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I thought I would share my experience in replacing my head-unit with an aftermarket (Android) unit in my 2006 Mercedes Benz R350 with Harmon/Kardon (optical) sound system. This because the unit died (all controls stopped working) - and despite trying for several weeks - a local repair shop could not fix it. So rather than spending north of $650 to replace the unit with a used MB unit - I opted for a modern replacement. After looking at various options from aftermarket fitters (including online vendors like Crutchfield) - I opted to do it myself - basically to save money. The lowest quote I got to have one fitted (and they won't fit anything other than Jensen/Pioneer/ etc.) was $1100!
I started by doing some research months in advance - and considered both a 2xDIN fitting kit and a generic radio and some of the aftermarket units from China that fit into the dash as a custom replacement. Alongside were the considerations for how to keep the Harmon/Kardon system working, not losing navigation and aux input..
I settled on an Android unit - which although available locally - is considerably less expensive when you order it directly from China. There are a number of manufacturers/sellers (Seicane, Kunfine, etc.) that sell aftermarket units for a wide variety of vehicles - including Mercedes A, B, C, E, G, M, R and Vaneo ranges (across multiple model years too). When I discussed this option with fitters - they all warned me off - but my experience has been pretty positive. I will take stock in a couple of months - it was only fitted at the beginning of January - but so far I am very satisfied.
I settled on a unit from Kunfine (although it appears to be identical to the Seicane units - even the instruction manuals are exactly the same) similar to the one advertised at: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Android-6-0...o/252826385424
The radio comes with all the connections required (for cars without the Optical connections), and was pretty easy to fit.
The only time I needed to get a soldering iron out was to provide power to the Optical converter - which I simply spliced into the power lines between the car and the radio (+/-/ground).
The optical converter takes 2 speaker outputs and turns the audio into a MOST (bus) compatible signal for the amplifier to understand. Sound quality is undiminished except as listed in the caveats below.
Improvements:
1. Up-to-date maps
2. Integrated Bluetooth (phone and audio)
2. DVD/TV player
3. Wifi on the unit to support Airplay/MirrorLink
4. Expandable with additional apps.
So what are the downsides?
1. I would have preferred an Microsoft CE unit - simply because you typically get full Apple iPod/iPhone music integration over USB with those (which I do not have).
2. The integration into the electronics (CANBUS) means that you get the radio station/track information on the instrument cluster - but you do not get Compass/Navigation info, and you cannot change the time on the dash.
3. You cannot change any of the settings for the speakers. Because you take 2 outputs and turn them into 7 - you essentially get uniform distribution of the 2 channels left and right - no fancy 'audio modes'.
4. Figuring out which antenna lead to use is a 50/50 affair (I got it wrong first time - and got VERY poor radio reception off the GPS antenna!).
5. Cosmetically it looks good (I can post a photo if you would like) - but you do lose the wood strip across the top of the radio.
I would be interested to hear of anyone else attempting or having attempted similar.
I am in a similar boat and replacing my factory Radio for 2009 R350 with JVC KW-V830BT and running into some challenges. I was hoping you can share some of your ideas / fixes from your experience. I have also had to buy the Fiber Optic converter / Interface so I can use my HK Audio system. Also I want to use all my factory equipments like the Microphone, GPS, Backup Camera, FM/AM Antenna. I am running into below issues where I am looking for some help / guidance.
1. Sound - I can only hear extremely low volume from my speakers. So I am not sure what extra I am missing.
2. How can I use my existing Microphone with the new system since it is using a quadlock 12 pin connector for the Microphone. Is there a converter / adapter available.
3. How can I provide the existing FM / AM antenna input to my new JVC system. Where is the FM / AM antenna output in the car. If I put the old system with the MOST interface, I can immediately hear the sound , FM / AM stations with data etc. So I am confused how this works with the new system
I was able to make my existing GPS, Backup camera work with the new system.
