Buy BT module or new COMAND?

[Kingpin!]

Hi forum!

I recently bought a 2006 R350. The car has COMAND APS installed and I've tried following the manual and successfully paired my Android phone with it. Problem is when I press the Telephone button on COMAND I get something like "insert or connect phone", so I guess I need a Bluetooth module like Viseeo to be able to use COMAND properly with my phone and be able to talk "handsfree"? I don't know how much a good price is for a Viseeo (MB4?) but I was thinking, if it's very easy to exchange my COMAND unit for a newer version then maybe I don't need any Bluetooth module at all and I get a lot of other stuff at the same time?

I also have a CD-changer if that changes anything.

Any guidance is appreciated here!

TIA!

 

[Alfie]

Hi forum!

I recently bought a 2006 R350. The car has COMAND APS installed and I've tried following the manual and successfully paired my Android phone with it. Problem is when I press the Telephone button on COMAND I get something like "insert or connect phone", so I guess I need a Bluetooth module like Viseeo to be able to use COMAND properly with my phone and be able to talk "handsfree"? I don't know how much a good price is for a Viseeo (MB4?) but I was thinking, if it's very easy to exchange my COMAND unit for a newer version then maybe I don't need any Bluetooth module at all and I get a lot of other stuff at the same time?

I also have a CD-changer if that changes anything.

Any guidance is appreciated here!

TIA!

A cradle will cost £199 whereas changing the Comand will cost around £1400.

 

[Kingpin!]

A cradle will cost £199 whereas changing the Comand will cost around £1400.

Alfie, thanks for your reply!

First of all, price is of course always a factor but I will have to value what I would get from taking the bigger step up to a newer COMAND unit. I saw a NTG2.5 unit for a bit more than a third of the price you suggested (but that is of course without installation).

Anyhow, how is the sound/speech quality compared between the Viseeo unit and NTG2.5? Do I get more Bluetooth functionality from the COMAND unit?

One option I haven't considered is that I do happen to have a 6310i around somewhere which I used some 10 years ago, is that a good option perhaps (with a cradle and my present COMAND unit)?

 

[Kingpin!]

Can anybody with experience shed some light on this?

Today I have:
R350 2006
COMAND APS (DVD (NTG2 I guess))
Standard sound (no Harman Kardon)
UHI connector in the center armrest
6CD CD-changer in the glove compartment

If I were to upgrade to the NTG2.5 option:
Is the Bluetooth sound just as good as a Viseeo unit and will most modern phones work?

Will the inbuilt microphone(s) in the car (the one used with UHI and a cradle) be used?
Will the present factory GPS antenna be used?
Will the CD-changer be obsolete?
Will the UHI connector be obsolete?

What are the requirements apart from the NTG2.5 unit itself (are the cables plug'n'play, does the car need recoding etc.)?

If I want to add a camera (reverse), what's the easiest route and what parts are needed?

TIA!

 

[Alfie]

Can anybody with experience shed some light on this?

Today I have:
R350 2006
COMAND APS (DVD (NTG2 I guess))
Standard sound (no Harman Kardon)
UHI connector in the center armrest
6CD CD-changer in the glove compartment

If I were to upgrade to the NTG2.5 option:
Is the Bluetooth sound just as good as a Viseeo unit and will most modern phones work?

Will the inbuilt microphone(s) in the car (the one used with UHI and a cradle) be used?
Will the present factory GPS antenna be used?
Will the CD-changer be obsolete?
Will the UHI connector be obsolete?

What are the requirements apart from the NTG2.5 unit itself (are the cables plug'n'play, does the car need recoding etc.)?

If I want to add a camera (reverse), what's the easiest route and what parts are needed?

TIA!

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
& Yes

You will need a retrofit kit here;
A/B/CLC/ML/GL/R COMAND NTG2.5 (Hard Disk) retrofit kit - cars with phone. | COMAND Retrofit parts | Mercedes Retrofits | Comand Online Ltd

Reverse camera can be added but it depends on your exact model year of car whether you can go with genuine Mercedes or use an aftermarket solution.

 

[Ian Donkin]

In our '56 plate R-class the Viseeo was not great, but it's brilliant in our GL of a similar age... It's much cheaper option IMHO than an NTG 2.5 upgrade and the address book sync on the Viseeo (we bought from Alfie) is much better.

I have NTG 2.5 in my W211 and full postcode aside, I don't see much benefit in real life use to the earlier system.

 

[Kingpin!]

Thanks (Alfie) for the input! I assume that you mean that the car needs (or "should" get ) a re-coding after physical installation?

As I understand you, the converter cables that you offer is easily reverted so I can keep my present COMAND APS + CD-changer?

