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How do I Install a Reverse Camera on NON-NAV 2015 GLK350
My wife just got a 2015 GLK350, what a wonderful car. But she really wants a backup camera. If I had a Nav radio, it looks like it's not too bad, just use a FAKRA connector on the back of the head unit and go into the Engineering menu to set up the new camera.
But here's the head unit she has, it's the basic one, but it is pre-wired for the Beck Map Pilot (if that makes a difference).
And if I hold the hang up button along with the # and 1 buttons, this is the engineering menu I get and I cannot find anywhere a back-up camera is listed.
I haven't removed the head unit yet, but can someone tell me if there is a FAKRA connector on the back for a reverse camera, I'm guessing the answer is no. So what module do I need to make this work, I've noticed these two on Ebay. This one looks like it will work.
This one is a little cheaper but still comes with the plug and play harness for the GLK. But it says it's for a NTG4.5/4.7 head unit and I think mine is called an Audio 20 4.5 unit. Again, I could use some help here.
OK, no advice, so I'll turn this into an install thread. I ordered $305 Naviks module. It comes with a plug and play Mercedes harness.
The Naviks people recommended a Kenwood CMOS-22P camera, so I ordered one off of Amazon for $72.
I ordered a 25 foot (I know it will be too long) RCA Male to Male extension cable off of Monoprice for $4 shipped.
Last, I ordered an Ignition Tool off of Ebay for removing the ring around the ignition switch so that I can remove the head unit.
Here's a video on removing the head unit, I actually found 2 more. I won't be removing the screen like in this video, just removing the head unit. (turns out I had to remove the screen)
Just a note. There are two links above for the modules off of Ebay. I bought the first one out of New York. They answered the phone and were very helpful. I did write to the second one, it's $100 cheaper, but I wasn't sure it would work for a non-nav unit. It just said NTG4.5 and NTG4.7. Well, that can be the Nav (Command) or the non-Nav (Audio 20). They just wrote back and they said it will work with Non-Nav units. I told them I had already bought one, but that they should state it works with non-Nav on their listing. In retrospect, I should have known this, because you don't need this module for a Nav radio.
So there is a $210 module out there that should work. It will take longer to get here since it's from Hong Kong. The $305 module I bought is coming from New York and will be here next Wednesday. And if I have any issues, the New York people answer the phone, I would have to wait a few days to hear from the Hong Kong company.
OK, NAVIKS module came today. Nice looking unit with some small harnesses. The Naviks instructions are excellent. Only thing that confused me is that there is a harness with two 8 pin black connectors, one male and one female. You unplug the power to the video screen and plug it into their connector and plug the other connector to the video screen. Here's the module with the harnesses connected ready to install....
Note the twisted pair of white and purples wires. If you want the camera guide lines to move, then you need to cut the small connector off at the end of this twisted pair and splice it into the number 9 and 11 wires on the big connector on the lower drivers side of the head unit. I used the 3M style taps....
EDIT: The instructions said to remove the large connector on the back of the head unit, but I did not. I just put in the 3M wire taps with the connector still installed. In fact, if you do not care if you have guide lines that move with the steering wheel, you could do the entire install without removing the head unit at all, you would only have to remove the screen. By default you would have guidelines that don't move, but you could go into the menu (put car in reverse, then hold the clear button to the right of the command controller) and remove all guidelines. My C63 doesn't have guidelines and I think it's fine.
Like I said before, I used the video listed above to remove the video screen and head unit, only difference is I didn't remove the A/C panel to get to the bottom of the radio, just used a yellow plastic pry bar (from harbor freight) to pry out each side of the radio. A note here, do not remove the head unit screws all the way, you may lose them. You can see the screws you loosen here, they are on top of the head unit just below the A/C ducts. Also, there are two bezels around the screen, the first one is really hard to get out. In fact I broke the little grill on the top getting it out, but it was easy to glue back in. The second bezel you can remove with just your hands, it comes out much easier.
Here's a photo where you can see both screws to loosen. But in this photo the head unit is pulled out and the screws actually move out as they are mounted in small plastic levers that hold the head unit in. When you push the head unit back in, these levers move back and then you can tighten the screws down by reaching down under the A/C ducts.
The NAVIKS instructions say to use a small tool to unscrew the bezel around the ignition. I bought this unit off of Ebay for under $10 and even though it didn't say it would work with a X204, I figured it would and I was right.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/201396386077?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
I put the NAVIKS module under the video screen, there is plenty of space. I taped it down to the A/C Ducts, used blue tape, probably should have bought some gorilla tape, but I can get back in there if it works loose.