My R-Class did not have phone integration to start with, so the microphone contacts do not appear to exist (just about to fit an aftermarket mic). As far as the speaker volume us concerned - I would double check that you are using SPEAKER outputs, not pre-amp outputs. Instructions with the MOST box clearly indicated to take left and right FRONT speaker outputs.
Crucial to what you are looking for is probably a wiring diagram for the old unit - something I could not find, and eventually led me to select the slightly riskier option of an aftermarket unit specially built and wired for the car.
I believe MB Star Diagnostics is the only place to find this information - and I wasn't willing to pay for a subscription without a guarantee that I would find what I needed.
Look at Crutchfield for adapters. They have some for our car, but I haven't checked specifics. It may take some multi metering otherwise to see which 2 pins to use off the connector.
Looking at the wiring diagram, it appears that the car has dual microphones - which bring their own complication in that you can either choose to use just one (closest to driver), or you need some circuitry to use both (wiring 2 may give feedback or interference issues).
Nevertheless - unless someone like Crutchfield have a ready made adapter for Block B that gives you microphone connections - your only other option is to find a connector and wire it yourself.
Looking back at your original post - the antenna connectors are the 2 (one black and one yellow) elbow connectors. It is possible to buy an FM antenna adapter that takes the Mercedes (I think other cars us them too) connector and turns it into a standard car radio antenna connector. Take a look at https://www.crutchfield.com/p_12040E...a-Adapter.html
Make sure you use the Black connector - I can tell you from experience that the yellow one is for GPS.
This is how the front and back of my original factory radio looks. The double white were not being used. Green is for the backup / rearview camera and I was able to make it work. The Yellow / Mustard is for Bluetooth based on all the posts that I have come across but does not work. Blue is for the GPS and seems to be working (as the time on the new JVC unit immediately update as soon as it gets the signal). As you mentioned there are two connections for microphone and I might have to do custom wiring might be true. When i connect the white 12 pin quadlock connector, I am able to use the factory microphone with the old unit. So i might have to find some adapter that connects to the white 12 pin connector and connects to 3.5mm jack on my new unit for MIC.
That still leaves which connections should I use to make use of the Factory AM / FM Antenna.
In my car the wiring Has a black connector (sadly I no longer have the original radio unit), and a yellow/mustard. Because I didn’t have a car wiring diagram it was a bit of trial and error - and it turned out the black connector was for the FM.
Excellent write up! Do share it on the general electroncs forum as it would be very similar in other benz such as M class. too
Thank you for contributing so much to the forum!
I went with an unit from Pioneer (AVIC-Z910DAB), also had a bacup camera and a roof mounted antenna instaled. The unit has wifi Apple CarPlay and navigation that is better than Garmin in my opinion. Love the result despite the price tag. The old COMAND system will not be mised, the new system is night and day compared to the COMAND. I had a pro shop instal the whole thing.
Do you have any connection diagram and photos to share. I faced similar problem with my r350, bought an after market Android set which seems to have a different cable adapfor.
Do you have any connection diagram and photos to share. I faced similar problem with my r350, bought an after market Android set which seems to have a different cable adapfor.
Thanks
I looked for wiring diagrams online to sort out my antenna problem - without success. I believe the only place you can find them is on the MB Star software that MB sells.
Anybody consider the Android unit that is a total touch-screen device (no buttons at all)? I'll be making a switch this fall and trying to figure out which one to install.
I originally considered the android units but they are basically mini pcs. I chose a name brand dedicated head unit manufacturer instead but if I had my time again I’d probably go for a well reviewed android unit (with Apple CarPlay) that fits right in.
FYI - I found that the Steering wheel harness conversion kits can’t read the canbus signal for pickup/hang up on the steering wheel.
I'm looking for recommendation too to replace the COMAND unit so i get android auto plus the backup camera ... which unit did you get, please let me know.
Originally Posted by ekstepj
Mine was just shy of $500 by the time I was done.
