iPod hook-up
 

I just got my 2005 SL600.

What is the best way to install an iPod connection?

TIA!

Hal

Put a Mobridge (you can google it) adapter in mine. replaces the 6 cd changer in the storage compartment. controls on steering wheel work just like a CD. Pretty slick - and easy to install. No cutting wires. Just plug in between the CD player and the fiber optic link and configure. Charges the ipod too.

Wow, that looks like a really good solution. I've been looking for something like this for a while. Where did you buy it and for how much?

Also, how long did it take to install? (approx)

-ROOK

ipod hookup
 

Rook,

Go to cartronics.com and you can see the setup and installation instructions. It isn't cheap. $549 for the box. I thought it was worth it myself. Ipod lives in the storage compartment behind the driver seat. The mobridge itself lives under the storage compartment by the fuses and harness. I chose to have my car audio shop install and configure it. You access it through the CD mode in Comand. Pretty sweet. Hope this helps.

rpeters282, yes thank you very much for the info. Looks like I'll have something to add to my Christmas list.

So when the audio shop installed it, did it take a whole day? Several days? I'm just wondering as mine is a daily driver and can't have it out of commission for more than just a weekend. Looks like I might be able to do it myself but I don't want to jump into the deep end too quickly -- especially with the electronics and the audio system. I know it's plug and play but believe me, there's different definitions of that out there. (I'm an IT consultant myself and have seen my share of "plug-and-pray" systems.)

-ROOK

Don't get the NAV-TV version which I had installed in my '05 SL500 about 3 months ago. It has a LOUSY interface with the COMAND / iPod. It was the last straw I needed to "force" me into an '09 SL550 about 2 weeks ago.

I suggest get an aftermarket setup, by the time you add sat radio, ipod, bluetooth dongle, speakers that don't suck, and a good sub, you still have the same awful nav setup. I looked at a couple different options and will be gutting my system in the next month or two and finishing a build similar to amgfan's. I have the sub in already and what a world of difference. I can't wait to have speakers in my car that reflect how nice the rest of it is.

Has anyone tried whats written below or does this not apply to the sl500s in the US? I just got my sl and was looking for a cheap option to listen to my ipod.....


Got this from another website:


AUX Inputs on 2005 SL500 - SOLVED!
After trying hard (and failing) to fit the M-B iPod integration kit onto my SL500, we were categorically advised by M-B Germany that, for now, it is not possible to fit any integration hardware for the iPod to the SL. We therefore fell back to the AUX inputs on the COMAND. This is now working just fine, making it possible for me to connect my iPod (or any other MP3 player, for that matter) via its headphone jack to the sound system in the car. I do not have control of the iPod itself from COMAND or the steering wheel, but I can adjust the tone and volume as for any of the other sound sources.

How to do this: locate the TV tuner module (under the CD changerhttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adT...lass_10x10.gif compartment behind the left seat on my SL). You will see six RCA connectors on this module - these are video, and left and right audio inputs for AUX1 and AUX2 respectively. We extended these inputs via a simple male-female RCA extension lead into the compartment housing the CD changer. Then I plugged into that lead a simple RCA stereo to 1/8 inch co-ax plug lead to connect to my iPod. The video lead is unused at this time, as my iPod does not have a video output. This may be possible in the future, though. It is theoretically possible to fit other devices, like a Playstation, to this as well.

For good measure we ordered from M-B spares the power socket that is fitted in the trunk, and fitted that into the CD changer compartment as well. I can now plug my iPod charger into that. The result is an installation that looks stock and works perfectly.

I can listen to the iPod with clean sound, charge it, and just reach back and stow it all into the CD changer compartment when I am done with it. This solution is effective and cheap - I am not even sure that I would spend more money and effort just to get the control of the iPod and the display of the song details on the COMAND.

The AUX inputs on the Audio and the Video menus on COMAND are the same ones, so you can switch to AUX from either of these menus.

I thought that these RCA's were not activated on the 2005's. I might have to tear into my car tonight and take a closer look, I am planning a fairly long road trip and if I don't have sat or ipod, my head may explode.

If worse comes to worse and you can't get your iPod hooked up, you can always resort to using CDs or a DVD filled with MP3s. It's what I do in lieu of paying for sat radio or having some chump rip up my SL to hack in a iPod connector.

