Aftermarket Sat Nav Unit

[dazzawm]

Has anyone had any experience with aftermarket sat nav units like the attached link? Any problems with them, will all the steering wheel functions still work with it etc.? Thanks.

7?Android 6.0 Car Stereo GPS Sat Nav DAB+Mercedes Benz C/CLC/CLK Class W203 W209 | eBay

 

[tanuie]

Hi, i have had a few sat navs but i allway's buy a well known make, ie Pioneer, Kenwood, the Chinese sat navs don't have a very good reputation as i have looked into this myself, they seem to do all of the functions some of the time but not allways. I think you would be better off buying a known make, a lot of people will disagree but that is what i have found. Good luck with whatever you choose.

 

[Alfie]

Has anyone had any experience with aftermarket sat nav units like the attached link? Any problems with them, will all the steering wheel functions still work with it etc.? Thanks.

7?Android 6.0 Car Stereo GPS Sat Nav DAB+Mercedes Benz C/CLC/CLK Class W203 W209 | eBay

Many of these cheap Chinese clones dont do what they claim. Integration is very limited and quality is very poor.

If you want to go aftermarket then look at Alpine or Pioneer. Quality is infinitely superior to the 'clones'.

 

[MikeHartley]

I had one of these units in my Rover 75 a while ago. The navigation was spot-on, much better than my Comand in the CLK. The radio, however, was pretty poor - kept losing stations and having to be re-tuned. These sets were going for about £50 not long ago - there is a very good thread on the 75&ZT owners club forum (members name, Dallas).

PS - the steering controls did work!

 

[dazzawm]

If you want to go aftermarket then look at Alpine or Pioneer. Quality is infinitely superior to the 'clones'.

Do you have any links please, are these going to be of a similar price to genuine MB?

 

[kid-jensen]

Plenty of Adroid based units on ebay.

For the price, they're worth a go. Mine is the earlier generation Windows CE version but it works well and sounds pretty good.

 

[Sean2e0saf]

i would like to know if the aftermarket android units are ok to work with the parking sensors.. on the 220 w204

does the beep sound still come through the system..?

i have been looking at one of these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262889314464?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

[renault12ts]

I have one in my CL. It's great and the sat nav is wonderful especially when compared to COMAND.

 

[Lit91]

With all of those comments regarding quality, I don't see how it could be any worse than the Comand units, especially when running on Android.

I haven't tried one, but guess it will have no issues handling the basic functions of playing music from various sources, navigating and operating a telephone.

 

[kid-jensen]

I hadn't thought about the parking bleeps coming through the sound system, but I guess they must do, as the rear bleps come from the rear and vice-versa.

So, in answer to your question, yes, mine does work!

It actually looks so anthentic, I had to post a picture here before someone told me it wasn't an actual COMAND!

 

[markjay]

I think the issue with after-market Android infotainment units is not that they do not work, but that without having specific brand names to go by, it is impossible to tell if that Chinese unit going cheap on eBay is actually good, or perhaps it will preform poorly, then overheat and blow a fuse etc.

There is also the issue of full integration with the steering wheel controls, instrument cluster display, and other car systems (where applicable) e.g. memory seats, heater fan controls, etc.

But this is something most owners will probably be willing to live with if it means they get a good system that cost half as much as COMAND and is more flexible in terms of the software it can run.

Again - the issue is knowing which one to buy and which one to avoid....

PS - I had COMAND retrofitted to both my current and previous cars mainly because I wanted the original OEM look and feel, as well as the integration with the rest of the car, and this is how I prefer it, but I do accept that having an Android-based system is a more flexible solution.

 

[Alfie]

The parking system does not use the cars audio system. Its separate, unlike a BMW!

I part own and run a Car audio/security business in Lightwater. We supply and fit numerous devices into cars. Of all the aftermarket units we have seen Alpine has the best quality and reliability. Next is Pioneer. We had too many problems with Kenwood units so we stopped selling them.

We fitted one of those Chinese clones for a chap who had been bought it by his girlfriend. It physically fitted okay but just didnt work well. He came back the next day and asked us to remove it.

We have since then removed around 7 or 8 of these things for customers who just hated them due to reliability and the awful colour schemes they tend to have. One of the big distributors of these things (TTints) approached us to resell them as did Caska. We declined. Subsequently we had an ex employee of a distributor tell us they had had well over 50% of these things returned due to failure.

Comand units may not be the best in terms of features but the build quality and integration into your Mercedes is unsurpassed.

Just to add to this that I personally wouldnt touch Android or Windows. Of all the customers who come through our door with phone issues in their cars by far and away the biggest group is Samsung Android, followed by windows phones.

 

[dazzawm]

The parking system does not use the cars audio system. Its separate, unlike a BMW!

I part own and run a Car audio/security business in Lightwater. We supply and fit numerous devices into cars. Of all the aftermarket units we have seen Alpine has the best quality and reliability. Next is Pioneer. We had too many problems with Kenwood units so we stopped selling them.

We fitted one of those Chinese clones for a chap who had been bought it by his girlfriend. It physically fitted okay but just didnt work well. He came back the next day and asked us to remove it.

We have since then removed around 7 or 8 of these things for customers who just hated them due to reliability and the awful colour schemes they tend to have. One of the big distributors of these things (TTints) approached us to resell them as did Caska. We declined. Subsequently we had an ex employee of a distributor tell us they had had well over 50% of these things returned due to failure.

Comand units may not be the best in terms of features but the build quality and integration into your Mercedes is unsurpassed.

Just to add to this that I personally wouldnt touch Android or Windows. Of all the customers who come through our door with phone issues in their cars by far and away the biggest group is Samsung Android, followed by windows phones.

Have you a link to an Alpine or Pioneer that you would recommend please?

 

[clk320x]

The parking system does not use the cars audio system. Its separate, unlike a BMW!

I part own and run a Car audio/security business in Lightwater. We supply and fit numerous devices into cars. Of all the aftermarket units we have seen Alpine has the best quality and reliability. Next is Pioneer. We had too many problems with Kenwood units so we stopped selling them.

We fitted one of those Chinese clones for a chap who had been bought it by his girlfriend. It physically fitted okay but just didnt work well. He came back the next day and asked us to remove it.

We have since then removed around 7 or 8 of these things for customers who just hated them due to reliability and the awful colour schemes they tend to have. One of the big distributors of these things (TTints) approached us to resell them as did Caska. We declined. Subsequently we had an ex employee of a distributor tell us they had had well over 50% of these things returned due to failure.

Comand units may not be the best in terms of features but the build quality and integration into your Mercedes is unsurpassed.

Just to add to this that I personally wouldnt touch Android or Windows. Of all the customers who come through our door with phone issues in their cars by far and away the biggest group is Samsung Android, followed by windows phones.

Im very happy with the SPH-DA120 fitted by COMAND in my CLK, and excellent fitting service too!

 

[dafrog]

Do you have a link to the Alpine system please and an idea of price fitted. 2008 CLK Coupe/

 

[l5foye]

I have had 2 Chinese models (Hualingan and Eroda). One fitted to a ML for 7+ years and one fitted to a BMW (3+ years). Both had been entirely fault free. In my opinion they were far superior to COMAND. They were bought in China for approx £200 each. Updating the maps cost next to nothing.