Double-DIN fascia for W168 facelift

[removed]

I need to tap into collective wisdom of MBClub

As I replaced Audio30 with double-DIN Pioneer in my A190 in Nassau without any problem, I set off to do the same here, for the facelift A160. No such luck! Can't for the life of me find a suitable fascia and cage kit - there are quite a few for the original W168, including Connects2 I used in Nassau ( MERCEDES A CLASS Double Din Fascia Fitting Kit CT23MB08 | eBay ), but seemingly none for the facelift model

Can anyone help? There must be some kit sitting on a shelf collecting dust somewhere ... I'll take a used one too - anything to get it done!

Here's the dash trim cover link to give an idea of the shape: mercedes A class dash trim cover a1686802136 | eBay
(pictured upside-down here)

Tried a C class fascia, which is a very similar shape but unfortunately not a match.

 

[npuk]

Remove stereo and cd holder from underneath, cut the divider and you have a double din hole practically.

Celsus only list two fascias for the W168: http://www.celsusice.co.uk/chooser_model_387_fascia.php

 

[removed]

Remove stereo and cd holder from underneath, cut the divider and you have a double din hole practically

Thanks Already done that :bannana:

Celsus only list two fascias for the W168: Celsus ICE - car audio accessories

Yep, this is the one I bought, based on info available:
Celsus ICE - car audio accessories

It looks like the right shape etc, but for some reason just a couple of mm off (wider). I have now bought a new dash trim and will try to play with it and the facia to see if I can get it sorted. Will post some pics, if successful

 

[removed]

Well, upon closer examination, couple of mm turned out to be more like 12mm Wasn't quite obvious because the C-class facia is curved and W168 facelift needs flat top and curved bottom (I just read that and my mind went way off the media unit installation subject )

Anyway, spend almost entire Saturday afternoon converting C-class fascia into A-class ... Since I bought a new dash trim, I was able to do all that without messing with the car. Had to make some alterations to the dash trim itself, as well as some serious cutting and trimming etc to the fascia. Reasonably pleased with the result (top left-hand corner appears to be off in this picture - that's actually a curvature of the fascia):

Once the cage and surround frame are fitted, all the cuts etc will not be visible, of course :bannana:

 

[npuk]

Good work, as you say once the headunit frame is clipped on the cuts wont be visible. What headunit do you plan to install?

 

[removed]

Good work, as you say once the headunit frame is clipped on the cuts wont be visible. What headunit do you plan to install?

Thanks
This one is only a temp car, until I get W169 sorted, and the double-DIN place is way down for comfortable sat nav use (although is better than pre-facelift), all I need is rear view camera on the screen, SD card, iPhone/iPad and bluetooth, so I'm going for either a Pioneer AVH-3200BT or even one of those [very cheap] Xtrons (as long as it is not a motorised screen - they overheat I heard). Most likely Pioneer - I have it in my A190 and am very pleased with it. Going to check out Xtrons TD601 tomorrow, to see if I get tempted

 

[Nomal1st]

Afternoon fellow A-Class'ers.

DaveGK or any of the 416+ plus views that this thread has had - Did you have any luck in getting the C-Class fascia to fit and look something? If so have you got the time to get some pictures up please?

I too am looking to fit a double din into a face-lifted 2002 W168 and having very little luck. Sadly the advice given about cutting the two slots into one once the radio and CD holder are removed doesn't do me any favours. Firstly, unlike the pre-facelift I find once removing the Audio 10 CD player and CD holder you are left with what can only be described as a plastic moulded caddy that houses the CD player, that could be cut away but as it runs the entire depth of the CD player there wouldn't be much left and this is also wider then the din-sized width as it steps out in places at the sides. Secondly the CD holder is built into the frontal fascia surround so if this was also cut out to accommodate a double-din head-unit you would always be able to see the dividers cut out to a degree. It's also a fair bit bigger (10+mm in width and heigh) then the din two size so again there would be a gap around any double din head-unit, in all without a fascia adaptor KIT more so then just a fascia this would be a bit of a mess and impossible to reverse without new parts should you want to sell the car without it.

Any thoughts or useful links would be appreciated. Any web-sites I can find that list such adaptors all contradict themselves as they all appear to say for 2004> W168. Do 2004> W168's exist? and if so surely they are the last W168s which would just be the same as a face-lifted 2002? Also web-sites that do not state this say 1997>2004 don't need an adaptor! This too is clearly wrong as the face-lift does. Surprised this is so difficult

 

[removed]

Hi Normal1st, and welcome to the club!

I know exactly what you mean - it was much easier to install double-DIN into pre-facelift W168, than into a facelift one.

I did use the C-class fascia, but had to trim it to size, and it wasn't quite straightforward ... I also had to cut few bits off of the dash trim to accommodate the fascia and double-DIN cage. Then I cut the in-between frame from a different plastic - it covers the gap between the fascia and the unit itself. I wanted the unit to be almost flush with the surface, rather than sticking out about 12mm or so it is designed to be, so I had to get extra holes to hold the fixing clips (two or three steps further than the last one, if I remember correctly).

It worked out well in the end :bannana:

this is the dash trim with fascia - you can see the extensive cutting to the internal parts of the dash:

this was a "second fitting" - fascia fits perfectly, cage corners are bent to accommodate the head unit, but the metal flaps are still too big:

this is "final fitting": cage goes in and sits perfectly within the fascia, you can see the trimmed flaps:

As you've noticed yourself, there are a number of places selling adapters and fascias for non-existent W168 - the [pre-facelift] 97-01 dash is different from 01-04, and while there are plenty of adapters for 97-01 W168, there are none, that I could find, for facelift W168 (4/2001-8/2004). And, of course, the W169 does not require any, as double-DIN comes as standard on it.

By the way, here's the double-DIN in my pre-facelift A190 in Nassau - clearly a different layout:

 

[AndrewHill]

Afternoon fellow A-Class'ers.

DaveGK or any of the 416+ plus views that this thread has had - Did you have any luck in getting the C-Class fascia to fit and look something? If so have you got the time to get some pictures up please?

I too am looking to fit a double din into a face-lifted 2002 W168 and having very little luck. Sadly the advice given about cutting the two slots into one once the radio and CD holder are removed doesn't do me any favours. Firstly, unlike the pre-facelift I find once removing the Audio 10 CD player and CD holder you are left with what can only be described as a plastic moulded caddy that houses the CD player, that could be cut away but as it runs the entire depth of the CD player there wouldn't be much left and this is also wider then the din-sized width as it steps out in places at the sides. Secondly the CD holder is built into the frontal fascia surround so if this was also cut out to accommodate a double-din head-unit you would always be able to see the dividers cut out to a degree. It's also a fair bit bigger (10+mm in width and heigh) then the din two size so again there would be a gap around any double din head-unit, in all without a fascia adaptor KIT more so then just a fascia this would be a bit of a mess and impossible to reverse without new parts should you want to sell the car without it.

Any thoughts or useful links would be appreciated. Any web-sites I can find that list such adaptors all contradict themselves as they all appear to say for 2004> W168. Do 2004> W168's exist? and if so surely they are the last W168s which would just be the same as a face-lifted 2002? Also web-sites that do not state this say 1997>2004 don't need an adaptor! This too is clearly wrong as the face-lift does. Surprised this is so difficult

Did you ever get a solution? [emoji23] I'm having the same issue right now myself. Same facia as yours with the CD thing and the plate going the full length of the thing... I did buy a fascia but apparently its for a c class, though it was listed as a class [emoji2357]

If you did get a solution, please help [emoji56]

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