A couple of things to watch out for when burning discs with MP3s so that they are compatible with the ancient MP3 functionality in the MB SL:
1. You cannot have more than 250 MP3s in the root directory or any single directory on the disc. This is more a problem with the DVD as usually you cannot fit that many MP3s onto a CD anyway.
2. Since you cannot have more than ~250 MP3s in a single directory, you must create multiple directories on your DVD disc. You cannot nest directories. The reader can only work one-level deep.
3. Burning a data disc using iTunes doesn't work well for some reason. I think it throws some CD-TEXT on the disc which confuses the MB reader. I tend to copy the MP3s into a temporary directory, organize them, then burn them using the free Nero 9 Essentials program.
4. For some reason that I haven't figured out yet, every once in a while you'll come across MP3s with variable bitrates that play fine in iTunes and iPod but will confuse the MB MP3 reader. It can cause long pauses or skips when playing it, but skipping to the next song will usually remedy the problem.

Also, the MB reader has to read the whole disc and store all the song info and order in memory. With CDs it's pretty quick: 5-10 seconds, which means that by the time you've backed out of your driveway you'll have music playing. This takes much longer with MP3 DVDs. Like 1-3 minutes long. Although, unless you turn the car off you should have 500-1000 MP3s at hand with the larger storage medium. Oh, and one more crappy thing about the MP3 reader -- if you do have directories on your DVD, the MP3 reader will only play the MP3s from that directory. You'll have to navigate to another directory to play those MP3s.

-ROOK

Just make sure not to use advanced programs that will add some metadata/headers that will confuse the ancient system and throw an exception error.

In my experience, using simple windows media player to burn data (.mp3) files to the disk always worked fine. When I tried doing the same thing with other linux program it failed to read the disk. :nix:

Are those RCA jacks underneath the CD changer itself? I just went outside with high hopes thinking I could get the sucker out and hook up a 1/8th inch to RCA adapter plug and run it to the front but after a little more than an hour I had to give up. Taking out the CD changer means tearing down the whole cabinet as well as some of the center console trim. That is a several hour job for me at least since this'll be the first time I've done trim teardown in that car in that area.

Has anyone else attempted this? Am I missing something with regards to how to get the CD changer out -- perhaps it is easier than my eyes and screwdriver tell me it is? :nix:

-ROOK

[/QUOTE]You will see six RCA connectors on this module - these are video, and left and right audio inputs for AUX1 and AUX2 respectively. We extended these inputs via a simple male-female RCA extension lead into the compartment housing the CD changer. Then I plugged into that lead a simple RCA stereo to 1/8 inch co-ax plug lead to connect to my iPod. The video lead is unused at this time, as my iPod does not have a video output. This may be possible in the future, though. It is theoretically possible to fit other devices, like a Playstation, to this as well.

For good measure we ordered from M-B spares the power socket that is fitted in the trunk, and fitted that into the CD changer compartment as well. I can now plug my iPod charger into that. The result is an installation that looks stock and works perfectly.

I can listen to the iPod with clean sound, charge it, and just reach back and stow it all into the CD changer compartment when I am done with it. This solution is effective and cheap - I am not even sure that I would spend more money and effort just to get the control of the iPod and the display of the song details on the COMAND.

The AUX inputs on the Audio and the Video menus on COMAND are the same ones, so you can switch to AUX from either of these menus.[/QUOTE]
Sounds like this works - do you have the iPod stored in your glovebox? How did you run the wire from the changer to where the iPod is stored?
PL

Did you ever try it out? Curious to know how it went....


Rook3300 - Did you figure it out? If you're already that far might as well keep going.


Someone should make a write up for this :confused:

Not yet. I have to make sure I can put it back together as I use my car as a daily driver. I might have time to give it a serious go this Sat but we'll have to see. If not then, it could be another few days before I try again. Depending on the success, I may be able to put together a photo set to demonstrate a tear-down of the CD-changer storage compartment.

-ROOK

I have seen someone posted pretty detailed photos of how he got to the cables of the CD changer behind the driver's seat, including how to tear down the panels. I think the project was to connect an iPod controller using the optical output cable of the CD changer. It's in this forum somewhere, but I can't locate it right now. I'll keep looking.
If someone else find the thread I'm referring to please post the link here, for Rook.

I'm resurrecting an old thread here...actually, i saw the same thread from 2006 from the original poster Rock7. I have a 2005 SL500. I see the stacker behind seat. How do i remove it to see if I have the 6 RCA connectors referred to? I can't readily see anything there. I pulled away a couple of plastic covers. How deep do I need to dig to find these, or determine if I even have them? Seems like final answer/outcome was never posted.