BklynMarc

Thanks to Gareth's posts, I called the local MB dealer (Beverly Hills) and confirmed that they have the parts to do the iPod install. I'm scheduled to drop it off tomorrow morning. They confirmed the $299 price for the parts, but are quoting me a total price of around $1,000.

Yes, you read correctly -- $1,000.

I asked the sales rep for a breakdown in the price and she claimed that they will need "3 to 5 hours to install the interface." Huh? What? Three to five hours for what?

Just trying to get a grasp of whether this is legitimate or not. Guys, let me know what you believe or have heard is reasonable on the install. I was thinking more like two hours, max.

For those prices, I'll just book Tony Bennett for a concert in my backseat and charge admission for any front seat passenger. . .

CE750

That must be the AMG premium price

I got quoted $220 (or two hrs) at Scottsdale (Schumacher MB).

Tell your dealer to drop the crack pipe, and re-check his price.

mez456

I paid $299 for the kit and 2 hours labor at $103/hr. Tell them to put the crack pipe down.

Mez

WayneE

$1K for 3-5hrs of work?

Hrm (gets out notepad)... $1000/4hrs = $250/hr WTF?!?

MBAMGPWR

I got $299 for the kit & $220 for labor at my dealership...$1k is *** crazy!

gmdebruyn

Marc,

I was quoted 2 hours as well. Your dealer is trying to bend you over.

Do you have the phone kit installed already? If so, you could possibly do this yourself. At least I'm going to try. I'm picking up my kit at the dealer today and I believe its as easy as making some connections and running the ipod where you want it. If it works, I can send you some details on how to do it. I won't go ahead with it unless it's fairly straightforward. Meaning, even a lawyer could handle doing it.

Gareth

BklynMarc

Gareth,

Well, the saga continues. Since Beverly Hills quoted me "3 to 5 hours", I called the MB dealer in Santa Monica (Simonson) and they tried to give me the same speech ("Yeah, it's going to run you about a $1000.") I told them that that was ridiculous and that I wasn't going for that. He responded that "I'll talk to my service manager and see if we can put together a package for you." Huh? What ever happened to just doing the work in a timely fashion without trying to bilk the customer?

Here's what's going to happen: he's going to call me back in an hour and tell me that they can do it for the reduced price of $800. Meanwhile, other people are having quality work done for $600. Interesting.

I may take your suggestion about doing it myself. I don't have the phone kit, but it shouldn't be too hard. I mean, lawyers actually went to and graduated from law school. If a law student can do it, should be easy for me.

Marc

gmdebruyn

law student with engineering degree.

total price at my dealership, including ipod kit and holder was just over $500. 2.3 hours is the official mercedes time they cannot go below.

the reason why i asked about the phone kit is that if you install it yourself, you will need to get some friendly mb dealer to activate the ipod through stardiagnose. i was told by steve that if i had the phonekit installed, all the stardiagnose programming was already done.

and, i asked my dealer if i could get a better price because i already had the programming done, and he said no. 2 hours. no lower.

BklynMarc

In light of this new evidence, I rest my case. No further questions.

IanSL55

Marc,

I'm going to get a quote from Fletcher Jones down here in Newport Beach and I'll let you know what they give me...

You're Brooklyn/Santa Monica to my Queens/Newport Beach!

~ Ian

gmdebruyn

just picked up my ipod kit. the guys over at walnut creek were so nice at the parts department that they gave me a discount since i was one of the first ones. 269 instead of 299.

however, more complicated than was i was told. requires running a wiring harness from the trunk to the dash area. then the ipod kit connects to the command, and a wire run from the ipod kit (box) to the glovebox of the ipod. cost/benefit analysis says it will cost me less to have them do it.

but not at marc's prices.

BklynMarc

Ian,

Any information would be greatly appreciated!

Where in Queens? Or, better yet, what train? Me -- F train to Smith/Bergen Streets. Gotta love the Borough!

Marc

BklynMarc

Not so fast, my friend. "Marc's prices" are dropping quite rapidly here in So. Cal. Talked to the guys at Simonson in Santa Monica and they will do the install with labor at 2.5 hrs for $115/hr. With tax on the unit plus the labor, I'm looking at $625-650. Much better than $1K.

IanSL55

7 train to 46th/Bliss. Grew up in Sunnyside Gardens, when to HS at Brooklyn Tech and managed to get through bith NYU and Columbia before forsaking the city and heading out west!

I'll let you know what FJ is charging as soon as I swing over there!

~ Ian

mbbodytech

Sheesh, for that kind of money I'm thinking of doing this work on the side! It doesn't take all that long, and I have access to a Star Diagnose.

gmdebruyn

any chance you have access to the ipod install instructions, so we can see where the connections go in the trunk (power), and in the front (command)?

BklynMarc

Hello from a fellow alum from 116th and Amsterdam. (I've paid them so much money for my law degree, I refuse to do any free publicity!)

Thanks for getting this information.

mbbodytech

I'll get them, but I won't be back at work till Tuesday of next week.

Stay tuned.

gmdebruyn

thank you!

t-bone

I think Steve aka MBenzNL is charging somewhere around $300 installed for the iPod kits.

CE750

Just had my dealer install it for $400 inclusive of parts/labor.

I would make your dealer explain the price in detail... work estimate, parts etc..

mojomk

When I took delivery of my CLK350 Cab from Bev Hills Mercedes they installed the kit for $500 even. I was trying to have them give me a discount, but they wouldn't budge below $500. If you already have the miniplug connection in the glove compartment it should be simple for them to install the kit and program the sucker. It's great to have except you can only control it from the steering wheel and not the Comand. You can scroll through all your playlists, genres, artists, albums, but the only info you can view when the song is playing is the song title. It doesn't scroll the info, so if your title is long you can't read the whole thing. I wish there was a way to view artist info. I guess for $500, you can't have everything.

FlintCDI

I had mine installed yesterday, ~$400.00. My SA said 4-5 hr for the installation but if he got done in 3 he would only charge me for 3.

BklynMarc

This is very good to know. Since I was going to be away for the weekend, I took it in to Beverly Hills on Friday. They gave me the same estimate of $1000, but I told them that I had done the research and there is no way that it should take more than 2.5 hours. The interesting part will be when I pick it up on Tuesday. Not only do I have standards for the community, your post gives me information on what this very dealer has charged customers. Information is always key. Should be interesting.

BO55

MBUSA says 1-3 hours

http://www.mbusa.com/main/container..../iPod/faqs.jsp