MB_Forever

Apparently you may have not read your own post correctly: you contradicted yourself bro... now you say it's $4k.... yet in post #10 you stated that the price of parts alone was $4800. Then you added that installation would take 4 to 8 hours. Most people are not tech savy to tackle the conversion themselves, so it's reasonable to account about $500 to $600 for installation, which would put the conversion cost around $5400. My estimate of $6k was from a year and a half ago; price drops of $500 are not unreasonable for a year or two although according to the cost for the list of OEM parts that was listed on this forum in the past was around $5300.

I never said "needs".... please re-read my post again and try to understand it. I said some people have posted that the controls were awkward compared to cars who actually have the rotary knob, which makes sense since the new system was designed to have that knob in place. Can it function without it? Absolutely. Is it much more convenient with the knob? Many people think so. I never said it "needs" a knob or must have a knob or anything like that.

abhatti55

MB_Forever is 100% correct in that the user interface is better suited for the rotary knob, it uses the same menus as the newer gen cars that started with the W221 S-Class. I am sure it gets it easier to use with time in the W211's, it is confusing as hell to use coming from the previous gen command units our cars had., which had a much more user friendly interface.

220S

I also feel that the knob does help quite a bit (the system was designed with it in mind.) As I said in my post, (that AMGPilot said was "absolutely incorrect" ), the "rotary dial helps" but the buttons are okay. Another thing that's better is they put the screen up at eye level and not down below where you have to shift your view from the road. I realize that would have meant a re-design of the W211 dash which would have been obviously not possible. But at least they did elect to use the 2.5 in the 2009's so that was a good thing.

I remember a lot of people saying the conversion was pricey and so elected not to go through with it. I think Mo is correct in his real world cost estimate.

One thing that helps not having the knob on the 2009 W211s is at least having a full VC system. You can use VC instead of stabbing at buttons while having to look down away from the road. I use VC a lot. But with the conversion, what about VC? It needs a stalk on the steering column to activate plus a mic. Can you have the full 2.5 VC system on an older car? That would add to the conversion cost, too. Or is there a work around? Without VC it means you've only got the buttons....

AMGPilot

VC is part of NTG 2.5 all you need is the linguatronic lever which is $55, the mic is already installed. "Stabbing at buttons" is faster and easier though. and I honestly see no reason that you "Need" a rotary selector since you can use the either the 4 way directional or the Phone pad to enter data.

Current prices for the conversion is ~$4100 and is actually easy enough for someone with moderate skills to achieve themselves. By the time you off the old comand components you're out of pocket is even less (About $2000) and for that you get MUCH better Nav (Since it's address level and live Traffic updates) HD radio, DVD player and most importantly MUCH better amps (main and Sub amps) that make a HUGE difference in sound quality all while retaining stock appearance, operation and integration

220S

I don't see where anyone said it "needs" the rotary dial, but just that it's "helpful." I found the dial to be more intuitive and quicker, like the dial with the latest iDrive system. The fact is that just about all modern systems use a rotary knob. The buttons are okay but a bit more convoluted, imho. Plus the knob is right where you normally rest your arm. One thing that the W212 (at least the US version) now does, is to NOT allow for address input while in motion. The 2009 still lets you input while driving. And while VC is slower, I find it "safer" in the fact that you don't have to take your eye off the road.

My live traffic is only available as a Sirius XM service. I don't have to subscribe to sat radio but do have to have the service activated for the traffic portion.

btw, where is the linguatronic lever attached when doing an upgrade? Is it the same as the factory install? It seems to be part of the column.

Another thing I like about the 2.5 is that you can use it with the display totally off (and just use VC in combo with the steering buttons and the IC readout.) Not sure if that was possible with the earlier COMANDS (?) And then there's the DVD-A playback for higher bit rate music.

abhatti55

What components are needed to do the upgrade?

