w211 Comand issues..

[Sidewaysste]

Hi all,

I've just purchased a 2005 W211 E320CDI Avantgarde. I've sorted the boost actuator not working, the egr not working, the broken air suspension, the big red battery warning on the dash, the ESP and ABS not working... the thing that's got me stumped is the radio.

I think it's the comand system (please bear with me, I'm new to mercs) It's got a DVD unit in the boot and a big screen in the dash.

The issue is that when you turn the headunit on, you can hear the cd changer whir, same with the nav unit, the mercedes logo shows up, but then disappears again and the system switches off.

I've checked the fibre obtics loop and that seems ok. I've bypassed the nav and the bit under the boot floor, no difference.

I suspect the AGW? unit as the boot appears to have got damp at some point and there are signs of corrosion on the case and the main circuit board.

Trouble is, I don't want to have to spend £100 or so on another AGW unit just to find that wasn't the issue. Also, would a new unit require coding in? I do hope not, as a mechanic, I begrudge having to pay someone else to plug in to my car.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Finally, how do I set the clock?

Thanks for reading my little essay!

 

[OneForTheRoad]

You set the clock via the command screen . otherwise take off the battery earth at 12 noon

 

[DSM10000]

Welcome!

As above, the clock function is controlled by the COMAND unit (which you have), water ingress to the AGW is a fairly common cause of failure.

You may be lucky and by careful cleaning of the board and connectors bring it back to life, if there are any signs of burning on the circuit board it is probably scrap. I am not 100% sure but I thought a new AGW needed coding as this forms part? of the theft prevention system for audio components.

I am assuming you have checked all of the audio system fuses including those in the boot?

 

[toolman1954]

Hi,
You have done well sorting out all the faults on the car, it must have been quite unloved. The DVD unit in the boot is for the Navigation CD for the NTG1 COMAND you have fitted, which you will have heard whirring round. When there is a problem in the fibre optic circuit everything will shut down until you isolate the offending item which you can do with a lollipop tester.
This is explained here .... How to Troubleshoot MOST bus or how to find the faulty MOST unit ON ANY BMW, AUDI, PORSCHE, VW, MERCEDES BENZ and other cars with OPTICAL FIBRE OPTIC MOST network | BMW LOGIC7 and here You are being redirected... you can get a loop tester off of Ebay or Amazon, perhaps you already have one though, as you have said you have bypassed units on the MOST circuit.
If it is the AGW, then, as already said all you can do is take it off and clean it up where necessary, a fibreglass pen is handy for cleaning crud off of circuit boards and run a soldering iron over any obvious dry joints.You will get to a stage perhaps where the car will need to go onto a Star diagnostics, and I seem to remember reading that there is a couple of good independent Mercedes garages in Glasgow rather than a main dealers.
Is the car going to be a keeper?? If it is then I would suggest you get your self a diagnostics tester of your own. I use, as do many others on this site, an Icarsoft MB11 which has now saved me ££££. But of course there are others and cheaper.
Good luck with your E320 and put up some photos when you have time.

Steve.

 

[Sidewaysste]

Thankyou for the replies, the tip about taking the battery off at noon is a good one, with I'd thought of that!

I'm a mechanic (albeit unable to work atm) so it'd be a poor tale if I couldn't sort things, but thanks for the compliment!

I have a Mac Mentortouch diagnostic system. it's pretty high end, but won't code audio components unfortunately.

The car had been sat for nearly 3 years when I bought it. I think because of the air suspension issue. it's been fun sorting most of the issues.

I've got a fibre optic loop, that's what I used to bypass the nav unit and the bit under the floor, what's that called by the way?

The AGW unit I have seems to have more plugs than most of the ones offered on eBay, unfortunately because it doesn't work, I don't know what extras it has over the other units.

Are there wiring diagrams easily available for the W211? at least then I could do some basic checks.

I've found a specialist near me who have Star Diag, unfortunately they're rather busy at the moment and require £80 to plug in. I don't begrudge them making a living, its just that by the time they've plugged in, I've bought another unit and they've plugged in again and coded it, I'm looking at the thick end of £400 just to get a radio working, one that won't stream music from my phone...

