Greetings all,

I'm new to this forum and (hopefully) will be new to Mercedes sometime in the first half of next year. I'm looking at the possibility of replacing my late model Taurus SHO with a CPO CLK550 Cab. I have a few questions though about the in car electronics:

1. The Taurus has excellent integration of Bluetooth phone, USB audio, and navigation with steering wheel, head unit, and voice controls. I understand that there are some complications involved in getting a phone to work through Bluetooth in the Merc, mainly around whether it has the UHI piece (I think that's the correct term?) already installed. How can I identify a vehicle that already has this vs. one that doesn't?

2. How is the iPod interface? Does it offer any form of voice control? If it's somewhat lackluster, what are people doing to try to improve its functionality?

3. If a vehicle doesn't have the proper equipment to just add a puck (again, I think that's the right term) and pair with Bluetooth, then what easy solutions are recommended from the aftermarket? I know from some of the earlier posts I've read that people seemed to really like products from Cartronics, but other posts I've found state that the company is no longer in business. So, what other brands/products are people using or would you recommend?

Whew - I apologize for the long post. As I said, this is all very new to me and I'm just trying to get a clear understanding of what the car has to offer as standard and what I might need to add to make it what I'd like.

Thanks in advance for your help/information.

 

One of the common knocks on the CLK is older generation sound/navigtion. Their is no voice anything. Your iPod, if the car comes with the iPod adapter in the glove box, is controlled from the steering wheel on your instrument cluster display. Nothing displayed on the radio. This car does not even have song/title displyed on normal FM - only satellite. But it's very fast!

 

I have an '08; pre-wired for Bluetooth but note that you need a puck and some other part - both at the dealership cost just under $900 and this does not include labor.
Your iPod adaptor may not charge your iPod so you need to purchase the newer (black, I believe) adaptor for around $50 (again, not incl. labor).

I am getting the updated iPod adaptor but consider (at this time) $1000+ a bit too much to add Bluetooth capability to the car.
BlueAnt and others make really good visor-mounted speakers that you can voice dial from; it's not going to be as nice as the integrated BT with the MB Nav system but you will have quite a few bucks left over for other things.
If money is no object then you should take a look at http://navtv.com/product/85/flir-night-vision.html
There is also a company that makes an interface where you can hook up a rear-view camera (among other things) that can be found on eBay here http://www.ebay.com/itm/281008463738...84.m1423.l2649
The guy is nice and they provide a lot of help.
Good luck, L

 

The new black iPod adapter is about as easy a DYI job as there is on the car. It just passes through the right side of your glove box and plugs in a few inches below that. You can pop off the cover on the outside of your glove box - that you can see with the door open - and you may also need to pull back the side panel below on the inside - I can't recall, it's been two years since I did mine - but it's a ten minute job and about as difficult as plugging in a toaster.

 

Hi tsax, just bought a a 2009 CLK 550 cab, love the car, fast, fun and a nice car to take on short road trips. What I hate about the CLK (or at least the one I have) is the whole complexity around the bluetooth integration.

Maybe you already know this, but I didn't know the distinction so I thought I'd pass it on. I bought my car about 6 months ago, CPO. It was "prewired" for bluetooth. Now, apparently all that means is there is a wire running from the nav console to the center console. It doesn't have the electronics necessary to run any phone, let alone a bluetooth. So that being said, if the car is just pre-wired, you'll need 3 parts (a completer kit, the puck, and a core installation kit). If you want these installed via the dealer, I got quoted priced b/w $1600 and $2000 from a few different MB dealers and these seem inline with what others have been quoted. Now here's the rub, apparenlty Mercedes has STOPPED making these parts, or at least one of them, that seems to make adding the bluetooth capability via the dealer impossible. I've called all the ones in my area plus a few random ones and been told the same thing. I forget which part is not being made, but from what I've been told at the dealer is that I'm SOL. SO if you buy one, you will want to make sure that it already has bluetooth capability (not just pre-wired). If it just needs the puck, then you are fine. If you look in the center console, there should be a contact plate where you'd slide the puck on. If it has one, it may be good to go and just need the bluetooth adapter. If not, then I'd triple check on it. However, if you don't mind going aftermarket, this probably isn't an issue. My car still has 2 years of warranty left (1 year original + 1 year CPO), so I'm afraid in my case that installing an aftermarket would void my warranty. So for me, not really an option at this point.

The iPod interface, in a word, is terrible. Forget about voice. Forget about having a decent way to navigate through songs easily. You can't even use the nav console to help navigate through your library, you have to use the steering wheel controls and navigate that way. I've gotten fairly decent at doing it but its still a bit painful. I used to be able to at least put my iPhone on a particular album or song, plug it in, and it'd start playing on that album and give me a decent starting point. I'm not sure if its the iPhone upgrade but that doesn't work anymore. ALso, and again this might be due to new iOS version and iCloud, but many of my songs aren't selectable anymore at all - but again, this may be due to iCloud screwing with something. I'm going to pick up a regular iPod to use in the car. But if you don't want to go crazy with selecting music, you really have to create playlists. At least then you can jump to music easier. If you have a decent number of songs, even scrolling through Artists is painful. I'm somewhat disappointed with the iPod connectivity on the 2009 CLK. At first, this was a "must have" when I first s tarted looking, then after test driving a few, didn't care if it had it or not, the car I ended up with just happened to have it. But IMO, I wouldn't even factor the iPod connector in at all. An aftermarket iPod jack would probably be easier to use.

Also, you didn't ask, but I do have to gripe about the whole navigation interface. Using the little joystick is PAINFUL. You have to select letters with the joystick, then press it in to select - so its very easy to mean to press it down, but then instead it moves to the side and selects the wrong letter. Another gripe is mBrace. I thought a lifeline to the navigation problems would be the mBrace app - I could put in an addy via my iPhoen and then use "Send2Benz" to send to my nav unit. this actually used to work then suddenly stopped working - but when it worked it was nice. I have another posting asking about that b/c this happened recently. But I guess b/c the CLK was at its end of life, the components weren't upgraded like other 2009 car models. For instance, I believe many 2009 models started using the harddrive in the nav unit, and mine at least still uses the DVD.

That being said, I absolutely love driving this car. Its an absolute joy to drive. Its zippy, fast, great acceleration, and comfortable, esp for a sports car. I have bad back problems and this car is actually pretty comfortable considering its a sports car. And the funniest thing is that I love the heated seats (due to back) even though I live in Texas.

Sorry for the griping, but even with those gripes, I have NO regrest buying the car. I wish I was educated more about the bluetooth thing and what "pre-wired" means. Mercedes always seems behind the curve on the electronics part. They make fantastic cars, but have always seemed to struggle with human interface design (of course, many cars suffer from this).

 

You have to remember that MBZ's COMAND system is now about 15 years old. Yes, the interface is clunky. The iPod interface is something of an afterthought - believe it or not, the MFD on the instrument cluster is more "open" than the COMAND unit, that's why you can only control playback via the steering wheel.

If it really gets to be too much, go aftermarket. Replace the speakers, amp and COMAND with a good system that has it all. I did this in the C-Class with a Pioneer AVIC. It is a bit more complicated with the HK system as you have to run some new analog wire to the trunk, but that's not terribly difficult.

Oh, and for all the complaints about the audio system, just remember - 15 years ago, we were complaining about a lack of cupholders. Those damned German engineers expect us to actually DRIVE!