R-Class (W251) Produced 2006-2013: R320CDI, R350, R420CDI, R500

Anyone who installed an aftermarket Android navi - where is the FM amplifier power?

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Old 10-01-2021, 07:36 PM
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Anyone who installed an aftermarket Android navi - where is the FM amplifier power?

I've been trying to debug this for weeks now and I just can't figure it out.

I installed an aftermarket Android nav, and I need to power the FM amp. I can't find any wire in the quadlock harness that would do it, though. I've looked at the schematics, and I can't seem to find any wire that would do it. Would anyone have any idea? I know some navs come with a "ANT AMP" or something wire, but after discussing it in the GL forum, I see that with my harness, that particular wire seems to go to a blank spot.

I have HK audio and fiber (although it seems like others who do, their wiring makes sense).

Any help appreciated...
Old 12-11-2021, 05:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Pseudo Nim
I've been trying to debug this for weeks now and I just can't figure it out.

I installed an aftermarket Android nav, and I need to power the FM amp. I can't find any wire in the quadlock harness that would do it, though. I've looked at the schematics, and I can't seem to find any wire that would do it. Would anyone have any idea? I know some navs come with a "ANT AMP" or something wire, but after discussing it in the GL forum, I see that with my harness, that particular wire seems to go to a blank spot.

I have HK audio and fiber (although it seems like others who do, their wiring makes sense).

Any help appreciated...

Did you ever figure this out? According to the wiring diagram there isn't a powered antenna wire at the head unit but an interference filter wire, gray/black wire coming from pin 13 on A2. Your android unit came with a fakra to antenna adapter correct? Should plug into the black fakra connector(at least on mine thats what color it is).
I had to change the region in the settings to USA2 on mine and it started picking up stations. Default was set to Europe.

I just installed an Android unit and can't get the reverse camera to come on. Unit switches to reverse but camera doesn't display.
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Old 12-11-2021, 05:33 PM
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Originally Posted by John Dyle
Did you ever figure this out? According to the wiring diagram there isn't a powered antenna wire at the head unit but an interference filter wire, gray/black wire coming from pin 13 on A2. Your android unit came with a fakra to antenna adapter correct? Should plug into the black fakra connector(at least on mine thats what color it is).
I had to change the region in the settings to USA2 on mine and it started picking up stations. Default was set to Europe.

I just installed an Android unit and can't get the reverse camera to come on. Unit switches to reverse but camera doesn't display.
Nope, I’m still unsure about which wire is correct. I tried all of them and the reception quality didn’t change. I think it’s on yellow now … I should return it to black. Interesting re the region setting; don’t think I saw that, where did you see that setting?

For the backup camera: did you run a pin to the small harness? The backup camera is on one of the small harnesses and you need the Android unit’s RCA wire to RCA male and then just a single pin that is on the smaller plug from the original quad-lock connector. Let me know if you have no idea which one it is, I’ll post a pic.
Old 12-11-2021, 06:25 PM
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Your unit might have a different interface but on mine I tapped Apps > Settings > Factory(or Options, can't remember) > password was 3368 > scroll to radio and change to your region.

Didn't realize the reverse camera was wired that way.....I thought it was the yellow fakra and only the microphone was in the connector.

At this point I'm reading so many different variations I don't really know whats what. One post claims the Black in FM, Yellow is microphone, and Blue is GPS(if you had nav orginally).
Old 12-11-2021, 07:07 PM
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Originally Posted by John Dyle
Your unit might have a different interface but on mine I tapped Apps > Settings > Factory(or Options, can't remember) > password was 3368 > scroll to radio and change to your region.

Didn't realize the reverse camera was wired that way.....I thought it was the yellow fakra and only the microphone was in the connector.

At this point I'm reading so many different variations I don't really know whats what. One post claims the Black in FM, Yellow is microphone, and Blue is GPS(if you had nav orginally).
I think those colours are correct. And yep I’ve read a thousand versions so far, but that’s about the closest that I’ve seen.

Here’s the picture of the camera wiring. This should go to the Back Camera In on the Android device.


Old 12-12-2021, 12:31 AM
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https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-...-system-5.html

This thread should have some good information. Our cars are electrically identical to W164 and X164.
Old 12-12-2021, 11:59 AM
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Originally Posted by Pseudo Nim
I think those colours are correct. And yep I’ve read a thousand versions so far, but that’s about the closest that I’ve seen.

Here’s the picture of the camera wiring. This should go to the Back Camera In on the Android device.


Thanks. I’ll have to do some digging to find the corresponding pins to buy since my aftermarket harness didn’t come with anything in those pins.

I gave you the wrong instructions for the radio settings.
Go to the radio app and find the settings, there you can change the regions.
Old 12-12-2021, 12:16 PM
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Originally Posted by John Dyle
Thanks. I’ll have to do some digging to find the corresponding pins to buy since my aftermarket harness didn’t come with anything in those pins.

I gave you the wrong instructions for the radio settings.
Go to the radio app and find the settings, there you can change the regions.
Thanks - I’ll check the radio.

That’s correct - there’s nothing on the aftermarket quad lock there. You’ll see I basically pulled that connector out and it’s hanging loose in the back with the single wire going straight to the RCA in on the Android unit.
Old 01-26-2022, 08:06 PM
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Did you figure it out?

I finally got my reverse camera wired and working.

