MB-Tex

I have an '06 S500 with the Bose system. The command head unit only has 3 wires and the optical. I am going to install an android unit but need to tie in to the can bus. Any ideas on the best way to do that? I've heard that the wires are brown and brown/red twisted pairs and also that they are green.

Arnoldo Lezama

Hi MB-Tex, were you able to figure this out? I have the exact same situation. From what I understand, they are green in the aftermarket harness, but brown and brown/red in the car. What was your experience?

MB-Tex

I haven't had time to finish up yet, just running the head unit without connecting to the can bus so far. I did find a good pdf that has the info you will need. The wires in the 220 are green and green/white. The easiest location to tie into looks like it will be in the left side footwell unless you are going to run wire to the trunk. I'll try attaching the pdf and you can have a look.

Arnoldo Lezama

Thanks. I'll have a look at it.

MB-Tex

Looks like the pdf attached ok Arnoldo - the info specific to the 220 starts on page 40-41.

shardul

iTrader: (1)

The after market head units should come with a MOST adapter.

Arnoldo Lezama

Thanks. It does come with a MOST adapter for the fiberoptic. This enables you to use the same amplifier and speakers that the car has. Our other issue is tapping into the CANBUS, since this will enable us to retain steering wheel functionality, as well as track names and info in the car's dash display.

To those who have installed it, do you need those 3 cables at all?

Arnoldo Lezama

This is the only harness my original head unit has on the back (you can also see the fiber optic cables). What do I do with these 3 cables? And how can I tap into the CANBUS? Any info?

Tom Wheeler

Really hoping to hear a simple to follow answer here. I would like to go android myself

busflier

Hi All,

I'm about to do the install next week on my 2004 S-430, MOST with Bose system. I'll let you know how it went

I'll be installing the Xtrons octocore with the works (TPMS, OBDII, Backup Camera etc)

I'm planning to tap into the Canbus B network at the X30/6 connector, which is in the area above the brake pedal according to the above posted pdf document. That area is right next to the Command HU space, so it should be easy (famous last words) to do.

Wish me luck

Arnoldo Lezama

Good luck! Post pictures, please!

busflier

I finally installed an Octo Core Xtrons HU (PB76M220AP) on my 2004 S-430.

Looking back at the process I can see that it was pretty easy to do, but I had a couple of setbacks while doing the actual installation.

The removal of the old, non working Comand HU has been described in other threads, so I won’t mention it.

I connected the yellow and black power cables from the HU harness to the power cables in the OLD HU plug (brown with red + and brown -)

Then I found a very convenient connection point to the Canbus, right smack in there, in the harness going to the A/C control unit that sits right below the HU. As mentioned in other threads, it’s a twisted pair of brown/red and brown wires. For some reason I assumed that the wire with the red would be the Canbus High…but I was wrong. That is the “Low”. It carries about 11.65 Volts when dormant and it drops down when in use…hence the name LOW . So I connected the wires coming out of the Canbus box (green/black: LOW and green: HIGH) to the previously described twisted pair.

Now I plugged in the MOST plug, removed from the old HU harness, into the FOBB01 adapter, which translates the analog signals from the Xtrons unit into German for the Bose amplifier. Also connected the FOBB01 power cables to the same connection as the head unit (the two power wires from the old Comand HU).

So far I made 6 connections (four power and two Canbus) and it was time to turn the unit on and enjoy the beautiful sound coming out of all my speakers. But it was not to be…

I had used the blue scotch connectors for all my connections, and after troubleshooting for a few minutes I realized that the wires were not making an actual connection, even though I played with the blue connectors a lot…somehow I never managed to make those connector work even later in the process. I’m sure it is operator error, but I tried everything in my trick book and nothing worked.

I finally decided to just use a strip, solder and tape tactic, and I ended up using that technique for all future connections too. Failsafe

In the excitement of removing the blue scotch connectors, I must have done something wrong, since suddenly there was no power coming out to the old HU wires, to which I had connected everything that needed constant power. Long troubleshooting and frantic search for fuse charts followed. Turns out fuse F21, a 7.5 fuse on the engine drivers side fuse box, was blown!. Fuse replaced from my 13 year old backup fuses still on the spare tire compartment after all these years. Power is back!

Turned on HU…and beautiful sound came from all my speakers.

After that it was just the long slog of installing the backup camera, fishing the camera and two antenna wires from the trunk to the HU, making everything nice and neat and installing the HU and everything back in it’s place.

