I’ve been a member on this forum for a while and have benefited from all the resources shared by fellow members. Now that I have completed retrofitting a navigation system to a 2005 W211, I thought this would be a good opportunity for me to contribute back to the forum. So I took some pictures and wrote a short step by step to help those who might be interested in doing the same. Hope these information would be of benefit to members of this board.

These steps are intended for a 2005 MY W211 sedan which has a full screen COMAND head unit. This particular model has everything pre-wired, so the install would consist of installing a DVD processor in the trunk for plug and play operation. No cutting or splicing of wires needed. The most difficult part is probably removing and re-installing the trunk panel. So if you can do that, this is an extremely easy retrofit.

I ordered the complete kit from mbdoctor.com and received everything within a week as promised (I am on the west coast). Sammy was excellent to deal with. He called me after the order was placed to confirm the spec of my car so correct parts are ordered. Subsequent call were answered promptly, and he patiently answered all my questions. He even included a detailed instruction to make the installation a breeze. Kudos to Sammy, I would definitely do business with him again in the future.

This is what the install kit consists of:
1 Base bracket A211 545 54 40
1 Processor bracket A211 545 63 40
1 Navigation processor A220 820 60 85
1 MOST fiber adaptor A211 540 68 33
1 GPS antenna splitter A210 820 24 89
1 Screw N 910 105 006 023
1 Nut N 910 112 006 003
1 Left rear trunk panel A 211 690 01 53 9C53

note: truck panel comes in different variations, you will need to specify the following when ordering:
1. If the car has fold down seat
2. If there is a cigarette lighter power outlet in the trunk
3. Color of the trunk interior (black or gray)

 

Remove the two button clips, and the two left luggage hold down hooks

 

-Unplug the cigarette lighter plug and unscrew the nut on the back to remove it. See picture below.

-Carefully remove the trunk panel, starting from the front and work toward the back.
-Have a beer, the hardest part is over.

 

Note: take the usual precautions when working with fiber cables. Do not crimp/bend them under any circumstances!

Clip the wire tie around the navigation wiring harness, and locate the antenna and power wires. (2003-4 MY would also have a fiber connector here)

Unplug the MOST loop connector to the AGW module behind the C-pillar (back of the plate where antenna cable bracket is mounted to.) Lightly pry the side of the plug housing to eject the fiber plug assembly.

 

Push the blue fiber retainer and remove fiber labeled “1” (yellow fiber) from the assembly.

 

Insert the fiber from navigation kit into the assembly and reassemble.

 

Insert the yellow fiber removed from assembly into the plug from the nav kit (A211 540 68 33). This creates an extension to the MOST loop for the nav drive. Now plug the AGW plug back to AGW module.

 

-Remove the antenna cable bracket by cutting the back mounting tab. This bracket will not be re-used.
-In the bracket there is one connected cable and one open ended cable not connected to anything. Unhook the connected cable and plug to the input and output#1 of the splitter. Then connected the open ended cable into output#2 of the splitter.
-Install the antenna splitter into the same location where the bracket used to be.

 

Remove the nut for the SAM bracket.

 

Mount the lower base bracket from the nav kit using the SAM bracket screw/nut from last step and also the nut from nav kit. The hook the nav drive mount onto the two tabs on the SAM bracket. The hook acts as a hinge to let the drive mount swing in and out.

 

-Slide the nav drive in until a click is heard, and connect the 3 connectors to the back.
-Use the screw (N 910 105 006 023)from the nav kit to fix the nav drive mount to the base bracket.

 

Install the new trunk panel from the nav kit. And that’s all there is to it.

The nav will work as is, but the MOST ring will need to be re-programmed or else it may cause problems when the error buffer is filled. The instrument cluster will also need to be programmed for the navigation prompts to appear in the multi-function display. Your dealer can do these programming for you.

 

Thanks for all your work and time putting it on the forum. One question?
How much would the MB dealer have charged you for the install?

 

I asked my dealer and they told me it can't be done (yeah right). So I didn't bother digging in deeper.

 

You are the man...

My brother owns a custom shop and I was showing him your pics on how to lower the vehicle.. You should package this stuff up and sell it on a CD.. Excellent.

 

Isn't your trunk black? If it has a power outlet in the trunk, it should be black. If it is black, the interior color is 9F08. I'm pretty sure the part number of the liner should be A 211 690 81 53 9F08 (but I forget if this is folding seat or not). Of course, part numbers change all the time, but color codes do not.

-s-

 

Scorchie you are right. I am not sure the exact model number for the liner I got. That number in the list was from the installation instruction documents. Thanks for pointing out.

 

I don't think MBdoctor can help you at this time ...you need to go to an EYE SPECIALIST (OPTICIAN) PART NUMBER 1800- GET GLASSES

 

When you hook up the DVD drive, will the COMMAND recognize the drive right away or does it need to be programmed into the COMMAND cumputer? The problem is that I got an error message "Navigation device is unavailable".
Also I did not hook up the antenna splitter, I hope that is not the problem.

 

If you hook it up correctly, it should recognize it right away. If not, then something is wrong.

Without antenna splitter you'll have another problem. Your navigation will not know where you are.

 

I don't think he needs an eye specialist...in fact he was right...

9F08 is the colorcode for the W211 trunkpanels as of VINnumber A644805 (07/13/2004) and X170411 (08/17/2004) where as 9C53 is the colorcode for the W211 trunkpanels before thse Vin numbers...

9C53 is anthracite...9F08 is black...the 2005 W211 needs a black trunkliner...

greetingz,

 

great write-up thanks a bunch!

...Steve, you've gotta make it back to hawaii, my father just got a brand new E320 CDI yesterday and it's in need of some attention from you

 

By the way, how much is total parts for this?

Harry

 

is there a link to that thread?

i wanted to lower my car too.

 

About a grand.