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I’m not sure for other model year but for those of us who are missing that Fakra FM Antenna Wire that was supposed to be plugged into Factory Radio this fix may work for you!
So in my previous post I bypass the Sirus tuner and plug a new Fakra cable directly into the FM Antenna Amplifier that was mounted in tailgate.. but I had no idea how I was going to run the fakra cable into headliner to the radio..
Parts you will need New 15 feet or longer Fakra-Z cable one end female other end Male..
so under the driver side second row seats there you will find the Sirus tuner and some other components..
unplug double White Fakra Cable from the Sirus Tuner
and plug in your new male side Fakra-Z cable try both double fakra .(you will have to shave the tab off the male head) for it to fit into the factory double white fakra. Plug the under end of the female fakra-z into the Avinusa unit verify that it’s picking up the FM reception..
once everything is working it’s time to route your cable neatly hide away..
route the cable under the rear seat to the left side rear door seal you may have to remove the sill plate it pulls up easy just take your time.. tuck your cable along the plastic sills and carpet.. running along the driver side pull up the driver side weather strip and run the cable up and into the dash. Remove the 3 screws holding the bottom panel of the driver side dash and route the cable to the Avinusa radio.. tuck and replace all panels and enjoy..
everything took be about 20-30 mins snake/tuck and replace panels..
Hope this help other.. enjoy!
Red circle: White Double Factory Fakra Cable Yellow Line: is how I route my cable after connection is made! Blue Circle: Double Fakra Removed and connected to New Fakra-Z Male
QUOTjust wanted to make sure. You disconnected twin white farka and connected to new farka z cable then to radio direct? Thx in advance
QUOTjust wanted to make sure. You disconnected twin white farka and connected to new farka z cable then to radio direct? Thx in advance
yea the twin Factory fakra is disconnected from the Sirius Tuner.. and your new Fakra-Z male End will be connected to one of the two double Fakra then to the Avinusa unit
yea the twin Factory fakra is disconnected from the Sirius Tuner.. and your new Fakra-Z male End will be connected to one of the two double Fakra then to the Avinusa unit
Thanks for extreme effort and sharing information as you mentioned that you bought two cable one Female-female and other Male-male. So if get 6 meter female to male is that ok
Thanks for extreme effort and sharing information as you mentioned that you bought two cable one Female-female and other Male-male. So if get 6 meter female to male is that ok
Yes a 15 foot Female Fakra-Z to Male Fakra-Z will work..
the only reason I Purchased a Female To Female Cable i was going to Run the Cable From The FM Amp which has a male connector Located in The Tailgate to the Radio..
but once i found that i can use the Double White Fakra Located at the Sirius Tuner i Used a 1 foot male to male to the 15 foot Female to female to make my connections..
Yes a 15 foot Female Fakra-Z to Male Fakra-Z will work..
the only reason I Purchased a Female To Female Cable i was going to Run the Cable From The FM Amp which has a male connector Located in The Tailgate to the Radio..
but once i found that i can use the Double White Fakra Located at the Sirius Tuner i Used a 1 foot male to male to the 15 foot Female to female to make my connections..
Thanks for your help
I bought this unit and was installed here in Saudia Arabia by technician it work fine even radio fm is ok
But two rear screen monitor on the top of seat not working. Is that expected or something went wrong and how will be solved
Thanks
As stated by the original creator of this post, we all have benefited immensely from all the good information posted here. Here is my experience, in case someone may find something useful.
Avinusa
1.Shipping is swift. I placed my order Wednesday night and received it Saturday morning, and I got to work immediately.
2.As has been said, they don’t give any installation manual. Instead they give you access to a support page with a Google drive PDF instructions similar to what is found here- https://www.benzworld.org/forums/w16...tallation.html
Unboxing
The unit looks exactly like most people have posted here. See post #52. For some reason, the sticker on the unit says ‘ML’, and for a while I thought I had received the wrong unit. Even placing it side by side with the original unit made me a bit skeptical about the fit, but when I placed it in the slot where factory the unit sat, it was a perfect fit.
