Thugs Bunny

So this may have been covered somewhere but I can't find and my eyes are going blurry from all the searching.

Can you convert a 2004 W220 to an MHI cradle setup. As I understand the 2004 had the MOST network and analog phone components. This would make me think if you changed the phone components to digital such a conversion would work. Anyone tried it? Have ideas, cost estimation??

Thanks.
BTW Skylaw ROCKS.

kenstudios

I think Mercedes is already doing this. They convert the old analog systems to didgital in order to make tele-aid work in the cars that still had the old analog system.

whoover

If your car did not come "prewired," it has no phone components. The preparation, by the dealer for about $1,500, for phone use adds the MHI cradle and digital and analog components needed to support it. These parts include voice control system support and dual-band compensator, an amplifier that boosts your signal when using a cradle to connect to the car's external antenna.

The installation is fairly involved:

http://phdwebsite.powerpulse.cc/Phon...ins/S%2004.pdf

But it can be done easily by any dealer.

Thugs Bunny

Whoover,
I'd seen that bulletin but it shows a V60 install. Can the MHI just be switched for the V60 cradle?

whoover

That's all they do today. That bulletin is out of date. Sorry. This is the MHI version.

http://phdwebsite.powerpulse.cc/Phon...s/2005%20S.pdf

whoover

Actually, I see the possible problem. It's not so much that the TeleAid was analog in 2004 and digital in 2005 (which is what I assume you were referring to) but the phyical mount for the MHI cradle in 2005 is different than the 2004 V60s cradle. You'll have to ask a dealer if they can install the MHI cradle in a 2004 car. It's not really about electronics, just the new console configuration.

If not, your only modernization option is the V60s cradle with the V60s Bluetooth puck.

I finally bit the bullet this week and retired my V60s in its MHI cradle for the Bluetooth puck talking to my Blackberry. I had been no-answer forwarding from the Motorola to the Blackberry but missed my real phonebook. So far, it works wonderfully. I don't seem to miss the antenna. I'll carry the V60s and cradle around for a while to see if it makes a difference in fringe areas but call quality so far is at least as good as it was.

Thugs Bunny

Yeah my real issue is an OCD one. I just want to be able to put my phone in the cradle and have it charge and use the antenna. I could go the bluetooth route but then I would need a charger cable for the phone which I just find annoying. Right now I have a RAZR and I'd be willing to change phones if it made life easier but as far as I can tell there are no other options for the 2004 than the V60? which I don't even think is made anymore. So I wonder about the MHI cradle.

whoover

You can still get the V60s, but it's like $550. The battery thing turned out to be not as important as you think, which is why I finally switched to Bluetooth this week. If you use the V60s as your only phone, you'll need to charge it outside the car anyway because it holds so much less charge than a more modern phone. And if you leave it in the car all the time, the battery never conditions properly and has to be replaced about yearly. It gets to the point where you can't take it out of the car and make more than a five-minute call.

My Blackberry will go days without charging so just connecting to the wall charger or my laptop every few days is no big deal. It really left the antenna as the only plus for the V60s, but so far that's not a big deal either. Other than cost, if the V60s install plus V60s puck to a modern phone is the only option available to you I'd say it's not a bad option. But ask the dealer if they can install the MHI cradle. Just be certain that the phone you want to use has an MHI cradle. There aren't too many and most of those require you to buy the Mercedes version at an inflated price.

Thugs Bunny

I just got off the phone with a dealer and they are not sure. I think we're in muddy waters here. I see what you're saying with the BT puck situation. Maybe I should just go see a shrink and get over my OCD Thanks so much for your help. The issue is a big one because I'm ready to buy a W220 and am deciding between a 2004 or 2005. The price difference between the two is close to 8 grand so it's significant. I'm really indifferent to the two as I'll keep the car a long time and they both allow me to hook up my iPod via the dension unit on the MOST net. It's really just the phone thing. If I buy the 2004 I could afford a s55 it seems. A 2005 puts me in an S430. Big difference!!

whoover

Holy crap.

