C220 (W203) 2003... 10 way ISO 10 or not?

[fabes]

Hi

Nicely done

Clever trick with the Parrot - though I need that empty Din Slot to put 'stuff'

Good news on the SWC usability as well

Tempted but fund less at the moment and the DICE kit does at least allow me to survive a little longer

 

[omega1]

Amber SMD LED's arrived today for the Parrot CK3100.. .WIll be swapping them out tomorrow, i'll let you know how it goes and either post cool pics of a new Amber display parrot or a parrot with no backlight display!!

 

[omega1]

Well... Here we are...

First, let me explain how hard it was, take a look at the pics, Parrot in pieces, TINY SMD LED´s, two examples, next post and pics, finished product...

In case you wonder what the bottom two pics are, take a look at my finger, thats the LED!

In the last one, the LED can be seen on one of the Parrot buttons!!

 

[omega1]

Well... Here we are! All done, a Parrot Ck3100 with customised Amber LED´s to match the OEM display!

How chuffed am I?! But it was hard work! Well worth it I think, can´t wait to see what it looks like at night!

 

[omega1]

sorry to bump, just thought i'd upload the night pic on the modified CK3100

 

[lexuscol]

Brilliant post, I too have a 2003 W203 and I understand the wiring ring for the audio is D2B, Did you have to change or buy any other adapters/leads.
My audio 10 has gone us on the cd unit and I fancy a change but keep getting conflicting reports as to whether I can change mine.
Cheers
Col

 

[omega1]

Brilliant post, I too have a 2003 W203 and I understand the wiring ring for the audio is D2B, Did you have to change or buy any other adapters/leads.
My audio 10 has gone us on the cd unit and I fancy a change but keep getting conflicting reports as to whether I can change mine.
Cheers
Col

Thanks Col, not sure about the D2B bit, don't quite understand this. The connectors that go into the back of the Audio10 are the ones in post #13 on this thread, bottom pic. I didn't need any adaptors for a standard head unit, the only adaptor I needed was for the steering remote control to work with the Head Unit, I suggest you check the unit that you intend to use and see if they make an adaptor for the steering remote controls (if of course you want to continue using these), I also had conflicting info on whether this would work or not...

I'm very happy with the choice that I made and it has made a difference to the audio quality, not to mention that fact that I can still use the steering controls for both volume and changing tracks, with the only annoyance that by using the 'change track' buttons on the steering wheel, it also changes the display, but i'd rather have that than it not do it, I guess with the original head unit you wi=ould still have to change to the audio screen to change tracks, so is no big difference!

If only I could get the display up.... Hmmmm, another little project!

 

[lexuscol]

Thanks for that info, I will take my unit out and have a look at what is already there then take the decision which system to go for.
Regards
Col

 

[lexuscol]

Hi again Omega, I have the very same set up as yours, wondering though what the small plug does can you explain ? is it for the cd changer wiring or something? I do not have a cd changer fitted.
So it looks like I can put the same system in. Is the sound quality OK?
Col

 

[omega1]

Hi, not sure about the small plug (if you mean the small coax connector? Looks like an SMA or SMC but can't really remember). I'm thinking that it is a lead that brings up some kind of signal related to the speed of the car that could be used for increasing the volume of the system and/or the feature for the satnav to continue working when it loses its GPS signal (by calculating the speed of the car, etc...). The other connectors you can see in the pic earlier in the post are power, speakers, remote control and antenna.
The sound quality is very good, I have only used MP3 discs (lower compressed quality), USB (MP3 again) and the radio and am very impressed with the audio quality, it does take some setting up (audio settings, driving position, parametric EQ) and have to admit that I havent done this properly yet, but I cant fault it at all, and being an ex-audio engineer I am quite critical! In fairness, the Audio10 wasnt bad, but this unit, in my opinion is better than the Audio10 CD is (judging it on audio quality only, not features). Obviously, in features, the unit is very, very good and I highly recommend it.

My ONLY bad point, if I had to really try to fault it (so far) is that the display looks a bit 'plastic' and reflects the light which 'sometimes' makes it hard to read, but i'm being really picky here!

Any other questions, just ask!

 

[lexuscol]

Did you use it on the new setup or discard it?
Col

 

[omega1]

disregarded it, the new setup couldnt (as far as i could see) use it.

 

[lexuscol]

Sorry Omega one final question.
The audio 10 went in on a slide how did you mount the Kenwood to keep it rigid in the facia?
Col

 

[omega1]

The Kenwood comes with its own 'chassis' (i can only describe it as that) which has 'metal bits/tags' (sorry, clearly having problems describing things this evening!) that you bend back behind the fascia to keep it in place. The head unit then slides into this exterior chassis and clips into place. The Fascia has four holes that you screw into the cars exposed dash to keep the fascia in place.

 

[omega1]

the closest I can find to show you is in this image, it is the thin metal surrounding of the unit show in the iage in the link, it is a think metal chassis that you put into the fascia and the 'tag' like bits are bent around the back of the fascia to keep it in place. This comes with the Kenwood (and indeed all head units, to me knowledge)

Apart from the fascia, you do not need any other bits (well, you will need an antenna adaptor as i mentioned earlier in the thread)

Hope this helps.

http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/products/2008/130/h130P7000BT-B_dg.jpeg

 

[lexuscol]

That clears that up for me thank you. Going to order the bits now.
Probably going for the bluetooth unit and forgo the adapter lead for the steering wheel as I don't have a parrot and am not good enough to solder those small Leds in? Although I notice you can't change the colours on the BT unit but I think I can live with that.
Thanks again for your help, I wil let you know how I get on.
Col

 

[omega1]

Yes, you cant change the colour on the bluetooth model, I would have gone for that model but decided to go for the OEM colour of amber... Good luck and let us know how you get on!

 

[richard]

The little coax is the diverse FM antenna and can be safely ignored. If your car has factory Phone or BOSE sound system or CD changer then there will also be a fibre optic (D2B) connection - this will give you a load of problems because the items on fibre optic wont work anymore. So, if your car has BOSE then no sound :-(
Also, if you remove the ashtray its easy to get to the screws above it (and less risk of damaging panel) Ashtray is removed by first removing gear lever surround panel which just pulls up from the edge near the ashtray, then ashtray unclips.

*Great* mod to the Parrot kit !!

R

 

[PaulWilkinsUK]

Thank you..

I installed a Kenwood 2DIN DPX503U head unit and was wondering which SWC to buy as my car just seems to fall in between the model year change i.e prior Sept 2002 and after Jan 2003 (Typical) Indeed its a 10pin ISO however mine also includes extra cabling for the CD changer in the glovebox (now removed). I've placed my order with the people mentioned in the thread.. lets see what happens!

Cheers.

 

[rima57]

Very good job omega ! Thanks