Just Fitted Comand To W211 E320

[nimishashar]

Hello,

I Just Thought I Tell You Guys That It Possible To Put In A Comand System Into A W211, Which Didnt Have An Audiogateway And The Whole Install Only Took Me 4.5 Hours.

The Items I Bought Were

Full Screen Headunit(used)
Navigation Processor (used)
Audio Gateway (new)
Cd Changer (new)
Power Harness (new)
Fibre Optic Leads (new)
Boot Trim (new)

The List Above Cost Me Under £1350

If Anyone Wants Any Help Then Give Me Pm And I'll Give You Info On Where I Got The Items From.

Ps It Was Really Easy, Its The 1st Time I Did It

 

[Diesel Benz]

Which model year was your W211? I'm afraid it is a bit different for different model years. Not that it would be a big issue though.

 

[gurpz]

Looks like a great setup nimishashar. Any pictures in the progress ?

 

[marcos]

How on earth did you do it in 4.5 hrs
I have watched a W211 bieng stripped ready for the same install and that took about 4 hrs alone, dash half out, seats out, all boot lining out etc

 

[nimishashar]

i dont't know whay it would take someone more than that, i did my research of how to remove things prior to starting and it went just fine. Oh yeah my e320 cdi is a 2005 model, if that helps, i havent taken a great number of pics but will upload the ones i have in the next few days

 

[marcos]

I watched a late 2002 model so it may well be that the 2005 model is simplified in that respect.

 

[shakeapaw]

ive put comand in my 2002 320cdi,it only 2 hours cos the optical fibre harness and audiogateway were already in,the dash doesnt need to come out,the seats also dont need to come out,the boot liner yes,but thats all.seems someones been pulling your leg marcos,trying to justify an inflated price tag.

 

[glojo]

ive put comand in my 2002 320cdi,it only 2 hours cos the optical fibre harness and audiogateway were already in,the dash doesnt need to come out,the seats also dont need to come out,the boot liner yes,but thats all.seems someones been pulling your leg marcos,trying to justify an inflated price tag.

Is that a 211?

I ask this because in the US, when the 211 FIRST CAME OUT those that ordered COMAND were disappointed that when the car turned up it never had this option. Mercedes stated it was not possible to retrofit this item and eventually when it became available owners had their 'old' car replaced with a new vehicle with COMAND. I am no electrician and have no idea of the work involved but this is NOT one of those I know a friend who knows someone who had this done. It happened to every customer that ordered the first batch of 211's and stipulated COMAND in the option sheet. (USA only)

John

 

[nimishashar]

yup a w211, and it didnt have anything prewired. In all honesty though the wires that i bought from germany just had to be run to the appropriate places and job done, its in a a merc service centre today so i can see the nav direction on the insturments display,

 

[shakeapaw]

yup its a w211,in europe all w211 ( the first batch ) of the avantgarde standard all came prewired for everything,the dvd nav drive unit cage is already fitted,the power leads are also pre fitted, as is the sat nav gps splitter unit,needed for going from an aps 50 upto a comand,all fitted around the audio gateway.its as easy as plug and play,you do not need to do anything,it even shows up correctly on the dash display.
this lasted untill early 2003 when supply ran out,then they only produced "classic" standard cars so everything had to be added to at the time of order,as is the norm now.i have even seen a e270 " classic" with comand,leather heated memory seats,prewired phone,air suspension,parking aids,panaromic sunroof.how mad is that,it was also going for 1.5k under book price because it said "classic" on the gear knob and wings and not "avantgarde".

 

[glojo]

yup its a w211,in europe all w211 ( the first batch ) of the avantgarde standard all came prewired for everything,the dvd nav drive unit cage is already fitted,the power leads are also pre fitted, as is the sat nav gps splitter unit,needed for going from an aps 50 upto a comand,

Reading your post it makes even less sense that COMAND was not an option for the first 211's.

Would there be a difference between the Avantgarde\Elegance regarding the standard radio, wiring etc?

John

 

[Ratz]

The more I read about COMMAND, pre-wires, UHI and goodness knows what else, the more I am confused . I would be happy to contruct a table/spreadsheet detailing what's compatible with what and where it will fit if people can contribute.