Taking a 2005 S430 over a 2004 S55 so you don't have to charge your phone is not OCD. It's possibly severe dementia, if not criminal psychopathy. Get help.

Thugs Bunny

Yeah, know a good shrink?

Skylaw

Thugs Bunny,

I have never seen anyone change out a V60 system for an MHI system, but that does not mean it cannot be done (as long as you're doing it in a MOST-equipped car).

Whoover- are you saying that all that is necessary to update an '04 (and possibly '03) V60 configuration to an MHI configuration is to replace a V60 cradle with an MHI contact plate, without replacing the CP-211 with an MHI control unit? Perhaps I misunderstand.

whoover

Yes, you misunderstand. I was saying that the 2005 retrofit kit could theoretically be applied to a 2004 since it's also MOST, but the physical mounting of the MHI cradle in the 2004 console could be a problem. Note that T.B. is not talking about a car that has the V60 cradle already, but is exploring ways for a non-wired car to have MHI installed. So I was exploring installation of the MHI core and completer.

Thugs Bunny

So if I follow this correctly I think what we're saying is that to install into a car with no system at all I would need an antenna, (antenna switch if the car has Teleaid), linear compensator, MHI or VCS control module and an MHI cradle. The limiting caveats here are that the wiring harness that we know is installed in the car will have microphone and speakers but may or may not be properly configured for the MHI system and the center console may or may not be physically designed to hold the cradle. If the above is correct than it would seem I would need to find out how to determine the wiring harness compatibility and if the console won't fit the MHI cradle than see if I can swap that out for a console that would. Whew.. Oh and one other thing, Skylaw and WHOOVER both rock!! Thanks for your help guys I'd be lost without it and all your previous posts that I've read through.

my06clk

I'm actually shocked the prices of those cars are so high... *K diff between a used 2004 and 2005? WOW I'm in shock..

2004's and 5's around here are not very expensive considering... there are tons in the low 30's with different mileage excpt the dealers who ae 10 to 12K or more higher.. I have no ideal why..LOL

Skylaw

Pretty close, Thugs Bunny; in checking wire harness compatibility, note the differences in the connectors in the trunk between the two. Check both phone bulletins. The connectors for the CP-211 unit for the '04 seem quite different from those for the MHI control unit. Besides being shaped differently, there are five for the CP-211 (perhaps because the Tele-Aid was built into the CP-211) instead of four for the MHI (which has Tele-Aid separate).

Thugs Bunny

Skylaw,
I know this is probably getting pretty deep but do you know if it would be possible to replug the harness for the CP-211 for a MHI on both ends of the harness. If so where would I find the right schematics?

Skylaw

I'm sorry, Thugs Bunny, but I don't know how much of a project it would be. There are some commercial sources of detailed schematics mentioned on the forum, but I do not have them bookmarked. You might try the mercedes WIS (Workshop Information System), but it is a subscription service.

Before going to such a conversion, I would give serious consideration to simply using the CP-211 system and a V60 Bluetooth puck, in combination with a Smoothtalker cradle for your Blackberry. You can hard wire the cradle to power for charging, and connect it to the car's external antenna (the Bluetooth puck does not use the external antenna; just remove the V60 cradle's connector in the console and run the Smoothtalker to it). http://www.smoothtalker.com/products...les_blkbry.php for Blackberry, http://www.smoothtalker.com/products...adles_v710.php for the RAZR.

Also - I have advised folks who live in areas of weak reception (or those who use a RAZR, because of its inherently poor reception) to connect to the car's external antenna if possible. If you live in an area of good reception, you may find that the Blackberry or another phone will do fine without such a connection.

Thugs Bunny

Well it sounds like I just need to sack up and take the plunge. Who knows maybe the adventure will be a fun one? Thanks so much for your help. I'll let you know if I get into it and find something new.