robbieas

For the analog clock on the dash, you need to turn off the "sync with head unit" or whatever the exact wording is. It's in the driver's instrument cluster menu. Then you can set the analog clock through the settings in the cluster menu.

My '07 E350 sport didn't have any car related functions on the OEM head unit - no mirror controls or lights or anything. At least that I can recall. And it was the HK OEM unit that was the high-end one. I'm not aware of any Aux heating that can be accessed either. Wonder if this is a US spec vs international thing?

I've never attempted to play a DVD, can't help there either, sorry! I only stream any video that I play. Though I can't get YouTube TV to play right for some reason.

Updating the firmware and software is easy, but man does it take a lot of digging to find the right stuff and make sure you are flashing the right stuff. Here are few places that might be of help though. Tread carefully though, you can absolutely brick your unit if you do the wrong thing.

Good place to start for info on your head unit. It's important to know the manufacturer before you do any software upgrade. My Belsee is an LM (LEI_MA Lei Electronics Inc) so yours might be as well.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/p...b-ram.3734189/

This is a software repository run by god knows who. But I did find firmware updates in here for mine, though no noticeable change when I did so.
https://disk.yandex.com/d/umCvHqCDzHccr

And lastly I upgraded to a custom Android ROM that allowed me to customize a few things through Tasker better than the stock ROM. I've got a ton of experience rooting Android phones and installing custom ROMs though so this wasn't scary to me. Your unit is newer than mine so this is just a starting point, I believe there is another page for newer units that come with Android 10, but I believe it's linked in the first thread.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/r...-mtce.3762724/

And my last recommendation.... I LOVE the Agama Car Launcher. It gives the screen more of a factory look rather than just a tablet looking interface.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...es.carlauncher

LEI_MA (Lei Electronics Inc)

Lubo2018

thanks for the quick reply ;-)
I'll try your advice and keep you updated. Yes, my car is a 2008 European version E320CDI 4MATIC and I know they differ from the USA versions, but we talk for the same belsee, only mine has android 10.0

E63007

I trying to decide on a W211 Android HU, (I’m leaning towards the AVIN Qualcomm Snapdragon Octa Core 4G Ram 64 G Mem) but I am installing Amp Power for 9 Channels w/Audison DSP so am I crazy to think that I DON’T need to fiddle with attaching these MOST adapters to connect to the OEM AGW? My understanding is that the MOST Adaptors for the HU are to maintain the MOST Loop and put Output Signal to the HU via two RCA’s? Why I would need this if I’m circumventing use of the AGW altogether? Why do they offer the 5-6Meter Most Cable for those with the Harmon Kardon AGW in the trunk (like me)? Are they for tapping into the MOST Ring at the AGW to maintain use of that OEM AMP for those that do not intend on adding separate AMP Power? Why the need to run an additional MOST Connector from the AGW to the HU when they all state the AGW should be removed or will remain inoperable after connecting this MOST adaptor? Or are they necessary to maintain the MOST Loop that otherwise could be done with cheaper MOST Ring Loop Adaptors? As for audio signal out from the Android HU, any Android HU at most provide 5 pre-amp RCA channels out, that means Center and rear surround channels are going to be left out of the mix, as such, these pre-amp leads are intended to run directly to Amp, or through a DSP>Amp.

What I’m trying to figure out is how to use the 9 channels out of the DSP? I have 6.5” Stereo Integrity MKIII’s for the front doors as well as their 3” Carbon mids (to be installed in A-pillar Pods) that supposedly cover frequency spectrum up to 20k, so I’m torn between sacrificing the Center Channel for 2 (possibly redundant) focal tweeters in the little sails by the mirrors! If I gave up the 2 channels for Rt & Left tweeters for 1 Center Channel, I would have 1 Channel to play with. I was thinking of possibly installing 2 X 5” focal Mids I have in those spaces where the surrounds are on each side of the Subwoofer and somehow “bridging” them Mono for surround, but I don’t want to blow the 5 multichannel amp in the process! Any thoughts on this would be well received!!

tjts1

Has anybody had success with any of these chinese android head units. The reviews on all of them are disasterous. I doubt the manufacturer had ever touched a w211.

