ammar249

Hey guys, I have a 2005 E320 4MATIC which I've owned since day one.

I dropped the vehicle off at a local Mercedes-Benz dealership near Arlington, VA. Here are some of the estimates I received from my service advisor just moments ago...

$3,500 to install the iPhone 3G Adapter!!!??? including the complete wiring kit, advisor said that 2005 E-Class' were not prewired for Telephone...??? I've always thought they were...

$1,100 to install Sirius Satellite Radio (Advisor said that the vehicle is prewired for Satellite Radio but not telephone...how can that be?)

Are these prices and his info accurate?

Kar don

The price for Sirius unfortunately sounds about right. I know some people on here have had it done for around 700-800? The hardware is ridiculously overpriced.

ammar249

Thats what I thought it was going to be...around $800...

Advisor did add though that parts were about $700 and that labor will be about $300...

lkchris

Both prices sound right to me.

MBenzNL

the price for the phone is off by 50%...their talk about the car not being prewired for phone is off by 100%...satelite radio is an okay deal.

greetingz,

ammar249

I'm starting to agree, I told my advisor to go ahead with the installation of the Sirius satellite radio, but not to install the iPhone 3G kit.

In my honest opinion, paying $3,500 is not worth the money for the added convenience of using the iPhone through the command.

Polar Bear

The car could have been ordered with a phone kit, but it would be listed on the datacard. The "prewire" was an option and it would have a cradle connector in the console. You would just need to purchase the cradle and appropriate phone, which would be less expensive.

From what I understand, the 3G kit includes a cradle, but you will need an iPod Integration Kit (which is around $300 if IIRC+installation), the rest of the phone equipment (completer kit which is a box in the trunk, an antenna splitter, and installation hardware, and the cradle connector) and have this added to the fiber MOST ring. You will also need an some additional hardware that has been just released for the iPod Integration Kit to connect it to the iPhone cradle.

The iPod Integration Kit is a time consuming installation. There is a cable that needs to be run from the left rear of the car to the right front, the COMAND removed, the trunk lining as well as many interior parts so the cable can be run, so I assume that is included in the price. So add that to the phone installation, which takes a little while in itself, it gets pretty expensive.

The Sirius installation includes an SDARS receiver and a seperate antenna, which sometimes needs to be painted to match the car, and the receiver needs to be added to the MOST ring. The hardware is over $600 and you need the receiver, a mounting bracket, antenna, and possibly a new right side trunk liner to accomodate the SDARS receiver.

Some dealers will tell you it cannot be done, so you should feel lucky that you got one that was honest with you and is willing to do it. I have encountered several that don't like to deal with retrofitting and will just say your car is not compatible, etc.

ammar249

Thank you for the detailed explanation
I finally understand their reasoning behind the pricing.

MBenzNL

the Ipod integration kit is not included in the phonekit quote....an installed phonekit WITH cradle can be done at approx 50% at the quoted price...if an ipod kit does have to be added that can easily be done for approx 500USD - which still leaves a gap of 1000USD

but - what do I know???

greetingz,

ammar249

Maybe their just hiking up the labor charges...
I do agree though that the installation for the phone is high.