I had a drink in my cup holder and it spilled all over my head unit. obviously it doesnt work any more and i immediately got the SRS restraint system malfunction. My question is if there is any hope of restoring the stock HU and if not how hard it is to put in an aftermarket HU. (pref. a touch screen nav. since mine didnt come with one from factory.) car is a 03 CLK500 with bose system. any help would would be great. also bought mb keys to remove stock HU and cant get it to come out no matter how hard I try. I have done many aftermarket stero systems though all were on american cars and w/o fiberoptic wiring. again any advice would be great.

 

if you cant get it out, dont try to force it. might cause some cosmetic damage. If you go to a place like circuit city, they will uninstall your radio and install the nav for you. usually offer some sort of nav/installation discount, so the installation usually comes out to between free and 80 dollars. saves you time and potentially screwing up.

 

You won't be able to go to CC or BB to change out that Bose HU. Its a fiber optic system connection to the amp. If you truly want to change it out you have to go to a real audio place to bypass the amplifier. You'll lose the subs...unless you have a new amp hooked up to those. Its not too bad if you have the right place to work on it. I had it done on my clk500.
No need for keys to remove the HU...
pull up the wood grain molding from the gear shift.
remove ashtray
remove 2 torx screws (forgot the number)
remove the big molding around the HU
unplug the connectors to the hazard, etc...
then remove 4 torx screws holding the HU.

Metra kit for HU = 40
VW wiring kit = 20
add amp to the subs and rewire HU to bypass amp = 100-200 from a good shop (labor costs, any more is a too much)

fyi - the bose speakers are 3 ohms...most hu's can handle this load.

 

Thank you both very much for your help. I took it to audio express here in Raleigh and they are going to do all the work for me with the Pioneer D3. I will try to post some pics of it when it gets done