Installation
3.The instructions in the ‘manual’ are pretty accurate and you will be find everything as described.
4.The only issue I found with the instructions is the description on how to remove the block connector. He says to ‘press the center of the latch’, but I found that pinching the two arms of that latch is what frees it. It is like a hairclip- press one end to open the other end.
5. The instructions are from an earlier version. The latest one is a bit different. But all the connection cables fit in specific slots in the unit, and even if you had no idea where what goes where- you will eventually find a slot on the unit for all the supplied cables- and they are many!
MOST Adapter
6. I read a number of posts here that said, ‘didn’t have to cut one wire’, but AVINUSA directed me to a set of instructions on connecting the MOST adapter that included ‘wiretapping’ into existing wires. They even include this complimentary link on
. I don’t know if this is considered cutting a wire- to me it is. I initially tried connecting the unit without wiretapping into anything and there was no sound. I guess if you do not have the Harman Kardon System, there in no 'wire cutting' involved.
7. The most difficult part of wiretapping is figuring out which wires to wiretap into. I have heard here that there is NGT2 and NGT2.5. I assumed mine is NGT2, but I still couldn’t read these PIN diagrams.
I eventually convinced myself that the PIN wiring diagrams are to be viewed from the direction of the cables- in this case the big red wire corresponds to PIN 15. I was right, because I wiretapped into that wire and the Harman Kardon system came to life- there was sound. Or I was lucky and tapped into some random wire with the right power.
8. The extra instructions from AVINUSA indicated that the yellow Fakra is for ‘Diverse antenna’- I don’t know what that means. I had also come across a post (#96), where the yellow FAKRA was labelled as a potential factory microphone connection. Turns out that is the right configuration. The yellow FAKRA is for the factory microphone.
9. The instructions say to connect 'AMP- CON' to 'ANT'. That is correct- do exactly that. The unit comes with 'AMP-CON' attached to another 'AMP-CON'
10.. Finally, I knew the backup camera needed some ‘wire cutting’ for it to work. Lucky are those with a FAKRA connection for the back up camera! The instructions depict RCA cables as nice and made up of only 2 solid cables. In the real world, the cables are made up of very tiny strands that fall apart as you try to strip the covers.
This is what you expect
This is how a real RCA cable looks like
The Results
Back up Camera
Back up camera with ruler FM Radio Google Maps BT Music
Verdict:
The best upgrade for the most majestic car on the road today!
Thanks for your help
I bought this unit and was installed here in Saudia Arabia by technician it work fine even radio fm is ok
But two rear screen monitor on the top of seat not working. Is that expected or something went wrong and how will be solved
Thanks
Unfortunately w/o the command center you loose connectivity to the rear monitors is what I have read. They units will still work with a DVD in the player, but you can no longer broadcast to the rear from the front. I cant remember if there is a video out signal for the AVIN unit, but if there is maybe its possible to find a way to send a signal to the rear, but I havent hear of anyone doing it yet.
Unfortunately w/o the command center you loose connectivity to the rear monitors is what I have read. They units will still work with a DVD in the player, but you can no longer broadcast to the rear from the front. I cant remember if there is a video out signal for the AVIN unit, but if there is maybe its possible to find a way to send a signal to the rear, but I havent hear of anyone doing it yet.
@Iceytys Thanks for your comments
Also I noticed that head unit power off with ignition off and when I power car again the screen is on with no booting for device
Is that normal for this unit because I have Chinese radio before and when car power off unit off also but when car power started the unit boot normally
yea I purchased 3 of those aftermarket powered antenna they work only with the car is not moving. Once I started driving fm reception became spotty hated it so.. I download and started using iheart radio which works great but you must have your device connected to the internet..
so that’s when I really started looking into the fm amplifier in the tailgate.. the factory cable enters into the vehicle and disappear but it seem they change the color of the connect so it was puzzling until I started unplugging and everything and connecting each factory cable directly to the Avin unit! And it worked .. I can’t stand when something not working the way it suppose to so I don’t really quit until I have no other choice.. so I’m glad to help others!