 

[DSM10000]

Thankyou for the replies, the tip about taking the battery off at noon is a good one, with I'd thought of that!

I'm a mechanic (albeit unable to work atm) so it'd be a poor tale if I couldn't sort things, but thanks for the compliment!

I have a Mac Mentortouch diagnostic system. it's pretty high end, but won't code audio components unfortunately.

The car had been sat for nearly 3 years when I bought it. I think because of the air suspension issue. it's been fun sorting most of the issues.

I've got a fibre optic loop, that's what I used to bypass the nav unit and the bit under the floor, what's that called by the way?

The AGW unit I have seems to have more plugs than most of the ones offered on eBay, unfortunately because it doesn't work, I don't know what extras it has over the other units.

Are there wiring diagrams easily available for the W211? at least then I could do some basic checks.

I've found a specialist near me who have Star Diag, unfortunately they're rather busy at the moment and require £80 to plug in. I don't begrudge them making a living, its just that by the time they've plugged in, I've bought another unit and they've plugged in again and coded it, I'm looking at the thick end of £400 just to get a radio working, one that won't stream music from my phone...

It may make more sense if you are not fussed about originality to bypass the defunct system and fit an Android based head unit with Bluetooth music streaming, 'phone, Sat / Nav, with full post code entry SD card etc etc. You can still retain the steering wheel controls.

Do you have the Harmon Kardon system? This adds greatly to the complexity when repairing etc.

Have you checked the fuses? I had a problem with my NTG1 where nothing would power up. It turned out to be a loose connection in the rear SAM and also the 7.5A fuse for the Navigation unit.

 

[Sidewaysste]

Hi, Yes I've checked the fuses and they all seem fine.

I think it is the Harmon Kardon system - it has the badges on the door cards at any rate. What features does the HK system have?

I'm a bit puzzled as to how you'd fit a different headunit - there don't appear to be any of the conventional wires available.

 

[DSM10000]

Hi, Yes I've checked the fuses and they all seem fine.

I think it is the Harmon Kardon system - it has the badges on the door cards at any rate. What features does the HK system have?

I'm a bit puzzled as to how you'd fit a different headunit - there don't appear to be any of the conventional wires available.

I believe there are conversion looms available, contact COMAND On Line (link below ) as they will be able to advise further / or and supply looms etc if you decide to go this way

Catalog

 

[Alfie]

Hi, Yes I've checked the fuses and they all seem fine.

I think it is the Harmon Kardon system - it has the badges on the door cards at any rate. What features does the HK system have?

I'm a bit puzzled as to how you'd fit a different headunit - there don't appear to be any of the conventional wires available.

The AGW in a W211 with HK is different to the AGW in a car without HK.

HK has better speakers and more of them!

 

[Sidewaysste]

Success!
I managed to find the correct AGW, in Estonia of all places! £80 seemed a lot until I found out the going rate is £350 and a new one is £800.
I wonder if the old one can be repaired or is of any use to anyone as they're so rare and expensive?

Now' I've just got to remove all the CDs and DVD left by the previous owner. Has anyone heard of a film called "Chopper"? I'm afraid to watch it...

Also, does anyone know where I can get a new NAV disc for it as there wasn't one in the drive.

 

[Sidewaysste]

Yet more ramblings for anyone who's interested.

There was a DVD in the nav drive, it just doesn't think there is. As it accepts and ejects ok and you can hear it positioning the laser, I'm presuming the unit itself is ok. I'm guessing then that perhaps it's a firmware issue. As the AGW isn't the one from the car I'm guessing it could have a different firmware version than that which is compatible with the disc. I've seen that it is possible to buy a Europe DVD that comes with a separate intermediate firmware disc. I may try that - it's cheaper than a new nav drive.

I also couldn't get the bluetooth working. When I tried to pair via the Comand screen, the car would pick up my phone, the phone would pick up the car as "UHI-SN2003" and say it wasn't compatible.
However using the button on the bluetooth module in the armrest, the phone picked it up as MB PhoneSystem and connected and imported all of my contacts.. strange.

If I can get the nav working then it almost does everything I want it to.
I'd like to be able to control my music on my phone from the headunit but I'm not sure that's possible.. It doesn't have the correct bluetooth connectivity and the only input is an aux socket in the glovebox.