novabenz

After about a week's wait from ordering it, the short antenna (part #170-820-06-75) finally arrived at my house last night.
The ordering Mercedes dealer (Glauser from CO 303-410-7800) had to get the part in from Germany, then out to me.
The total cost, including shipping, was: $57.00
Now commentary on this part:
1) Very easy to install. Just unscrew the current long antenna and screw in the short one.
2) Assuming you have a dark colored car (mine is Obsidian Black) the antenna is black and blends in great.
3) No affect whatsover on the range of the remote unlocking/locking function on the key. I stood approximately 40 feet from the car, and the remote worked with the new short antenna.
4) AM/FM Radio reception was not affected adversely.
5) Sirius - No affect, this antenna is seperate.

slk55er

Your description is very similar to my good experience with the antenna I ordered and installed from Inovenda.com in Germany. I was able to lock and unlock my car through a window 6 stories above my parked car. FM reception including that from my on-board Roady XM Radio transmitter is excellent.

Details at http://www.inovenda.com/Scripts/prod...?idproduct=115

novabenz

slk55er:

Glad to hear that you had a good result with the Inovenda version.

HOWEVER - I had ordered that part too, and it was completely useless. I cannot recommend it.

If anyone is looking to swap out their long antenna for a shorter version, the part from Mercedes Benz (part # above) is the way to go.

slk55er

Yes, as you may have read on my posts on the BenzWorld forum, I initially was disappointed with the reception and understand that some have problems with this product.

However, I believe that such problems arise from improperly installing the small metal sleeve in the center of the antenna or from not cleaning and tightening the antenna threads enough to insure good contact between the body of the antenna and the mounting base.

If there is a better alternative, go for it.

novabenz

Yes, there is - it's the genuine Mercedes Benz part originally mentioned above which looks great, performs with no problems, and has no impact on any warranty issue that may arise from it's use.

dinko

Got mine today as well, will post pics later.

Dinko

JBRhee

Am I the only one having signal problems with the authentic short antenna from MB?

It's not ADVERSELY affected, true, but I do see a difference in radio signal strength. For instance, I'll drive inside a tunnel or under an underpass, and there goes my radio signal. Before i had this, I could drive into a parking structure with clear reception, but after I got it, I don't get any reception in the SAME parking structure.

Did I just not screw it on correctly or tight enough?

Ynot

Maybe you got an defective antenna who knows? I go under bridges, tunnels, and parking garages with no problem.

dinko

My pics + pic of Garage door opener unit I purchased (FINALLY)

Dinko

dsb

Nope. You are not the only one. I figure I've lost approx 60% of the stations my radio would auto-tune. In addition, the lock/unlock feature has been reduced. Occassionaly, I have to be within 10 feet for it to work. It's not a huge deal, but it sure is annoying.

Let me know if you figure out our possible defect. I'd love for it to work flawlessly.

JBRhee

Yeah, looks like the people in California do notice a loss in signal strength.

Hey DSB,

What are alum Door Pins?
And what's a lower Compartment Tray?

You have any pics? ^_^

ANd for your ipod kit, is it just a wire you connect to your ipod or can you actually DOCK is somewhere in your glove compartment?

Ynot

Dinko, you should keep the antenna whip in the driver side door pocket, so if somebody **** you off on the road, you can take it out and whoop his @ss. It looks like a good weapon.

CP1

I installed the R170 antenna and I can say:

1. FM radio reception is a lot poorer
2. The operating distance of the FOB is less than half.

That is all.

dsb

JBRhee,

My wife is out with the car otherwise I'd post some pics. For now, here is the info...
-The aluminum door pins are the ones available on 'for my mercedes dot com'. They are a real nice touch and only cost $15.
-The lower compartment tray replaces the ash tray below the Command unit. It cost $75 and is all tray (no cig adaptor) 'cause I dont smoke and theres already a cig adaptor in the passenger footwell.
- I have the MB Ipod kit and the unit is mounted in the lower center storage between the seats.
*I will post pics when my wife gets back later this evening.

Dinko,
Can you give me the part number, cost and info regarding the garage door opener? Can you post a pic of it after installation? Lastly, was it an easy install?

Thanks,
Dan

dinko

Garage Door Opener: A171 820 07 97

Call Tom at Glauser MB, and PLEASE tell him Dinko sent you. #303-410-7800

Only thing I did was put the unit where it belongs, I'm not the one who will be doing the actual installation. All the unit needs is a power source, so all "should" work just fine. Will keep you updated.

Regarding Antenna, I also noticed poor reception on some stations, but the primary stations are just fine. If I had to do it all over again, I would. The new antenna looks awesome!

Dinko

zaint10

Dinko, not to mislead the thread but I noticed that your rear taillamp is not longer smoked huh?

dinko

It's seems like it is getting lighter and lighter every day. I had a cheap body shop do it and I guess they didn't know what the hell they were doing. C2D will re-do them the right way so they stay dark.

Dinko

blkslk55

i installed the smaller antenna on mine as well, i lost 30-40% of my reception. i ordered the sl antenna as that was the onlyone avail. i am sure that the new slk antenna is the same.

NateDawg

I bought the antenna for my blue slk55. Looks great.

HOWEVER, remote reception is quite a bit shorter. I don't listen to much regular radio (just sirius), so I wouldn't know if the antenna impacted radio reception. However, I need to get quite a bit closer to the car to arm the alarm.

Marky-Mark

I've made this comment before but why do you think that Mercedes-Benz changed to the longer antenna? MB would not replace a shorter, better looking short antenna for a longer, uglier antenna for no good reason.

dinko

Development of our cars was done during Oktoberfest.

Dinko

dsb

and here they are...

dinko

Where can I get this?

Dinko

dsb

the door pins are at "for my mercedes . com" (take out the spaces)
the compartment tray p/n: A171 680 05 52

novabenz

I like the compartment tray modification.
This should be the standard arrangement.
Did you install this yourself? If so, was it difficult?
Please advise.
Thanks!