cscordo

So I'll be pulling the trigger in the near future on a little GPS action in the car, and I've got a question about labor costs for a custom installation.

After checking a couple of places out in my area, Myer Emco (respected local chain) told me to come in and view their photos of past Benzo installations. Friends have spoke very highly of Myer Emco's work-

After talking with the sales rep, we basically came down to 2 options:

1. 7" Retractable screen Alpine head unit (1 dim)
2. 5.8" Fixed screen Alpine head unit (2 dim)

*Either would work with the Alpine GPS (dvd).

The thing is, although the actual cost of item #1 is $800 more than item #2, the total costs come out *even* because the labor for the item #2 takes so long. I was told they would remove the bottom pocket, install the monitor, sand/repaint the fiberglass, etc; this would take an entire day (where as #1 would be fairly standard installation)

Does an $800 labor cost sound reasonable for extensive custom work? (Is this even considered *extensive* custom work)?

If not, how much (or how many hours) would be reasonable?

They plan on keeping my existing OEM head unit and CD changer untouched, which is great...

Feedback appreciated-

.....
I've inquired with Steve about the COMANDs and am awaiting a response. I was told by my service advisor that (hint, hint) I may be happier going with an aftermarket brand (like an Alpine) simply because of the technical advances made with GPS units.

mmgrad

when considering a Nav system, ask yourself the question of how you want it to look...

if OE is the look you want, then get the COMAND from steve at a great price... $1500 is the last I heard...

Swing up units are nice, but they block controls & just don't look very clean...

Double DIN units are great because everything is there... its a cleaner look for me, and if you do without the OE stereo & changer, then you wouldn't need the extra $800 labor... (i'm picturing you with the OE headunit/changer & double DIN alpine)...

If i'm not on target with that assumption, why in the world are they charging you an extra $800 for labor? the CLK has a double DIN slot to begin with... just slide that baby in and its a done deal....

cscordo

.Thats what I was thinking too- although I'm going in there today to see an actual demo which may change my mind.

The double DIN unit I'm looking at is an Alpine monitor only, so the MB factory head unit/changer would remain untouched while the Alpine monitor would only handle GPS functions.

If I'm not mistaken, that would leave just a single DIM slot + the ashtray pocket to work with; I was told that the ashtray area would take a lot of work to remove to accomodate the double DIM monitor cleanly.

Of course, for the $800 difference, I could probably just remove the existing factory head unit and changer, and upgrade to an actual Alpine receiver/monitor combo + Alpine CD changer... but I don't really want to lose the steering wheel controls I have with the existing MB head unit.

They also said one of the advantages to this method is that, if I ever wanted to sell the car, I'd easily be able to remove the monitor + GPS.

Any thoughts on replacing the MB unit with an actual Alpine receiver/monitor (D900 ) + changer?

Do labor costs still seem out of whack considering the MB devices would stay and a new slot would be created out of the ashtray area?

mmgrad

ah.... I see what you mean now... You are going with the setup I was originally gonna do... I was going to do a Alpine where the OE stereo was, and put a fixed screen below it and get rid of the ashtray... but, I found a COMAND at a great price, installed it myself, and saved a grip of money....

All they really need to do is fabricate a bracket for the monitor, it really shouldn't cost $800 more...

cscordo

That's what I thought as well...

I'll check it out today and see wth they're talking about.

OTOH, if Steve gets back to me and plans on being in the area in the near future, I'd consider going COMAND.

xyzpl

$800 is too much for the amount of work you mentioned....

lou430

I love my Alpine IVAd900 with Alpine dvd navi add the 6 cd/mp3 changer and you're all set. I have speaker outputs giving the signal to the Bose amp and sounds great.. then if you are really into sound you can get XM and sound processor with Dolby pro logic. At first I thought the tv didnt look good but the more I use the navi and dvd player I just cant imagine without it.

also take into consideration that Alpine updates their software every year so you will always have updated info.

xm will offer traffic channel so there you have it mulltimedia car with dvd, cd,mp3,xm, am,fm,and everything is being controlled by your headunit or remote. Yes you lose your steering wheel controls but you have the option of using the headunit remote or the navi remote which I use most of the time

time for some pics of complete install...also keep in mind the ivd900 has a tilt feature will tilt your screen while you change the climate control and automatically tilt back after like 10 secs




tv close



navi unit in trunk



cd changer goes where the MB goes

mmgrad

lou430, you jacked my setup... that was exactly what i was gonna do with my CLK...

MagmaSilk

im in dc and have been mulling over a similar install ... i too want to keep OE stereo for the steering controls since i use that every day and nav maybe once a week, movies almost never. so that means FM modulator. also what kinda prices are they offering ... i put pioneer stuff in my slk and happy with it and price tho everyone swears by alpine ...


i have worked w/ car spa in arlington and audio explosion in MD ... they generally ok w/ me buying the equiment online and them just doing the install but they wont warrenty if it goes bad. car spa would install deck and nav and FM mod and head rest monitors for $600 i believe. car spa was real good to work w/ and cheapest. i didnt get a good feeling from meyer emco in arlington. audio explosion seemed to have the most experience but also seemed pricey.

***

FYI - i forget exactly what prices i had come up with at the time but depending on which flip screen and headrest LCD ... i was in the 3500 -5000 range with pioneer equip for everything.

cscordo

I pulled the trigger and purchased the Alpine N852A GPS Navigation for my CLK, along with the retractable head unit (1004).

I had them keep my MB factory head unit and move it down one slot. The Alpine unit sits above the factory head unit so it doesn't get covered up when the screen is extracted.

I'm very happy with the installation, but have one issue I noticed last night when I got home with my new gear: The Smart Map Pro DVD software is for 2002 (Version 1.3) not the current 2003 version (Version 2.0) which is currently offered with the nav unit.

The customer service at Myer Emco has been spectactular so far, so I'm hoping I don't have any problems getting this updated version free of cost (I'm calling them when they open).

MagmaSilk

COOL!

cant wait for pix. so didja get an FM modulator or mayeb a seperate speaker? how much if can ask? maybe i'll give meyer emco another chance ... i think its was just the dude i was talking to was tryign to sell me on the side his used/scrapped AMGs for way over market value.

lou430

No problem contact alpine and forward them a receipt if they are authorized dealer than all you have to do is ship the old 1.3 for the 2.0. by the way if you cant do it lets go half on the 2.0 I need the east coast and I hope you're in the west

cscordo

I actually had a seperate Boston Accoustic speaker fit/concealed underneath the dash to handle the navigation only.

For parts + labor, I negotiated with the Jeff (sales rep) and got him down to $2750 total (incl. tax) from about $2900.

I've gotta say, so far I think their service is outstanding.

When it started to snow here, they called a day earlier than my install date and offered to personally drive me back home if I wanted to drop my car off early (they kept it in their covered garage overnight).

When I called about the updated version of the DVD nav disc, they said they'd order me a new one today, free of charge.

If you deal with Myer Emco, use the Bailey's Crossroads location (ph.703.379.8800), and ask for Jeff. Jeff used to be a Mercedes advisor over at HBL and personally owns 2 MBs himself (so he understands some of the intricacies). Tell him Chris referred you and he'll take care of ya.

Pics coming soon-

Thanks,
Chris

cscordo

Nope- I'm in DC (but hopefully I won't have to pay for anything, anyhow).

I noticed on eBay that there were a couple of Version 2.0 East-only DVDS.