Togar

I own a 2005 S500. Wondering how to upgrade it to Bluetooth capability while retaining the OEM radio and recommended local installation shop in DFW, TX area.
New to this site, so please forgive me if I sound naive.

wallyp

"Cheap, Easy, Good - Pick any two." And in this case, you may be able to get only one, if you want "Good".

The only ways that I know of to come close to meeting your requirements are:
- Purchase a cheap device that plugs into the lighter socket, hooks to the phone via Bluetooth, then transmits the music to the car radio on an unused FM frequency.
- Purchase a device that goes into the tape player instead of a cassette, plugs into the phone, and plays through the tape input on the radio. I seriously doubt that the 2005 has a tape deck!

Most people who have installed an Android head unit instead of the COMAND have been very pleased, and some folks have been happy with a "name-brand" replacement for the COMAND. More expensive, but really updates the interior. DuckDuckGo (or Google, if you don't mind sharing everything) is your friend - there are dozens of YouTube videos and dozens of Mercedes forum threads on this subject. It will take some research...

https://www.benzworld.org/threads/w2...#post-18356963

Togar

Thanks for informative reply. In that case I could go with an Android replacement. Any recommendations? Any local shop that could help with installation? Thanks.

Togar

Hey Dave, the unit in the 220 looks great! Any link or info for that unit. I could use that. I'm not really concern about the price. Thanks

Bugsi

I see in another post you bought the Dension system, but in case you ultimately want to keep your stock system, the GROM Audio MB02 MST4 adapter and the associated options works absolutely perfectly in my 2005 S500, to add Bluetooth streaming audio, Bluetooth handsfree phone, USB flash drive audio and analog Aux audio inputs. I think the stock audio system sounds great the way it is, so this solution works really well for me. It splices into the fiber optic system in the trunk in place of the CD changer. As far as the stock radio system is concerned, nothing has changed, but I can select the CD changer and then select Bluetooth or USB or Analog Aux. Installing it involved removing a lot of the interior, but it was worth it.

My writeup of it is here:
https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...4-install.html