Cost of COMAND being retrofitted to E class

[jazzenator]

Hi
My 2004 E class has a std MB Audio 20 system.
I would like to get a COMAND system fitted so that I could navigate and listen to my ipod.
I was qouted nearly £2k to have it fitted.
I am quite shocked.
Does anyone know of anyone who can fit it for a more reasonable price or does this represent the norm?
Also what is the difference between COMAND and COMAND APS?
Thanks

 

[Chas]

Hi
My 2004 E class has a std MB Audio 20 system.
I would like to get a COMAND system fitted so that I could navigate and listen to my ipod.
I was qouted nearly £2k to have it fitted.
I am quite shocked.
Does anyone know of anyone who can fit it for a more reasonable price or does this represent the norm?
Also what is the difference between COMAND and COMAND APS?
Thanks

I am sure "Alfie "can help :smile:

£1k or less is about the going rate

Give him time to respond

 

[Blobcat]

Alfie doesn't fit E or CLS Comand :-(, although he can give you some pointers to who would supply & fit.

 

[Chas]

Check your private messages

 

[jberks]

AFAIK it does run at £2k minimum. Remember new it was even more!
There is the cost of teh unit which is around £2k then fitting. If you have the later Audio20 (without the audio gateway) you'll also need that. Another £400 from memory.
Then there is the disk - £150 ish?

It is cheaper on the 210s these days but the DVD command that you need is very pricey.
They do come up on ebay and if you have an audio gateway already this will be a cheaper route.

 

[JEZ.S320L]

This is from eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mercedes-Coma...ryZ75327QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I notice it is from Lithuania - as indeed are a lot of the Command units.

I wonder why that is?

 

[jberks]

yes but that's the cd evrsion. He would need the newer DVD based item.
Actually there is this one
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mercedes-Sat-...ryZ75327QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
absolute bargain at the moment but I suspect it will creep up ...

 

[Alfie]

Hi
My 2004 E class has a std MB Audio 20 system.
I would like to get a COMAND system fitted so that I could navigate and listen to my ipod.
I was qouted nearly £2k to have it fitted.
I am quite shocked.
Does anyone know of anyone who can fit it for a more reasonable price or does this represent the norm?
Also what is the difference between COMAND and COMAND APS?
Thanks

£2k is about the going rate for Coamnd to be retro fitted to a W211. This can be reduced a bit if you already have an audio gateway in the boot.

As already said, I dont offer W211 comand retro fits (at the moment ). However, I can put you in touch with someone who will but the prices from all those in this business are pretty much the same for a W211. Its a big job compared to the A/B/C/CLK/ML/GL/R

Comand APS is the actual name of the type of DVD based comand fitted to the MOST bus cars from about mid 2004 to present date. This includes a product called Comand APS-50 which is a sort of half hearted comand really. It does not have a map display, just voice and arrows. The normal Comand APS is a full screen display unit.

Comand is the earlier version which were CD based. Of this there are a few variants. Comand 2 and Comand 2.5 being the most common.

 

[jazzenator]

Thanks guys.
What is the audio gateway thing anyway?
I can live with a TomTom (it doesn't cost £2k)
However, I cannot live with the rubbish ipod over the FM radio malarkey. It is getting a bit unbearable.
How disappointing for such a forward thinking manufacturer like MB not to think of fitting a Aux input to their cars. My JDM Honda had one as standard!

 

[shakeapaw]

hi mate,there is an aux input for your ipod ,but it only comes standard with the comand unit,also ive checked the above ebay advert,it not right,they are only selling the dvd headunit,this is not the sat nav unit,that sits in the boot.ive fitted a full comand system myself for about a £1000,but if you havent got an audio gateway which sits in the boot above the bracket housing for the dvd navigation drive,then i wouldnt bother.

 

[JEZ.S320L]

yes but that's the cd evrsion. He would need the newer DVD based item.
Actually there is this one
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Mercedes-Sat-...ryZ75327QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
absolute bargain at the moment but I suspect it will creep up ...

That explains it then - but why Lithuania? Most of the Command units seem to be sourced from there.

 

[Alfie]

That explains it then - but why Lithuania? Most of the Command units seem to be sourced from there.

Not all of them!

 

[Pookis Dad]

Lithuanian Goods

Now any Lithuanians reading don't take this the wrong way, but.....

My wife (a Lithuanian and an interpreter in Scottish Courts) is adamant that anything on ebay from Lithuania will either have been stolen from a car (likely in Germany) or removed from a stolen car or stolen from a shop/dealer.

I have been to Lithuania and know that many things are not as they seem. Electronic goods are not that cheap.