Been working on Benz for quite some time since I had few other Benz did all the repairs myself!
Yep......the antenna didnt work worth a crap....so am going to order the 15' Fakra adapter and go your route as well. Did you order your cable from Amazon?
@Iceytys Thanks for your comments
Also I noticed that head unit power off with ignition off and when I power car again the screen is on with no booting for device
Is that normal for this unit because I have Chinese radio before and when car power off unit off also but when car power started the unit boot normally
Is that normal or some wiring problems
My unit will stay on with the ignition off, unless I open driver door. I am sure yours is the same................and yes I dont notice any boot up time. The only time I notice a boot time, is if I re-start the unit manually.
Yep......the antenna didn't work worth a crap....so am going to order the 15' Fakra adapter and go your route as well. Did you order your cable from Amazon?
Installed mine a few weeks ago in my 2007 GL320 CDI
Very fast and easy following this thread (I do quite a bit of work on my car including electrical, so possibly a faster install for me than the average. But it was quite easy)
Everything was basically plug and play. Only exception is the MOST box (but that's just connecting it with 3 t-taps) and the backup video cable (spliced an RCA connector into two wires in the harness.. as posted earlier in this thread)
Worked right away. Ignore the part in the MOST box directions that say "cut the red wire ONLY if you have battery drain problems". I did cut it and the radio didn't power up at all after that! So it seems to need to be connected at all times.. don't cut it.
Everything is set up properly. Loaded Waze as the nav app, Google Play for music, and always have the USB tunes + radio app that is already installed in the radio
Looks like factory, works even better, and sounds WAY better
Only thing I can't figure out: It has two Wi-Fi networks set up (my phone & my wife's). Both phones are iphones. I either have to open the Personal Hotspot section on the phone (for it to be discoverable) OR open the settings/wifi section on the radio for both the radio+phone to connect. Can't remember which one but it's a bit annoying to have to do it each time. My hunch is that the personal hotspot isn't discoverable until you open it on the iPhone, so the radio doesn't see it as a wifi hotspot.
I'll have to see if there is some way to do this..want to just jump in the car and go. Thought I read somethign about connecting via bluetooth which would then get the wifi connected "started" somehow so I will have to play with that.
Other than that, this thing is great!
If I did it again, I could have the whole thing installed in an hour start-to-finish. Totally worth it, and totally worth the money
FYI - I ordered both fakra adapters (backup cam + factory microphone) and didn't use either. Don't order them for a 2007 GL for sure. Backup cam needed an RCA spliced in, and I didn't have a factory mic connector that I could find on the car.. so either it's part of another harness and got connected, or I'm using the mic in the radio (not sure which). Either way it sounds great on phone calls.
Installed mine a few weeks ago in my 2007 GL320 CDI
Very fast and easy following this thread (I do quite a bit of work on my car including electrical, so possibly a faster install for me than the average. But it was quite easy)
Everything was basically plug and play. Only exception is the MOST box (but that's just connecting it with 3 t-taps) and the backup video cable (spliced an RCA connector into two wires in the harness.. as posted earlier in this thread)
Worked right away. Ignore the part in the MOST box directions that say "cut the red wire ONLY if you have battery drain problems". I did cut it and the radio didn't power up at all after that! So it seems to need to be connected at all times.. don't cut it.
Everything is set up properly. Loaded Waze as the nav app, Google Play for music, and always have the USB tunes + radio app that is already installed in the radio
Looks like factory, works even better, and sounds WAY better
Only thing I can't figure out: It has two Wi-Fi networks set up (my phone & my wife's). Both phones are iphones. I either have to open the Personal Hotspot section on the phone (for it to be discoverable) OR open the settings/wifi section on the radio for both the radio+phone to connect. Can't remember which one but it's a bit annoying to have to do it each time. My hunch is that the personal hotspot isn't discoverable until you open it on the iPhone, so the radio doesn't see it as a wifi hotspot.