AMGPilot

As was posted earlier in the thread

You need to remove anything on the most ring that is NOT NTG 2.5 (In other words EVERYTHING that is in the car stock. Radio, Audio Gateway (Amp/tuner unit in the trunk) CTEL module, SDAR module (If installed) Lignuatronic module (If installed), CD Changer, Ipod Interface (If installed) Nav Processor/DVD Drive (If installed) Bluetooth Phone interface (If installed) You replace all that with NTG 2.5 headunit (which has Nav, Linguatronic, Bluetooth and DVD Changer built in), Main Amp, Sub Amp, SDAR/HD Radio module, Media Interface (Ipod interface) and a Conversion wiring harness from Comandonline.co.uk

Install took me 8 hours going very slowly, if I did it again I can probably do it in 4 hours

MB4tronic

NTG 2.5 headunit- I'm seeing these on ebay for $800-1400
Main Amp- Anyone have an estimated price? new/second hand market? part #?
Sub Amp- $179 - there is one on ebay now - 130617371323 for example Buy it now @ $200 with a warranty available
SDAR/HD Radio module- part number? estimated price?
Media Interface (Ipod interface) - Not sure exactly what this is.. there is an NTG 2.5 Multimedia interface on ebay from Japan item - 250884737947 for about $231? it gives 2 AV input, audio output, satellite nav gps
Conversion wiring harness from Comandonline.co.uk - Seems this is about $268 USD

Thats about $2100 so far with the missing information from second hand ebay parts..

pullejo

So...for the non-serious folks (that's me....someone who has ipod integration...with the ****ty factory system...but yes...its still manageable...).... This is totally not worth it?

I'd drop $1500 on a system that would replace our head units and integrate to our existing interfaces (dash, steering wheel, etc) in a HEARTBEAT....

...but I'm thinking that for a similar to OEM overhaul, it's more like $4K realistically?

AMGPilot

Well MB4tronic's list is incomplete and has some wrong prices on it

$4K outlay then you can sell off your old components for about $2K.

It does require quite a bit of Star Programming and you have to know what your are doing in order to make it work

pullejo

Yep....not worth it to me when I have a 160gb old school ipod that I sync regularly and just throw in that slot in the glove box.

Now...navigating on the steering wheel suck unless you make playlists for the new stuff you have...

Nowhere near what you get in a Ford Focus now.

Cylinder Head

iTrader: (1)

With the Media Interface Plus unit, it's worth every penny. You can bluetooth your ipod to it and stream pandora and mp3's. When connected you have much better control over the music etc. It's a great head unit.

gazosnic

This info is a bit conflicting than what i researched on other forums. Well at least someone elsewhere mentioned that the non command units w/o nav / non HK e.g. 20 etc are more plug and play since they do not use the fiber optic system.

In this case I think all that was required other than the headunit was a new wire harness.

Also in this case I dont think you would NEED to rip everything out - but you could to sell. The reason being the new HU has everything integrated so the other parts are therefore no longer used.

SOmeone can maybe verify - but from searching around i believe this is the case. Now if you presently have older Nav unit then the info posted about would be correct.

Toadster

no kidding, that is a good deal

here's a video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynYf0NmAkf8

Ryououki

Based on that video, I'd say it's utter shiz. It is running on a very slow processor as the transitions take forever! That would drive me insane. Plus it looks like the touchscreen is not very accurate and/or responsive based on how many times he had to touch the same spots a few times.

I'd be very careful when dealing with cheap items like that.

Toadster

agreed, not something I'd want running Windows CE - but they also make Android versions as well - maybe not for the 211, but it seems they have some decent development going on...

I need to talk to some guys at work, most likely could build some really cool demos around this kind of stuff...

AMGPilot

Incorrect info. You have to have the MOST ring (Fiber optics) in the car already since NTG 2.5 is MOST not DB2. Everything in my previous post has to done, all original non NTG 2.5 modules have to be removed from the optical ring since they are not compatible