mcb66

OK, first off, I am not a radio or small electronics tech. I have very little experience with all these different connectors etc... I ordered this little module from Amazon. It is the model for the MB and supposed to work, but obviously the connector under the center console is totally different. I also have ordered the one that fits the audio inputs in the glove box. Neither work. Is there anything I can order to make these factory connections work? Thanks.

No Bueno

BOTUS

this equipment can not work on early w221s

the socket in the arm rest is ONLY for a telephone module in can't ever do music

either an of the era, actual clip in mobile phone via an adaptor or you can add either a Merc stupid money Bluetooth puck (there are 4 from old to current, the current version will cope with modern phones - Merc were too crooked to just firmware update from early capability)
or a viseeo MB-3 or MB-4 or MB 4+ (all viseeo models need the hidden dip switches set to NTG4.0 or it behaves very strange and mostly doesn't work - this is NOT documented for the S W221 in the user manual)

as for music in - in the glove box YOU MAY have old RCA phono sockets to plug in a non controllable music source - if the car is set to do ANY external music source in - you should find AUX under the Radio menu second one in from Nav

there are 5 conventional status's the car can be in to allow music input in

2006 model year no external music input (however there was the MP3 option that allows playback from a pcmcia adaptor with a memory card that sits under the flap below heater controls)
iPod interface kit a strange box of tricks rare as hell, that can be added to early cars
iPod interface 2, exceptionally rare bug fixed iteration of above, goes louder and the rear camera night vision support comes back to life
2008 RCA Phono jacks in the glove box
2010 Media interface kit - the device you've purchased would plug into a socket in the glove box, it came after the RCA sockets - it can't work on earlier models the whole entertainment unit (comand system) is an older iteration



.

Diesel Benz

Also easy to retrofit the audio (and video) AUX port if missing from the car.

mcb66

Botus, Thanks for the excellent info.
"2008 RCA Phono jacks in the glove box"
I also have this. No Aux feature on menu though. I do not know how to get the vehicle to see the ports.

BOTUS

this is a strange phenomena on Mercedes' later cars, it can just disappear. On a different model the guy just kept trying and it popped back to life !!!
if you are adding from scratch its a 10 min job with dealer tools, plug it in tell the car its got aux and it has (doesn't even care if nothing is attached), its already programmed its just enabling the user menu to show the choice

if you have Aux sockets it should be there - keep naggering it about and see if it remembers to display (odd but worked for this other guy)

you can also make a CD to fix your broken clock - we made a later one - some comand units around 2008 were left off the update disc and we put them back - its all to do with satellites and they changed and the clock need re programming to understand what the satellites now do differently. Aux enabled is not in the eng menus to find but just a reboot might make your comand unit remember what its supposed to do. Real credit: to Polar Bear and some friend who helped out doing the core graft a few years back.

https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...ml#post8468642

If you have too much money you can bring the car in to the 21 century with a box of tricks to sort your phone BT music, BT calls and give you car play and android auto

https://www.joyeauto.com/product/wjm...uto-interface/

BOTUS

NOTE: DAB is a European a thing - USA get Sirus (BOTH Option Extra)

BOTUS

I'm guessing any sound source of a boring head phone output type voltage, will be interpreted as noise by the red and white RCA phono connections, (white for the left channel and red for the right)... I see you get the super nasty yellow naffest ever quality video signal input too - I wonder if this means the noise ONLY shows up when its on the AUX Video input (rather than the Radio menu AUX sound input) ?

mcb66

Yeah, I just tried the RCA jacks hooked to my phone. Still does not recognize. I guess I need to get the option turned on by an MB scanner. I'll keep monkeying around with it.

Ducaiti999

Thanks for all the information. I'm very comfortable with hardware issues, but not programming.

I have 2 questions for a 2008 s550 I bought today.

The clock fix? I just need the update disk?

Bluetooth

I didn't get any dongle in the center console. I would love to have Bluetooth phone and audio. If I get the joyeauto, do I still need the dongle in the console? Or does it replace it?

If the joyeauto is a bear of some nature to install, where is the best source for a dongle that supports Galaxy s21 or newer?

I really appreciate the work others out into solving these types of issues. I am always amazed at what people can figure out.