Ian - for me I see the other benefits as well; be able to play loads of MP3s (kind of dissapointed now that I cannot select folders from my CD-changer), be able to entertain the kids while waiting for my wife in a shop (with a DVD movie), have the opportunity to install a reversing camera if I want to. I'm sure there are other benefits as well (better navigation?) but that's the main ones I think.

I already installed COMAND 2.0 into my W168 some 6 years ago and that is something I never regretted even though that was a more complicated retrofit compared to this (installing GPS antenna + making (from scratch) a nice looking plastic frame to make it look factory installed (never was an option from MB for W168 though!)).

 

[Alfie]

Thanks (Alfie) for the input! I assume that you mean that the car needs (or "should" get ) a re-coding after physical installation?

As I understand you, the converter cables that you offer is easily reverted so I can keep my present COMAND APS + CD-changer?

Ian - for me I see the other benefits as well; be able to play loads of MP3s (kind of dissapointed now that I cannot select folders from my CD-changer), be able to entertain the kids while waiting for my wife in a shop (with a DVD movie), have the opportunity to install a reversing camera if I want to. I'm sure there are other benefits as well (better navigation?) but that's the main ones I think.

I already installed COMAND 2.0 into my W168 some 6 years ago and that is something I never regretted even though that was a more complicated retrofit compared to this (installing GPS antenna + making (from scratch) a nice looking plastic frame to make it look factory installed (never was an option from MB for W168 though!)).

The converter kit allows you to connect the NTG 2.5 to the cars existing wiring/mics etc. The Cd changer you have already becomes redundant.

The Navigation is way better than the NTG2 you have at present.

 

[Kingpin!]

Is the ntg2.5 with inbuilt CD-changer more prone to faults compared to the 1-CD variant? If the 1-CD is much more common maybe then it better in the long run (thinking cheaper repairs/parts)?

Simply put; which variant to opt for?

Also, Alfie (or someone else who might know) - if I buy the conversion kit suggested by Alfie, do I still need recoding with a dealer and if so, is that something all dealers can do and how much is reasonable to charge for that type of service?

 

[markjay]

I have the NTG2.5 (retrofitted by Alfie) and was somewhat concerned initially about having the model with just a single CD and no changer.

In the 3 years that I've had it, I have never once used the CD player (well, apart from some testing when the unit was new).

Between the Music Store on the internal HDD and the SD card slot, I just don't need the CD player anymore.

 

[Kingpin!]

I still have one remaining (actually two) question(s);

If I buy the conversion kit suggested by Alfie, do I still need recoding with a dealer and if so, is that something all dealers can do and how much is reasonable to charge for that type of service? Since I have factory-fitted COMAND (with instrument cluster display etc.) maybe I do not need recoding?

Also, if I want to add a reversing camera will I need recoding or is that something that I can enable myself via "engineering mode" or similar menu option?

 

[Alfie]

I still have one remaining (actually two) question(s);

If I buy the conversion kit suggested by Alfie, do I still need recoding with a dealer and if so, is that something all dealers can do and how much is reasonable to charge for that type of service? Since I have factory-fitted COMAND (with instrument cluster display etc.) maybe I do not need recoding?

Also, if I want to add a reversing camera will I need recoding or is that something that I can enable myself via "engineering mode" or similar menu option?

You wont need the cluster coded but you almost certainly will need the comand coded.

The reversing camera can be coded on at the time the unit is coded to the car so when you add it later it will just work.

Where are you based?

 

[Kingpin!]

You wont need the cluster coded but you almost certainly will need the comand coded.

The reversing camera can be coded on at the time the unit is coded to the car so when you add it later it will just work.

Where are you based?

So you're saying that camera enabling can be done prior to fitting, are there any drawbacks if a camera is not present or why isn't every unit programmed like this by default?

Does the COMAND unit itself have any button for Linguatronic commands or is the button on the steering wheel the only option to access Linguatronic?

Will this kit be all needed to enable Linguatronic (if not available on the unit itself); Mercedes Linguatronic steering wheel buttons for ML/GL/R upto MY2008 | Linguatronic VCS retrofit | Mercedes Retrofits | Comand Online Ltd
Is that kit something that can be fitted easily without involving a dealer/pro or does it require lots of work including coding + additional parts?

 

[Alfie]

So you're saying that camera enabling can be done prior to fitting, are there any drawbacks if a camera is not present or why isn't every unit programmed like this by default?

Does the COMAND unit itself have any button for Linguatronic commands or is the button on the steering wheel the only option to access Linguatronic?

Will this kit be all needed to enable Linguatronic (if not available on the unit itself); Mercedes Linguatronic steering wheel buttons for ML/GL/R upto MY2008 | Linguatronic VCS retrofit | Mercedes Retrofits | Comand Online Ltd
Is that kit something that can be fitted easily without involving a dealer/pro or does it require lots of work including coding + additional parts?