robbieas

Mine has been kickass. After nearly 4 years it's gotten to where it freezes up once a week or so and has to be hard rebooted, but I'm guessing a factory wipe and fresh setup would resolve that. If it died today I'd spend another ~$500 without blinking to get another one.

robbieas

If you are removing the factory amp, you don't need any MOST adapters - you are abandoning that system. I removed everything like you plan to. I installed the new HU and run everything off an aftermarket amp - just ran RCA cables from the HU to the amp in the trunk. At least for the factory HK systems, the GPS, antenna, and mic connections are all in the back with the AGW. So you don't need the MOST cable, but some of them include the wires/connectors to tie into those components as well, but you can get those separate cheaper. I never figured out the mic though, I just used the wired one that came with the headunit and ran it over by the instrument cluster. Also keep in mind you are going to need to tap into the canbus, this is how the receiver will know when the car powers on, headlights are on, etc. You can tap off the CD changer below the HU for that.

I have a 4.1 channel amp powering the doors and sub. I use the amp in the headunit to drive the back-deck surround speakers and I've just abandoned the center. However the ideal way to do this in hindsight is to get a full 7.1 channel DSP that has app based controls you can install on the HU, and get either a 7.1 amp or 4.1 + a 4.0. Nice DSPs have a mic to listen to and adjust channel levels based on your specific setup. Run a single stereo RCA set to the DSP, then each channel feeds from the DSP to the amp with a single RCA cable. A HU with digital/optical output to the DSP would be ideal but not sure if that's actually an option. You control your DSP settings (fade, all channel stereo, surround, etc) from the app for the DSP.

tjts1

Which brand and model would you buy? They seem to be sold under a bunch of different names.

robbieas

I haven't shopped for them in nearly 4 years, but around then at least, most of them were the same. If it was a Rockchip based unit (and most were), the board, CPU, memory, etc were all the same, the manufacturers were adding the plastic housings and software - so they are all based on the same hardware essentially. For what it's worth mine is a Belsee, though I wouldn't recommend that specific unit at this point because it's too old. Previous poster mentioned a Snapdragon based unit, which depending on the actual chip, is likely a better processor than the Rockchip based unit I have. I wouldn't do anything with less than 4GB of RAM, though I doubt that's an issue with anything modern.

E63007

I’ve got, as I said, 9 powered channels after 9 independability adjusted channels coming from an Audison bit Nove. The 9 Amp’d channels will come from Gladen 4 x 120 Watts & 5 Channels ( 4X 90W + 1 X 350W). The Audison DSP only comes with the common pre, Hi Level, USB & DRC Cable and software for your laptop. You must configure all parameters manually, so any mic used to sense these parameters in relation to each other would require a separate software tuning application. It would be nice of that was available in-situ with the Audison as it is with “home” stereo applications (ex. Marantz &Yamaha Sounds Bars).

In an effort at using as many speakers in the car, I may opt to get passive crossovers for the front Mid-tweets which would free up two channels from the DSP. Then I could use one for the Center Channel (any advice on what speaker to buy to fit there would be appreciated!). That would leave one channel. So the question is if it would be better simply to get another set of passive adjustable volume crossovers pairing the rears with the 5” Focals I may install in the rear surrounds on each side of the subwoofer. If so, then I would choose to somehow set the level of the surround to a muted lower “fill” level. Not exactly a perfect solution, but possibly better than giving up on the idea of sound inhabiting that original space?

However, you mentioned (Robbias) that you power the two Rear Satellites from the deck and run the power to the 4 speakers in the doors from your Amp? Hmmm? Novel idea! I likey likey! I’ve discovered since originally posting this that there several (Teyes (Australia!) Joying, iDoing, Atoto (Chi) all have SPDIF Toslink output with Capacitive Displays with the option to add Amperage of need be! I’m leaning this direction and if so, I obviously would run the Toslink to my Audison and I may just follow your lead in wiring the rear satellites to the new HU and be able to adjust that aspect of (Rear Fill) on the fly! Love it! When I posted my running thoughts below, I had not realized you stated that! Duogh!

