NitroShredder

I started discussing my NEW discovery today in the secret menu thread.. but here's the scoop....

I put in a DVD movie into the headunit of my E500 (2003 REPLACEMENT car) and it proceeded to play like a regular DVD. Even played (no black out) while driving. I had to set the car to W211_ECE using the 357 trick... but otherwise it's a STOCK car!!!

You can set the subtitle options... viewing options (widescreen, etc) from the softbuttons.... . although someone said that the DVD starts from the beginning when you turn off the car.. and then restart it. I did manage to get around this.... before turning off the car... hit ANY softbutton on the screen.. and then click PAUSE. WHich then brings up a DVD menu (with a movie film cannister as the backdrop like the NAV has the compass)... the MENU has PLAY, DVD and something else.. I forgot. Then turn off the car. When you return.. the screen goes BLACK for a few seconds after the MERCEDES Disclaimer screen on the NAV goes away... and then RESUMES playing from where it left off.

I dont know if any other cars can do this... but I put the movie disc in the CD slot (CD0) under the climate controls.. and it began to play itself. Make sure you have the 357 trick set to EURO or ECE W211... and whenever you pop in a disc from the INTERNAL cd drive it will flash you a CD Audio and DVD Video logos (with the car set to US mode.. you ONLY see the CD Audio logo). Then once set.. I guess the DVD's will play if you have a drive capable of reading DVD's. Also the Euro setting yields some changes to NAV and to the RADIO (i.e. RDS mode)... but see other threads for that.

Like I said, mine plays the movies fine...and does so EVEN WHILE in motion.

Hope you guys get yours working.
Peter

CALBenzo

Wow! That's awesome if it works for others. Now I'm totally bummed that the '04's aren't capable of the 357 trick. Bummer

bmms8

son of a *****!!!! you messed up my head unit......





















it finaly plays DVD's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

sorry for myfoul language, justwantedto add a kick if you will, i didnt mean it at all. Man, thanks sooo much for telling us this. its real cool, i havent driven it with it on, but in park, it works perfect!!! Thanks again!!!!!!



btw, you should charge for your new little "strategic reprogramming"

PSquared

I'm glad your DVD video still plays while in motion. Mine doesn't, however. When in motion, all I get is the audio and the disclamer about fading the picture out while in motion to prevent distraction ... Did you do anything special to get that to play while in motion? I thought that even in Europe the picture faded out while the car's in motion. On the other hand, I don't have to do anything special when I turn the car off to replay the movie from the point I left off. It resumes playing right where it stopped ... just like a CD.

NitroShredder

I SHOULD have put a WARNING DISCLAIMER on my post.... DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK..... I am not responsible for any damages.. you assume all risk....

But feel free to pass on the thanks =)

Glad to head both of you have video =) I didn't do anything special to mine for IN MOTION video. It happened the FIRST time I popped it in... even before I discovered the softbuttons to set other options. WHat are your SETTINGS on the 357 menu? Maybe that's it?

Peter

PSquared

I have it set to W211_ECE on both the Keyboard and Model menus after I do the 357 trick.

bmms8

i havent tried in motion. but i dont believe you need to put the keyboard as ECE, you can leave yours as US, really because it is harder to use.



another note, under your MFD, you can change through chapters with the up and down buttons. it even says DVD.

only downside i have seen so far is that i cant find the way to select a CD through the chngerm then go back to the movie, it says no CD in 0.

you also cant go back from nav to the video, but testing it in the garage, you can have the nav on first, and play the dvd, and you wil hopefuly hear it through the audio,and mfd. ill test tomarrow.

Oslo

A little trigger ....

PSquared

Which in our version says SAT.


I'll try setting the Keyboard back to W211_US.


By the way, have you noticed the Address Book in the SERV menu? I'm not sure if that's going to go away when I set the Keyboard to US.

bmms8

psquared, i think i tried sat, bt its a blank button i believe. when you change the keyboard to us, everything shuld look the same. it is just much easier to scroll through the menus. GL

another note, when you are playing a video, im sure you will notice that the screen isnt that, to change this, press a soft key, settings, the default size is 4:3, select 16:9. then press zoom,same soft key, then press back, then press full screen. it should work, and looks perfect. a lot of buttons work, like seek, and right left buttons. GL

PSquared

I tried changing the Keyboard to US with the model still set at ECE. No dice. DVD wouldn't play and it gave me a CD error. On the other hand, with the model set at US and keyboard set to ECE, DVD would play but the SAT button didn't work I tried the Maybach setting. DVD did play, but not while in motion.

