baxterdown

Hi everyone,

I want to add a backup camera to my car ('08 E350). I have read the threads on it and I think I found the proper equipment.

Does anyone know of a good installer in Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, or West Palm Beach?

Thanks in advance for any referals,

Jose

jimm

Am also interested. What a shame we couldn’t have gotten it with the car.

asg

I have used Cartronics for most of my projects down here. They have done a dozen vehicles for me over the years. They have a location in North Miami and in Pembroke Pines. Call Lester at either store.

baxterdown

Hey guys, I talked to Lester (really nice guy btw).

He said there are two Comand models, one is 7040 and the other is 7024. According to him, you need the 7040 in order to do the backup camera. He said that it is virtually impossible to do it with a 7024 unit.

We tried to find out which model I have by having me press Mute, End, and Serv at the same time on the Comand unit. This was supposed to take me into an engineering menu, but it didn't. Lester said that this trick sometimes works and sometimes it doesn't. So, he's asked me to bring the car in so they can pop the unit and tell me which model I have.

As for cost, according to him this is not plug-and-play. That the Comand unit has to be reprogrammed to accept RGB video and that an adaptor then added to accept the feed from the camera. He said I was looking at $1,000 in labor and $300 in parts. In addition, I would have to leave the unit at his shop for about two weeks for the programming.

On a separate note, prior to calling Lester, I had found this website that has an RGB interface for sale and this link from another thread on this forum to a website that sells a plug-and-play interface; and yet another link to another website with a plug-and-play interface.

I think I'm gonna continue researching this and see if I can come up with a better (and less expensive) answer.

asg, thanks a million for the referral. Lester was a very pleasent guy to speak with!

Jose

MB500

You definitely ought to check out www.mbdoctor.com. MB doctor specializes in all types of electronic upgrades for Mercedes and is a very reliable source of information.

You were given the right information regarding COMAND units. In order to integrate a camera into the system, your COMAND must have video input jack on its back. If you bought your car in the US, there is almost 100% chance that the video jack is not there (unless previous owner of the car upgraded COMAND unit and sold the car to you with it). What you would need to do is to get a Euro COMAND that has such jack. Expect to pay anywhere from $900 up to $1500 for this unit alone. Then you'd need to add a so-called RGB converter that would run another $350 and buy a rearview camera that could be another $150 (if you choose to get a nicer one). You are looking at about $1500 to $2000 in equipment. Then you must pay someone for installation and it would take at least 4 hour to do the install (assuming that the person knows what he is doing). When it's all said and done you are looking at close to $3000 for the whole adventure.

One positive side - if you buy Euro COMAND from MB Doctor it would already come pre-configured for the back up camera. He also sells RGB converters and you may get a deal if you buy everything at once from him. In this case you wouldn't have to wait two weeks for the installer to program your system. It would be purely the question of installation time and experience.

baxterdown

Thanks for the clarification. Now I understand that it is not only a matter of adding the RGB converter, but the Comand unit must have the video jack to beging with.

My cars is a 2008 US vehicle bought new at the dealership and as such it is under full warranty. I cannot risk swaping the Comand unit like you suggested and all of a sudden the dealer telling me that I voided the warranty (on anything electric related at least) because I took out an OEM part.

It's starting to look like I'm SOL!

j.

asg

There is also one other possibility, add a camera with its own monitor. then you are not integrating it into the command unit. There is a way of mounting a monitor in the sun visor. This route is probably a bit more labor intensive, but doesnt require modifying the command unit andonly modifiying a sun visor.

gstatus929

so its impossible to put a backup camera in the factory screen for under 500 huh?

asg

Look into the hitch cam system. It comes witha a camera that can be mounted to the license plate fram and comes with its own monitor.