Folks, I'm half way through installing a cheapo solution for my iPod and iPhone in my r230 for music and video. It'll be through the TV tuner and will let me dock and charge the iPod ( 5g ) as well as allow me to control the iPod via a remote control with on-TV menus. I don't feel I need the Denison solution or the likes is worth the money to me and Mercerdes don't have a solution for my car. Is this the forum to post a description of how I'm doing it with some photos?
amwebby
MB Enthusiast
+1
I have half a solution in just now ( just an iPod video cable stuck into the TV tuner ) but it cuts out after a few minutes when playing music as I assume it thinks there's nothing running because there's no video signal. It's great for video but I have ordered a DLO homedock deluxe off eBay which should have video always on with the added bonus of letting me see the iPod menus on screen ( when stationary of course ). I'll wire up an IR extender of some sort too.
Once the other parts come ( from the US ) I'll tackle the fitting and take photos to post.
Once the other parts come ( from the US ) I'll tackle the fitting and take photos to post.
I'm a wee bit worried now. I just assumed that the audio was cutting out because there was no video signal. I did try the iPod playing a video and it ran for 15 minutes without sound cutting out ( then I just got bored ). Switching to audio out only on the iPod the sound cut out after 5 min or less. I think I need to try again just in case I'm wasting my time.
amwebby
MB Enthusiast
My Alpine DVD/MP3 Player has run for hours before now without the audio cutting out. It is only recently this has started. The video signal when playing MP3s is a display of track information much as you would see on an iPod so I will be interested to hear if your audio continues cutting out once you have the homedock installed.
I took the car out on Saturday and stuck a video on and it played for 30 mins without the sound cutting out at all so I reckon I'll be ok once I get the homedock wired up to display menus. Just need the postie to bring it now 
Well, the postie has been, brought my DLO Homedock Deluxe straight from ebay US and it's in the car and working a treat. I have uploded the pictures to FLICKR and will do a write up as soon as time allows.
In the meantime the photos are here ;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mirras/sets/72157619394850841/
In the meantime the photos are here ;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mirras/sets/72157619394850841/
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amwebby
MB Enthusiast
Thanks, that's really interesting. I don't understand why you had to rewire the IR eye and phono outputs?
I had to do it so there was room to seat the unit behind the CD-changer. It didn't fit with the cables plugged in the back, even a right-angle power plug was too big to fit.
I had to rewire the IR so I can control the unit with the lid closed on the storage bin.
amwebby
MB Enthusiast
Thanks. I realise the SL500 is challenged for interior space but was wondering if it would be possible to fit the unit in the car interior and run the phono cables from the unit to the TV Tuner? This might avoid the need to rewire the phonos and the IR.
It would have been very easy to do this on the SL as it could have been placed in the middle of the two storage bins but I wanted it well out of sight but still accessible. There are some major drawbacks to using this solution like having to switch to the iPod screen to start a video ( which then plays on the comand unit screen ) and the loss of the menus when moving ( which TV in Motion would cure ). Overall though, I am very happy with the solution that only cost me £40, not the £350+ of a bespoke interface.
amwebby
MB Enthusiast
Thanks, so I could fit one in the centre console of my CL500. From my understanding you can play audio files from the Homedock menu as displayed on the COMAND screen (when stationary) but have to switch to the iPod to play a video, is that correct?
I can't remmeber the layout of the CL500 ( while since I was last in one ) to be able to say if the dock would fit. It is quite a large unit. See...
DLO | HomeDock Deluxe
for details.
Because of the odd way the iPod works with video and photos, there's a button on the dock remote to allow it to switch back to the iPod screen for menus but you can still control them with the remote control.
amwebby
MB Enthusiast
I looked there but couldn't see the dimensions.
The CL500 has a large centre console.
The CL500 has a large centre console.
amwebby
MB Enthusiast
It will fit! I await your How To with anticipation, especially the bit about splicing in a power supply.
I'll start at the beginning.....
I finally got myself the SL500 I'd been promising myself, it's a 2003 R230. It has the older CD based D2B comand with a TV tuner and CD-Changer. It has an AUX Audio input in the glovebox too. I tried using an iPod via the Aux port and while the sound is fine, the iPod either stuck in the glovebox or floating round inside the car didn't suit me. I looked round at the custom solutions and decided the Dension GW500 was what I was after. However, reading up on what it does it looked like it wasn't really that much better than the glovebox solution as all it seemed to offer for £350 was the ability to skip tracks and blindly select playlists. ( I am happy to be corrected on what I've missed here ) . If there was a fully integrated solution that let me use the comand system to fully control and display the iPod menus and play iPod video through the screen then I'd pay the £350 for it.
