dpavid

I had a loaner C300 while the dealer did some warranty work on my 2005 E55. The C300 had built in bluetooth and the ipod harness in the glovebox. After using the car a couple days, I determined I need need this! I searched the forums and found multiple options from a factory upgrade with OEM MB parts to aftermarket brands such as incartronics to integrate the bluetooth and ipod features into the factory command unit complete with onscreen displays on the dash and steering wheel controls.

Here's my take:

The factory bluetooth upgrade is about $800.

Incartonics makes a module for $899. Optional iPod kit is $179 additional.
http://www.incartronics.com/MBMost.html?MBClass=E&VIM=1

I would love to have ipod, iPhone bluetooth factory integrated system however, price rounds out to about $1000-1200 complete installed. Not that I'm cheap but for that price, I can get an aftermarket deck with ipod, bluetooth, navigation, dvd video, blah, blah, blah, etc... installed for under $1000!

What am I missing or will be losing? Steering wheel control on the right side buttons? I assume the left side will still work on dash to navigation the on screen display. I assume the audio and navigation display will no longer work on the dash however, every other feature still will right?

The aftermarket integrated Garmin navigation in Kenwood works way better than the factory nav. No more upgrade DVD's as well. iPhone feature works seamless with bluetooth and I can even play videos from iphone or ipod or DVD's.

What are the pros/cons? What are the other options? I love the factory comand look and unit, just the price to add bluetooth and ipod are lame! Thanks in advance for feedback and comments.

willc55

The problem with attempting to replace the head unit in our cars, is that MB wires the car fiber optically, so you cannot just replace the head unit. As far as I have been able to determine, you would need to, at the very least, replace the head unit and amp.

I have spoken with several different people and have gotten different answers as to whether or not you need to replace the speakers as well. Needless to say, this adds $$ to the parts and installation of an aftermarket system.

Just something to be aware of.

Yacht Master

Here is some info.
https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...d-install.html

And then I did this CAUTION 05s are different.
https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...bluetooth.html

Tritech

With labor I was quoted ~$1800 iirc to install bluetooth and phone prewire in my 06.

I told them to take a hike.

sleewell

i have a kenwood unit with the ipod cable in the glovebox and bluetooth hookup built in. i just press one button on my cell phone when i get in the car and all calls are routed through the head unit. i can call by voice command and the sound quality is actually pretty good, people havent even mentioned that it sounds much different from my phone.

all in all i probably spent just a little more than 800, but with all the other features of the unit compared to OEM i would say its well worth it. if i was going to dump 800 bucks just to get bluetooth in a factory unit i would just take out the factory unit and get aftermarket. dvd in motion is kinda a cool feature and i know people are struggling to get that with their OEM units, plus kenwood uses Garmin for their navigation which is probably the best/easiest to use in the industry, plus no more nav dvds like you mentioned.


i didnt have to replace any amps or speakers, just get a professional shop to do the work for you. i did lose the steering wheel controls, but for all the pros of the kenwood unit compared to OEM i think its a good tradeoff and i am very happy with my decision.

sleewell

1800?!?!?!?


get a new kenwood dnx 8120 and with the rest of your money you saved buy a nice bottle of scotch and a few hand rolled cigars to toast to yourself for making a great decision. that unit OWNS any factory setup; every single feature of the kenwood unit is better plus you get stuff you cant get with a factory setup.

Bullett

any installation problems?

sleewell

by reading the post before the one you quoted, plus by reading my sig i think you can see i have a 5120. i was just saying for the 1800 bucks that guy got quoted he should get a 8120 instead.

no installation problems with the 5120 at all; i just took it to a professional and dropped off the keys. 3 hours later i had a sweet head unit and a flip down dvd for the backseat. like i said in the first post, i did lose steering wheel controls but for all the upsides compared to OEM it is well worth it.

McSmarty

I have the EOM Ipod integration. Having the display on the instrument cluster is just stupid. Using the steering wheel buttons to control it is ok. The most annoying thing is the display on the instrument cluster does not scroll. There is about 15-20 characters that are displayed and then anything else is cut off. When you have albums that are a multi-CD set you can't see if which CD because it is off screen. Also after you start listening to a song and try to switch to another album you have to start all over again in the menu by scrolling through to find the artist. I hope MB upgrades the interface but i doubt it. I would go after market as too many things that don't made common sense in EOM.

sleewell

^ ouch - that really sucks. ipod controls on the kenwood are super easy, and it doesn't sound like i have any of the problems you listed with the OEM unit. and the cable was only 25 extra bucks and is mounted in the glove box so there aren't any visible wires.

