skd

been reading alot on the forum as waiting on the new S350 out in hk. got the rear entertaiment system in the car jsut wondering if any of you knew more about it? fuctions? and if it is available in the states? and if its worth while

thanks

aschb

I have it ordered for my S 600 for delivery September 2006.

Hier is the MB 221 manual:

http://www4.mercedes-benz.com/e/cars...nsystem13.html

skd

i can see aux connections for other hardware but is ther a power source in the car itself? how would you connect something or is that gonna be a difficult process

rgbyhkr

There's a DC cigarette lighter jack in the back of the middle console below the rear climate controls.

Jeff

skd

thanks for the help! does anyone have any personal experience with the system? thanks

jbontym

Great view but with the direct imported mercedes benz or Grey imports
the TV tuner didn't work with the local (korean) TV signals.
I had to install another Feed and put the Command on Auxillary therefor loosing all controls in the rear center console command dials...

So pretty much using the Rear DVD player...
and using the TV to turn on/off thats it... rest is done
via remote at the front.... this would be much easier
with some pictures.... i'll post some pics... tomorrow

prsmith777

I wonder if Mercedes will activate the TV tuner for the US models. Seems like in other units only euro Command has TV tuner. Time will tell, I guess.

rgbyhkr

I'd be surprised if it was offered over here. Other models have had TV tuner options in Europe but MBUSA has decided not to offer it in the US. But, to be fair, I haven't really seen many stock RSE systems on US vehicles from automakers that include a TV tuner. It probably has to do with reception issues since OTA TV reception here isn't great when you're in a moving vehicle. I think the DVB-T network over in Europe has better coverage/reception which lends itself to more desirable use.

What will be interesting is that since Mercedes has an exclusive with Sirius, will they offer Sirius video programming that Sirius should have up and running later this year? Unfortunately, new hardware will be required to receive the video streams as the current receivers are audio only. I'd be shocked if existing vehicles and older can be retrofitted with an MB solution (as is usually the case with MB and new technology), but 3rd party solutions could almost certainly be utilized. But, it will be intersting to see if MB jumps on board with video for new vehicle models that have RSE systems.

Jeff

skd

thanks guys for the comments yeh pics would be real nice !

rgbyhkr

Firstoff, thanks for whatever pictures you post. I've seen some pics of the MB RSE system, but I'm always happy to see more as I am very interested in this system for my 2008 221 (assuming MBUSA is able to offer it - that's still up in the air). I've read the Euro manual, so I know in general how the RSE system functions. There are a few things that weren't clear and perhaps you might be able to answer a few questions since you have the system:

- The manual states that from the COMAND system up front, you can select the RSE system as a source for audio to be played back through the system's speakers. So, it looks like there is some interaction between the COMAND system up front and the RSE system in back. What I want to know is if you can control the RSE system from the COMAND Controller up front. In other words, can you turn the screens on/off, can you start a DVD playing that is in the rear DVD drive, etc. My children are too young to do that themselves using the rear controller. In my wife's Range Rover Sport, we have a factory RSE system that also has screens in the headrests. From the touchscreen Nav screen up front, I can trun the screens on/off, choose a source, choose a particular disc from the 6-disc DVD changer in the cargo area, skip back/ahead chapters on a DVD, etc. This makes the system more usable for my family since my wife or I can control the system for our children. So, I was wondering if there was any way to do the same thing in the 221 from up front.

There's a second interesting consideration for this type of ability. As far as I can tell, the 221 audio system does not have an aux jack in the glovebox like some other MB models have. However, the RSE system does have 2 aux A/V inputs. If you combine that with the ability of the audio system to playback the RSE source through the vehicle speakers, the RSE system now gives you an aux audio feed for non-ipod MP3 players, etc. However, if you can only turn on the RSE system and choose the aux input as a source from the rear controls, this ability wouldn't be as useful.

- Someone previously posted pictures of the RSE system here on the forums. You can see them in this thread:

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...&highlight=rse

You can see that one picture is of a wireless remote control. Does the system come with that remote? If it does, I was thinking that if you can't control the RSE system from the COMAND Controller up front, maybe you could use the remote instead. The question then is where is the IR receiver located in the vehicle?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

Jeff

skd

your past acctaully put up some interesting points.. if you are not able to control the mp3 players in the front what is the point of the aux jacks.. i cant answer that hopefully someone can for us! but does the remote come as standard?

rgbyhkr

The aux jacks are primarily for use with the RSE system. There are 2 of them and they have inputs for both audio and video (standard 3-jack composite inputs). The manual describes being able to select sources for the RSE system by using the rear controller. The sources available include the disc player in the rear armrest (single disc only I believe, no changer), the TV tuner if equipped, Aux 1 and Aux 2.

According to the manual, whatever source is playing through the RSE system is what will be routed to the stereo speakers when RSE is selected from the COMAND controller up front. It didn't mention the ability to select RSE sources from up front but I figured it was worth asking anyway. It's possible that using these aux jacks as a way of inputting a non-iPod MP3 player to the stereo system is just a side benefit. In other words, they may not have directly intended the aux jacks to be used for this purpose so if you can't choose the aux source from up front, this may be the reason why. I would argue that they certainly should have considered it although the technical details of implementing such a feature may be more difficult than it might appear.

I guess you could get the RSE system going and select one of the aux inputs as the source before you start driving, but that's not exactly convenient. One thing to note is that the 2 RSE screens can operate independently. They can both use the same source or use separate sources so 2 people in the 2 rear seats could watch 2 separate things. According to the manual, if the 2 are using separate sources, whichever screen was turned on first will be the source for the vehicle's speakers if RSE is chosen up front.

It's funny how different some of these factory RSE systems are. They definitely have various levels of ability and I guess I have been spoiled by the one in my wife's RRS. In addition to being able to control it from up front, it has a few other tricks up it's sleave. It has 3 aux inputs, one of which is audio only for use with any audio device, although seemingly intended for an MP3 player. I can access that aux input directly form the controls up front for playback through the vehicle's stereo. Beyond that, the RSE system can choose as a source certain inputs from the system up front including the radio and Sirius satellite radio tuners as well as the 6-disc in dash CD changer. So essentially, rear passengers can use headphones with the RSE system and listen to any source in the entire vehicle. It's really a well designed system.

Jeff

skd

i have got the rse now but i dont know practically how to make the audio play through the car speakers does anyone know anything about this?

rgbyhkr

There are apparently 2 steps to doing this. First, you have to turn the RSE system on and getting started with a source on one screen or the other. You can also choose from the RSE rear system controls which screen will be the soucre for the speakers if the 2 screens are playing different sources. See page 232 of the owner's manual here (also shown as page 7 of 8 for this section of the manual):

http://www4.mercedes-benz.com/e/cars...nsystem13.html

The second step is to select the RSE system as a source for the speakers from COMAND up front. You can see the instructions for doing so in a different section of the manual on page 90 (also shown as page 12 of 12 for this section of the manual):

http://www4.mercedes-benz.com/e/cars...ensystem3.html

I hope this helps.

Jeff

skd

thanks for that information from teh manual. you would think that would work but on the rse screens i can select the source for speakers. On the front command there is no selection for rear. im confused !!!

skd

well took the car to the Hong Kong dealer, they had no idea about the sound and the rse. it seems they are learning as each problem comes in. i think they will have to contact germany, ill have to wait and see.