I was asked to pay 100 litas (£20) for a used rubber intercooler hose from a VW breaker. I told the guy I could get the same thing in Scotland for about £2. We swapped car fixing stories and he relented having seen I was nifty around a car engine bay.

Anyway, my wife said I must have impressed him for him to drop the price so much (think I paid 10 litas in the end).

I would be very wary of buying any used goods from Eastern Europe as they see us as easy money in most (not all) cases.

However, on saying that, I did buy a perfectly excellent glass fibre body kit for my Laguna for £250 from Poland.It arrived withing 4 days in perfect condition. The exact same kit for sale in the UK (and very likely made by the same wee man in a lock up garage in Poland) was £1200 with 28 days delivery

Buyer beware.

 

[JEZ.S320L]

Now any Lithuanians reading don't take this the wrong way, but.....

My wife (a Lithuanian and an interpreter in Scottish Courts) is adamant that anything on ebay from Lithuania will either have been stolen from a car (likely in Germany) or removed from a stolen car or stolen from a shop/dealer.

I have been to Lithuania and know that many things are not as they seem. Electronic goods are not that cheap.

I was asked to pay 100 litas (£20) for a used rubber intercooler hose from a VW breaker. I told the guy I could get the same thing in Scotland for about £2. We swapped car fixing stories and he relented having seen I was nifty around a car engine bay.

Anyway, my wife said I must have impressed him for him to drop the price so much (think I paid 10 litas in the end).

I would be very wary of buying any used goods from Eastern Europe as they see us as easy money in most (not all) cases.

However, on saying that, I did buy a perfectly excellent glass fibre body kit for my Laguna for £250 from Poland.It arrived withing 4 days in perfect condition. The exact same kit for sale in the UK (and very likely made by the same wee man in a lock up garage in Poland) was £1200 with 28 days delivery

Buyer beware.

Thanks - you have confirmed my suspicions.!!

Have you also noticed, the large number of blank MB key blades for sale on ebay - again, mostly sourced from Eastern Europe?

M'thinks I smell a rat..............:?

 

[toby1]

I'm looking at changing the CLK for a W211 E Class.

Alfie's answer seems clear enough to me - retro fitting Comand is a nightmare unless you want to spend the cash.

I would however, be grateful to know more about this audio gateway. What does it look like? Am I right in thinking it's in the boot somewhere? Is there an option code to look for in the build?

Slightly off topic (and I've carried out a search but not found the precise answer!), can phone prep be retro-fitted? I really like this in the CLK but I'm struggling to find one already in a used car. Is it factory-fitted only, or does it depend on the head unit as well?

I realise it's more than the cradle, but how much more?

Many thanks,
Toby

 

[jberks]

have a look at braybrookes web site. Its a lot and again not worth the cash if you have to pay for it. Lots of 211s do have it so keep searching, just make sure you get one with an interchangeable UHI cradle (post mid 04).
As far as the audio gateway is concerned, if the car has an Audio 20 cassette player or any form of satnav then it's got the gateway. If it has an Audio 20 cd player (the cd replaced the tape on the audio 20 around 04 -> ) then it hasn't.

 

[Alfie]

I'm looking at changing the CLK for a W211 E Class.

Alfie's answer seems clear enough to me - retro fitting Comand is a nightmare unless you want to spend the cash.

I would however, be grateful to know more about this audio gateway. What does it look like? Am I right in thinking it's in the boot somewhere? Is there an option code to look for in the build?

Slightly off topic (and I've carried out a search but not found the precise answer!), can phone prep be retro-fitted? I really like this in the CLK but I'm struggling to find one already in a used car. Is it factory-fitted only, or does it depend on the head unit as well?

I realise it's more than the cradle, but how much more?

Many thanks,
Toby

Phone pre-wire can be retro fitted. Its going to cost you circa £1,000 though! You would be a lot better off finding a car that has it already fitted.

The AGW is in the boot on the left hand side if you have it!

 

[JEZ.S320L]

A TomTom and bluetooth would do the job - MUCH cheaper, and transferable too.

 

[Blobcat]

A TomTom and bluetooth would do the job - MUCH cheaper, and transferable too.

Agreed, however when you are on the highway and you go past another Mercedes and you see the unit stuck on the dash it just looks wrong (IMHO). However my point of view was possibly different when I had my W210 with my Garmin on the dash

 

[JEZ.S320L]

Agreed, however when you are on the highway and you go past another Mercedes and you see the unit stuck on the dash it just looks wrong (IMHO). However my point of view was possibly different when I had my W210 with my Garmin on the dash

True - but I wonder if a nicely fitted Comand unit would soon end up on ebay - from Lithuania..!!??