I'll have to see if there is some way to do this..want to just jump in the car and go. Thought I read somethign about connecting via bluetooth which would then get the wifi connected "started" somehow so I will have to play with that.
Other than that, this thing is great!
If I did it again, I could have the whole thing installed in an hour start-to-finish. Totally worth it, and totally worth the money
FYI - I ordered both fakra adapters (backup cam + factory microphone) and didn't use either. Don't order them for a 2007 GL for sure. Backup cam needed an RCA spliced in, and I didn't have a factory mic connector that I could find on the car.. so either it's part of another harness and got connected, or I'm using the mic in the radio (not sure which). Either way it sounds great on phone calls.
My factory microphone adapter worked. Did you try using it? I connected it to the yellow Fakra, and I think the factory microphone is much more sensitive compared to the one on the AVINUSA unit.
Wondering if anybody has installed, or is thinking of installing, this same new Avinusa unit on a 2008 year model to replace the original APS NTG2 head unit for which the rear connections look like this:
Not sure if the labelling of lines in the photo is correct.
I'm not sure if the labelling of lines in the top photo is correct but in any case, since the rear of this 2008 NTG2 head unit looks very different to the rear of the 2011+ NTG2.5 unit, I'm trying to work out/confirm if the parts that come with the Avinusa unit will work. I would also get the following add-ons: MOST Fibre Optic Adapter, Android Auto USB Adapter, Factory Back-up Camera Adapter and perhaps the Factory Microphone Adapter.
A lot has been said in this thread about the problem of very poor FM reception after installation of the Avinusa unit on the 2011+ year models. It seems power to the factory FM antenna is the problem. Does the wiring on the NTG2 unit perhaps give any new clues?
Your labels seem to be correct and they were very helpful when I did my installation. The factory microphone adapter and the FM antenna worked very well for me. Thanks
Unfortunately w/o the command center you loose connectivity to the rear monitors is what I have read. They units will still work with a DVD in the player, but you can no longer broadcast to the rear from the front. I cant remember if there is a video out signal for the AVIN unit, but if there is maybe its possible to find a way to send a signal to the rear, but I havent hear of anyone doing it yet.
I'm actually going to try this at some point.
There are two sets of AV inputs in the rear dvd player (under the rear passenger side seat). I'm sure if you took a video cable from the AVIN unit and ran it to the DVD (with a splitter since there are 2 video inputs: left and right screens) it would send video to the rear screens. Audio is already done through the stereo system.
The only downside is the people in the rear can only see exactly what is on the front screen. So you can't have navigation in the front and a movie in the rear.
But I think this will be pretty cool. I'm actually going to pull out the DVD player and see if I can solder some female RCA's to the video inputs. That way I can plug the cables in and go. Plugging the cables into the front will stick out, and the roll door over the DVD player won't close.
Ok, I installed this unit back in December I think - according to my past posts - I can't believe it's been that long.
I followed the minimal instructions supplied, ask questions on the forum, tried unsuccessfully to get help from AVINUSA, was able to get the wiring diagrams for my VIN number, talked to an a very helpful engineer on the mainland, who somehow hooked me up with an installer here on the island of Oahu. The installer agreed to look at the schematics sent via email and agreed to help me with the install.
Today I took my car in. He ask me to stick around while he pulled the head unit just so he can look around. He pulls the unit out, looks for the adapters for the microphone - not working - fm antenna - not working - and back up camera - not working. I say, I'm not sure, but they're in there someplace it's been a few months since I hooked them up. He digs around a little and says something to the effect that this should be plugged into there and this should be connected to that and this should be plugged in here......and in less than 20 minutes, the Mercedes FM antenna is working, the Mercedes microphone is working, and the Mercedes backup camera is working. He did not run a single wire, he just reconfigured what I had done with the wiring harnesses supplied and the adapters I had purchased.
