Fascia adapters

[Aswall]

About to get started on upgrading the stereo in my W209 CLK
Cab and have decided on the Alpine 9815RB which I've found for £340 from Letsbuycaraudio.com. What I need to find now is a fascia adapter to allow fitting of a standard din stereo, a wiring adapter to patch it into the harness and the adapter to sit behind the instruments to allow use of the steering wheel controls. Not having a lot of luck as nowhere seems to have the W209 listed yet so will the old CLK wiring adapters fit and is the fascia around the stereo the same as any other MB model like the C or E class?

Cheers
Andy

 

[Aletank]

Here's a fasia adaptor for a W203 C-Class if you find out if its the same as the CLK. http://www.justkenwood.co.uk/install/mercedes.asp

That unit is £10 cheaper here
http://www.cel-direct.com/shop1.asp?s_page=http://www.cel-direct.com/detail.asp?ProductID=2616 Delivery is £10-£15

 

[Aswall]

Originally posted by Aletank
Here's a fasia adaptor for a W203 C-Class if you find out if its the same as the CLK. http://www.justkenwood.co.uk/install/mercedes.asp

That unit is £10 cheaper here
http://www.cel-direct.com/shop1.asp?s_page=http://www.cel-direct.com/detail.asp?ProductID=2616 Delivery is £10-£15

Thanks, that looks different from mine and appears to cover up the lower storage box so that won't fit, I've also just seen a close up of an E class dash and that looks totally different so I guess I'll just have to contact a few companies and see if they have one and just haven't got it on their websites yet

Cheers
Andy

 

[Aswall]

Just had a chance to think, the overall shape does look the same and the bottom din slot cover probably pops out

Anyone got a W203 C class with one of these fitted? Does it just clip out leaving access to the storage box

Cheers
Andy

 

[Aswall]

Hmm this must be the electronic version of talking to yourself! Just had another thought, will I need an adapter to fit the new head unit or is there a standard stereo plug now, i.e. will the Alpine just plug into the lead that comes out of the Audio 10?

Cheers
Andy

 

[Shude]

Originally posted by Aswall
Just had a chance to think, the overall shape does look the same and the bottom din slot cover probably pops out

I think if the w203 comand fits the w209 then the facia adapter should also fit, although you may need to be creative with the lower din slot with regard to the cubby hole, maybe you could find something electronic to put in there

 

[Aswall]

Thanks Shude. Yes after comparing all the photos I can find, it looks like the W209 and W203 centre consoles are the same from below the air vents downwards so I'm going to order one. I want access to the cubby hole as that's where I put my phone (bluetooth connection, I don't hold it whilst driving before anyone shouts at me) and other bits and pieces I need prompting to take out of the car when I leave.

Does the W203 have the cubby hole in the bottom din slot, if so that cover must pop out.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Shude]

Originally posted by Aswall
Does the W203 have the cubby hole in the bottom din slot, if so that cover must pop out.

The w203 has a cubby hole underneath the headunit (except in vehicles equipped with comand).

What concerns me is that you may have to remove the cubby hole unit in order to fit the headunit facia, which leaves you with a potential pop-out hole revealing the insides of your dashboard, NOT a cubbyhole! You could cut the facia piece in half though, so it sits flush with the dash panel and mates up to the top of the cubby hole unit. Then it'd be fine. I suppose you just need to buy the thing and line it up to the dash to be certain

 

[Aswall]

Ah, that didn't occur to me, I see what you mean. That would be very bad news, don't fancy cutting it as I doubt if I could get it straight and a visible jagged edge would drive me nuts!

I'll get it ordered and go from there but it may need a rethink
Thanks Shude

Cheers
Andy

PS Still need to know whether an Alpine unit will plug straight into the Merc connectors

 

[Tan]

Hi

What was the final outcome on this? I may be doing this soon.

Regards

Tan

 

[Aswall]

I didn't go ahead for several reasons.

a)I disliked the car so much I contemplated chopping it in early and didn't want anything I couldn't transfer over. In the end, other things got in the way and I decided to live with it until it goes in a few months

b) I realised how bad the speakers are, not just the headunit, so they would have had to be replaced as well

c) I couldn't get a definite answer on whether the steering wheel controls could be made to work with the Alpine

d) I am impatient and have a very short attention span and lost interest. My next car will have a decent sound system from the start

So, sorry I can't help

 

[Tan]

Well...may be you can. Have you had any problems with the CLK. My Bro is looking at a CLK240, so it would be good to know if there are probs.

Thanks

Tan

 

[Aswall]

Well...may be you can. Have you had any problems with the CLK. My Bro is looking at a CLK240, so it would be good to know if there are probs.

Thanks

Tan

Sorry for delay, have only just found this.

Well, to be fair, I realised that I just wasn't a Mercedes sort of person, I got taken in by the image only to find that what I really wanted from a car was good ride, handling and performance. No offence but they're not drivers cars.