McSmarty

Does anyone who is tech at MB read these forums? If so, does MB ever upgrade these interfaces? It would be easy to change the programming. Hell I would pay to upgrade the interface - it sux that bad.

On a side note I upgraded my stereo with Focal speakers, JL sub and amps and it sounds AWESOME. You can keep the head unit and just add amps, speakers, subs and a signal summing device. Best investment ever made!

dpavid

i assume you still retain most of the displays in the IC like speedo, trip stats, settings, etc... Just audio and Nav won't work right? buttons on steering wheel still function for these features right? Thanks in advance.

Yobi1Kanobi

Couldn't somebody get the volume to work on the steering wheel? I know its possible on other vehicles.

dpavid

so i went down to a car stereo shop and it seems that you cannot just replace the head unit. The audio system is fiber and its not a simple replacement install. Long story short, it seems that you need to upgrade the entire audio system. speakers, amps, etc...

Is this right? Anyone here ever just did a head unit replacement with factory speakers etc...

I am considering one of these units:

http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entert...gation/DNX7120

http://www.alpine-usa.com/US-en/prod...el=IVA-W505/P1

Tritech

That's what I was told over a year ago. Well that, and I don't believe there is a competent shop within 200 miles of me that I would let touch my car.

How are you guys getting a signal to the stock amp? Or are you replacing that entirely and using a jl cleansweep or whatever the rockford equivalent?

McSmarty

The cleansweep or rockford 3sixty are for leaving the factory head unit in and replacing amps and speakers. You take signal out of stereo and feed into cleansweep which removes the factory crossover settings then the signal is passed on to amps and speakers. This allows you to keep factory head unit and still have awesome stereo. Depending on the equipment it can cost between $3,000 to $6,000 or more. My setup was $5,500 for focal speakers (4), JL 12 inch sub with custom box, JL HD 600/4 amp and 750/1 for sub. It is awesome stereo without having ghetto bass.

sleewell

correct, it still cycles through all the messages and stuff but as far as controlling volume, radio stations or track selection that is no longer an option. i heard there is a part that you can order from europe that makes it all work with the kenwood but its pretty expensive. i am happy with it as it is though, i am going to move on and mod something else now. i liked the steering wheel controls but it wasnt nearly as sweet as what i have now.

Tritech

So how are you getting signals to the stock amp or are you running an dedicated amp?

dpavid

How did you retain stock amp and speakers?

sleewell

sorry for confusion, i should have mentioned i have an 06 C230 ~ no stock amp.

dpavid

no wonder! simple replacement will do for you. Most E guys have command center with MOST fiber so not that simple. I thought you found the holy grail for a moment!

632627

i have a c55 and a few months ago i wanted my head unit upgraded for bluetooth and ipod, so i decided to buy a pioneer aftermarket unit rather than going to MB and having them install bluetooth/ipod to my comand unit.

what i was told by a few audio shops was that i needed a new amp to power the sub and center channels. it was NOT necessary to replace the stock speakers or sub, as they would work fine with the new head unit and amp, and everything needed to be rewired.

the moral of the story is that you will need at least an amp along with your head unit. for a C class owner like myself, thats actually a good thing, as the factory amp(at least the ones used for the C classes) is horrible and my audio system is significantly louder after my upgrades.

the other good news is that you can sell your factory COMAND unit for at least $500 bux on ebay

dpavid

Nice. I thought the same thing however, I found from these forums its not the case for MB's with command unit that use a MOST system. Not a simple head unit replacement. The amp is in the trunk connected by fiber behind the left rear panel to the command center. Then the factory speakers have a 2ohm rating, not a typical 4ohm. By changing the amp to a stronger 4ohm running 2 ohms speakers, they'll sound louder but much more distorted, even at lower volumes. Case in point, I think its more feasible to just replace the entire audio system which people are doing for about $3K-ish. You could probably do a killer setup for half the cost if you install yourself.