Cbtech

Hey all ive been lurking in the shadows of the both forums (MB World and Benzworld) just reading and learning new things. I didnt think there was much in the way of internal modding that I used to do on my old 350Z (miss that car so much) But after finding a few posts I decided to try. Thanks to konigstiger (from the MB World) for some supporting documentation.

First off one thing that bothered me was having the wire hanging out of the glove box to plug in my phone to listen to music. So I decided to route the wire through to the center console.

First I loosened the plastic cover under the passenger floor board right below the glove box (sorry i guess i didnt take a pic)

I then took the center shifter out by pulling on the front edge in front of the ash tray. You have to tug kind of hard to get it to come loose.


Then I removed the center console and its super easy. all you need to do is remove the 2 screws pictured below


Gently pull the console up and release the clips. you will need to disconnect the 3 wire blocks


I then removed the glove box light and dremmled a little notch in it for the cord to fit through


I routed the 3.5mm cord through the center console. It's kind of a tight squeeze so i used a long wire tie

Cbtech

i then routed the wire under the center consule cross member


My glove box came with a stock hole which made it easy to route the wire through the front of the console.


I put everything back in reverse and come with this final product. I can tuck the wire under the cup holder when not in use.


I know this seems like a lot to just route a wire but I cant stand wires and i didnt want to spend $800+ to get an integrated Ipod set.

I will be posting a thread on how to hard wire a Passport Escort Radar Detector shortly.

Happy Modding

fastlanetl

Great quick write up! I've been looking for something like this! Thanks!

SPNJHockey

MyFirstAMG

Thank you for the write up.

fortlaudsummer

Good job. I have something similar...it's nice not having to reach over all the time while driving isn't it?
Have you considered an iPod module retrofit?

Cbtech

I really hate wires so I wanted to do something like this to be able to tuck the wire away when i wasnt using it. I dont use an Ipod myself but now that i know how to take everything apart and put it back together it seems like it would be simple enough.

Thanks for the guys

RoseyPSU

Thanks for the write-up. Decided to do this over the weekend. Extremely easy. My only word of advice is that the ashtray is difficult to remove if you don't know where the clips are. Took me about 30 minutes to figure that out. Rest of the job took no more than 15 minutes.

I was wondering if there is a way to run a charger from the ashtray with the audio jack so you could charge while the iphone/ipod is in the center console?

Cbtech

sorry bout the ash tray clips i have it posted in the pic they are circled in red just forgot to mention. cant fix it for some reason.

The only issue that i see with that is that the Ipod typically uses a 5v connection. So you would have to create something that would convert the cars 12v to 5v. I have posted a HOW TO on hardwiring a radar detector and it shows the power that you can use from the rear cig lighter. You could (ghetto but no one would ever see it) is take an IPod Charger and place it in the center dash you can then install a cigarette lighter socket and put everything back together. I know it sounds ghetto but no one would ever see it and you would have its own dedicated power supply

just a thought...

eddieo45

so are you saying that those 12v iPod car chargers step down to 5v? Also, the cigarette lighter socket has two wires, and your radar detector thread shows you simply inserting a wire into the wire block with the hot lead. How would I modify that step to deal with the two-wire socket (or, what did you do with the second wire of the radar detector line)? Thanks for the write-ups, BTW. I wanna do this in my CLK, which doesn't yet have the aux input installed. I'm thinking that when I install the aux input cable, I'll avoid the glovebox altogether, and just go straight across from the passenger side doorsill (where it attached to harness) over to the console.

Cbtech

From the research that I have done the IPod power requires 5V. I am by no means an expert so I could be wrong on the power requirements.

In my write up I did fail to mention that i placed the negative line into the brown wire slot on the same clip but i did post the pic to show how its connected

eddieo45

Thanks for clarifying. In my car, I wouldn't even need to remove the ashtray, console or other parts to get the aux cable in; just move the carpet and fish with a long wire tie. The only reason to remove anything would be to get to that power. I'd like to utilize this iPod attachment:


That enables a line-level output, rather than the variable output the headphone jack gives. The other input (which is available as USB, mini-USB and FireWire) could be used for power. That's from Sendstation, website here.

RoseyPSU

Why couldn't you just buy a mini-USB charger like this:

and then route the USB cable right under the shifter and center console along with the 3.5mm audio jack? With a mini cigarette charger, you can still close the ash-tray cover. Then you have the USB power and audio jack right in your armrest together along with the ipod/iphone/mp3 or whatever and you don't see any wires.

eddieo45

well, it certainly would be easier, that's for sure, but you see SOME wiring, no? I already have a similar "ghetto" setup now, with a splitter plugged into my rear ashtray and wires coming up either side of the console for the periodic charging of cellphone and GPS. Heck, it might be possible to "bury" a little plug like that along with a socket like this

somewhere under the console bottom.