On the other hand, might I be able to use that one channel left from the DSP to send surround signal to those two surround speakers via One Channel from the AMP? Is it possible to do this safely? If so, I have no experience doing this but only know of doing it theoretically by setting the speakers up in-line. But by doing so, my understanding is that you are in effect increasing wattage and reducing by 1/2 the Ohm output, so it may work for the OEM 2 Ohm surrounds but not for the 4ohm Focals.

Being that the DSP ideally would take signal from a HU from its optical-Toslink Out, there don’t seem to be any makers of the W211 HU’s out there doing this, unbelievably in this day and age! (Obviously by now, that has changed! Still none with CD though!). So that leaves the 4, or at best 5 Pre Low Level outs to the DSP. Ironically, if one were to intend on using the OEM Amp (AGW) then rather than being limited to 5, one could tap into 6 Hi-level directly from the speaker wire out of the AGW and the DSP would automatically de-equalize each to create a full signal, if you will. If I were to use 2 of those Pre-outs to Power the Surrounds, as you suggest, that would leave only 2 (full range) and (Sub) Pre-out to the DSP, so there may be a trade off in the range input into the DSP if there’s any discrepancy in range output of the PRE-OUTs from the HU? Also, I’m not sure if I could limit output of those two surround channels emanating from the HU to play nice with the DSP. Maybe you’d connect the surrounds to the HU Rear and then I guess you could set the levels of the rest of the speakers to the DSP during the “Input Level Setup”, whereby you disconnect the PreAmp In, then Max Out Volume on the HU to level before it distorts (how you figure that without serious measuring instruments, I don’t know, otherwise set Vol to 80%), set fader/Bal to Center and EQ to flat, play the Tuning CD, then adjust the potentiometer for each channel on the DSP up to where the LED flashes and then just back off a little. Then assuming the DSP can get a FULL Range from PRE-FR &FL&SUB, and on the HU you could adjust accordingly (+ or -) with its equalizer for the two surrounds getting signal from the REAR Pre-OUTs leaving the others flat for the out to the DSP, that might work too! Then hook up the Pre-Amp In to the DSP on low VOL and see how it sounds. That might be the way to gain two extra channels from the low (50wpc) output to drive those 2 surrounds using the on-board power of the HU that otherwise would be UNUSED! Just thinking outside the box!

On the other hand, if there are Powered (4 x 45W) channels coming from the HU via High Level wire I can tap into ( assuming there’s an 8 pin multi wire mini harness that connects to the back of the HU with the wires sticking out in a bundle, or something), then I should be able to use all 5 Pre-Amp RCA’s into my DSP Low Level-in for full range signal to drive those 9 speakers and then use the Hi-level outs from the HU to power both the 2 Rear surrounds independently using the add-on DSP with HU and tone it down to be used as fill. Then I could cross the two other Front Hi-level channels, somehow but not sure exactly in what way, to the Center Channel.

10/30/23

As it stands today, I’ve had all the components sitting in a box but alas, now that it’s been determined my AC EVAP is leaking, it’s time to remove the whole Dash! What better moment is there! I just need to carefully label all wires while I pull everything out! That will give me space, after removing the front and rear seats, to properly Sound Treat the Doors, Tranny tunnel, Firewall and front wheel arches which are notably loud! I plan on installing a parking camera as well. Moreover, I have a new Windshield just waiting to be installed which requires removal of those A-pillar seals and the trim which covers them as well as the one up top with its rubber seal as well!

Stupidasio, I would like to perhaps follow your lead on tapping into the door? Fakra power lead, as you suggest, however, I’m not sure these latest HU with Toslink Out actually have the Coax screw-on connection at the rear for tapping into the on board Fakra! I would very much like to do this as there simply is no better place to locate the GPS than the Shark Fin itself, but unfortunately it may turn out to be an impossibility, especially if I end up determining that ditching the MOST is possible! I mean once I can connect the Toslink direct >Audison>Speakers, which makes any use of the CD player, NAV,OEM Tele, OnStar, impossible, what reason is there to carry that extra weight in the trunk where Amps, Audison, could instead be mounted? Can anyone inform me a good reason to retain all this stuff if its use is completely circumvented? I’m sure there would be codes that would need to be addressed as well as deleted/altered in Star/Xentry. One question I have is the ability to toggle through system menus with the left hand steering wheel buttons completely lost if you give up MOST, or can this functionality be retained by properly connecting to CANBUS? How about the Airmatic status on the Display and the ability to adjust the Clock? Any further insight on this would be appreciated!