I have a 2002 W211 Avantgarde, is there a quick and easy way of seeing whether I have pre-wires etc as described in shakeapaws post?

 

[shakeapaw]

yup,take a look in the boot,if you have a cut out on the passenger side,remove it and take a look inside,if you see a metal cage,thats where the sat nav drive goes,if that is there,then everything else is,if not you can still go comand but you will need the cage and power harness and some optical fibre,and a gps aerial if you do not already have one fitted all avaible from your local mb dealer.the headunit is also important,as far as im aware only the aps10,the one with a single cd player cannot be upgraded to a comand system due to a power wireing issue.as in my previous post the base model built in 2002 was in avantguarde spec in regards to all the electronics.they may have done this in regards to glojo's post about supplying america with the correct spec of car,i really dont know.( build one for all,sort it out later?)
Would there be a difference between the Avantgarde\Elegance regarding the standard radio, wiring etc?.
you wouldnt think so would you,but yes there is,if you have the optional 6cd changer then you have already got the fibre optic ring,if not then you need to buy the loom from mb,BUT,if you have just a single cd headunit,(aps 30 with tape,or aps 50 are a straight swap over ) with or without the optional cd changer then you will need the audiogateway @ £450 and the fibre optic loom (thats fits in the boot near the dvd drive) which controls all the audio/dvd/sat nav/phone system............confusing .....you bet.
i take no credit for most of the above info,it was supplyed to me by an comand installer who advertise's on ebay,ive just done a quick check and he doesnt seem to be advertising at the moment.

 

[glojo]

you wouldnt think so would you,but yes there is,if you have the optional 6cd changer then you have already got the fibre optic ring,

You have really got my attention regarding this and I am baffled as to why the wiring would be different. This is a curiosity type question, I am certainly NOT disagreeing with you, but it just makes no sense. I can understand the Classic being different but I'm trying to think what electrics are different regarding the Avantgarde compared to the Elegance and all I can think of is the headlamps? The Avantgarde has bi-xenons as standard, but they are an option for the other model??? Why would there be a different loom and what would the Avantgarde have that the Elegance could not? These are questions and NOT points of dispute. Regarding the US and COMAND, that was put down to poor advertising control. COMAND was not an option for the whole of 2002 and did not come out until the middle-ish of 2003. The US advertised it from the get go and they were wrong, hence the replacement program.

Thanks for the info and I look forward to hearing more.

Regards
John

 

[shakeapaw]

john,as far as im aware,its only the wireing loom for the audio system and later prewired phone (uhi)that is different,i know that the audio 10/30 has it own internal amp and the speakers connect to the unit ,on the aps 50/comand these unit's use the audiogateway so the connections are different,it all depends on what was ordered at the time.im still struggeling to find any real difference in any e series variant,as you seem to be able to have what you want in any version,as my previous post regarding the e270 classic merits

 

[Diesel Benz]

I guess I did not read the discussion carefully enough but I really cannot see how the wiring would be different if the cars had the same equipment but one was Elegance and one Avantgarde. Any further pointers, would have a look at the wiring diagrams (never seen a reference to body style variants there, but I may have missed it).

The fact that early W211 cars had the Audio gateway even if they had a basic head unit must make a difference to a later car without the audio gateway. Like I had a car with Audio 10 CC with a 6 disk changer, and audio gateway while a later car had Audio 10 CD and no audio gateway.

If the car had a CDC and Audio 10 CD, no audio gateway, why would it have fibre to the rear when it would be sufficient to connect a few centimetres as from the CDC just below the head unit?

The fact that they changed the whole car in the US when the car was ordered with navi but not delivered from factory, may be because of dealer installers being reluctant to feed the cables through out the car from front to rear, even if retrofit enthusiasts or even "more ordinary individual car owners" consider it a reasonable task (what ever in addition is included).

