Lbcgolf

So I read in the other thread that there was an aux jack in the glove box for certain headunits, but after looking at mine... I got the Harman Kardon... I saw the indentation where the jack ought to be but no hole. Has anybody looked in the back of the headunit to see if there is an aux out plug? I also got the factory 6 CD changer, so I imagine there is at least 1, but I wonder if there are other plugs... RCA, mini plug, DIN... that I could tap in and maybe get a Kenwood Music Keg w/ a modulator-controller.

I know I can go the FM modulation route and tap in to the antenna wire, but it doesn't sound as clean. The Kenwood web site says that if the headunit has a preamp input the controller can use that instead.

bmms8

thses jacks are only available if you have a car with NAV. the replacements come with them, and i guess the 04's with NAV will also

ctemkin

I ran into the same issue with having an XM radio receiver installed. The installer indicated that there was no way to make a direct connection and therefore went the RF route. I think it sounds fine, though your mileage may vary. I also noticed in the audio section that there may be some way to solder connections into the cassette unit (I didn't see any details; I wouldn't be surprised if this killed the unit for playing cassettes, though that may not be much of a sacrifice).

Lbcgolf

did you get the answer from a reputable professional installer? I'm not doubting you, it's just that I've come across some nitwit car audio guys, and FM modulation is always a solution that'll work... though maybe not the only solution or the most desirable one.

Has anybody looked in the back of these headunits to see what plugs might be available?

ctemkin

I got the installation from the Gaithersburg MD branch of an audio company, Myer-Emco, that has been in the Washington DC area for decades. They seemed to me to know what they were doing, and the installation was very clean. It is certainly possible that they were wrong about RF and that there was some better way to connect the radio. FWIW, I searched the audio forum here and did not find any descriptions of a better way, except possibly the reference to soldering something into the cassette player (which I saw after my own installation had been done).

skymast

If thats the case, then how is the CD changer connected?

CLK430_ew

the back of the headunit have a blue plugs on the right side what is that for?

Lbcgolf

Dunno... could you take a picture?

ctemkin

I don't really know the answer to the question of how the cd changer is hooked up, but I believe that I read somewhere that the connection is optical. If this is in fact the case, then the normal electric audio connection would not work.

Mellow

This has nothing to do with mp3s but is a similar scenario.
Our w211 was produced after the new nav was out, in conjuction with its release mercedes decided to give its customers a treat by upgrading all base stereo units from cassette to cd players, only problem is, my pops' collection of music is mostly in the former format, so in the process of this free upgrade we got screwed. I had long talks with a german tech @ the dealership, he got back to some of the techs in germany and initially gave me hope of installing a 'glovebox walkman' , eventually we he gave me this:
No connection can be made on any of the headunit, APS 50 (old nav) stereo 20 old (tape) or new.
The only way a connection can be made to an auxiallary connection is via command which they had installed on an S that belonged to some customer
The new stereo units come with their control units (the main area that is responsible for intgrating cd, phone radio etc) integrated into them while the pre new nav ones came with an external unit, so replacing my unit with an older one was not possible
A nav unit would need complete rewiring of the car, which would cost enough for you to do custom intallastions of everything AND get featured on DUB magazine/MTV cribs
I asked him about FM modulation, if it was an option, he asked me weather anyone would even produce a cassette player with FM modulation...good point, plus he said hooking those things up in such a cplx system was risky
So in summary he told me to go out and buy myself a CD recorder as cassette was not an option
Hope this helps = )

matt5555

You have no cassette? Our W211 has a CD player (standard) but we also have the In-dash changer. We have a cassette player as well though (build date 4/03).

So yours is the same, except you don't have a cassette player? Does that mean your screen is bigger since our tape deck took up some space on the screen?

Do you have a pic ?

Dericious

Anyone given this any thought or had an installer ponder this one? Can the Optical input for the CD player be tapped by putting a spitter in?

I used to have a 540i with DSP and to put a Phatbox in i had to use a analog to optical converter (like $30 at radioshack). It has a TOSlink out and some other kind of thin cable.

Does anyone know if you can put an optical switch on the changer input line and use a converter to create a line input?

Just some thoughts......