11/15/23- Ok, I just decided to scrap the Audison bit Nove (9) for a Dirac DSP 12, So I’m adding a 4 channel Low Watt Amp to drive the Front Focal Tweeters I had laying around and was going to Passively incorporate into the rear deck with my Focal 5”, but since the Dirac can do Surround R&L, the tweets are going up front for 3 Way! The Center will be run off the same Amp and be fed signal from the Joying HU for Talk Radio/Telephone strictly, with rest running off the DSP. I’ll convert the CD Player Door to a switch (maybe Panzers suggestion, but I would still like to use the OEM Button!) and mount a Joying CD Player in its place with room to stack a few CD’s in there too Boot! Still trying figure which Powered Binaural Noise Cancelling Mic I’ll incorporate and or how to fabricate one myself with a swappable battery?

The AGW and NAV will be removed as well as the useless Bluetooth in the Armrest. I’ll gut the box of the NAV, line it will CCF and mount my Fused Power Blocks in there with all 3 Amps mounted on a 8” Wide shaped piece of Aluminum or steel sheet metal attached on Drivers side Bumper Mounts with Arms extending below for support running lengthwise towards the Battery(Ground) all out of view, still mulling over whether I want to scrap the OEM Woofer as I was intending on Hot-Swapping it with a JL Audio Enclosure. Just not sure if my Golf Clubs will fit back there with that robbing the trunks footprint? I’ve stocked up on Sound Sense (Sp?) Damplifier Pro, Luxury Liner, some more non sticky CCF to line the above mentioned as well as the Door Holes which will be made from 1/8” Lead mounted with Screw Rivets and backed with Melamine! Have enough of the Damplifier/Luxury Liner to cover the firewall, wheel wells, parts of the floor and under the rear seat and maybe even the Spare Tire Floor!

11/16/23-Jeez, taking a closer look at the Joying 9” and judging from the fact they provide their own facia to mount the HU in, it shows a black void where the CD Player would normally be! I admit I just didn’t notice it prior! As such, the screen being larger than the OEM 7” obviously takes up more real estate, but I hadn’t thought it would not allow me use of the area where the CD Player occupied? I was planning on using Panzer’s remote control solution to power the CD Door and either print or fab another storage bin it the CD Players place, but now that idea seems to be a No-Go! I was thinking I’d order 2 of the Joying Facia Pieces to see if I could cut off the bottom section to be able to incorporate use of the CD Stash Area, but it looks like the 9” screen covers what would have been the CD player door which, when engaged, would otherwise angle outwards and upwards, most likely making contact with the Joying HU in-situ! Unless there’s another Android with Say an 8” screen and S/PDIF output w/GPS I don’t know about, it looks like I’m going to have to give up on utilizing that ultra-cool CD Stash Area where I was going to put the Joying CD Player in as well as the Remote for the Dirac! Damn!

11/29/23- I pulled the trigger on a “Joying Universal 7 inch screen”! It’s still Octa Core w/8 Gb of Ram but maxed out at 64g instead of 128, no big loss there since I carry most music on my Cowon. Most Importantly, it also has Digital S/PDIF Toslink & Coax Outputs! I ordered a surround for the W211 dash that looks like it will fit the 7” screen perfectly and enable me to use the CD stash Area for my Joying CD Player and maybe the Dirac Mini DSP Remote! I’ll also wrap that ABS with leather matching my Birdseye Trim on the Dash!

