Guys,

I know this is a hot topic for a lot of you that have older CLKs and want to upgrade your stereos so let me give you some details.

First of all I have to say thanks to Pacific Stereo in Woodland Hills CA.
Here is a link: http://www.pacificstereo.com/
Review: http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3711318288

just to remove any doubt -
THERE IS NO DOUBLE DIN DASH KIT FOR A CLK 500

I have been trolling these forums and wasting a lot of time trying to get a CLK dash kit and while there are some companies that say they have something that works inevitably they do not. The only way to get a double din in your CLK is to have a dash kit fabricated which Pacific Stereo did for me.

Here is the kit out for the install:
-Kenwood Dnx-6960
-Kenwood iPod adapter - installed in the glove box
-XM module and interface
-4ch alpine amp
-steering wheel interface - volume, channel changes, skip to next song and answer incoming calls all work.
-Fabricated Dash kit

All that and the install for under $2k including tax.

You will see from the pictures that the dash kit actually looks better than the kenwood stereo (note to kenwood - stop using that cheap shinny black plastic that was out in the 80's).

So a quick review keeping in mind i have had the set up for just a few days:

Pacific Stereo - simply put, if you live within 50miles of these guys and you want work done on your Benz save time and just go see these guys, trust me.

6960 - Great head unit, Nav is great, touch screen is brilliant and easy to see in direct sunlight (I have a convertible so that is very important), quick to respond using my iPod. Bluetooth is pretty decent - being in the mobile devices industry I am still underwhelmed by most BT offerings and this is maybe the best of the bunch I have seen because it is heavily integrated with the Nav

All in all I am extremely happy that I got this done since i commute about 90mins a day to and from work. To be honest my 2006 CLK500 wasn't complete without a nice Stereo and a lot of people said it couldn't be done (easily) so thanks again to Pacific Stereo I am so happy those guys came through for me.

One more thing - the factory speakers are incredibly loud if I want them to be and they sound amazing.

 

sorry the first post was missing these.

 

For mine, they used the dash kit for the C-Class or SLK and just shaved the sides of it. I love my Kenwood 8120... hope you enjoy yours too. Nice upgrade.

 

Do they sell jsut the dash kit by itself ?

Andy

 

They do and it's cheap, but it's not made specifically to fit the W209. They have to measure and cut the dash kit to fit. I think the one I bought was made by Metra or something.

 

Doesn't scosche makes one that works also?

 

I mean the one Mickchamber got.

Andy

 

Maybe I'm not too clear but did you use the stock speakers with the alpine amp? I have the Bose (crap) setup with the 2ohm speakers so I would have to replace the speakers or find a 2ohm capable amp. What speakers did your car come with and did you have to replace them?

Actually I guess as my speakers are Bose, I might want to replace them anyway even with some mid grade ones...

 

Forgot to mention, your setup looks nice, here is a kit that someone mentioned should work fine.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...+-+MZ2347.html

 

I am sure for some price they will do that ...

 

No they do not. they have one that says CLK but its for a C class and it doesn't work correctly - this is the main issue with our car

 

We tried that kit and it doesn't work.. call Scosche and ask if they have w209 clk kit and the answer will be no... again this is the issue and the reason that pacific stereo rocks. they fabricated one that same day for me, and it does look good.

 

I think I have HK speakers and didn't replace them - they are loud now and sound great.

 

hahaah okies.

Andy

 

Actually that's the same exact one I bought and they had to cut. I bought it from that website. So you figure, $15 and some trusty hands to make the cut will work for the install. Luckily the shop didn't charge me extra to fit the fascia kit.

 

The one that I was talking about is not for a CLk. It's actually for the c-class but it does work (maybe with some cutting like Pat mentioned)

 

Your setup looks great Mick. Very clean, and very professional. Enjoy, Mike

 

if you have the pre face lift clk. it fits no problem. i bought mine from sonicelectronix. not sure about the new face lifted ones. the guys from pac stereo are great ppl to work with. i would highly recommend. if your good with words, you might be able to haggle to get your stuff cheaper.

nonetheless, nice install mick. and welcome to the aftermarket audio world. haha i would say aftermarket is extremely worth it if you love music and commute a lot. my only regret was not to get it sooner. how much did they charge you for installing? and how long did it take them?

 

looks really good

 

looks great! enjoy!

 

damn! that looks good! I have done stereo setup for my previous cars and truck! but I am scared to do it on my clk! and $2k is a bit too much! It is very easy to do the setup even with powered subs! it is the dash i am worried about!

 

Mick, Your install looks so good I am going to have my '05 CLK55 Convert done at their Mission Valley store, closer to my home in south San Diego. Which store did you do yours at? Also, you say the job was under $2k. Isn't the head unit about half that? I could save green by going with a less costly unit, as I am mainly, well, only, going to use it to stream Pandora from my TMobile phone. I don't want nav so this might be an area where I can $ave. Does your car have the subwoofer between the rear seats like mine? Did you keep the stock speakers? If I don't have to replace them that's even more $avings! Thanks, Mike

 

if you want to keep your old speakers and go with an easy route, get yourself an alpine unit. with addition to the imprint unit, you can connect it to the original speakers.

 

Guys sorry i wasn't getting the updates to this thread for some reason!!!
Ill try and answer some questions you all had:
1. total was close to 1700 all in.
2. I used the woodland hill pac stereo great guys and they do a great job.
3. The Head unit is a Kenwood DSX 6960
About the head unit after having it for a few months now....
The XM Radio module is to basic - for the cost of the head unit and the size of the screen you would think that they would be able to show the artist and song title and station name but most of the time the title of the song is only half visible.
another thing is that there is no pause or saving xm songs at all - this is something easy they should fix right away. Once you have this function on your XM Radio its hard to live without it.
ipod support is very basic and sometimes while playing my ipod the screen goes all Blue and which i ignore until i need to change the source then i do it through the hard keys on the side. Also no video pod cast support which is very strange since it supports itunes videos
the DVD playback is good but i never use it
no idea about am and fm other than they are included in the head unit.
I have steering wheel controls which is nice.
thats about it ... would say that overall I am happy with it but there needs to be a firmware upgrade soon!
Also needs more themes, a way to mute the nav voice and the ability to dispense Guinness
dont think I am asking for to much.

 

LOL