Do we all have the same version of software? Under the keyboard menu, I get the 2 W211 (US and ECE), 2 W240, and 2 R171. Under the model menu, I get the 2 W211, 2 W240, Developer, and Variant Specific. Any idea what the last two are?

Also, mine is a 6/03 build 2003 Navi replacement (don't know what decade). I guess that may make a difference too.

bmms8

hey, i got my replacement in august, not sure what build date. i havent tried it in motion though. so im not really sure, but al the options you described are the same as mine. i did go to developer, but couldnt find anything. r171 i beieve is the ML model, not sure though.

my settings are like this....model=w211_ECE keyboard=w211_US. looks like were doing the same thing. GL man, looks like we have the same settings. GL

Brav

Man this bums me out.. 04s still have no luck apparently. R171 is the new SLK I beleive.

NitroShredder

My car is an 03 replacement.... delivered on 7/21 last year... built in JUNE of 03... My SAT button ALSO does NOT work.... I don't have SAT radio.... don't miss it...plus with RDS actve I dont think I'd need it.

PSquared

With the Keyboard and Model set to W211_ECE, the SAT button does work on mine. But, no DVD in motion. The SAT button did not work with the Keyboard set to W211_ECE and Model to US, although the DVD still worked (not while in motion still). With the Model set to ECE and Keyboard to US, no DVD at all. Frustrating ...

bmms8

thats real wierd. ijus test drove the car, and mine does work in motion, with the same settings as you, did the dealer ever upgrade your firmware for your unit?

only problem with it on is that if you press any button regarding another source of audio, you cant go back to the video.

so far, its real clear, and you can really hear the HK working well.

i changed the settings to ecefor both, and to my suprise the controls are the same, i did think they were different before. also, the sat=video, so you can go back and forth only if both are set are ece. GL

esport

what is the easiest explanation for the secret menu or 357 trick? could someone explain to me how does this work?I have 2005 e500 no nav. will dvd movies play?

bmms8

hey, the 357 trick is to set the headunit to a different setting, like the euro version. i dont believe it works on 05's, so without that, you cannot play DVD's, i would give it a shot though. on the radio, press 357 at the same time. if a menu comes up, change the settings listed in this thread, if not, i guess your out of luck. GL

ToyCollector

I have an '05 with Satellite. No luck with the 357 pulling up any menus. Then again, maybe I should just try sticking a DVD in there?

ctouhey

Thanks for the call, Peter. I tried it last night & the RDS now works. I'll try the DVD trick tonight.

Getting the 357 to activiate was easy, but I'm not sure how long it takes to reboot. I made the change to ECE but it didn't take after waiting 5 minutes. I set it again but didn't try it again for a couple hours. It took the second time.

Again, thanks for calling!

NitroShredder

[No problem Chris.. I'm sure yours will work. When you insert a disc into the CD0 slot.. you should NOW see a DVD_Video logo and a CD Audio Disc logo side by side on the screen.

Good luck Chris. Let me know.

QUOTE=ctouhey]Thanks for the call, Peter. I tried it last night & the RDS now works. I'll try the DVD trick tonight.

Getting the 357 to activiate was easy, but I'm not sure how long it takes to reboot. I made the change to ECE but it didn't take after waiting 5 minutes. I set it again but didn't try it again for a couple hours. It took the second time.

Again, thanks for calling![/QUOTE]

scorchie

I think Steve or myself posted a while back about how the early US cars (like replacement COMAND 2003 models) probably had DVD drives and decoder circuitry. This was removed as the supply was depleted and the true "US-spec" COMANDs became widely available.

If you get a software update, you'll probably lose this ability. So it depends what is more important to you... fewer bugs and more features, or DVD.

-s-

DaCeptak0n

I guess it didn't work on my 04. When I press 357 at the same time and let go, it changes the station. I pressed it again and held it there for about 1-2 minutes, and no menu popped up. Any 04s out there workin with this 357 trick??!!

ajm0824

I have a 2005 E320 and tried the 357 trick. It brought up the menu in question. Not sure what I set

Currently I am unable to bring the menu up again.

is it
1. set to fm radio
2. turn power off
3. turn power on, while turning power on hit 357?
any thoughts?

miamigrrl

Tried it.. no dice