I also have had a "Fri afternoon" car, having had 17 different warranty problems fixed - 5 this year - yes I know it's only February! I'm perfectly prepared to accept that they aren't all like this though.

Leaving these aside, my main dislikes are

a) the dreadful performance - the car is far too heavy for the engine and is very slow to accelerate. My colleagues BMW 320 Cab is much quicker, as is my neighbours 1.6 Focus. Unfortunately I had to order blind as the car was not out to test drive when I ordered and I got one of the first batch in the country. The coupe may be a bit better, but I wouldn't buy one now if I had to have the 2.6 engine. The auto gearbox is the worst I've ever driven

b) the ride and handling - it rolls everywhere and on wet bumpy roads is downright dangerous. The scuttle shake is appalling - I didn't know what it meant until I got it. It crashes over bumps almost as bad as an Audi

c) The seats just don't support properly. Long journeys mean backache

d) the build quality is awful, the dealer damaged the "chrome" bumper inserts while cleaning it. The silver foil came away from the white plastic it was stuck to - No I'm not joking!

Some of these problems may not be as bad on the coupe which should be lighter and a bit more rigid. I'm not sure from your post whether your brother is looking at a Cab or Coupe.


On the plus side, the lack of wind noise is excellent for a Cab and nearly everything is temporarily forgiven for a while when the sun comes out. Fuel economy has averaged 22mpg over the 27000 miles I've done which I'm fairly happy with, again this should be better with the coupe. The dash, and particularly the instruments and aluminium trim are very stylish as well.

So, not for me but I'm sure others may love it. Tell him to make sure he gets a long test drive and compare the drive with his own car when he gets out

Good luck

 

[VBD]

The facia adapter is the right one for the CLK provided you have the older style W209 i.e. pre MOST and is identical to the one used for the c class. The bottom bit is just clipped in, so by removing it you could put two units in there.

Yes, there are steering wheel adapters for the Alpine (Alpine part KCE860B). These will not work with the MOST equipped W209 CLK's. All it gives is the use of the steering wheel controls and not the display inbetween the instruments.

Aswall sounds like you got a bit of a lemon mate. As for the performance well, a quick look at the MB quotes figures would have confirmed this. IMHO the worst engine in the entire MB range and not even company tax friendly (worse than the CLK 320 engine). I agree with you that the Merc does not handle as well as say, a BMW, but then again the BMW does not sit still and after a few miles it gets a bit painful and uncomfortable. For me the Merc is the better for ride comfort and IMHO the skuttle shake is worse in both a BMW and the Audi, but then again you rip the roof of a car and well there is going to be less body rigidity. As for the Auto being the worst you have driven that has probably more to do with the engine being, well a bit lackluster. After all it was the autobox of the year a few years back (2 years running if memory serves). Interestingly the new 7 speed box in the newer models like the new E and SLK is the current autobox of the year.

What i do not like on the cabrio is the material roof, I think MB messed up on that. Having had my older W208 cabrio roof slashed by some W***er there was no way I was getting another material roofed cabrio and this was the main reason why I got my CLK320 coupe.

 

[Aswall]

Thanks VBD, wish I'd had that info earlier , but it's not worth me changing the audio setup now with only a few months left.

Unfortunately there were no performance figures out when I ordered my car or the alarm bells would have rung. Like you say, the 240 engine is as bad for emissions as the 320, but with less power and economy. As you may have guessed I was a long term BMW driver and was all set to order another 3 series Cab (incidentally, there is no scuttle shake on the 3 cab, it's chassis rigidity, ride and handling are light yrs ahead of the CLK and Audi) when our leasing company said they had a cancelled order for one of these and I thought I'd have a change as I liked the look of the spy pics (like an idiot I didn't think that the looks would take a major drop once the 18" wheels in the pics were replaced by the standard 16"). I expected it to be just like the 3 but it wasn't. Contrary to what you've found, all the BMWs I've had have got the ride and handling both spot on and I've only experienced the fidgety behaviour you mention on the Merc and never on BMWs (I've had 5 and I regularly drive my girlfriends coupe and my business partners Cab now). The gearbox is a problem of the speed of the torque converter, whereas the BMW reacts almost instantly, the takeup on mine can be worryingly slow. Pulling out on roundabouts is heart-in-mouth time, as the car will pull out very slowly and it can take a second or two before the ecu tells the gearbox to put some power down. The new 7 speed box does indeed sound excellent and hopefully they've engineered out some of the current faults.

I'm not sure I'd have got one if it had been metal roofed, I think the rear seat and boot size would have been too badly compromised but I know what you mean about vandalism. Luckily I live and work in pretty safe areas, as far as there are such things nowadays.

I'm not saying I'd never buy another Mercedes, as they seem to be heading in the right direction with the new SLK, but they have a lot of catching up to do and my experiences have put me off for a good while.

Sorry to be so off topic