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I just bought a E-200 Kompressor 07 facelift and I really like it. Mine has the small screen command unit(pictured) and I was wondering if anyone had updated to an Android aftermarket head unit. How was the install and if all steering wheel controls work?
Hi mate, i have been installing these units in other mercs for some time now. and to be honest its a very good upgrade. i have done CLK's SLK's w211, w209, w245. and they are all working great.
Some options are lost when upgrading. but the positives overweight the negatives.
The main thing you will lose is the ability to see track names and GPS directions on the cluster.
its no real problem as you can switch the cluster to show travel speed or whatever else.
The pure android units 4.2 or 4.4 are amazing units. if you dont have comand its definitly worth upgrading.
Currently i am waiting for a new quad core unit for my E55 AMG and i will be changing over my COMAND for it. i love android and the freedom of the Play store and having all my songs movies etc.
Make sure you send a picture to the seller so that they can give you exact unit.
Hi mate, i have been installing these units in other mercs for some time now. and to be honest its a very good upgrade. i have done CLK's SLK's w211, w209, w245. and they are all working great.
Some options are lost when upgrading. but the positives overweight the negatives.
The main thing you will lose is the ability to see track names and GPS directions on the cluster.
its no real problem as you can switch the cluster to show travel speed or whatever else.
The pure android units 4.2 or 4.4 are amazing units. if you dont have comand its definitly worth upgrading.
Currently i am waiting for a new quad core unit for my E55 AMG and i will be changing over my COMAND for it. i love android and the freedom of the Play store and having all my songs movies etc.
Make sure you send a picture to the seller so that they can give you exact unit.
I'm very interested in this... What brand and model are you going with? thanks
My comand took a shyt on me 2 weeks after i purchased my 211. NTG 2.5. I did some research and glad i did. With that said You may be bitter when you install this. Its like taking a Cadillac and putting some chevy malibu hubcaps on it.... To each their own though, however i'm glad I spent the $1300 dollars on a brand new OEM MB head unit. Well worth it.
My comand took a shyt on me 2 weeks after i purchased my 211. NTG 2.5. I did some research and glad i did. With that said You may be bitter when you install this. Its like taking a Cadillac and putting some chevy malibu hubcaps on it.... To each their own though, however i'm glad I spent the $1300 dollars on a brand new OEM MB head unit. Well worth it.
These android units have an HD 7" screen, Bluetooth, wifi, and basically can download any app out there, including google maps and Waze. What's not there to like? Oh and it's also less than $500.
and review is on same model, the "N6", as our w211 e-classes.
I gotta say this looks fantastic.
And according to this http://www.jandtdistributing.com/col...-2004-2011-cls ...the latest model includes a by-pass harness for the fiber optics, and is good for the base stereos in our cars that have 4 channels. Then, if you have the HK stereo with 5 channels, you need to buy an aftermarket amp. I'm gonna buy one tonight. Anyone know what 5-channel amp would be good for the HK sound system?
edit: just searched the forum and saw a good rec on this one: Alpine 5 channel amp PDX-V9 $500 ON AMAZON. What's not clear to me is do you lose the center channel/pro logic 7 with this setup?
These android units have an HD 7" screen, Bluetooth, wifi, and basically can download any app out there, including google maps and Waze. What's not there to like? Oh and it's also less than $500.
Like i said to each their own. However what not to like imo, loss of hd radio in my case. Purchasing a aftermarket wiring harness so steering wheel controls work. Voice control via voice control lever. Sirius xm. Bluetooth telephone capability with voice control.... The look and functionality seems great at first, but it's just like anything aftermarket, once time settles in the touch screen with loose its sensitivity and i'f you have issues with it down the road you aint taking (plutoe will appreciate my grammar) it to a mb dealership to get it diagnosed, not that an indy shop wouldn't look at it, but how many people on these forums are overly comfortable with this particular aftermarket head unit? with that said if a forum for w211 cant chime in on whats better or not with an abundance of responses, i doubt you go to a indy either when your fiber optics need to be bypassed and DAS/Xentry needs to be incorporated into the diagnostics and it get figured out... It has its pros and cons. When it's something serious like sound or a radio, think of longevity. Yes that adroid unit is affordable and the sales pitch has you wondering about which one to buy, but if you ever sell this car i'm sure a buyer would be more interested if it had the factory radio but that just me.
edit: if i was ballin on a budget and wasn't ocd about the interior being the closest thing to oem then i would have purchased one of these. I actually considered it, but not having xm, hd, and voice/steering control functions shooed me away with the swiftness.
