Hello all, I have a 2014 E350 left to us by my sister in law who passed away 2 years ago. A couple of weeks ago the radio all of a sudden stopped working. I played YouTube mechanic and looked up the causes and basically took apart the inside of the car just to make sure all fuses were good (they are), even the one in back of the radio.

I also did a soft reset where I took out all the fuses related to the radio/dvd/comand/nav and that didn't work either. So reluctantly I just called the dealership to see how much it would be to do a software update. They want $250 just for a diagnostic test!!!

So I was wondering… could I get CarPlay installed on it, even if the radio isn't working? I figured if I am going to spend the money on just finding out what is wrong (which is likely the radio is shot), and then more money to fix it, if I can spend it on CarPlay instead. Do I need the radio working in order to get CarPlay working?

Generally speaking, yes.

FWIW, there are two primary types of retrofit CarPlay kits and both use the radio in some form. (One uses the OEM screen and the other replaces the screen but both route audio through the OEM radio head.)

HOWEVER, it's possible that you can find a Chinese replacement kit for the entire radio. One big caveat: if you car has the HK upgraded speakers, there's an amp connected to the radio via fiberoptic that makes things instantly more complex.

Additionally, it's also possible that one of the retrofit kits that replaces the screen could connect to a portable speaker via bluetooth if you are looking for a real slapdash solution.

[QUOTE=cadetdrivr;8374357]
HOWEVER, it's possible that you can find a Chinese replacement kit for the entire radio. One big caveat: if you car has the HK upgraded speakers….
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Yea it has those unfortunately. Looks like I will have to bite the bullet and take it in then *facepalm*