The camera activation causes the screen to switch automatically to the rear video input so if there is no camera the screen goes blank. It is only enabled on cars with the camera but we can enable it ready for a camera to be fitted if you dont mind the screen going blank when you select reverse, until the camera is fitted.

Linguatronic can only be activated by the steering wheel buttons on your car.

 

[Kingpin!]

I've received the COMAND unit as well as the conversion kit (A/B/CLC/ML/GL/R COMAND NTG2.5 (Hard Disk) retrofit kit - cars with phone. | COMAND Retrofit parts | Mercedes Retrofits | Comand Online Ltd).

I removed the thermotronic panel and after that the old COMAND unit. After removing the cables I got a couple of new questions and before proceeding further I thought I would kindly ask you guys once again to be sure.

I've attached 3 photos, one with the label for the harness, one with 3 connectors and one with a big connector.

The blue cable is for the GPS antenna, that I know.

The black cable, is that the inbuilt radio antenna?

The yellow cable, is that bluetooth antenna? Is that cable possible to use with the NTG2.5 unit as well (thinking it's the same colors) or is it quite simply another kind of antenna or not even bluetooth and not possible to use between the 2 units?

Also, the last cable (of the kit I bought) is for hooking with the inbuilt microphone(s) that's already there due to the car being fitted with UHI, must that be connected or is it possible to connect bluetooth, gps, radio antennas and use the unit until I remove the dash etc. to connect the long microphone cable? Will the other cables in the big connector screw things up or even, is there incompatability so the unit might be damaged?


Thanks!

 

[Kingpin!]

The black cable is obviously the main radio antenna cable and which goes into the splitter that came with the kit. And the bluetooth, I've connected the supplied antenna as well.

Anybody have a tip on how to remove pins from the big connector ("quadlock"?)? I need to disconnect pin 13.

Again, can the big connector be connected (with the wire inserted in pin 13 and in it's original location) without damaging the NTG2.5?

Thanks!

 

[richard]

You do need to remove it, as you don't know what its connnected to in the COMAND.

Look at side of the quadlock, there is a purple latch pin, pull that out (using small screwdriver.
Then, get a paper clip, straighten it out and fold it over, so the 2 ends are parallel about 2mm apart. Then look at the face of the quadlock, and work out which pin is the one you want to remove. Insert the paper clip "pins" in the little slots to the outside of the pin you want to remove whilst pulling on the wire from behind


Richard

 

[Kingpin!]

You do need to remove it, as you don't know what its connnected to in the COMAND.

Look at side of the quadlock, there is a purple latch pin, pull that out (using small screwdriver.
Then, get a paper clip, straighten it out and fold it over, so the 2 ends are parallel about 2mm apart. Then look at the face of the quadlock, and work out which pin is the one you want to remove. Insert the paper clip "pins" in the little slots to the outside of the pin you want to remove whilst pulling on the wire from behind


Richard

Thanks for the instruction, Richard! I managed to extract the wire!

I connected the unit without the microphone cable connected in the other end (so I don't get full hands free until I connect it). Did'nt get any radio reception though which is a bit strange but maybe the black cable wasn't correct or the splitter connector fell out, have to investigate I guess. So, so far so good, next is to finalize the installation of the microphone cable and start using the unit. And, in some time, when I've found the correct hardware I'll try to connect a reversing camera.

 

[Kingpin!]

I'm getting zero radio reception, no FM/AM and other bands. I've checked that the black fakra is connected to the splitter and that the splitter cable is attached to the COMAND unit, so that seems to be good.

The yellow fakra (from reading what the outputs are on the old unit @ mercupgrades.com (http://www.mercupgrades.com/COMAND+APS+FAQ-faq-10.html)) is supposed to be "2nd FM aerial", shall I connect that to the splitter instead?

Also, is coding necessary at all since the unit seems to be working without problems and text/symbols comes up on the instrument panel/cluster and I can control the unit from the buttons on the steering wheel?

Thanks!

 

[Alfie]

I'm getting zero radio reception, no FM/AM and other bands. I've checked that the black fakra is connected to the splitter and that the splitter cable is attached to the COMAND unit, so that seems to be good.

The yellow fakra (from reading what the outputs are on the old unit @ mercupgrades.com (http://www.mercupgrades.com/COMAND+APS+FAQ-faq-10.html)) is supposed to be "2nd FM aerial", shall I connect that to the splitter instead?

Also, is coding necessary at all since the unit seems to be working without problems and text/symbols comes up on the instrument panel/cluster and I can control the unit from the buttons on the steering wheel?

Thanks!

Have you moved or connected up the antenna amp power?

Stick with the black Fakra only for FM. Ignore the existing yellow fakra.

Once you hook up the antenna amp power it will burst into life.

email us on [email protected] if you need more help.