Although it’s somewhat trivial, I really would like to take StuPidasio’s suggestion of “Splicing into the 12V of the Antenna Amplifier” in order to maintain use of the Multifunction Antenna (Shark Fin) rather than placing a lame GPS Puck on the roof! I imagine a 12V Fuse wired to it and spliced in might do the trick, but certainly would welcome any confirmation of this! My question is if I remove the AGW, would it render that Antenna Amplifier useless or would it simply not supply power to it, which would be rectified by supplying 12v Power to it? I’m also toying with the notion of connecting a 3.5mm mini Mic to female>Fakra to connect to the “Bluetooth” OEM Mic, instead of using what will most likely be an unreliable External Mic provided with unit. As such, I'll need to get a 3.5 Male to Female 16ft Cable to connect to that 3.5 mini to Fakra Adapter in order to attempt using the OEM Antenna! I would have liked to get a reply from Stupidasio regarding his powered Noise Cancelling Mic setup, but am left trying to figure out an alternative after trying to research what he was talking about and coming up very short!

TomasGrn

I've recently and successfully installed android unit on my W211, but I've noticed one thing that really bothers me. The decoder only had 2 RCA cables and when I'm playing music, it seems that all the audio is coming from the front end of the vehicle only. If I use the balance/fader settings and adjust the sound towards the back, the volume keeps decreasing until it reaches the very end of the fader and at the same time the sound goes completely silent. Could it be that the 2 RCA connections makes my audio play in the front only? At first, I've thought that it's only front heavy, until I started messing with the balance/fading. The balance works as it should by the way.

E63007

Please let us know what brand name of the HU you bought so we can be aware of this limited functionality! All the best!

I am still a waiting to install all my Amps, DSP, Speakers until I can find a better solution for a HU as far as Digital Output is concerned to the Digital-input of my DSP (Audison Bit Nove- Now Dirac C-DSP 8x12DL!! ).

Another thing to consider when removal of the OEM HU is that being able to Adjust the Display Time Clock may become to be an issue? I’m not sure if the Clock is disconnected from the HU or if it’s connected to the CANBUS/EPROM? Harness. If so, then any HU that can connect to CANBUS/ EPROM?, in order to retain Steering Wheel Command functionality, should in theory be able to adjust the Time Clock. I’ve spent as much time researching HU’s as the next guy and I can’t seem to recall anyone bringing this up, except Robbieas that is…

TomasGrn

tawatts

Im beta testing an RSNAV Android based head unit in my 2013 GLK350 x204. Integrates perfectly, and has digital out, spdif and optical. So excellent sound quality.

RSNAV are very well known for their Audi head unit, now they are developing one for Mercedes.

here is a shot of mine in my Benz. I opted for the 12.3”, but they will also offer a 10.25” version as well.

zaque

Hey guys, I'm having trouble importing new boot images for my 10.25" Snapdragon Android Display.
The seller sent me their "mylogo.zip", I place it in the root of an empty, FAT32, 8GB USB stick, go to the "Factory Settings -> Boot logo -> Import" and I get a prompt: No logo file!

Can someone share some advice on how to import new boot images? I'm really sick of the default 3 (Globe, Some Audi Headlights and a Welcome Silhouette).

I'm attaching the "mylogo.zip" I got from the seller and the "No logo file!" prompt.
Any advice is welcome.

Thanks

RA030523

Try unzipping the file and then placing it on the thumb drive. That should unpack what the installer wants/needs.

zaque

Hi @DieselBound thank you for the quick reply.
I have already tried putting the unzipped folder as well. I'm sorry I didn't mention that in my original post.
I receive the same message then as well.

I tried with another USB as well.
At the moment I'm looking into bootanimation instead of a boot logo, but I would really like to keep it simple if possible, I just need to see a Mercedes logo on start up, nothing fancy, that's all.
Having boot animation requires additional complications that can lead to a bricked unit very fast

RA030523

Yeah, some things are sensitive to different thumb drives: I think my JVC head unit in my car is fussy that way.

I'd hope that with an android unit you'd have a good chance of resolving this. Might poke around on this site (if there's anyone who can figure it out they'd be here): https://www.xda-developers.com/

zaque

I solved my problem with not being able to import new logos into my unit.
Turns out, every YouTube video out there explaining how to do it, refers to units with Android 10 or Android 11 where you use the seller provided mylogo.zip to import those images.
My unit has Android 12 and I found a Discord channel called Automotive Android Headunit where it was described how to import these files for each Android version.
Basically for Android 12 if you want to import these files you need to have a USB stick, formatted in FAT32, under 32GB, preferably formatted under windows environment (MACs can have an issue) and for:
- Boot logo (splash image)
Create an OEM folder in the root of the USB
Copy the boot logo in this OEM folder
The image needs to be named imagefv.bmp and needs to be proper size (in my case 1920x720) and bmp format 24 bit color depth (you can use ms Paint to save it as bmp)
Then plug the USB in the Android unit and afterwards turn on the unit. All that's in the OEM folder will automatically be loaded. (give it ~20 sec)
Restart the Android unit
On next start up, the new logo will be present.

