Simolent99

Hello everybody, i'm Simon and i'm new to this forum.

I recently got a w209 270 CDI Avantgarde (2004 Restyling) with Harman Kardon audio system installed.
I wanted to upgrade the radio to a new Android one since the stock one only reads CDs that makes the drive experience quite uncofortable nowadays.
The car has a supplementary CD charger in the glove box and so i was wondering how to proprerly do the conversion: i did some radio upgrade in older MB cars (w124, w202, w210...) but i understood that cars equipped with Harman Kardon system those years had otpic fiber that made things a little more difficult.

I was wondering if someone already made some work like this on this kind of model and if there are suggestions with things to do in order to don't face problems.
Ideally i would like to put on a plug and play radio, with the same connectors in the back so that would fit perfectly in terms of space and shape, with working steering wheel commands.

I don't mind spending a little bit more as long as everything works well with no problems. I'm actually not interested in rear Cams or external devices connected, GPS module is the only necessary one for navigator.
​​​​​​Thanks for your support!

JohnSeth

This is a good thread about replacement radios. https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class...on-kardon.html

Simolent99

Since the work to replace the radio with an aftermarket one is complicated because of the optic fiber, i tried to find another solution using AUX connection.

I recently found out about an AUX function holding few seconds the CDC button in my audio20 unit. What i wanted to find out is where do i get this AUX source, clearly not already installed in my car:

I saw videos of people opening up the wiring located next to the passenger seat and connecting there to a (4pin?) unwired connector that seems to be a predisposition connector.

​​​​​​Now, that connection seems appropriate since you can do it with a cable you can buy in MB and then take this connector out of your glovebox; but here is the doubt because i have seen some other videos of people taking off the whole radio unit to get access to the back wiring and plugging a cable into a 12 pin empty connector and making it work that way.

So witch one of these? Are they both right? I've Heard that some CLKs don't have that unwired cable next to the passenger seat. If i can ask where is that cable "coming from" (where is it connected)?

JohnSeth

From what I have seen some CLKs have the wiring next to the passenger seat and some have to connect to the rear of the audio head unit. I don't know how to tell without removing the passenger side trim panels and looking. Some CLKs came with an aux input in the glove box, some came with an ipod interface and some didn't have either.

Simolent99

I found the connection in the passenger seat side and i've bought the original wire from MB (29 euros). I'm Happy to tell that it perfectly works and i matched it with an AUX -bluetooth adapter so that i can connect my phone and play music. Pretty good quality and also powerful singal: for a cheap and clean work i do recommend this operation. Less than 50 euros and you can stream high quality music from your devices. Taking off the whole harman Kardon system is pretty tricky and also it can cause some issues since it's not only a radio but a command, having more funcions and connections with car. Also the stock system audio quality is pretty good i would say and it can really make some good sound if well balanced.