 

[nimmat]

yup,take a look in the boot,if you have a cut out on the passenger side,remove it and take a look inside,if you see a metal cage,thats where the sat nav drive goes,if that is there,then everything else is,if not you can still go comand but you will need the cage and power harness and some optical fibre,and a gps aerial if you do not already have one fitted all avaible from your local mb dealer.the headunit is also important,as far as im aware only the aps10,the one with a single cd player cannot be upgraded to a comand system due to a power wireing issue.as in my previous post the base model built in 2002 was in avantguarde spec in regards to all the electronics.they may have done this in regards to glojo's post about supplying america with the correct spec of car,i really dont know.( build one for all,sort it out later?)
Would there be a difference between the Avantgarde\Elegance regarding the standard radio, wiring etc?.
you wouldnt think so would you,but yes there is,if you have the optional 6cd changer then you have already got the fibre optic ring,if not then you need to buy the loom from mb,BUT,if you have just a single cd headunit,(aps 30 with tape,or aps 50 are a straight swap over ) with or without the optional cd changer then you will need the audiogateway @ £450 and the fibre optic loom (thats fits in the boot near the dvd drive) which controls all the audio/dvd/sat nav/phone system............confusing .....you bet.
i take no credit for most of the above info,it was supplyed to me by an comand installer who advertise's on ebay,ive just done a quick check and he doesnt seem to be advertising at the moment.

New here so first post Just got a W211 53 plate (3rd jan 04) Avantgarde. I loked in the boot and there is a cutout but it seems to hold only the fuse box . The car came with only Audio 20 CD Player and nothing extra. stupidly enough I bought this in place of one that had only a cassette player but probably a Audio gateway in the boot (feel like a bananahead).

I do want comand but the more I read, the more it scares me. Is there something besids the fuse box that should be in the cutout in the boot?

Nim

 

[mct_cars]

New here so first post Just got a W211 53 plate (3rd jan 04) Avantgarde. I loked in the boot and there is a cutout but it seems to hold only the fuse box . The car came with only Audio 20 CD Player and nothing extra. stupidly enough I bought this in place of one that had only a cassette player but probably a Audio gateway in the boot (feel like a bananahead).

I do want comand but the more I read, the more it scares me. Is there something besids the fuse box that should be in the cutout in the boot?

Nim

Your looking at the wrong cut-out. If you have the correct stuff already in in the boot, your left hand boot carpet will be "straight", and you won't have a wider section at the left beside the rear light.

I'm busy collecting parts for doing a conversion from Audio 20 CD player as well, (thanks to Nimishashar for help also). The instructions can be found in the Mercedes WIS on how to retrofit (basically it's Merc's technical information system - do an e-bay search). Once you get your head round the fact that there's two looms to fit - Electrical and Firbre optic, the rest is all about getting all of the parts together as cheap (and as reliably!) as you can.

The list price for the retrofit kit for comand is around £2200 plus vat. The Audio Gateway alone is £400, the relpacement boot carpet £100, then there's the looms and so on. You can get all of this stuff alot cheaper if you shop around though, so it pays to take your time and do your research first!

 

[RSS]

Whats behind the panel...?

I'm reading this all with great interest as I want to upgrade the single in dash CD (Audio 20) unit to command. I checked in the boot and the passenger side has a panel that when you drop down you see a black vertical fuse & relay panel. The rest of the cut out is filled in but behind it through a gap you can see a metal cradle. I tried to see if there were any other units in there but can't see much unless I cut out this panel. Where is the audio gateway if its fitted? I assume this cradle is for the navigation drive and a CD changer, if I fit sat nav I might as well fit the autochanger. My car is the Elegance 2004 fitted with the phone kit. If I can understand what it fitted and what I need I can start the shopping list.

 

[shakeapaw]

A few pointers,dont cut out the panel in the boot,just remove it so you have complete access.the audio gateway is a ickle box fitted above the metal cage behind a piller/or on the wheell arch.the metal cradle is indeed for the dvd drive,the cd autochanger fits in the dashboard behind the motorised panel ( if fitted ).if you have just the single cd drive headunit then it would be very unlikely that you have the audiogateway,but then again if you have the prewired phone ( under centre storage box ) as opposed to a add on kit,by which i mean screwed onto the centre console,then anything is possible.your best bet is to remove the boot liner and have a good look for connection leads in and around the metal cage,DO NOT bend any orange "cables" you may find as these are not normal wires but fibre optics.