Facelift W211 E Class - how to bring Audio from 20th century to 21st?

[Stocho]

I do not require anything special - just something that virtually any 21st century car "radio" has: the ability to use SD Card / UBS Stick loaded with mp3 files. Even 10 years ago (before the W211 facelift) most "radios" even the ones under 50 pounds had this feature .... not Mercedes.

With W210 the solution was simple - through away Mercedes unit and replace it with even a very cheap one from Maplins / Argos / Halfords etc. But W211 console does not follow the standard car "radio" slot. Is it feasible to somehow install an after-market audio system or do something to aquire ability to play mp3?

 

[herby thr cls]

Parrot MK9200 Brilliant bit of kit, Blue tooth hands free, SD card and USB, get the SOT lead to connect up to the merc radio/audio no need to cut into any leads, fitted one to the wifes car last week and well impressed, bought from Halfords on line deal £139 + £15.99 for the SOT lead.

 

[gIzzE]

I didn't like the 9200, the amp is a small 5w thing and sounded rough as imho. I took it out after a week.


What year is your W211, it makes a difference, and any harman upgrade?

 

[Porteo]

The multi media interface connected to an old iPod classic works very well in my opinion, you get the choice of genre, artist, album etc without the need to double up on tracks to put in different folders. Old classics can by picked up on eBay for not much more than the price of a large capacity sd card/USB stick

 

[Stocho]

What year is your W211, it makes a difference, and any harman upgrade?

Thanks for the replies.

The one I have already is 56 plate E320CDI - so the very earliest facelift. It does not have a big screen with Sat Nav - the most basic radio.

Thinking of buying 57 plate saloon with a Command but no harman upgrade.

Ideally would like something that integrates fully as otherwise the car will be cluttered with external sat navs + similar sized audio system and possibly camera system as well.

 

[PXW]

Talk to Comand.co.uk (Unique car sound and security in Lightwater Surrey) - Alfie and Richard on here. They are experts on all of this and I'm sure they can sort out something for less than the cost/hassle of changing your car!

 

[Stocho]

Is there an easy way to throw away Mercedes audio / command and replace it with a cheap (in my case free as will pull it out from my W210) after market music player that will take SD cards and play mp3s? I would imagine I need adaptors of some sort to convert the huge hole that removal of mercedes audio will produce to the standard audio hole.

Yes, it will look less elegant, no doubt about it, but infinitely more functional as I have been totally without music for almost a year in my current car that was manufactured almost 10 years after mp3 format became mainstream.

Or perhaps there is something that could be fitted into the compartment below mercedes audio command. I would then unplug it totally but leave it and use the car audio unit installed below it.

In W210 throwing away 6 disc changer and Mercedes audio and installing mp3 capable cheap but infinitely superior unit took me about 30 minutes leisurely DIY. I understand this will be unrealistic but still hoping something that I could do myself in 60-90 minutes.

 

[John]

I record all of my music collection on to around 4 or 5 DVDs and play those in the DVD player in the dash.

I only have to change the disc every couple of months.

 

[Stocho]

I record all of my music collection on to around 4 or 5 DVDs and play those in the DVD player in the dash.

I only have to change the disc every couple of months.

Thanks for the reply, might have to use this option...

Do you record them as data DVD with mp3 files or some other format?

Does it display file name or mp3 tag for files or just track number as with the old CDAudio players?

 

[John]

Yes - you record them like you would files.

To get the names showing correctly - it takes a little bit of work in terms of naming folders and files due to limitations of the head unit.

If I add anything to my main music library, I simply copy the folder it creates to my car music library at the same time and rename it as well as removing anything other than the MP3s underneath (I use Windows Media Player with Windows 7 to RIP them). Then next time I re-write the DVDs, anything I added is included.

Here is a write-up I did on this not longer after I joined - hopefully it will be useful!

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/electronics/108129-playing-mp3-music-w211-e-class.html

The only postscript I would add is that I record the discs as slow as possible (there is a setting in Roxio to slow it right down) to ensure the best quality write.

I notice the MB head unit is more reliable and faster having done this.

 

[S-class]

I'm in exactly the same boat, considering something like this CTKMB06 Mercedes E Class W211 2002> Radio Installation Kit | Car Audio Direct along with a double din head unit.