Thanks

Diesel Benz

Do you mean you do not have the dongle in the centre console, neither the connector for that? If you had the connector, then all you need for BT calls was the bluetooth adapter (either the HF or the SAP model, Galaxy S21 supports both but the HF model would be better if you have drivers with an iPhone that does not support SAP).

A bit of work to install the UHI connector to the car if it is not there. For audio streaming a simple device connected to the audio AUX port would work.

The joyeauto type of a solution is in practise a compromise more than the impression given by product advertisements.

Ducaiti999

Thanks for the reply.

I do have the UHI in the console, but no dongle. I ordered a unit from a vendor on eBay last night who says it is an updated version that will run the new phones.

I will try one of the streaming devices for audio and see how that goes.

Thanks again

BOTUS

dongle isn't quite the correct word....

commonly (wrongly) referred to as a BT puck in many Merc forums... 4 merc one's to pick from, of which the last few have firmware to cope with more modern phones and see phone books better from $400 (or $250 on ebay second-hand), part number of what looks the same each time gives a clue to the age or after-market Viseeo MB-3 or MB-4 or MB-4+ firmware upgradeable (but mostly sorted by late 2012 after the world of BT connections was swapped about...)

Note these take away the external antenna of the clip in design so if you have the funny pink IR glass u lose 2 bars of signal strength

the clock fix cd works great - depends on the comand unit if u need polar bear's original or the later one that added two missing comand units

https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...ml#post8494456

Ducaiti999

Thanks for the link to the clock information. I read through it. Got completely lost. I'll try to find a young person to decipher the information and determine what version of cd I need. I would definitely mess that choice up.

Thanks

Diesel Benz

The signal loss applies for the BT HF profile adapter. Phone specific cradles are hardly available any more, unlikely an option. With the BT SAP profile adapter one would use the rooftop external antenna even if the smartphone was working via bluetooth with the adapter.

BOTUS

yes but on the 221 SAP tends to argue and misbehave - I couldn't get mine to work SAP V1 adaptor and another guy had the same issue with a later SAP 4 iteration
the other issue is SAP profile is so old few handsets cope - I believe apple has zero compatibility, and android needs you to add an app to allow the car to steal the SIM card data - although I last heard SAP it was making a comeback

BOTUS

all you need to do is look at the two posts I pointed out https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...ml#post8494456

the original disc has all the instructions u need inside the zip file and the disc image to burn - if it doesn't seem to do anything, then next thing is to check what device is in the dash (to see if you need the later disc) and or make the second disc and just try that - the second disc should be suitable for all cars - but I didn't wrap the instructions up in the files (just the disc image)

I installed the later disc in a 2008 car and interestingly got slightly different behaviour - I then uploaded new maps on the same car and again got the same different behaviour to mine
later cars its says the is disc faulty go away - but if you go jolly good and acknowledge the lie with a down press of the comand knob - it runs the disc (did it both on the clock and the map update)

on the map updates on my 2006 car, you push the disc in and it goes click click disc is wrong and spits it out - if you just push it back in, it says OK ah you know I was lying and runs the disc - its done exactly the same behaviour on 3 maps updates over the years.. - but his car was definitely an upgraded version of pretending you don't know what you are doing....

Diesel Benz

Apple indeed never built support for BT SAP. Not the only feature where they follow the very closed approach. Android these days should not need any app, equally as for Android auto (but there are so many different phones, never know for sure).

V1 SAP was clumsy as it left the phone without internet connectivity. Built for phone calls only, not for smart phones that need internet access all the time. I had sever problems with the V1 HF profile adapter too on the W221, depending on the phone brand.

Many other car brands have in-built BT SAP support. Perfect reception with the external antenna and good for the phone battery consumption. Mercedes option 899 helps a bit for reception but not ideal as it is using just an antenna coupler.

Prigruss

I’ll just chime in about the CarPlay/Android Auto box mentioned earlier… I installed one in my W221 and it works a dream. It’s simple to install cos it has factory-like plugs. I bought mine direct off AliExpress and didn’t have any issues. It also allows your iPhone (I haven’t tested with Android) to be used as the built-in phone and use the physical key pad etc.

I’d recommend taking the wood off (3 easy screws) so you can mount the box out of the way - space is tight in there but it can be done in less than an hour easily and doesn’t require special tools (soldering etc) besides the screwdriver.