delphipro

Hi all, I wanted to share my Euro COMAND retrofit. This is the best upgrade I could ever have imagined, I hated my car because it didn’t have navigation. I bought the car thinking I could live without navigation, but I was wrong.

I’m really amazed at the speed of the NAV, I had an ML500 and the system was so slow that I would get into problems as the car couldn’t update fast enough when there was a multi turn scenario (like first exit, then immediate right and then immediate left). The car took almost a minute to recalculate a route so for about a minute I’d be heading the wrong way in the middle of unfamiliar territory. With this system it took only 8 seconds to route a trip from my house (Newport Coast, CA) to Key West, FL.

Here is the head unit before the installation:


Here it is almost fully disassembled (it looks scary)




Here is the finished product

delphipro

Here I’m playing a DVD while driving





Here is RDS in both the head unit and the dash display



My baby in her resting place

Next up retrofitting Bi-Xenon’s (possibly with Active Headlights if Steve can do it)


-Watching Steve work was amazing, thanks Steve!

russellfray

Nice!

So... that's the new COMAND II unit, and you've managed to get it working so you can watch DVD's whilst driving?

I'm going to have to end up driving to the US to get Steve to sort my car out when I eventually buy it...!

Russ.

delphipro

I believe the requirement is that it is a European COMAND; otherwise you can't play DVDs while driving. Be forewarned, you get a nice British lady giving you directions when you get a European model.

Brav

I wanted RDS sooo bad, its rediculous the US version doesn't have it. Can you scroll through your radio presets?? Can you please tell me where you bought the unit, and how much, and any other install info, would be greatly appreciated. I have the regular COMAND for 04 models, but might upgrade if the price is fair. Thanks in advance, and great job!

I live in Irvine, would you be able to meet up sometime?

russellfray

European being different to UK (even though UK is a European country?)

*confused*

Can I go to my UK dealer and specify a European sourced Comand (just before I start price haggling , or will they tell me to get lost?

Brav

Pretty sure they will tell you to pound sand. They can not mix and match country-specific hardware. Just like when AMG package was available in the rest of the world but not USA.

I couldn't tell you if the UK version was different from the Euro one. My guess is that they are the same.

delphipro

Brav,

The cost was a little less than $4k and was done by forum member MBenzNL. He did stress that the price is likely to go up as it is very hard to get the head units.

Steve told me that RDS is an audio gateway feature that simply needs to be enabled, it is not COMAND specific. Of course, good luck trying to get your dealer to do it.

On the presents, it does look like we are screwed. Steve enabled the menu option, that is there is an option in settings to scroll through presets; however it still does not work. Steve did inform me of this, it looks like when Mercedes discovered that you couldn't scroll through the presets, they simply removed the menu item. This is such a shame, but right now I never use the radio, I have XM so my radio is always on a single FM station.

Let me know when/where and we can compare COMAND's.

-dave

delphipro

I have no idea, I assumed as the car has a British voice for English that the European model is for UK as well.

Brav

Thanks for the information. Would your friend Steve be able to enable RDS? How come you did not go with Sirius? Or were you able to integrate XM?

Maybe we can meet this weekend, if I'm not too busy trying to sell my house. I'll send you a PM later this week.

Barry45RPM

I have an 04 w/ Nav...what do you all mean when referring to "enabling RDS" ?

Also, I noticed that on your list of presets, some of them are listed by freequency & one appears to be listed by call sign... 1 say Power 105 or something like that... how/why is that? Is that because it is a euro spec head? My radio doesn't display any RDS info.

Brav

RDS or RDBS is a digital radio broadcast. It allows you to get information about the station you are listening to (so long as that station subscribes to it) and even some advertisements (coke, mcdonalds in some cases). A lot of times you will get the "nickname" for the station, as well as current artist/song info. All BMW and Audis have this, even most all Japanese cars.. another simple blunder from MBUSA. European Models have this feature enabled, but apparently US versions can have it switched on.

Barry45RPM

Yeah, I knew it was Radio Data System, I had it in my '02 Caddy DHS. It didn't work right in that car either due to a software error inside the factory radio which was redesigned for '02. (It worked in the 2000 & '01's) It displayed on some stations that were transmitting it but not on others even though they were transmitting the data too.

In the NY metro area, not enough broadcasters are transmitting any info besides a message like "The Most Rock on WXXX-FM" which would NEVER be changed. It was kind of neat to see a station's Call Sign & programming type (Oldies / News / Talk, etc)displayed instead of just the frequency...but I don't think I'll have it activated just to see mindless blurbs.

...Also noticed that the compass direction on your speedo is displayed as a diamond shaped pointer and on the US spec'd Comand it says "N" or "W". Enjoy!

scorchie

His car is a US-spec car... 2003... mine is also a US-spec car... 2003... it has "N" or "NW" etc instead of the pointer. Must go play around with clusters and figure this one out.

