kanek

Alright, new US owner of a used 2012 S350, love diesels, love this car.

Got too smart for my own good and decided to buy and install this in motion DVD player, which I'm regretting:
http://www.xcarlink.co.uk/product.ph...&cat=22&page=1

They sent me the wrong version, mine already has backup camera installed. I installed this and found out (surprise!) my backup camera didn't work, so contacted xlink. They were nice about it (tho wish they would have told me this BEFORE), and said there was a different model for the backup camera, they'd send it for no addl money if I returned the old one. sigh...since I didn't want to go thru the 3 hour hassle of un-installing the harness and sending it back, I just unplugged the xlink box and sent it back, leaving the harness installed for about a week.

Unfortunately, my steering wheel COMAND buttons stopped working (for audio) and my AC buttons mostly stopped working. COMAND is acting like it doesn't know the engine is on, and the backup camera wasn't working.

Now, even tho they finally sent the correct xlink unit, and I've plugged it in, same thing - no steering wheel COMAND buttons for audio (they work for trip), no backup camera.

I've checked all fuses for COMAND, 5 in total. I pulled the box off the fuse box in the engine compartment, breaking the plastic cowling to get the control module off (are there instructions for this?!?!?) and finally got the box open to check just #49 for the multifunction steering wheel - no problem!

a) what the heck is the right way to remove and re-install the engine fuse box cover, what a pain in the a***!!!

b) any ideas on how to entirely reset the COMAND system so that it reads from the xlink device and starts working again?

Thanks, I have already learned a whole lot from this forum!

steveb9771

I suspect the cable is different for the two versions of this unit. You said you kept the cable installed with the first unit. If this does not solve the problem. I suggest you reconfigure your vehicle to the original condition prior to installation of th unit and verify everything still works.

Another issue-- The link you supplied showed a unit for NTG3 Comand system. Based on the year of your vehicle, it most likely has NTG3.5 which was installed in newer vehicles. NTG3 was for years 2007 to 2009 vehicles. This unit might not be compatible with your behicle

kanek

Steve, thanks for your reply. I'm checking again with them to make sure the harnesses are compatible between the 2 devices they sent, I did ask them before and they said to keep the one from the original unit. I agree that disconnecting the wiring and restoring to original is the next step in the process, I was really hoping someone may've had the same experience and could save me some time if it's not due to the harness (I did check every single fuse in the engine compartment box less than 30 amps while I had it open - all good).

One thing I forgot, I did replace the battery during this time also - and cannot recall timing, whether this problem existed before battery replacement or not - I think it started exactly after I disconnected the xlink box to send it back in, but am not 100%. And, the COMAND unit does display a message after 30 minutes of driving "please turn on the engine or COMAND will shut off", so clearly the xlink box connection keeps COMAND from knowing the engine is on - so is the steering wheel functions not operating COMAND "normal" when the engine is off?

And, the NAVI unit is saying I need to load the maps DVD, and I know NAVI was working fine when I got the car 6 weeks ago (that may be due to the battery replacement?). I did reset COMAND, lost all my bluetooth and stereo settings, but it's still working the faulty way.

Anyone seen these conditions, or am I just destined to restore to original wiring and probably just send back the xlink? Thanks!!

kanek

Steve, forgot to mention in my reply - you're absolutely right about the link showing for NTG3, the paperwork with the new unit states it works for both NTG2 and NTG3.5, so it should be correct for my 2012 S350, but very astute of you to point this out, much appreciated.

kanek

I know you guys have been waiting impatiently to hear whether I could restore service! Spent a couple hours this weekend checking wiring twice, then finally just restoring the original wiring. Thankfully, steering wheel and AC control came back on, as did my Nav. I am sure as I can that I had the pins in the correct slots (1, 10, 11, 20) in the wiring - had my electrician son double check me.

Can't think it would be anything else than bad control unit, I even wiggled wiring to ensure that every connection was solid. Certainly possible I made a mistake, but what the heck would take out the steering wheel control of the stereo only, and the AC control, etc? Returning this unit, it's cheaper and probably better to just buy an iPad Mini and run the video from it, feeding sound through the aux!

Thx for the advice, anyway, FYI for anyone else looking at this option!