I then decided the best option for me was to stick the iPod in the center console and use an iPod video cable so I could see iPod videos on the screen or play music through the Tuner's AV1 sockets. I duly fitted the cable ( the white one in the pictures ) and it worked a treat, EXCEPT, when I play music through this connection the audio cuts out after 5mins, I'm assuming that's because there is no video signal.
I then decided I needed iPod menus on the comand screen to maintain the video signal. I looked around the internet and was surprised to find there are very limited options on iPod docks that can do this. I finally decided to look for a DLO Homedock Deluxe. ( the standard Homedock seems not to do menus on screen ). I looked around and got one off an ebay seller in the US for about $40. Add in the cost of a 10v adapter and some odds and ends and the cost was around £40.
I have detailed the installation below , this is in no way an instruction to anyone else doing the same as each car will differ, it's just here to give an idea of what can be done.
The dock for the car....
DLO | HomeDock Deluxe
The first issue I hit was the dock was about 10mm too deep for the storage bin behind the CD-Changer so I decided to move the audio, video and power sockets from the back to the side of the unit. I removed the main board as shown here....
Flickr Photo Download: Homedock Main Board
I then desoldered the sockets and also removed the Infrared remote control receiver the reason for which will be explained later.
Flickr Photo Download: Desoldered Main Board
One quick trip to Maplins later and I returned with 3 RCA phono sockets, a power socket and a 12v - 9v DC adapter. I then mounted the RCAs and power socket to the side of the case.
Flickr Photo Download: New RCA
I then connected the phonos and power to the vacant connections on the main board and at the same time, soldered an old telephone extension wire to the connections left on removing the IR eye.
Flickr Photo Download: Rewired Homedock
I soldered the other end of the telephone cable to the corresponding pins on the IR eye then put some heatshrink sleeving around the end and cut a hole for the IR eye to 'see'.
Flickr Photo Download: Remote Eye
Time to screw it back together and stick it in the car to see if it all works. The first thing to do is remove the trim around the TV Tuner ( I'm not going to describe how to do that here ) and create a discrete hole for the cables to enter the storage bin. I chose to do this behind the CD changer screen to avoid any visible changes to the car.
Flickr Photo Download: Drill Hole for Cables
I then connected up the RCAs to AV1 on the TV Tuner. The black cable is for the Homedock and the white is the iPod video cable which I'll leave in the car as a backup.
Flickr Photo Download: Tuner
Once connected the setup can be seen here ( still with no trim in place )
Flickr Photo Download: In Situ
I then located the IR Eye under the sill in the left footwell so I can control the unit while it's completely hidden. I will work out a better location to hide this eye ( albeit it's very small and isn't easily noticed). It would be invisible on a car with black trim.
Flickr Photo Download: IR eye in situ
And finally, the result I was after.....
Flickr Photo Download: On-Screen at last
There are still a couple of issues outstanding...
Permanent power supply... I have used the cigarette lighter to power the unit for now. I intend to power it from the rear of this socket as I have to remove the ashtray to do a repair shortly. I'm waiting on the wedge tools coming before I tackle this job as I don't fancy replacing the larger center console trim parts.
TV in motion - This is a controversial one. As I'm using the TV tuner to display the menus, the screen cuts out when driving at more than 5mph. I may fit a TV - in motion adapter but will talk to my insurance company first as I've heard a few scare stories about them using this as a getout clause to avoid payout on claims. I'm not going to risk it if the insurance company say no as it's not that important to me as I can still skip tracks and move around menus blind in the same way we've all been doing on CDs for years.
I hope this is of use to someone as it was an interesting project for me to do and more fun than paying someone to fit a solution for me.
**** Just tried my iPhone 3g on the dock ( I usually use the iPod video 5G in the dock ) and it works fine for music but for some odd reason the video won't play. Video works fine on the iPod video cable so it must be the Homedock. I suggest anyone doing this mod check out the dock for compatibility first. ****
I finally got myself the SL500 I'd been promising myself, it's a 2003 R230. It has the older CD based D2B comand with a TV tuner and CD-Changer. It has an AUX Audio input in the glovebox too. I tried using an iPod via the Aux port and while the sound is fine, the iPod either stuck in the glovebox or floating round inside the car didn't suit me. I looked round at the custom solutions and decided the Dension GW500 was what I was after. However, reading up on what it does it looked like it wasn't really that much better than the glovebox solution as all it seemed to offer for £350 was the ability to skip tracks and blindly select playlists. ( I am happy to be corrected on what I've missed here ) . If there was a fully integrated solution that let me use the comand system to fully control and display the iPod menus and play iPod video through the screen then I'd pay the £350 for it.
