting on an ECU only tune on get 600+ horsepower, but it didn't work out. The paint on the 2005 had bad swirl marks on it and many scratches. Overall, it just felt a little too worn out for a 2005. My 2004 E55 was in much much better condition, but then again I'm sort of a clean freak when it comes to my car.

The dealer brought it a 2004 CL55 with only a few miles on it. The paint was immaculate and my wife thought the interior looked much younger (I didn't mind the 600 interior really). The seats are much softer than my E55 and the ride at 100-110 is very quiet compared to my E55. All around just a nicer automobile (which it should be for the premium on these cars new).

Also, just remembered another point. The 600 had terrible wind noise above 60 (espcially above 80). Almost like the aerodynamics were off somewhat. This almost made me not want to look at CL's again. Thankfully the dealer talked me into looking at the CL55. There is no wind noise and it's quieter all around than my E55.

Now if I can just figure out this DVD question

Thank you,

Darren

 

Darren, don't know if this will work on the CL, but give it a try:

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...ight=dvd+video

 

There should be no extra wind noise in a 600 over a 55. They havd the same body. The 600 probably had some worn seals around the window. This is a common CL problem because there is no pillar and the car is super quiet so you hear the wind noise if there is any.

Also I must say I am confused over your wife's comment that the interior is "younger"? what is different other than two one inch badges on the seats and less wood?

Congradulations on your purchase and welcome to the club!

 

The CL55 seats are different from those in CL600. The contours and seams are placed differently. I too prefer the CL55's seats...sorry AMG2GO.

Tom

 

AMG2GO,

I'm sure the extra wind noise was due to the seals, or maybe the fact that the car didn't have the AMG body kit (it was a plain CL600, not CL600 Sport). There is very noticable differences in seat and dash styling. While the guages are laid out similarly, the overall impact of the small touches make a noticable difference in the end. In addition, my wife was accustomed the the AMG look and feel since I have been driving an E55 for the past 1.5 years.

Hope this helps. The CL600 is awesome and I would have no problem driving one as long as it had the Sport body kit.

Cheers,

Darren

 

Exactly what Tom said.

Thank you,

Darren

 

TMC M5, why are you saying sorry to me? I didn't engineer the 600 seats. I'm certainly not upset because I own a 600 and someone likes the 55 seats better... I already have said in previous posts that the 55 has better seats than the 600. Not in terms of looks, the seats are really better. More supportive. Its a minor looks difference...

I don't see any dash difference... how is the dash any different at all? the only difference I see is that the 600 has a smoother leather covering it than the 55 which is more grainy. Now you can option a 55 with the same leather as a 600. I have driven several 55's and other than the seats and a non-wood steering wheel, I don't see any interior difference. Maybe the floormat logo...

Darren I have no doubt that you did hear a difference, but wind noise should not be ANY different. A little lip spoiler on the front won't affect noise. If anything the one with it would make more noise. I definitely think that if one had more wind noise, then seals were bad. I have seen this on at least 6 CL's. Its also possible the car was in an accident and the body panels didn't line up correctly. A 600 is quieter inside... so you will notice any extra noise more.

I am not trying to argue, I am just stating facts because someone else may be considering the purchase of a CL and sometimes reading this forum is their only source of information. I know it was for me.

 

AMG2GO:

I was saying "sorry" because I always appreciate your knowledgeable input but wanted to "correct" you in a congenial manner. I actually should correct myself. The 2003-2006 AMG CL55's are different in the ways I had mentioned. However, the 2001-2002 CL55's seats are nearly identical to the CL600.

Tom

 

Didn't know you were so polite Tom! I guess I should be more so myself... heh heh

Yeah I do remember sitting in a 55 seat and thinking "I can't believe how much better this seat is".... I still can't get totally comfortable in my 600 seat no matter how I adjust it. Of course its better than 90% of other seats but I have had several Recaros in the past and man...you get spoiled. I would gladly do away with the ventilation and the massage for more support and less weight. I can always go to a spa if I have an urge to be massaged and.... um.... ventilated.

 

AMG2GO,

You're probably right, the extra wind noise was probably an indication something more serious was wrong with the car. I drove an S600 later that day and that was a super quiet car which I'm sure would translate into a very quiet CL600 especially without the AMG growl in the exhaust.

The stitching and grainy leather on the dash are probably what my wife was referring to as well. They are both great cars and I would have gladly taken either one, the CL55 just was the cleaner car out of the two my dealer had available.

Thanks for everyone's input.

Cheers,

Darren

 

AMG2GO:

I am sure that driving a CL55/CL600/CL65 with the massaging seats always results in a "happy ending"

Tom

 

I thought this thread was about playing DVD's in the navigation unit???

 

m258,

You're correct it is supposed to be It might have got side tracked a little, so maybe this will help bring it back on track.

I made a trip to Houston to visit another forum member who does some work with MB cars with Star Diagnostics. We hooked up to my CL55 and enabled every DVD option in the software. There were options such as:

1. Play DVD's while car is traveling more than 6kph
2. Play DVD's while hand brake is disengaged
3. Play DVD's while car is traveling more than 0kph

and a few more options I don't remember. After setting everything to "enable" the car still did not display the video portion of the DVD playing (only the audio, people speaking, etc.). I still had the message "for the driver's safety, the video had been dimmed...". It feels like it was so close and I just don't understand why those options didn't work.

Anyone else with experience in this area? I know I can swap out the head unit for a Euro command unit which will play DVD's in motion, but that is $2500. My fall back choice is to buy a nice RGB to Digital DGB unit that interfaces with our US spec Command unit. This will allow me to hook up 3 input sources and display them on the screen at any time. If I cannot just enable the DVD player in the head unit as it is today, then I will use RGB option to hook up a seperate half-din DVD player (installed in my glove box), a back up camera, and a forward facing camera since the previous owner didn't buy Parktronic (which I can't believe isn't a standard option on a $125k car, or wasn't even ordered by the previous owner). This RGB option only costs $600.

Cheers,

Darren

 

Back on topic....

Are you sure you want to go through all this trouble to play DVD's in your car and risk voiding your remaining warranty because you played around with the car's electrical system? I just don't think seeing movies on a small screen...in your car is worth the headache and $'s. Just my $.02.

Tom

 

Tom,

That is a very valid question and concern, and something I'm still wrestling with myself. I'll need to decide if it's that important to me. I appreciate the input.

Thank you,

Darren