Aftermarket SatNav+reverse camera+parking sensors

[adyuaic]

I've just joined this community, and I hope I'll find loads of useful info around here.
I'm planning to buy a car for my wife next week, and since she needs something quite small, but a bit stylish, we've decided to go ahead for C180 1.8 petrol coupe 2005-2007, in a max 2300£ budget - something similar to this:

Mercedes-Benz C Class 1.8 C180 Kompressor Evolution S Coupe 2dr Petrol Automatic (202 g/km, 143 bhp)

Now, what do you recommend in terms of satnav unit? I want to install an aftermarket one, with android, and to add a reverse camera + parking sensors.
Do you have any useful links?
Do you know any shop who can do great deal+fitting?
Should I go with a 2DIN+adapter?
I live in Birmingham/Dudley, so if you have any suggestions/advice, I'd really appreciate it.

 

[John Laidlaw]

OK, welcome (again)...when you go to see this car listen carefully when you start up. These cars have an M271 engine which can be prone to timing chain stretch and skip at higher mileages which is where this one is. Google the issue and you will see the usual doom and gloom/horror stories. That said I had a 56 plate (my first Mercedes) for 2 years trouble free but only c 26k when I got it and 40k when I sold it.

On the Satnav etc Comandonline are the folks to contact to let you know the options available for this car

 

[adyuaic]

Thanks a lot mate for your reply. Let's say that I'll encounter the issue after I bought it. How much is to fix it?
Would you rather recommend the diesel one instead?

 

[Gkinghorn]

My boy has a 56 plate one of these .. he is at 120k on it but he had to spend about £2k around the 100k mark ... not sure exactly what he had done but we felt it was worth the money given it was a good runner ....

He’s in no rush to change it either so at 98k miles yeah you may have a bill coming up but it will run for a while yet..

I think these are lovely cars ...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[adyuaic]

Petrol or diesel?

 

[Gkinghorn]

Petrol or diesel?

Petrol .... do these come in Diesel?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[John Laidlaw]

They do come in diesel which are a bit less potentially problematic than the 271 engine
Ok sorry been off line for a bit but the timing chain, sprockets and tensioners if it needs done would be north of £1k, if the chain jumps if not done then new engine which is probably more than what you’d pay for the car
As said above though many go on and on but it is a risk you should be aware of
I liked mine very much, quality little car , well built

 

[John Laidlaw]

My boy has a 56 plate one of these .. he is at 120k on it but he had to spend about £2k around the 100k mark ... not sure exactly what he had done but we felt it was worth the money given it was a good runner ....

He’s in no rush to change it either so at 98k miles yeah you may have a bill coming up but it will run for a while yet..

I think these are lovely cars ...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

At that cost Gordon I would guess at timing chain replacement

 

[adyuaic]

I'd try to find one which offers 6months warranty at least.
How about the sat nav unit?

 

[adyuaic]

No one has installed an aftermarket (android) sat nav unit yet?

 

[JBell]

No one has installed an aftermarket (android) sat nav unit yet?

Go for an Alpine / Pioneer unit, easy to do and loads of "how to" vids on youtube, most now have Apple / Android Car play in as well, look on www.caraudiodirect.co.uk, they stock everything you need

 

[ZZZZ]

No one has installed an aftermarket (android) sat nav unit yet?

Hard to say ...

This used to look like that:

When selecting your reversing camera, make sure to check, what type of parking guidance your head unit offers you (quality ones will have a dynamic guide, linked to the steering wheel position, just like OEM), and whether the cam's parking guides (static, most likely) can be turned off, if you prefer to use HU's ones - usually a wire needs to be cut.

 

[adyuaic]

Thanks a lot mate! Do you still have the link of your satnav unit?
Also, can you give me more info about the reverse camera? I'd put the best I can get, so dynamic guide. Does the satnav unit comes with reverse camera as well? If not, which one do you recommend? Or just a standard reverse camera, and the headunit will do the magics?

P.S. I think your car is a bit newer? I don't see the top buttons in the old cd unit picture.

 

[ZZZZ]

No worries

I went for a model-specific unit, as I don't like those frames / fascias / adapters, you'd have to fit around a standard Double-DIN unit.

As far as I'm aware, some quality manufacturers, like Pioneer, now offer a model specific mounting frames, so at least it looks a little bit better, but I still prefer units that fill the entire space, left after removal of an OEM head unit.

Currently, only Chinese manufacturers do that, I think. Inevitably the quality is not as good as brand names, but then neither is the price. As long as you're aware of this, and making an informed decision ...

I bought an Erisin branded unit, but they are very similar to Xtrons and come from the same ODM, although firmware and software differs. Pick a UK based supplier for warranty and returns, etc - many people had problems with these, like I said reliability could be hit and miss. I bought mine (which is W169/W245/W639 specific, so won't fit your car) from Erisin own eBay outlet: carparts-mall

As to a reversing camera - too many types and varieties, some fit in a bumper, so a hole needs to be drilled, some incorporated into a number plate light, some - into a boot / tailgate handle. I went for the latter, as it seems most OEM looking.

Regarding the spec - Sony CCD is the best (out of majority of aftermarket cams); hi-res - ideally 1000TV lines; larger, all glass lens ... I had to order a 'no parking guide' one separately, and then remove one that came with a tailgate handle, and fit my high spec one into it. I'm sure there are easier ways to do it ha ha

 

[adyuaic]

cheers mate. I do prefer units that fill the entire space as well, so I'll have to dig a lot after I'll buy the car (next weekend).
Thanks a lot for your info!