Like i said to each their own. However what not to like imo, loss of hd radio in my case. Purchasing a aftermarket wiring harness so steering wheel controls work. Voice control via voice control lever. Sirius xm. Bluetooth telephone capability with voice control.... The look and functionality seems great at first, but it's just like anything aftermarket, once time settles in the touch screen with loose its sensitivity and i'f you have issues with it down the road you aint taking (plutoe will appreciate my grammar) it to a mb dealership to get it diagnosed, not that an indy shop wouldn't look at it, but how many people on these forums are overly comfortable with this particular aftermarket head unit? with that said if a forum for w211 cant chime in on whats better or not with an abundance of responses, i doubt you go to a indy either when your fiber optics need to be bypassed and DAS/Xentry needs to be incorporated into the diagnostics and it get figured out... It has its pros and cons. When it's something serious like sound or a radio, think of longevity. Yes that adroid unit is affordable and the sales pitch has you wondering about which one to buy, but if you ever sell this car i'm sure a buyer would be more interested if it had the factory radio but that just me.
edit: if i was ballin on a budget and wasn't ocd about the interior being the closest thing to oem then i would have purchased one of these. I actually considered it, but not having xm, hd, and voice/steering control functions shooed me away with the swiftness.
Yeah I get your points, but we have different cars (I don't have voice command or XM) so no biggie for me as I could run spotify, pandora, stitcher, etc. on my phone and will hear the audio through the car speakers (with the N6)...one can control the track forward/backward from the unit or steering wheel controls. I think they fixed the steering wheel controls in the latest versions of both systems.
Also you're right there have not been many w211 adapters of these units so that's concerning. But since everything thing about them is the same in terms of functionality/software vs. the bmw models, I think I'm comfortable taking the plunge since their forums are littered with glowing write-ups on these units.
cmriv- how doe you think the touch will loose its sensitivity? these new units dont use the old "resistive" technology. they use Capacitive. so much like your Iphone 5 or Samsung galaxy S5 etc
As for Logic 7. that is driven by the COMAND unit software. so yes you will lose it. but you don't really need it.
The android units comes with a 6m long cable and "should" some with another 6m long Radio cable for reception. the cable connects to the connector that's currently plugged into the factory amp in the boot. (so you can remove the old amp as its quite heavy)
the unit will power all 4 speakers and will have 2 spare cables at the back labeled "cent (+) and cent (-) you can splice them into either of the 4 speakers and that will get your center speaker going. (i do no recommend that because then you will be pushing the same amount of Watts through the center speaker and its tiny compared to the other 4 door speakers.)
This leaves the subwoofer. buy a simple 2 channel or mono block amp to power the factory subwoofer. you can get away with a tiny 300w amp. that's plenty to blow up your factory subwoofer (if gain is not set correctly)
Now splice from the 2 rear speaker from the 6m long cable (green and purple wires) and connect to the new amps (hi input), the 6m long cable will have an amp trigger cable, and the rest is just powering your amp.
If you don't wish to use the (high input) method then run an RCA cable from the nea head unit to the back at the same time you run the 6m cables. OR use a high to low signal converter. ( i personally prefer the converters because you can adjust the voltage on the low signal so that you don't have the amp gain too high and also allows you to have better control on signal clipping.
As for me, the new quad core units arrived a few days ago, as well as 2x 6m long cables. 1x for the radio reception and 1x for power / speaker , and canbuss control. (i can put up pics if you guys like?)
I have bench tested the unit over 3 days continuous running and loading all channels @ 40watts. so far all is sweet. its very responsive, and has 14 channel equalizer that governs the entire applications on the unit, and the capacitive touch give it so much more quality feeling. and finally, if you buy a 6m long GPS cable and proper connectors you can retain the original GPS antenna which is MUCH stronger then the ones provided with the unit
cmriv- how doe you think the touch will loose its sensitivity? these new units dont use the old "resistive" technology. they use Capacitive. so much like your Iphone 5 or Samsung galaxy S5 etc
As for Logic 7. that is driven by the COMAND unit software. so yes you will lose it. but you don't really need it.