RoseyPSU

I think maybe you could do it without seeing the wiring. I ordered that charger, so I guess I'll let you know once I try it

eddieo45

I guess I get what you're saying now. The USB plug shouldn't stick up any more than the cigarette lighter itself would, so the cover should close, and the wire wouldn't be noticeable in the little gap between shifter trim and ashtray cover:


If your car already has the 3.5mm jack in the glovebox, re-routing it (or routing an extension) to the ashtray wouldn't be a bad solution. My CLK doesn't yet have the aux input, so if I'm gonna put it in, why go to the glovebox in the first place? (mt E350 has the actual iPod interface in its glovebox). That's why I'm thinking of going straight across to the console.

BTW RosyPSU, welcome to the forum! And your mini-USB photo confirms Cbtech's theory about the voltage, as it says on the side: Input 12v/output 5v!

Cbtech

I personally HATE wires so thats why i talked about taking aprart the console but the mini USB plug could be an option for sure if you didnt want to take the console apart but just the shifter plate to hide the wire from the lighter.
Another idea is hardwire the Lighter socket from above picture and place it inside the center console so you can plug whatever you want into the socket but keep it tucked away when you dont need it...

eddieo45

Well, I just made ANOTHER attempt to route my iPod wires! Most of my trials and tribulations are in THIS OTHER THREAD on the CLK forum, but I wanted to come back here for some CBTech input. I stupidly thought I remembered what you said about hot and ground, and mixed it all up, putting the hot lead to brown and the ground to gray/blue! Who even knows if gray/blue would have given me juice, but I put everything back together for now. I had already installed the aux-input cable, but wanted to instead use the 30-pin iPod adapter cable I referenced earlier. Of course, to further complicate things, I also want to STILL be able to plug my BlackBerry into an 3.5mm aux-input so I also installed a splitter (I should just get an iPhone).


From the splitter I ran the iPod cable and a 3.5mm extension:


Down below the shifter there's a big enough space to stash a 12volt receptacle into which I'll plug the power end of the iPod cable (along with one of those USB adapters that steps it down to 5v):


Hanging off the back of the ashtray's cigarette lighter is a plug with a brown lead and a gray/blue one. In retrospect, the wires are somewhat finer gauge than the ones that go to the lighter, but they're brown and gray/blue too:


I tried to cram the wires for my 12v receptacle into this fitting, but eventually gave up and just cut and spliced. When it didn't work I just taped everything up and put the car back together, but maybe if I had switched those two wires, it would have worked. Ya think?

So, for now I still have a temp setup, but it's getting better! iPod wire and 3.5mm plug come thru ashtray, along with (for now) the USB end which I plug into the CLA. If I could just get that 12v receptacle working, I could bury that USB end too.

BTW, anyone know what the plug I cut off is for? There's a MB part number on the side: 030 545 28 28. Also a tyco #: 1-969521-1

bzliteyear

Hi all,

I just met w/ an audio guy who claims he has an iPod adaptor that will plugs directly into the Command for 2005 S600 without any splicing, and connect to iPod using the 13 pin.

Has anyone heard of this option - I'm wondering why we haven't heard of this option as cost wise, this is between the 3.5mm low-end no-charging capability and the $800 full-on Dension/itronics option? This guy's quoting $250.

Although this set up will not have the full functionality on the steering wheel for the song/playlists/controls, it will have the charging capability AND the sounds quality should be as good as the 3.5mm audio jack OR better. The 13 pin will be on tucked in the glovebox, but be long enough for driver to comfortably hold (I don't have room in middle console due to bluetooth).
Look forward to everyone's input.
PL

Cbtech

Your best bet is to get a volt meter and test all connections with the ignition switch on and off. I tested my lighter connection with a meter before plugging in. From my research ive found that most power on the E's are striped (i.e. blue with a yellow stripe). You can also find power from another connection and then create your own ground in the chassis. doesnt the CLK have a lighter in the back center console dash also?

Cbtech

Ive heard of it. but honestly with like $40 and some time you can create the same option. Minimal tear down if you're willing to take out the glove box and do work.

[EDIT] Here is a kit that you can set up in the glove box with a power adaper and you can do it for less than $100 just ignore the JVC reference. the USB is for charging and the 3.5mm is for sound.

hope that helps.

SPNJHockey

OK, so where does the male usb go to?

Cbtech

its for power. You can use this for instance. Both the 3.5mm and the power supply hide somewhere under the dash and you have ipod connection coming out.

bzliteyear

But how does that plug into back of command?
PL

Cbtech

it doesnt.

Why pay $250 to "connect to command" but have zero features available. My above scenario does all of the same for $100:

1. Not have steering wheel functionality
2. has charging capability
3. same sound quality from the 3.5mm jack
4. can be tucked in the glove box but long enough for use by the driver