- Boot animation
Copy bootanimattion.zip and splash.img into the OEM folder
Then plug the USB in the Android unit and after start the unit. All that's in the OEM folder will automatically be loaded. (give it ~20 sec)
Restart the Android unit
On next start up, the new boot animation will be present.

The way the android unit starts is it firstly shows the boot image, and after a couple of seconds, the boot animations starts. After that, the android boots into its standard configuration.

A good choice of Mercedes or AMG boot animations can be found here:
https://mega.nz/folder/24ETga7J#9Wb5...older/fkMkiLaB

The boot logo can be the first frame of the boot animation. That way, when the boot animation starts, it can look as a smooth continuous process.

Hope this helps someone, as I've been hitting my head for two days with this.

RA030523

zaque, excellent work and reporting!

Kimo127

My car is 2008 E350 W211 basic with Harmon Kardan Logic 7 sound system. I have installed stereos in all my cars (not Mereceds) over past 20 years, Sucessfully. I just spent hours reading over all these threads and responses for changing out the head unit and speakers and amp for this car. I am more confused then ever and thought I had a good working knowlege of sound systems for a DIY person until I read through this collection of problematic Head units and installation problems that seem to happen each and every time. I can't recall a single thread where anyone had installed any of the most compatible and best matching units and it turned out perfect or had everything working as it should, not one. So where I thoiught I knew what I was doing basically and could install everything on my own, I am completely worried and unsure if I should even attempt to do this myself, especially when people with years experience in electronics, and stereo professionals are opening up Head Units to tinker around and modifying connectons to make things work. I had already purchased 4 component speakers for the doors, some 3.5 in. speakers for the kicker panels, a 5 channel amp. and some other crap like fiberoptic decoder and steering wheel connector. Everyone seems so helpful and positive in their installations I just don't know? I returned the first HU I purchased, it was an Alpine X308U, didn't fit in Dash. So my next HU will be either the "Dynavin D8-W211-Most-32GB" or the "Enfig system w/complete install kit", or the "SmartyTrend Ultra-Premium" This is my first request for some help Any suggestions on what's the best unit to go with? I have many more questions but need to start with some basics that will determine the rest of the system. Components are Alpine, Kicker Panel are Pioneer all are 100 watt RMS,
Amp is Kicker Kicker PXA1000.5 (48PXA10005) which is 4 channels of 100 watt RMS @ 4 Ohms and the Sub Channel @ 300 watts @ 4 Ohms RMS and (500 watts @ 2 Ohms (I think for the Sub). So question number 2 because I'm not even sure of the OEM sub think it's one Sub 10 inch. or maybe 8 inch anyway want to replace it what ever the same size is but have no idea what sub to get? There is no box in the trunk and so want to have big and loud enough sub to match the rest of the system @ RMS. Any named brand will do and will need a Watts size to match RMS of 300 to 500, Unless I'm way off then I'll purchase a separate mono Amp. for the sub at whatever is needed to pump, bump, and thump the bass. If I have to cut new hole or holes for the sub(s) then I need proven successful results to do this much damage to the rear deck. So to recap I need a best pick for a Head Unit, and a suggestion for a Subwoofer that will work off my 5 channel amp with dedicated channel for the Amp.?

robbieas

@Kimo127, I think you are overthinking things a bit. First, if you are adding an aftermarket amp, you don't need the MOST adapter, you will be abandoning the fiber optic system. So with that in mind, it's just like any other stereo system you'd install. Interfacing with some of the components is different, for example you're going to connect to the factory GPS, stereo antenna, and built in mic in the trunk so you've got to run cables back for that along with your RCAs to the amp, and you've got to get the right connectors to interface with the connections. You'll have to tie into the canbus, which is what will trigger the headunit to turn on and let it know when the headlights are on so it goes to night mode. This post was where I figured out all of the conenctions in the back.... well minus the mic, I never figured that out.
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...-pics-txt.html

