TV On Command /Phone Upgrade

[John Clifford]

Help ,

without spending a fortune can anyone put me in contact with a UK service org' or individual who can upgrade Command on a new SL500 by adding the TV onto it (have been quoted between £1000-2000) so far.

On my wife's car new CLK 320 she does not have a phone fitted same again -- would love to hear from anyone who can fit them like MB do -- to work through her Command / steering wheel and place the product in the centre armrest , which I know will need to be upgraded from what it is now-- again have been quoted between (£800-£1000) can anyone do at a more reasonable cost.....

Appreciate any techy feedback and pointers on whom to contact ,there must be an MB tech out there who needs a homer !!!


rgds to all --- great site ......

 

[Gizmo750]

John,

I think most people here will come up with the same name - Steve.

His alias is MBenzNL and he is the "God" of aftermarket fitting. Did a Comand install into my CLK recently and it's great, very professional job and the dealer would never know it wasn't original.

His email is [email protected] if you can't get a reply from a PM.

Good luck

Guy

 

[mapleleaf]

I believe Braybrooks do comand add ons as well. Not sure what they charge though.

 

[Paul Grainger]

I added TV to my comand (CLK Cabriolet). I purchased a TV tuner from E-bay (£150), a 4-way amplified antenna array (£80, local car radio specialist) and a pukka MB full comand install wiring loom (£250). Total cost £480.

I was gutted at the cost of the wiring loom - but purchased it anyway because I wanted an 'oem' appearance for the complete installation. I had previously installed the comand myself and had made up my own wiring loom which was OK but obviously did not include the TV connections. As you would expect, the £250 loom perfectly blends in the rest of the wiring loom, and includes connections for CD player etc.

The complete installation took 4 hours - this included mounting the tuner behind the rear off side trim panel and removing the rear bumper to mount one the antenna arrays behing it. There is nothing technically difficult about this installation if you are prepared to take on this type of work. Alternatively - get Steve K to do it....

Picture / sound quality is excellent - but it is very irritating that the picture switches off when the car is moving. If anybody knows how to override this (at a reasonable cost) then I would be very interested!!

I fancy adding telephone to my comand for my next 'project' - if anyone has a suitable PSE module and a phone for sale then let me know.


Paul G

 

[Shude]

Originally posted by Paul Grainger
Picture / sound quality is excellent - but it is very irritating that the picture switches off when the car is moving. If anybody knows how to override this (at a reasonable cost) then I would be very interested!!

Your local MB stealership are able to do this for free if you know the right person to ask

 

[Paul Grainger]

I had an 'in depth' conversation with my stealer about taking off the 'tv in motion' interlock. He told me that one of the Star diagnostic software revisions (sometime in 2001/2002) had taken away the option of disabling this interlock. Apparently there are four(?) seperate interlocks, I can't exactly remember but they are something like:
1) Vehicle stationary (actually vehicle less than 3mph)
2) Vehicle in 'Park'
3) Engine running
4) Handbrake applied
My stealer said that he had done the best that he could given the star software that he was working with. My TV works ok with the engine running, drive selected, and up to 3mph - then it cut's out and gives a blue screen with a safety message.
There is a firm (I can't remember their name, but they advertise in the 'mercedes enthusiast(?) magazine) that offer a firmware mod to command to remove this interlock. They charge £275 - which is more than I am prepared to pay. It's not too bad like it is - you still get the sound and the picture automatically comes on at junctions and traffic lights etc.
The speed signal to comand for 'vehicle in motion' comes from the CANBUS - the TV control signals are transmitted from comand to the TV tuner also via CANBUS, so it is not possible to temporarily 'disconnect' the CANBUS lines to give 40 minutes of TV in motion.

If anyone knows anybody who has a solution to this I would be interested.

Paul G

 

[mapleleaf]

I've fitted the MB TV tuner in both my 1999 pre facelift E55 & wifes ML neither of which get speed info over the can bus. In these cases, it must be from the normal speed pulse cable on ISO A pin 1 ..... So I wonder if by fitting an isolater switch in line with the speed pulse cable, the TV would work whilst in motion .

Not much help for those with CaNbus comand but for the rest it's possibly an option. Of course you'd have to remember to flip the switch back when using the nav!

I then wondered if you could somehow link electronically to the TV tuner to automatically sense when the TV is on or off set the switch (or relay in this scenario) to be open or closed as necessary.

Anyone know if this is doable or just a pipe dream?

 

[Paul Grainger]

I tried isolating the speed pulse wire - It didn't work. After disconnecting the speed pulse wire I drove along with the command set to display speed / direction (forwards / reverse). The speed and direction still registered perfectly. I then disconnected the GPS antenna, wondering if the speed displayed was derived from the GPS. No difference. I didn't bother reconnecting the speed and reverse signals to C2 - my command is still working with the relevant data being transmitted over the CANBUS.

Paul G