S-Class (W220) 1999-2006: S 320 CDI, S 320, S430, S 500, S 600

Comand unit dead. Two options

Old Mar 17, 2014 | 12:45 PM
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Comand unit dead. 2.5 Direct swap?

01 S430 with it's second 2.5 comand unit (replaced under warranty) has been acting up. About 2 months ago it started shutting on and off randomly for a few minutes and then as time went on the intervals became longer until it ended up being days and weeks and now it stays off and rarely comes on if ever. I'm assuming this has something to do with the power supply to the unit but I'm also having a problem with the car not recognizing the keyfob's unlock and lock signals which isn't a major issue for me because I'm having PSE pump issues at the moment (I have left the blown fuse in there), so I only use it for the on/off of the alarm system but I'm not sure if there is any kind of correlation between the two but as of now I'm going ahead and replacing the unit.

I haven't been able to find anything on replacing a 2.5 with another 2.5. Is this a simple plug n' play?

Last edited by Tmarros; Mar 19, 2014 at 10:49 AM.
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Old Mar 19, 2014 | 11:01 AM
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Anyone have experience with this?
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Old Mar 19, 2014 | 03:44 PM
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you might try sending a private message to CORKSHOPPE. He is very knowledgeable on the command units and the like.
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Old Mar 19, 2014 | 05:06 PM
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it is plug and play, you got to chang out 3 pins and you can ad aux input, and get trim pieces, easy to do,
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Old Mar 19, 2014 | 05:52 PM
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Original poster asked if it's plug and play if he swapped in another 2.5 (not 2.0) with his existing 2.5. Is this correct? If so, then it's definitely plug and play as you're not changing any plugs or connectors. If you need another 2.5 unit, pm me as I just removed my 2.5 from my 01 w220.
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Old Mar 20, 2014 | 06:13 PM
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Originally Posted by corkshoppe
it is plug and play, you got to chang out 3 pins and you can ad aux input, and get trim pieces, easy to do,
Can you explain or link a thread on how to ad the aux Input by changing pins? I'd love to add it while I've already got it open
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Old Mar 20, 2014 | 06:14 PM
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Originally Posted by x2nervisx
Original poster asked if it's plug and play if he swapped in another 2.5 (not 2.0) with his existing 2.5. Is this correct? If so, then it's definitely plug and play as you're not changing any plugs or connectors. If you need another 2.5 unit, pm me as I just removed my 2.5 from my 01 w220.
Thank you for the offer but I just bought one for $183 w/ 45 day warranty and looks new!
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Old Mar 28, 2014 | 03:55 PM
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Got the new comand in and the problem persists!! After 10 mins of being on and as I'm putting the wood trim back on to the car I close the drivers door and then the comand shuts off and hasn't turned back on since. Anyone have an idea why both comand systems shut off like this?? I'm going to remove the negative terminal from the battery tomorrow and let the car reset, hopefully that will do something.
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Old Mar 28, 2014 | 08:10 PM
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Sounds like a bad ground
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Old Mar 28, 2014 | 09:26 PM
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Originally Posted by vmystikilv
Sounds like a bad ground
How would I go about checking the ground?
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Old Mar 29, 2014 | 08:50 AM
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Only two ways I know. With a volt meter and then you can take the + and - wire and see if you have "current" to which power can flow. Think of electricity like a river and your electronics are basically a water mill. No current no turning on. Another reason you want clean good power but that's another story.

Second way and poor mans way, especially since I lost my volt meter is to use some wire and manually apply the + voltage to the + pins and - to the negative pin. Your diagnosing to see which is bad so do only only one at a time. When it fires up , if it's the ground, you can either trace the wire and fix it, redo the cars ground point totally , our just run a new ground yourself. I have a really long wire and just come straight off the battery when testing. Also my test wire has a fuse line built into it also. Makes things a little safer but I have used regular speaker wire at friends houses when I use to help them diagnose . Good luck

Last edited by vmystikilv; Mar 29, 2014 at 08:54 AM.
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Old Mar 29, 2014 | 10:37 AM
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Thank you for the detailed response! I have a volt meter from wiring my previous vehicle a few times for a sound system so I have a decent understanding on wiring and what not. I'm just unsure of which wire is the ground, any idea on how much time and hassle changing the ground can be?
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Old Mar 29, 2014 | 12:46 PM
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there are quite a number of diagrams that will tell you the pin out to easily find ground. Now, finding out what the ground is bad and where it goes, little bit difficult but shouldn't be that much.


Creating new ground. super simple and quick. I would further diagnose and find the original ground though as that may be the route to a lot of other problems you could be potentially having.
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Old Mar 30, 2014 | 10:04 AM
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DIN Standard for Earth (Ground) is Brown. Solid Brown is a solid ground, Brown with a colored stripe is usually a switched ground.
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