I tested everything by temporarily hooking up the rear camera. There is a red power wire (rear power) that you run from the NAVIKS module back to the camera. You also have to run an RCA male to male cable back there. I bought one for $4 off of Monoprice. I got the lower grade one because it has a smaller wire that I knew would be easier to run.
The camera is just laying on the carpet in the back, it's not mounted, but I was sure happy to see this.
OK, that took about an hour and a half, now the hard part, running the wires. I ran the wire into the head unit from the passenger side. You have already removed the plastic end piece to remove the A/C ducts. There is a straight shot from there over the top of the glove box. Very easy.
Then I took the high route, it's very easy to slip a finger under the weather stripping on the door and run the two wires under there. Once you get back above the back seat, then you need to use a coat hanger (or I used a 1/4" stiff plastic tube) to fish the wires back to the right side rubber tube. I did struggle some getting the wires through the rubber tube. I ended up spraying a little lubricant on the wires to get them through. And it's also a pain to get the rubber tube back in place. You have to get the plastic holder out by pushing in 4 little tabs on the corners. Then once you have it out, you can work the rubber tube back on the plastic holder and then snap it back in place. The picture is before I snaked the two wires through the rubber tube. Also, I had to lift the rubber weather stripping and pull down on the headliner to get the wires from above the door to this location.
NAVIKS recommended the Kenwood CMOS-22P. I figured they had used this before and Kenwood is a quality company. I bought the camera off Amazon for $72 shipped, so it's not the cheapest camera.
I mounted the camera (it has a small bracket with double sided tape and one screw, just left of the lift gate handle. You have to drill a pretty large hole to clear the female RCA connector, but the camera came with a nice grommet. I drilled a 1/2" hole as close to the handle as possible so I wouldn't hit steel. I lined it up, drilled a small hole for the supplied screw and attached the camera. I had to remove the camera and turn it 180 so that KENWOOD was on top. I ran the wires and crimped the "rear power" (red wire from the Naviks module) to the camera red wire (power). Oh, I bought some 18 gage red and black wire from Autozone. I had to add around 20 feet to the front harness to run it to the back. And I did use the 2amp fuse that came with the camera, hooked it up close to the module. I also had to add 5 feet of black 18 gage wire to the camera ground wire and I ran it to the top of the hatch and hooked it to an existing ground (brown wire bolted down to the metal at the top right of the hatch), I just loosened the nut and put the ground wire under the nut and tightened it back up.
Here is a video of how to remove the rear hatch lining.
A big thanks to the NAVIKS guys in New York, they were extremely responsive of the questions I had. Their instructions are excellent and the unit works great. So for anyone with a NON NAV radio with the 5 inch video screen, go get one of these....
By the time I bought this $305 module along with the $72 Kenwood Camera, I bought some wire and still did the install for under $400 and 4 hours of my time. It was not a hard install.
And the NAVIKS guys have a module that costs $405 where you can hook up your iPhone and mirror it and play videos. My wife said no to that, she just wants a reverse camera.
EDIT: There is a very nice menu for the new module. Put the car in Reverse to bring up the screen, then push and hold the clear button to the right of the Command controller. That will bring up a menu. I changed the setting to get rid of the little car symbol in the top right of the reverse view.
Great job again, I will be doing the same to my 2013 glk this weekend. While I have everything open, I am going to install my sub and amp, my question is where is the factory amp located? I've looked on the forum and done a google search with no luck. I can find every car but mines. I've taken the trunk completely apart, and check under the seats and no luck. Please help, trying to kill two birds with one stone.
Just an update, this unit is still working perfectly, I'm extremely happy with this reverse camera. I'd say it has a nicer picture than my 2011 C63 camera. And the install really wasn't that hard.
I haven't personally tried it (because I already have the rear view camera installed from the factory on my GLK and it also looks like they only started shipping units this month) but it looks like it could be a viable option for people who don't want to take apart their car or mess with wiring.
[QUOTE=glennhl;6921340]You are correct, the video link no longer works. So I went to Youtube and searched GLK Rear Panel and found this.
Your first post showed the same screen I have with no rear view camera option.
Did you have to go to any menus and select camera or update software?
Did the module bring up menus or was it not even an issue?
04-27-2016, 09:50 PM