That included:
I have a 2006 R350L Airmatic and the radio unit died last year. It did not have GPS capability, it did not have phone blue tooth capability and since I brought the car from the US to France, the radio coverage was iffy. On eBay I purchased an iFrego 7" Android 8.1 unit with touch screen (https://www.ebay.fr/itm/392326065296) for 284.89 euro including shipping. The positives are: 1) I can once again listen to the radio, but IMHO the signal is frequently lost (but it may be caused by the rural area in which I live), 2) I have a GPS, which I never had before, 3) my phone can BT connect to the car and its speakers (see comment on microphone), which I never had before and I am sure there are other feature on this unit that I am not using that could come in handy (e.g. internet browsing if I BT to my phone in internet share mode and watching DVDs on the 1080p screen). The negatives are: 1) interface is unfriendly (something as simple as putting a new destination in the GPS is not at all intuitive), 2) the GPS has its own quarks (every time I approach a roundabout I have a portuguese voice telling me something and I have tried everything to get rid of all alerts but can't seem to find this one), 3) when using the hands-free function with my phone, the microphone does not work well (but that may be the result of my non-savvy cabling capabilities) and 4) more recently, a DVD got stuck in the reader and it took some "mcgyvering" to get it out. I am not very savvy when it comes to cabling and while there were a bunch of cables coming out of the unit, I only needed to plug in 2 cables to get the unit to work. Having read this string I am now realizing that the microphone issue may come from my failure properly to cable the car microphones to the unit so I must be using the unit microphone (which is not very good). It is true that one of the original R350 wood bezels does not make the cut when installing this unit and I was not able to push the unit properly back into the origina etaining slots but it is firmly in place and that was good enough. Frankly, the most complicated part of the process was actually removing the original unit from the dashboard without breaking the retainers.
Frankly, the most complicated part of the process was actually removing the original unit from the dashboard without breaking the retainers.
Hiya, I read this thread with interest. I brought my R350CDi from a Merc dealer back in 2015. The Comnd autochanger quickly developed fault which Mercedes refused to sort under the warranty because "infotainment systems aren't covered under the used car warranty scheme". Hmm!
So I have relied on the USB and SD card input ever since. Who knew that optical media would be pretty much dead as a media source by 2020 in 2015!? Anyhoo, my son recently hit the eject disc button by mistake and now every time I get into the car I get this highly irritating grinding sound as the motor tries and fails to eject the disk....with 5 RETRIES! So now I have to do something about stopping the noise. Problem is I have absolutely no idea where to start on extracting the header. The last header unit I fitted was to my Mk1 Golf GTi back in 1991!
So if you have a mo and would mind giving me a few pointers on where to start I'd be hugely grateful. I have a trim pry set so should be able to do the job without damage.
The car is the facelift model and the header unit is the one pictured below.
It’s very easy. I’ve borrowed another posters pics. Pry the climate unit at the 4 spots indicated and then unplug it.
The headunit is secured by 2 torx screws which hold two metals rods in place to secure the headunit. There are a few more screws as well but I can’t remember now. They are all pretty obvious though.
Appreciating this thread!! How is the integration to the OEM electronic? If the R-Class has an OEM rear view camera, is that plug and play? What about the Harmon/Kardon MOST/Fiber interface? Install difficulty??
If you have the HK system - make sure your kit comes with a Most converter. You can but then separately from Aliexpress.
The standard rear camera uses a Fakra cable, for whichyou can buy a fakra to RCA cable. I would recommend you buy a new camera and install it as you will have to run the reverse camera trigger wire anyway. The standard camera is really grainy on the new headunit.
I bought a steering wheel control kit and everything works except for the call hang up/pickup - the box can’t decode this signal. You lose a few screens on the dashboard multifunction display but other than that it all works well.
01-19-2018, 04:52 PM
). I had to buy a most loop to plug in where I took out the multimedia unit.