 

[M80]

My tuppence worth, well maybe worth.

I go for cheapo Chinese reverse cams, to my mind any reasonable image will serve purpose in preventing me driving into whatever.
The dashcam image is more important as the detail recorded could make a difference in evidencing who was the naughty one.

I can't comment on the branded names as I only have experience of the lesser reliable Chinese kit.
Reverse image is automatic and should be triggered through the canbus on reverse selection.
Response to switching lights on the same.

Some come with IGO sat nav app which is excellent, but no good for live traffic updates, so recently I've downloaded Tom Tom Go.
I tether the HU to my smart phone for data updates and the live traffic info comes to Tom Tom and is excellent and accurate. While I prefer IGO as a user friendly and easy interactive app, Tom Tom wins due to the live traffic. With Tom Tom any Android device or even PC can be synchronised to the HU through Tom Tom 'My Drive' (another app). This meaning I can sit in front of't telly organising a route on Tom Tom 'My Drive' and send it to any other linked device like my HU. My Drive is clumsy to use though.
Tom Tom allow 50 miles pm free (resets on the 1st of each month), I've paid the £14.99 annual subscription, as these Chinese heads are less reliable paying over £30 for 3 years might not be intelligent, as we must pay for each device.

That little report was also an update for our other Android users as I'm too lazy too search out the previous threads, like adyuaic I guess.

 

[ZZZZ]

Thanks Martin, appreciate the update!

I still use my standalone Garmin most of the time, but really like the IGO interface too ... I'll see if there's anything similar to Tom Tom setup from Garmin, as I have lifetime traffic and maps, and ecoRoute

I recently had a weird notice on the screen - something like "Music has stopped, unfortunately" while it was still playing ... touched OK, and it continued. Switched to my side camera (AUX input 1), just to refresh the screen, etc, and back to music - picked up correctly where left, and continued with the correct album art and info. I don't think I shall lose any sleep over it

 

[adyuaic]

My tuppence worth, well maybe worth.

I go for cheapo Chinese reverse cams, to my mind any reasonable image will serve purpose in preventing me driving into whatever.
The dashcam image is more important as the detail recorded could make a difference in evidencing who was the naughty one.

I can't comment on the branded names as I only have experience of the lesser reliable Chinese kit.
Reverse image is automatic and should be triggered through the canbus on reverse selection.
Response to switching lights on the same.

Some come with IGO sat nave app which is excellent, but no good for live traffic updates, so recently I've downloaded Tom Tom Go.
I tether the HU to my smart phone for data updates and the live traffic info comes to Tom Tom and is excellent and accurate. While I prefer IGO as a user friendly and easy interactive app, Tom Tom wins due to the live traffic. With Tom Tom any Android device or even PC can be synchronised to the HU through Tom Tom 'My Drive' (another app). This meaning I can sit in front of't telly organising a route on Tom Tom 'My Drive' and send it to any other linked device like my HU. My Drive is clumsy to use though.
Tom Tom allow 50 miles pm free (resets on the 1st of each month), I've paid the £14.99 annual subscription, as these Chinese heads are less reliable paying over £30 for 3 years might not be intelligent, as we must pay for each device.

That little report was also an update for our other Android users as I'm too lazy too search out the previous threads, like adyuaic I guess.

Thanks a lot mate for your thoughts. I see your point, and I agree about the dashcam. On my jag I have an aukey dr 01, which is the best (on my opinion) for any dashcam under 150£ (I paid 40£), very very good on night, you can still see the front car plate even with your headlights on, which is very good (loads of dashcam are not able to reproduce the plate properly, due to brightness offered by your own headlights into his plate - if it makes sense).
Regarding navi, I used to do loads of root & stuff on android devices, and I use 99% igo on my smartphone, with live data as well (a couple of files & settings in sys.txt and you're done), so that's my intention on my wife's car satnav unit - hence my questions about which headunit should I buy.

I spoke with this dealer, and I might get a good offer for this car, like gold warrant for 90% of the car for 1 year + delivery in the same price, which is good: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201806027088482?make=MERCEDES-BENZ&transmission=Automatic&price-to=2500&radius=1500&postcode=sn67hg&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=New&model=C CLASS&year-from=2005&sort=price-desc&advertising-location=at_cars&body-type=Coupe&page=2

P.S. here are 2 videos with night driving with aukey dashcam:
https://1drv.ms/v/s!AjH1TInVBgGLhC_AYNUXL-AjJslZ

https://1drv.ms/v/s!AjH1TInVBgGLhDDRVJVRI115r0xV

 

[M80]

I have interest in your IGO live updates,
as I was of the opinion that IGO will only be able to do this if IGO have been paid, and then there is a worry that they might spot the pirated copy in use.
Added to this is my consideration that the live traffic updates from Waze, Tom Tom and the like are due to other users of that particular app feeding back their actual position and progress (or more relevant lack of progress) to the provider. I didn't think IGO would have enough of these 'online' users in the UK to make the app as useful as Tom Tom??

 

[adyuaic]

as far as I know, you can't send reports or similar actions as per waze for instance, as an user directly from the app. You can report loads of things on a different website, but that's another story.
If you want to use it on your smartphone, just download the zip file (you have PM - not sure if I'm allowed to post these kind of links), and use the folder structure as per zip (igo_israel) otherwise it won't work. Currently it's modified to work on my S8.

L.E. ah, I can't send you PM yet (probably because I'm a newbie)