The android units comes with a 6m long cable and "should" some with another 6m long Radio cable for reception. the cable connects to the connector that's currently plugged into the factory amp in the boot. (so you can remove the old amp as its quite heavy)
the unit will power all 4 speakers and will have 2 spare cables at the back labeled "cent (+) and cent (-) you can splice them into either of the 4 speakers and that will get your center speaker going. (i do no recommend that because then you will be pushing the same amount of Watts through the center speaker and its tiny compared to the other 4 door speakers.)
This leaves the subwoofer. buy a simple 2 channel or mono block amp to power the factory subwoofer. you can get away with a tiny 300w amp. that's plenty to blow up your factory subwoofer (if gain is not set correctly)
Now splice from the 2 rear speaker from the 6m long cable (green and purple wires) and connect to the new amps (hi input), the 6m long cable will have an amp trigger cable, and the rest is just powering your amp.
If you don't wish to use the (high input) method then run an RCA cable from the nea head unit to the back at the same time you run the 6m cables. OR use a high to low signal converter. ( i personally prefer the converters because you can adjust the voltage on the low signal so that you don't have the amp gain too high and also allows you to have better control on signal clipping.
As for me, the new quad core units arrived a few days ago, as well as 2x 6m long cables. 1x for the radio reception and 1x for power / speaker , and canbuss control. (i can put up pics if you guys like?)
I have bench tested the unit over 3 days continuous running and loading all channels @ 40watts. so far all is sweet. its very responsive, and has 14 channel equalizer that governs the entire applications on the unit, and the capacitive touch give it so much more quality feeling. and finally, if you buy a 6m long GPS cable and proper connectors you can retain the original GPS antenna which is MUCH stronger then the ones provided with the unit
if anyone wants any more info please let me know.
Michael,
Entity Electronics.
If the screens one apple iphones/ipads/itouches ect and samsung galaxy products get replaced periodically, speaking from experience, I've had my apple screen replaced x2 on my iphone 6, and 1 time for my 5, I would assume the same would go for these android head unit screens. keep in mind, When you go to a android site the first thing that pops up isn't a head unit, it's cell phone's and cell phone accessories.
I'm stating "my" issues with purchasing 1 of these android units in my vehicle. Replacing your head unit with an OEM unit isn't in everyones ball park
Seeing as he doesn't need majority of the things i stated he will be fine
cmriv- how doe you think the touch will loose its sensitivity? these new units dont use the old "resistive" technology. they use Capacitive. so much like your Iphone 5 or Samsung galaxy S5 etc
As for Logic 7. that is driven by the COMAND unit software. so yes you will lose it. but you don't really need it.
The android units comes with a 6m long cable and "should" some with another 6m long Radio cable for reception. the cable connects to the connector that's currently plugged into the factory amp in the boot. (so you can remove the old amp as its quite heavy)
the unit will power all 4 speakers and will have 2 spare cables at the back labeled "cent (+) and cent (-) you can splice them into either of the 4 speakers and that will get your center speaker going. (i do no recommend that because then you will be pushing the same amount of Watts through the center speaker and its tiny compared to the other 4 door speakers.)
This leaves the subwoofer. buy a simple 2 channel or mono block amp to power the factory subwoofer. you can get away with a tiny 300w amp. that's plenty to blow up your factory subwoofer (if gain is not set correctly)
Now splice from the 2 rear speaker from the 6m long cable (green and purple wires) and connect to the new amps (hi input), the 6m long cable will have an amp trigger cable, and the rest is just powering your amp.
If you don't wish to use the (high input) method then run an RCA cable from the nea head unit to the back at the same time you run the 6m cables. OR use a high to low signal converter. ( i personally prefer the converters because you can adjust the voltage on the low signal so that you don't have the amp gain too high and also allows you to have better control on signal clipping.
As for me, the new quad core units arrived a few days ago, as well as 2x 6m long cables. 1x for the radio reception and 1x for power / speaker , and canbuss control. (i can put up pics if you guys like?)
I have bench tested the unit over 3 days continuous running and loading all channels @ 40watts. so far all is sweet. its very responsive, and has 14 channel equalizer that governs the entire applications on the unit, and the capacitive touch give it so much more quality feeling. and finally, if you buy a 6m long GPS cable and proper connectors you can retain the original GPS antenna which is MUCH stronger then the ones provided with the unit
if anyone wants any more info please let me know.