A friend also has an 07 R320 CDI with HK and bought the same head unit. So I have installed two of these 😂. Same head unit, same MOST converter.
Weird thing is on his ALL THE SPEAKERS WORK! The only differences between our vehicles is mine has parking sensors and reverse camera. His has rear entertainment, no parking sensors, no reverse camera.

I’m guessing the rear entertainment is the reason the rear speakers and subwoofer works.
Old 01-26-2022, 08:53 PM
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Originally Posted by John Dyle
Did you figure it out?

I finally got my reverse camera wired and working.

A friend also has an 07 R320 CDI with HK and bought the same head unit. So I have installed two of these 😂. Same head unit, same MOST converter.
Weird thing is on his ALL THE SPEAKERS WORK! The only differences between our vehicles is mine has parking sensors and reverse camera. His has rear entertainment, no parking sensors, no reverse camera.

I’m guessing the rear entertainment is the reason the rear speakers and subwoofer works.
Nope, my radio is still a bit wonky. It's really weird: I don't seem to find ANY difference between connecting any of the FAKRA wires; it's almost as if the antenna isn't even in any of them. The thing is, I don't listen to radio, so it's a completely academic undertaking for me... so I've been slacking

What's the problem with your speakers? On mine, I did lose the multichannel (6ch or whatever it was OEM), but I do have rear/front/left/right and the subwoofer working correctly.
Old 01-26-2022, 09:05 PM
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Well then I’m not sure what’s wrong with mine. I have front left, front right and front center speakers only.

if you have all speakers working then I’m leaning toward something is messed up with my head unit or audio system.

I haven’t decided if I want to mess with wiring the factory mic. I have the terminals for the connector I can use with an audio jack pigtail.
Old 01-26-2022, 09:11 PM
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Originally Posted by John Dyle
Well then I’m not sure what’s wrong with mine. I have front left, front right and front center speakers only.

if you have all speakers working then I’m leaning toward something is messed up with my head unit or audio system.

I haven’t decided if I want to mess with wiring the factory mic. I have the terminals for the connector I can use with an audio jack pigtail.
Yep I’d definitely have noticed if the rears weren’t working. Why don’t you try rewiring them so that you swap front and rear? See what happens then.

I didn’t bother with the mic. Very few in-car systems have decent Bluetooth audio quality to begin with so I won’t even try. I’ll use a headset if I really need to
Old 01-27-2022, 12:55 AM
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Originally Posted by John Dyle
Well then I’m not sure what’s wrong with mine. I have front left, front right and front center speakers only.

if you have all speakers working then I’m leaning toward something is messed up with my head unit or audio system.

I haven’t decided if I want to mess with wiring the factory mic. I have the terminals for the connector I can use with an audio jack pigtail.
You might need to reconnect your stock radio and reset the fader and balance settings. The stock radio does not control those settings; it sends a digital signal to the amplifier to control volume, fade, and balance. The amp will remember the last settings. This can also lead to a situation where if you had the volume turned way down when you replaced the radio, you would barely get any sound at all. The opposite holds true as well.

Edit: on this note, I am currently contemplating ripping out the stock amp and putting in a new one. The main reason is that there looks to be enough room to stick a 10 or 12" sub under the driver seat if that amp wasn't taking up most of the space (the single 6.5 in the trunk is barely audible from the driver). That will also give me more control over the sound system.

Last edited by Tsumi; 01-27-2022 at 02:41 PM.
Old 01-30-2022, 05:51 PM
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Originally Posted by Tsumi
You might need to reconnect your stock radio and reset the fader and balance settings. The stock radio does not control those settings; it sends a digital signal to the amplifier to control volume, fade, and balance. The amp will remember the last settings. This can also lead to a situation where if you had the volume turned way down when you replaced the radio, you would barely get any sound at all. The opposite holds true as well.

Edit: on this note, I am currently contemplating ripping out the stock amp and putting in a new one. The main reason is that there looks to be enough room to stick a 10 or 12" sub under the driver seat if that amp wasn't taking up most of the space (the single 6.5 in the trunk is barely audible from the driver). That will also give me more control over the sound system.

Does your R have the rear entertainment?

Can’t do that as the old radio didn’t work.

The new head unit only has audio in L and R, not front L/R and Rear L/R. Exchanged the MOST converter for the same one thinking I received a defective part. Same thing.

Crazy thing is I installed the exact same thing in a friends R320 and everything works.

I have contemplated installing a JL Audio VX800/8i as I could connect it via fiber to the head unit. But I don’t want to spend that kinda money on this car for that.
Old 01-30-2022, 06:10 PM
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I did have rear seat entertainment, the one with the single screen at the center console. Pretty sure it has no effect on it as I have since removed it.

Just to reiterate, the fader, balance, and volume settings are controlled by the central amplifier. It receives the setting commands from the head unit via some sort of CAN signal, which the aftermarket stuff aren't capable of using. You might need source an OEM radio, maybe from your friend, and try to see if you can reset the settings (might need Star/Xentry to change the coding on it to match the VIN). If you have Star/Xentry, you might see if you can access the amplifier and reset things.

The other option is to rip out the stock amp and use an amplifier that can accept line level outputs and use the line level outputs of the Android unit. This will allow you to retain fader/balance controls on the head unit since the fiber optic output is 2 channel only. This is the route I'm considering doing.

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