I then decided the best option for me was to stick the iPod in the center console and use an iPod video cable so I could see iPod videos on the screen or play music through the Tuner's AV1 sockets. I duly fitted the cable ( the white one in the pictures ) and it worked a treat, EXCEPT, when I play music through this connection the audio cuts out after 5mins, I'm assuming that's because there is no video signal.
I then decided I needed iPod menus on the comand screen to maintain the video signal. I looked around the internet and was surprised to find there are very limited options on iPod docks that can do this. I finally decided to look for a DLO Homedock Deluxe. ( the standard Homedock seems not to do menus on screen ). I looked around and got one off an ebay seller in the US for about $40. Add in the cost of a 10v adapter and some odds and ends and the cost was around £40.
I have detailed the installation below , this is in no way an instruction to anyone else doing the same as each car will differ, it's just here to give an idea of what can be done.
The dock for the car....
DLO | HomeDock Deluxe
The first issue I hit was the dock was about 10mm too deep for the storage bin behind the CD-Changer so I decided to move the audio, video and power sockets from the back to the side of the unit. I removed the main board as shown here....
Flickr Photo Download: Homedock Main Board
I then desoldered the sockets and also removed the Infrared remote control receiver the reason for which will be explained later.
Flickr Photo Download: Desoldered Main Board
One quick trip to Maplins later and I returned with 3 RCA phono sockets, a power socket and a 12v - 9v DC adapter. I then mounted the RCAs and power socket to the side of the case.
Flickr Photo Download: New RCA
I then connected the phonos and power to the vacant connections on the main board and at the same time, soldered an old telephone extension wire to the connections left on removing the IR eye.
Flickr Photo Download: Rewired Homedock
I soldered the other end of the telephone cable to the corresponding pins on the IR eye then put some heatshrink sleeving around the end and cut a hole for the IR eye to 'see'.
Flickr Photo Download: Remote Eye
Time to screw it back together and stick it in the car to see if it all works. The first thing to do is remove the trim around the TV Tuner ( I'm not going to describe how to do that here ) and create a discrete hole for the cables to enter the storage bin. I chose to do this behind the CD changer screen to avoid any visible changes to the car.
Flickr Photo Download: Drill Hole for Cables
I then connected up the RCAs to AV1 on the TV Tuner. The black cable is for the Homedock and the white is the iPod video cable which I'll leave in the car as a backup.
Flickr Photo Download: Tuner
Once connected the setup can be seen here ( still with no trim in place )
Flickr Photo Download: In Situ
I then located the IR Eye under the sill in the left footwell so I can control the unit while it's completely hidden. I will work out a better location to hide this eye ( albeit it's very small and isn't easily noticed). It would be invisible on a car with black trim.
Flickr Photo Download: IR eye in situ
And finally, the result I was after.....
Flickr Photo Download: On-Screen at last
There are still a couple of issues outstanding...
Permanent power supply... I have used the cigarette lighter to power the unit for now. I intend to power it from the rear of this socket as I have to remove the ashtray to do a repair shortly. I'm waiting on the wedge tools coming before I tackle this job as I don't fancy replacing the larger center console trim parts.
TV in motion - This is a controversial one. As I'm using the TV tuner to display the menus, the screen cuts out when driving at more than 5mph. I may fit a TV - in motion adapter but will talk to my insurance company first as I've heard a few scare stories about them using this as a getout clause to avoid payout on claims. I'm not going to risk it if the insurance company say no as it's not that important to me as I can still skip tracks and move around menus blind in the same way we've all been doing on CDs for years.
I hope this is of use to someone as it was an interesting project for me to do and more fun than paying someone to fit a solution for me.
**** Just tried my iPhone 3g on the dock ( I usually use the iPod video 5G in the dock ) and it works fine for music but for some odd reason the video won't play. Video works fine on the iPod video cable so it must be the Homedock. I suggest anyone doing this mod check out the dock for compatibility first. ****
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