Michael,
Entity Electronics.
Michael, thanks for the great info. Which head units are you referring here?
cmriv- how doe you think the touch will loose its sensitivity? these new units dont use the old "resistive" technology. they use Capacitive. so much like your Iphone 5 or Samsung galaxy S5 etc
As for me, the new quad core units arrived a few days ago........
if anyone wants any more info please let me know.
Michael,
Entity Electronics.
Michael where are you located? You should definitely post some pictures of the unit you worked on. I can only find dual core units, which quad core units are you looking at? Im sure the extra processing power makes a difference on these systems??
The system is dual core on custom android 4.1.1, not sure if its upgradable but the system Runarinn posted runs on pure android 4.4.4? Does it even matter??? And that unit is about 350 bucks cheaper than the Avin unit. The Avin unit looks to be built better though, heres an install in a w211:
If the screens one apple iphones/ipads/itouches ect and samsung galaxy products get replaced periodically, speaking from experience, I've had my apple screen replaced x2 on my iphone 6, and 1 time for my 5, I would assume the same would go for these android head unit screens. keep in mind, When you go to a android site the first thing that pops up isn't a head unit, it's cell phone's and cell phone accessories.
I'm stating "my" issues with purchasing 1 of these android units in my vehicle. Replacing your head unit with an OEM unit isn't in everyones ball park
Seeing as he doesn't need majority of the things i stated he will be fine
Thats news to me about the screen being replaced mate, i am an electrical engineer and for the life of me i cannot justify why a capacitive touch screen would "wear out" and lose its effectiveness. I have a samsung galaxy S2 here and its still just as responsive as it was from factory. and this S2 has seen better days. even been through the washing machine!
Might be a Iphone thing? forcing customers to upgrade? i am not sure.
zubin.p, Stay away from non pure android units. they are old and very bad! they run a dual boot and the unit is very slow and unstable. its also most likely resistive touch! so that's a big no no!
Stay away from Dynavin units. i tested them back in the days for w211 and they were poor quality and overprices. basically its still a Chinese unit but with slight modifications done by Dynavin to make it their own.
AVIN Avant look like the same unit as the chinese ones but with old hardware, however i am sure they are working on the quad core variant. personally looking at the price i think if you deal with Avin you will get better customer service, i was dealing directly with Chinese companies and this has a HUGE language barrier. however buying directly from china you will grab the unit slightly cheaper.
The unit i have is android 4.4.4 pure. so no dual booting etc.
I will get some pictures etc together when i tackle the install. atm i am waiting for a new canbuss box as i believe they sent me the wrong one as i am unable to get steering wheel controls etc. (i am constantly in touch with the engineers in china via phone, and helping them perfect the product so that everything is plug and play and correct components. so hopefully the next month or so they will be selling the unit completely working with no silly issues such as (no 6m long radio cable, or correct canbuss box)
p.s i tested the 3G internet using a USB modem as well as the DVR camera and all is sweet as expected. i never ordered the digital tv as i don't really use it. not when you can put in 64GB memory cards with movies etc. also the Ariel for the TV is too bulky and you wont have a nice clean interior anymore.
this is purely my outtake, but if you listen to your music loud all the time, i would invest in a 4 channel amplifier 100-200wx4 should be plenty. this will eliminate allot of stress on the MOSFET amplifier modules located in the unit and will keep the unit running cool and thus increase its longevity.
zubin.p, Stay away from non pure android units. they are old and very bad! they run a dual boot and the unit is very slow and unstable. its also most likely resistive touch! so that's a big no no!
Stay away from Dynavin units. i tested them back in the days for w211 and they were poor quality and overprices. basically its still a Chinese unit but with slight modifications done by Dynavin to make it their own.
AVIN Avant look like the same unit as the chinese ones but with old hardware, however i am sure they are working on the quad core variant. personally looking at the price i think if you deal with Avin you will get better customer service, i was dealing directly with Chinese companies and this has a HUGE language barrier. however buying directly from china you will grab the unit slightly cheaper.
The unit i have is android 4.4.4 pure. so no dual booting etc.
