Anybody have experience fitting aftermarket dab antenna?

[Enigma84]

Hi. I have read of quite a few that have replaced the rear windscreen antenna with an aftermarket antenna such as the kinetic dra-6003 or some other roof mounted dab antenna. I have tried many replacement antenna amplifiers such as the one mounted in the head liner and the left c pillar with no luck. I am now at the stage I want a replacement roof mounted one as I've wasted so much time and money with Mercedes and want something that works. I tried following the fakra connector from the amplifier in the headlining down to the left and under the back seat bench. I have pulled down the head lining, the left rear side trim and now pulled up the rear bench. I thought the head lining one would join up with the one in the c pillar, but I can't follow it back enough without stripping the car back completely. Before I go too far and brake something, can anybody that has done this successfully, give me some advice. I know the amplifier in the headlining has something to do with keylocking. When I've detached this fakra the can only locks on infrared. When I've detached either of the fakras going into the c pillar amplifier the remote locking works at a distance.
Any and all advice appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[My320CLK]

I bought a cheap £60 one off amazom you stick it to the front screen, then has a little box and using a line in - into the aux - it works well you do get the odd drop out in certain places but on the whole works fine,

I think the key is to ensure the copper part that attaches to the A piller is contatcting bare metal and not paint,

I can dig up the link if interested

 

[Enigma84]

Please if you could.

 

[My320CLK]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B074KY6XG1/?tag=amazon0e9db-21

Is the one

 

[garycat]

I bought a Kinetic from dabonwheels that I fitted to the Mazda I had at the time. I think it was this one.

Kinetic DRA-6001 DAB/DAB+/FM/SW/MW/LW car aerial - DAB on Wheels

It was way better than the window mount one that came with the Pure Highway DAB unit, but the main issue was that it used unusual connectors. So make sure you get the right adaptor for your radio, and have a 12v switched feed to the aerial.

 

[gIzzE]

I used the Kinetic DRA-6003 and drove all over the UK in the ML and only ever lost reception once, going from the M8 over to Edinburgh, going through a village it dropped out for about 5 seconds.

When I retrofitted Dab to my S212 I used one of these...

NEW DAB DAB+ RADIO ANTENNA AERIAL BLACK FAKRA VW AUDI SEAT SKODA RNS510 RNS315 | eBay

Never noticed it cut out anywhere, and certainly better than the OEM antenna in the rear window.

 

[such01]

my DAB reception is pretty pants, would the above antenna help? Where have you mounted the aerial? Thanks

 

[gIzzE]

I put it in the windscreen, but that was mainly because my dab tuner was in the passenger footwell, not sure f that is the oem location?

If it is in the rear I would have put in in the rear window.

 

[such01]

Is the DAB not integrated within COMMAND?

 

[moog999]

I put it in the windscreen, but that was mainly because my dab tuner was in the passenger footwell, not sure f that is the oem location?

If it is in the rear I would have put in in the rear window.

Can you let us know how you did the retrofit. I'm really keen to get dab in my late 2011 s212. Looking at compromising with one of the pure highway gizmos but it'd be better done properlt obviously. I'm not in a position to just hand the car over to comand online with a large wad of cash, sadly.

 

[gIzzE]

I just bought a DAB module off ebay, two sorts, black one and silver one, one is for cars up to comand 4.0 (black) and the silver is for cars 4.5 and higher.

Then bought a dab cable from ebay too...

Mercedes DAB electrical loom NTG2.5 NTG4 NTG4.5 NTG5 | eBay

And one of those antennas I linked to earlier.

Then you go into the service menu and turn on the DAB option.


In fact here is the kit for NTG2.5 - NTG4.0 .......

Mercedes Dab Radio Ntg4 Ntg2.5 Oem parts. with power cables | eBay

 

[moog999]

.....
Then bought a dab cable from ebay too...

Mercedes DAB electrical loom NTG2.5 NTG4 NTG4.5 NTG5 | eBay

......

Just had a cheeky offer declined on the DAB module....need to try again,

That cable though, how much! Is that something that can be ordered direct from mercedes or does the ebay seller make them up himself? Seems like a shetload of cash for a bit of cabling!

As you may be able to tell, I am from Yorkshire and have a deep seated aversion to spending money.

 

[gIzzE]

You can buy all the bits, but he has made a harness up to make it truly plug and play.

In hindsight I wish I had bought the bits as it was a tight fit with the quadlock connectors behind the radio, if I had just taken the most cables out of the factory connector it would have been easier.

You do need to understand how the MOST loop works though and get power to the unit from somewhere if you do it yourself.

It would cost you around £60-70 in parts to do it yourself, and then you need to really know what you are doing too. Remember you are talking about fibre optic cables, the ends for them, connectors for the power etc. etc.

He is charging about £30-40 to make the cables up for you, still cheaper than speccing it new from Mercedes.

 

[Alfie]

The OEM location for the DAB tuner in a W204 is the boot.

There is the option of using an in2digi system which perfectly emulates the factory DAB.

in2Digi Mercedes integrated DAB Digital radio interface kit for NTG2.5, NTG3, NTG4, NTG4-W212 & NTG4.5 Systems

Comes with all the parts you need. Easy to install too.

 

[moog999]

Fair enough re the pre-made cable then, I suppose it's not too bad.

In the mean time, I have ordered one of these:-

UK Wireless Interface Bluetooth Music Adapter For Mercedes-Benz MMI AUX Cable | eBay

Hoping it will at least allow me to dispense with the unsightly aux cable plugged into my phone and allow BT streaming.

I can then come back to the DAB retrofit after my summer holidays, 3 weeks and counting, can't really justify any more expense on the car at the moment and this is a definite want, rather than an actual need.

 

[CabrioChap]

The OEM location for the DAB tuner in a W204 is the boot.

There is the option of using an in2digi system which perfectly emulates the factory DAB.

in2Digi Mercedes integrated DAB Digital radio interface kit for NTG2.5, NTG3, NTG4, NTG4-W212 & NTG4.5 Systems

Comes with all the parts you need. Easy to install too.

I’m a bit fed up with my Merc DAB tuner if I’m honest, it cuts out regularly on my commute (which I think is the issue where the station list gets too long) will the in2Digi tuner cause the same issue?

 

[richard]

CabrioChap. The in2digi does not suffer from the 100 station issue, and its reception (in our opinion) is better than the Mercedes tuner, and it will drive the factory antenna (which needs phantom fed power at the correct voltage), so you can just replace the factory tuner with an in2digi.
It is often used to replace the black (older) factory tuner as in2digi supports DAB+ and the black one does not, and plenty of Europe is using DAB+ not DAB (and in fact there are some DAB+ stations that pop up in UK too)

However, I would actually suggest that you just have the firmware update done on the factory tuner (which will update the COMAND and other audio components) if you repeatedly see 'Device Unavailable' on the screen when listening to DAB.

Richard

 

[CabrioChap]

Sadly that's not an option any more.. my car is off to be serviced in a couple of weeks so I was going to ask the dealer to update the firmware, as the DAB module is one I installed myself, I thought I would have another go at getting it installed in the correct location on the MOST ring - so the firmware update wouldn't complain about that.
Unfortunately in dismantling my DIY wiring loom, I managed to install the power connector the wrong way round and fried the DAB module.
So I've ordered an in2digi one from yourselves and will install that instead.