The only thing that hasn’t worked yet is the TPMS01 system that I purchased with the unit. They will exchange it for me since they suspect it is a bad unit. Tech support is very responsive, but you need a lot of patience dealing with them. They do not understand complete sentences in English so you have to describe things in very simple terms, in short one liners, without using slang. They always start out by referring you to the “installation guide”. Which is the simplest of instructions, kind of making sure it is plugged in or something like that. But it escalates from there and they try to help.

The unit is very nice. Being used to looking at iPad screens it does not compare to that quality, but is very good for a car system. Sound is very good…I would say the same or better than before. Other than that, it’s Android, so you have a lot of control over settings and apps.

The fit is not perfect. There are some gaps, and the clips from the trim pieces don’t click securely as in the old Comand HU…but it is almost not noticeable. For $468.99 including the FOBB01 decoder…not bad. It brings my old 2004 car back to the 21st century . I would have to pay at least that to get a used Comand unit without the utility of the Xtrons. And it could go T.U. at any time!

That’s my Xtrons install story. Feel free to ask any questions and I will try to help.

Russ Ward

Hi Arnoldo,

Did you get your aftermarket head unit installed yet?

If so:
1.) How and where did you connect into the Mercedes CANBUS system wiring such that your steering wheel controls function?
2.) How did you use the Blue/Black-stripe wire with your installation?

If you can supply pictures, that would be GREAT!

Thanks,
Russ

venise

hello can you explain me?
on CANBUS case I have a CANBU green wire - and a CANBU + green wire
On your picture there is a BLUE thread. RED and BROWN.
How did you connect them?
I can not find the steering wheel controls.
Thank you for guiding me?

venise

hello can you explain me?
on CANBUS case I have a CANBU green wire - and a CANBU + green wire
On your picture there is a BLUE thread. RED and BROWN.
How did you connect them?
I can not find the steering wheel controls.
Thank you for guiding me?

Russ Ward

Attached is a PDF file with instructions including pictures of EXACTLY how I wired my head unit it.

Hope this helps!

Russ

milhouse6

Huge thanks for the pictures and detailed instructions, and also to busflier above.

I'm installing an Xtrons PA77M220P (PX3, 2G/16G) into an '04 w220 S500 4matic and I'm curious why neither of your summaries include connecting a switched 12V to the red ACC wire. Mine wouldn't turn on until I connected the ACC wire into the switched cigarette lighter 12V line. I tapped into the Canbus at the climate control like busflier suggests, but it is not working for me despite the canbus wires testing ok. I plan to reconnect Canbus to the footwell.

Apologies in advance for these dumb questions:

• Is the Canbus supposed to supply the switched power instead? Should I disconnect the ACC wire when rewire the Canbus to the driver footwell?
• Why did you run your Canbus to the trunk instead of under the driver footwell? Because you were already running the antenna there?
• Will audio quality improve once I have the Canbus working? It doesn't seem to sound quite as good as the stock HU, which seems strange. Also, will front/rear fade control work again with Canbus connected?

Everything else seems to be working except the USB dash camera, an Xtrons DVR019. It sees the USB connection and I can browse the storage on the camera, but see no picture on any DVR apps (sometimes getting a 'no device found' or similar error).

Anyone with feedback feel free to jump in with suggestions. Thanks!

Russ Ward

Hi milhouse6. To address your questions:

Q. Is the Canbus supposed to supply the switched power instead? Should I disconnect the ACC wire when rewire the Canbus to the driver footwell?
A. Once you "successfully" connect the CAN-BUS wires, this will automatically turn your head unit on/off with the ignition.

Q. Why did you run your Canbus to the trunk instead of under the driver footwell? Because you were already running the antenna there?
A. The original CAN-BUS wires from the original COMAND unit connected to the AGW in the trunk, so that's where I chose to connect. I actually ran those wires separately from the antenna wires. I considered connecting under the front driver's footwell, but tearing that stuff up seemed SO much more difficult than running wires to the trunk that I KNOW worked because I did a "trial" connection outside the car. And I already had the rear seat pulled out...

Q. Will audio quality improve once I have the Canbus working? It doesn't seem to sound quite as good as the stock HU, which seems strange. Also, will front/rear fade control work again with Canbus connected?
A. Your new head unit most likely will not have a pre-amplifier as good as the OEM COMAND unit. Based on this, I would think there will be some degradation in sound quality. Also, if you connected to the power amplifier using the fiber-optic converter, you will not have fading ability since this is only 2-channel stereo.