I didn't bother replacing any speakers, but by all means go for it. From what I understand the sub is a pain in the *** to remove. It's a pretty damn solid 10" (2 ohm), especially with the power you'd feed it.. You might wiring everything up and worry about that in phase two, if you even want to. There are a pair of rear deck speakers that are a part of the sub enclosure as well as the front center speaker you are abandoning in your setup. I'd consider a 7.1 amp so you can feed all of the speakers and a sub. You might want to read this post as well, talked me out of considering a speaker replacement.
https://mbworld.org/forums/audio-ele...on-system.html

If you look at all posts by me you'll see me give several responses with more details on this. I read a decent bit of people complaining about their Android headunits, but mine has been perfect. I'm very comfortable with Android and advanced things like custom ROM's and rooting, and I've done many car stereo installs over the years, so it's been great. Good luck!

Kimo127

Thanks Robbieas; Since I have an iPhone not Android i will avoid the Android stereos. What I have been researching is the "Dynavin D8-W211-Most-32GB" or the "Enfig system w/complete install kit", or the "SmartyTrend Ultra-Premium" which all speak very highly of themselves and promote their Head Units as the best and easy to install with custom fit look and all the extras you could want. So I've narrowed down to these and am leaning towards the Dynavin for no particular reason. The sub is 10 inch and you mentioned there are other speakers in the rear deck with the sub. What are these and where are they located? This sub is positioned upside down but what does that do for the bass boom because there is no enclosure, and I don't think the trunk counts as an enclosure, So 10 inch sub is just sitting there, I would consider a box it I could keep it off the floor. I need all trunk space for golf clubs. Plus when I take apart the rear deck I know there will be other things to deal with like a sun shade plus the deck rattles which is another reason for the new system as well. I was hoping to find someone who has replaced the whole sound system and has it loud and thumping and could tell me what sub works in the the rear deck for super bass and how much watts am I looking to get if the rest of the system has a 100 watt RMS then what should the sub be I'm thinking minimum 300 -500 watts? with what size Amp? Mono Amp? and will all this power drain the battery? Do I need a capacitor? or big 3 upgrade?

SF2LA

will this russian one with with W209? it's super tempting if the fader works..!

SF2LA

@Kimo127 did you ever figure any of this out? lol i want to keep the factory HK amp and, like you, need something with Wireless Carplay...but feel ya on the digging and threads that end in dead ends / sub optimal

bnam

@SF2LA I just bought an Android unit from dvdgpsnav. While my car is a basic Audio 20 system, they do have solutions that are plug and play with the HK setup. They offer wireless Apple Carplay.

I am enjoying the system so far. The built in microphone on the unit is quite good. The apple carplay works well mostly - though apart from volume, I don't get any other steering wheel controls for Carplay. dvdgpsnav has asked me to take a video of this to provide their tech to see if they can work out a solution.

I am not a demanding audio listener, and I am ok with the sound from the android head unit which powers the stock speakers (non HK). I would like more bass, but my car came without a subwoofer. So, I am planning to buy a non-HK subwoofer (was an option in Europe, and I am in India btw) from ebay for about $30 plus shipping. This unit comes with a housing and would be pretty much plug and play - at least physically.

Ebay - non HK subwoofer

The head unit has a harness option that has line level outputs for the front and rear speakers with a dedicated subwoofer output. I thought I'd run an RCA to the rear and connect to a 300W rms mono amp which I would then connect to the sub. This sub seems to have 2 speaker connections - does that mean it has 2 voice coils? Would using the HK sub be a better option? I want to restrict to these 2 choices as they come with the plastic housing and I don't need to make any custom housing.

If the HK speakers are better than the stock non-HK ones - should I consider a full set including the front and rear? Again, I prefer to remain with Mercedes parts as they are plug and play and I am not aiming for ultimate experience.

Thanks,
Byas