I will get some pictures etc together when i tackle the install. atm i am waiting for a new canbuss box as i believe they sent me the wrong one as i am unable to get steering wheel controls etc. (i am constantly in touch with the engineers in china via phone, and helping them perfect the product so that everything is plug and play and correct components. so hopefully the next month or so they will be selling the unit completely working with no silly issues such as (no 6m long radio cable, or correct canbuss box)
add to that $60 USd for the 6m power cable and $20 for the 6m radio antenna and that should be all you need. as you can see its stacks cheaper.
Are you saying you basically bought an Avant with quad-core but from a different company in China? Or is yours am entirely different unit altogether? I was pretty much settled on the avant 2 until I read that you think avant will come out with a quad core very soon. Maybe that's worth waiting for? The avant 2 has 1.78ghz processor 1gb ram running 1024x600 . https://avinusa.com/mercedes-benz-e-class-full-android-gps-navigation-system.html The thing is I'd rather have good customer service support because I don't have an engineering background.
If, however, you get yours running smoothly (which it sounds promising thus far) I'd love to just copy your setup exactly and have a local stereo installer put it together for me. Thanks!
Are you saying you basically bought an Avant with quad-core but from a different company in China? Or is yours am entirely different unit altogether? I was pretty much settled on the avant 2 until I read that you think avant will come out with a quad core very soon. Maybe that's worth waiting for? The avant 2 has 1.78ghz processor 1gb ram running 1024x600 . https://avinusa.com/mercedes-benz-e-...on-system.html The thing is I'd rather have good customer service support because I don't have an engineering background.
If, however, you get yours running smoothly (which it sounds promising thus far) I'd love to just copy your setup exactly and have a local stereo installer put it together for me. Thanks!
no, not at all, what im saying is that i believe the AVIN units are the same Chinese units but with different button configuration and a different User interface (launcher) as you call it in android world.
The specs of the quad core units is on the link i put up. but to recap.
Its also 1024x600 resolution
1.6ghz quad core samsung chip
1gb DDR ram
16 GB Built in memory
the fact AVIN has 1.78Ghz seems quite an odd number.I believe its still the same 1.6ghz dual core but they have overclocked it slightly so it sounds like a totaly different chip.
So i just sorted out the steering wheel control issue myself, luckily i knew the password to the factory settings menu and so i accessed the engineering menu of the unit and saw that the technician in china had not selected the type of canbuss protocol. they just left it at (NO) so i simply changed it from no to Mercedes benz and wola! full steering wheel control etc. (volume up , down, telephone, and music track control)
I have informed the company of this so future units should not have this issue. (i beleive it was a one off, they may have rushed the unit and forgot about that part?)
the only thing left is the display of radio stations and tracks on the speed cluster ( personally i think its a minor issue and i cannot foresee myself using it as i will most likley have the speed as my display. However i have informed the company and am awaiting their response and solution).
So all up the unit seems all good so far. and only thing left is the display of tracks.
i just though i may put this up to clarify to those who want to buy this unit.
If you have COMAND NTG with HARMAN KARDON LOGIC 7 Stereo (check left side of boot OR door speakers for logo) THEN you need the 6M long accessory cable as well as a 6m long Radio antenna cable)
If you have COMAND without Logic 7 or premium sound. (so no amplifiers at the back) then all you need is the unit itself and the connectors it comes with. no need for 6m cables. the short cables that come with the unit should get the unit completely working in your w211
If you have APS20 etc, you are in the same boat as above.
To recap. if you have any factory amplifiers in the boot then you need the 6m long cables to get the unit working.
just remember that the factory sub woofer wont be powered from the android unit until you get after market amp and splice into the speaker wires from the 6M long cable.
tomorrow hopefully if the weather is good i will get around finalizing the installation (tucking the wires away etc) then i will take videos and pictures and will share them with you.
05-31-2015, 08:54 AM
Here's another glowing review and much more detailed from the bimmer forum... http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...w-for-mid-2014
it to a mb dealership to get it diagnosed, not that an indy shop wouldn't look at it, but how many people on these forums are overly comfortable with this particular aftermarket head unit? with that said if a forum for w211 cant chime in on whats better or not with an abundance of responses, i doubt you go to a indy either when your fiber optics need to be bypassed and DAS/Xentry needs to be incorporated into the diagnostics and it get figured out... It has its pros and cons. When it's something serious like sound or a radio, think of longevity. Yes that adroid unit is affordable and the sales pitch has you wondering about which one to buy, but if you ever sell this car i'm sure a buyer would be more interested if it had the factory radio but that just me. 