-s-

krispykrme

scorchie

is steve back in town?

I took out the command last night. And i am having a little problem opening up the command. Hopefully I can disassemble the unit soon and take a peek inside.

I am just wondering if steve has found a way to retrofit active bi-xeon on to halogen car. I nearly hit a deer today at my home. The halogen needs to go.

scorchie

Steve is back at home... in the Netherlands!

I have pictures of both US vs. Euro COMANDs internal. I will post them soon.

Non-active bixenon is always an easy retrofit... you may want to consider that as a start! The headlights would be usable later when either self-levelling or curve-sensing hardware was installed.

-s-

krispykrme

if i upgrade to bi-xeon now. would i need to get new housing? I know the bulbs and ballast can be reused. I do not know if the housing would have the self level function?

I will go with bi-xeon retrofit next when steve is back in town. I will e-mail shortly.

Barry45RPM

Don't make yourself crazy! I forgot when the car is "off the road" like in a parking lot or a field, the arrow appears in the speedo to point the driver towards the NEAREST road so he can begin the trip. The Nav "knows" it is not "exactly on the road" in place where it should be, thats all.

delphipro

It's actually like that whenever your not using route guidance. The only difference is you get the name of the street your on under the arrow, or nothing if your off the road. I think the arrow is kind of cool.

delphipro

As of right now the Euro COMAND does not support any satellite radio. I used someone recommended by Fletcher Jones to install XM in my ash tray. However it uses FM modulation as I didn't have an AUX in, now that I do, I need to get someone to run me a cable from the AUX in the glove box to the XM controller in the trunk. There still is the possibility that eventually the Euro COMAND would support satellite radio integration.

As far as getting RDS enabled, try emailing Steve.

Send me a PM later this week and we’ll see when we can get together.

scorchie

Hmm, he just posted that his is like that all the time whenever he is not under guidance... and mine is always "N" or "SE" etc. when I am not under guidance...

I just went to my car, parked in a lot. The cluster said "SE" and the map showed me off the street .

So there IS a difference! I should have looked at his cluster while I had his dash apart.

-s-

Barry45RPM

In my '04 E I have to be in a sparsely "roaded" area, at least 100 feet off the road. You have to input a destination, and the unit will then know you are near a mapped road & point the way to the road to begin your trip. However, whenever not under guidance the unit will display "E" "N", etc. with a street name under it...No arrow.

delphipro

What's weird is that the font is different in the cluster since the COMAND upgrade. And now when I fast-forward a CD you can see the double rewind/ff arrow in the cluster.

However, a new thing, when I first turn on the car, and until I power off and on the head unit the audio display in the cluster is missing the up and down arrows above the cd number or fm frequency. Is this a bug with the integration or do I need to get my audio gateway software updated?

Does anyone know how to check the audio gateway software version number without going to the dealer, as well as what is the latest version?

Barry45RPM

The compas pointer shown in your photo is an "analogue" representation of a compas pointer. It is a "diamond shaped pointer, half black & half white. The white end will always point to North. (North may or may not be at 12 oclock on the speedo, depending on which way the car is pointing). If you notice on the bottom of the nav screen when it is displaying latitude, longitude & elevation in the blue band at the bottom of the screen, it also shows that double pointed compas pointer white end always pointing towards North no matter which way you have the screen display oriented (either N on top or car's direction on top).

Therefore, there must be a way using the laptop to tell the speedo display to show the "digital" style "N" "E" "W" "S" direction in the speedo instead of the current compas pointer.

(The pointer that shows you which way to the road if you are in a lot, to start your trip is not a double headed (diamond shaped) arrow, it is pointer shaped.

airbusman

Where is the RDS menu?

I was on the diagnostic system today and could only find some default volume and the -6db on speed setting for the radio, along with a few other settings.

No evidence on the the North American COMAND for setting RDS. Maybe I am missing something or the North American COMAND does not allow it. (I hope it does!!!)

I installed the NAV harness (and other parts) and Euro COMAND in the '01 E320 4matic (W210) I just sold, and enjoyed the few things that it offered over the North American COMAND. It only took about 7 hours and a 6 pack of Mikes Hard Lemonade to remove the interior and put the new parts in and all the stuff back - and the COMAND worked very nicely. The hardest part was finding which VSS line to attach the new harness feed to.

If anyone knows about the RDS menus (or you Steve) - please post or e-mail back. Thank you.

Ed

'04 E320 4matic (ordering a new SLK for Euro delivery this winter)
'01 ML320
'99 A170cdi (in London)

'01 E320 4matic - 9500 miles for sale