I wish I could give you all exact instructions, but I was just sitting there with my mouth open thinking what the hell did he just do. I know he plugged the FM antenna adapter into one of the fakra receptacles on the end of the back of the unit. And he just changed where I had the other adapters plugged into wires on the supplied harnesses and everything worked.
Needless to say, I was blown away. What the hell just happened? Wouldn't it be great if the sellers could supply instructions on how to hook up the unit because apparently it can be easily done - I just saw it. Think what rave reviews they would get and how many more units they might sell. Hmmmmm.......customer service. What a concept.
Now, if I could just figure out how to get the unit to consistently connect to my iPhone hotspot I would be in Carplay heaven.
On a side note, the AM antenna does not seem to work. I have never ask about that because it was at the bottom of the list.
Oh, and he took out a plug in the glove box and ran a USB cable in there in case I needed that.
I am so appreciative of meeting someone who knows what he's doing. Daniel Mura, Island Tint Shop. He says he used to do radio installs, but now he has his own Tint Shop. Spotless work area. Stand up guy. I'm having him do some window tint on the car when he has time.
Hmmm....I plugged a micro-card reader with over 17GB of music on it and the HU does not show or play music and the Forward Dash display shows 00:00:00. What am I doing wrong? Is there a switch I need to flip or setting I need to change. I just use the Music app on the HU right?
I’m not sure for other model year but for those of us who are missing that Fakra FM Antenna Wire that was supposed to be plugged into Factory Radio this fix may work for you!
So in my previous post I bypass the Sirus tuner and plug a new Fakra cable directly into the FM Antenna Amplifier that was mounted in tailgate.. but I had no idea how I was going to run the fakra cable into headliner to the radio..
Parts you will need New 15 feet or longer Fakra-Z cable one end female other end Male..
so under the driver side second row seats there you will find the Sirus tuner and some other components..
unplug double White Fakra Cable from the Sirus Tuner
and plug in your new male side Fakra-Z cable try both double fakra .(you will have to shave the tab off the male head) for it to fit into the factory double white fakra. Plug the under end of the female fakra-z into the Avinusa unit verify that it’s picking up the FM reception..
once everything is working it’s time to route your cable neatly hide away..
route the cable under the rear seat to the left side rear door seal you may have to remove the sill plate it pulls up easy just take your time.. tuck your cable along the plastic sills and carpet.. running along the driver side pull up the driver side weather strip and run the cable up and into the dash. Remove the 3 screws holding the bottom panel of the driver side dash and route the cable to the Avinusa radio.. tuck and replace all panels and enjoy..
everything took be about 20-30 mins snake/tuck and replace panels..
Hope this help other.. enjoy!
Red circle: White Double Factory Fakra Cable Yellow Line: is how I route my cable after connection is made! Blue Circle: Double Fakra Removed and connected to New Fakra-Z Male
OK @WaveyKat I installed all is good. As you I'm in jersey but go to NYC area all the time. Long story short when I go over the rartian bridge on parkway going south the reception is horrible. But when I get close to NYC its perfect no bad reception at all. I'm on the Jersey shore exit 102 asburynpark area so we get all NYC FM and am channels. Again why is that when I go south from NYC the reception is bad? Thx in advance @WaveyKat also thx for the hook up with radio. Hook up works with w164 ml350 2009
Hmmm....I plugged a micro-card reader with over 17GB of music on it and the HU does not show or play music and the Forward Dash display shows 00:00:00. What am I doing wrong? Is there a switch I need to flip or setting I need to change. I just use the Music app on the HU right?
I’ve learned that 32GB is the max size card that can be used. That would have been a lot cheaper. 😝
02-20-2019, 05:00 PM
.. I can’t stand when something not working the way it suppose to so I don’t really quit until I have no other choice.. so I’m glad to help others!