Since I did not get a USB dash camera, I can not comment on that issue. However, I did install a backup camera and connected the power trigger for reverse to the +12v wire to the backup lights in the trunk. That works pretty well!

I hope this helps....
Russ

g9s8r

Thanks for posting the info. I just purchased an android unit from China on Ebay. Been driving for about a year with no music. Dealership said some kind of security (watchdog) was triggered one day when my battery was dying and I tried starting the car. I dont know why the car has fuses to protect electronics and it doesnt work that way. Anyhow, I received the deck with no installation instructions. Figures. And, they have not been very responsive with my messages. So, your instructions helped a lot.
Now, the downside is, I have zero sound. I can not for the life of me figure out what it is. Defective head unit (even though it all works otherwise). Bad converter box. Or, one of my other components in the car are shot. I'm not wanting to spend more money and buy stuff to troubleshoot so many possible problems.
This is going to be a left field question, or out of the park question, but, do you know if there is any way to send a signal through the fiber optics system without a factory hu or a converter box?
Thanks

Dan Danskin

Millhouse
DVR015 does not work with that head unit.
I tried and failed the same thing.
DVR015 does work.

Fleabay
It sounds like you have a fibre issue.
The fibre circuit is a loop, if its broken, or one instrument on it us turned off, it will not work.
If you have a CD player, I'd advise you remove it and buy a fibre loop jumper. Just search ebay for mercedes fibre loop jumper and you'll find plenty for a few quid. Just make sure you get the right female connector.
Once you have this your fibre box should work, but it may take a few minutes for the fibre loop to reinitialise, so turn off and grab a coffee.
Remember the fibre box for the head unit needs permanent power.
Hope this helps
Dan

g9s8r

Thanks. I just called the dealership and they said they stock those jumpers for like 5 bucks. I saw them online from 8 to 15. So, Im gonna grab me a few. I actually took the Android unit out and hooked it up to my truck with rca cables and it has output. So, i am narrowing it down to either the fiber optic decoder box, my fiber optics or a component in my vehicle. I'll figure it out soon. Thanks again.

Sloride75

So I've had my xtrons HU in for a few months now but hadn't tied it in to the CANBUS. I'm trying to do that now, but stuck. I had the understanding that I simply needed to plug a twisted pair into a vacant slot on the bus bar - I'm using the one in the driversd footwell. But I don't have a plug that will fit, and haven't been able to find one. Did you guys just splice off existing wires that are already plugged in? Thanks!

g9s8r

I cant speak for anyone else but, I tapped into the canbus by my head unit from the climate controls. But, I have an 06 S55. I can't say that would be the same for your CL55. I was originally gonna do the same as you and use the same bar in the footwell but didn't feel comfortable messing with it. Hopefully someone will chime in and give you a definitive answer. Oh and btw, my display wont read out anything I am playing. However, it does allow me to control volume, change tracks and use the phone buttons on the steering wheel. I dont know if its cause of the canbus that was tapped or the fact the factory cant read the head unit, etc etc. GL.

Sloride75

​​​​​​g9s8r,
Thanks a ton for the reply! What I'm stuck on is - Did you splice wires from the head unit/can decoder box to wires that are connected to the CANBUS? Or does the S55 have a bus bar in that area that you plugged into? If so, where did you get the actual plug? Thanks!

g9s8r

I did tap into the wires in my CANBUS. I didnt want to solder extra wires to reach the bus bar under the driver's side just to tap into whats there. Like you stated, there is no place to "plug into" unless you make your own connector. I went the simpler route, for myself, and just tapped (I used Scotchlok connector) into the CANBUS from my climate control. I looked at your MY and it looks like your climate control is above the head unit so I am not familiar on whether or not it has the wires accessible for it there. The previous MY for the CL had the climate control underneath the Headunit (from what I see in pictures). If you see a twisted pair of brown and brown/red from the climate control area, that should be the CANBUS. I don't want to steer you wrong since I know the S55 and the CL55 have a different dash setup. (I am assuming CL55 by your info on the side). Wish I could help more.

For this threads purpose, to clarify my earlier posts, my fiber optics decoder box was faulty. Once I replaced that, everything worked fine. Well, I still need to find connectors and wires to run to the trunk for antenna and gps but, not trying to get into that as I don't know if I am keeping this Fleabay Chinese headunit.