Ipod Integration Help Reqd (Please)

[Mrs Monte Christo]

Hi,

New to the forums and am hoping for a bit of help on getting my ipod fitted into my motor.

I have an 05 CLK 270 with Sat Nav Comand fitted and am desperate to purchase the Mercedes/Apple ipod integration kit.

Now this is available through Mercedes dealers in the UK I am about to purchase the kit.

I would like to know how much is involved in fitting the kit.
I have been quoted approx £300 from various merc dealers, give or take a few quid.

I would like to know if it is possible to get hold of some instructions to aid fitting.

My biggest obstacle would be how to dismatle the dash, etc to install without any instructions.

Basically, could any of you guys out there suggest the best plan of attack and my options. Thanks in advance !!

Another question whilst i am on the subject...

I have the 6 disc CD fitted in the glove box (what a waste of money that was now) and the cd storage bays. I know the ipod is intended to be docked in the glovebox, does this mean that I will have to remove the cd player, etc, etc ???

 

[Keith D]

Ipod

My son uses his ipod in his car, using what is called an itrip. No fitting requred other that pluging it into the 12v outlet (cig lighter) and tuning his radio into a frequency that the itrip transmmits, and all the sound etc comes out of the car system. The cost varies we got his of ebay they range from £12 to £24, you will just need a holder for the ipod or just rest it on the dash.

best of luck

Keith.

 

[Mrs Monte Christo]

Hi Keith,

I used to own an Itrip about 6 months ago, but gave it away as i wasnt happy with the preformance.
I travel quite a lot with work and the frequency of different areas would play havoc with it at times and basically i wasnt happy with the sound quality.
You also have to select your music directly on the ipod and this is dangerous whilst driving.
I have today purchased the mercedes ipod kit and it looks the business.
The functionality is second to none when installed and the sound quality will blow an fm transmitter away.

Would like to install my self if possible rather than pay the £300 approx for mercedes to fit the kit.

I am just not so keen on stripping my dash down when I dont have any instructions, etc, etc.

If anybody can point me in the right direction on where to get any instruction manuals, etc, etc or just advice on what is the best option

I would be grateful.

Thanks for your interest Keith !!

 

[Keith D]

ipod

You could give this guy a ring, I do not have any knowledge of his quality of work etc, but might be able help.
Regards

Keith.

C.K Mobile Auto Electrician
01706 359897
Durley Buckley Hill Lane
Rochdale, OL16 4BU

 

[Steve_sos]

IPod Connection

I ordered the kit and it’s not as easy as it looks. It works like a charm but does require a professional hand.

Unless you know how to strip the dash leave it to the pros.

Maybe ask a local car hifi fitment centre if they can do it for you, it should be a bit cheaper. Maybe get them to replace your front speakers it amazing what a few pounds can get you.

There is a cable that fits into the side of the cubby so you should be able to use both CD & ipod.

I love my car more now I can listen to all my tracks in comfort and realy get the most out of my Ipod.

 

[Mrs Monte Christo]

Hi Steve,

I have done just that today, taken it to a hi fi specialist that has fitted 3rd party ipod kits before and they charged me £50 instead of the £300 mercedes wanted. They have done a great job fitting the kit !!

Only problem is, it doesnt work !!!

We discovered that after installation the comand unit only displays the mercedes logo for a short while then switches off !!

Spoke to mercedes who said I need to book it in with them as it needs to be hooked up to their computer to re program it ?????

My car is a CLK 05 and there is no problems with compatability, so my question for you Steve is/are

Who fitted your kit ?
Did you know of any need to re program your car after installation ??

The Ipod is sat beautifully in my glovebox holder with the mercedes logo on !!

PS Good tip on the front speakers, I am going to upgrade them too !!

Regards Steve

 

[iancropper]

iPod

I have just had the iPod integration kit fitted to my new A class. It is connected to the Comand APS in place of the "Aux" input which is disabled in the process. Installation involves removing both the Comand unit and the glovebox and takes about 1.5 hours installation time. The Comand unit then has to be reprogrammed to regognise the iPod.

Having said all that, I think it's aweful. Yes the sound quality is OK but very quiet. Set the sound to an acceptable volume and you will be blown out of your seat when a TA (traffic announcement) comes through. Control is fine through the steering wheel but the display of menus/tracks is only shown on the dash display (not the Comand screen) and is limited to one truncated line of text. It's virtually impossible to tell what track it's referring to if you have a lot on the iPod. I have quite a lot of tracks that all start with the word 'Allegro' - they all display as 'Alleg.' so I haven't a clue which one will play. 'A Hard Days Night' is displayed as 'A Har..'

MB have been less than helpful saying virtually "what do you expect"

So £220 for an Ipod, £170 for the kit and £200 for fitting = £590 = not impressed. Infact it's nearly as bad as their atrocious SatNav which must be the worst on the market and still without TMC enabled in the UK!

 

[Steve_sos]

IPod Connection

Hi MC
My car has the Audio20 and the only trick was the Fibre Cable for the cell phone kit.
I am in South Africa I used a company called Auto Xtras

Hi Ian
The volume problem is an IPod and CD mastering problem. I personally rip all my CD's at 320kbs or variable bit rate. I found once I have ripped I need to run a third party program problem from
http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/
This program helps with volume levelling.
I have tried the default 89db but found the volume a bit low try 92 or 95db.
Yes if you use the TA feature, be ready to turn the volume down once the TA starts, you can turn the TA volume down but yes it is still loud.
The quality may not be the same as a CD but the convenience of driving with your whole CD collection is magic. The full MB integration beats anything I seen so far. I have a client with a 3 series BMW and he marvels at how the MB integration works.
Yes the display only gives the first 10 characters. That’s because the MB uses the AUX input of the radio to supply the sound but the dash/Steering wheel to drive the Ipod commands. Strangely enough the two systems are independent.

Try “MP3 gain” its free and it may help with the volume problem.

Is this solution perfect, No, but far better than nearly any other Ipod solution.
My bug bare with the Ipod is IMHO the pathetic piece of software they supply with the Ipod “Itunes”. My good reason to stay away from any other Apple product.

I guess in the future, once our cars can connect to our home wireless hotspots, the Audio units will have hard drives build in and we will be able to just download our tracks and podcasts directly to the car. I guess it would be too ambitious to think this will be an option on the new C-class due out next year.

Cheers from Sunny South Africa

 

[blassberg]

I applaud MB for getting an integration kit ahead of most manufacturers.

My kit cost £225+VAT fitted on my new car. Much better value than a CD changer although they now play mp3 off CD.

Thanks for the volume tips Steve - will try those.

Ian - do you have the IPOD volume itself on max? And the Traffic Announcement level on +0?

I had to relabel albums eg Now 55, Now 41 becasue of the truncation.

Steve - I think iTunes is functional enough. What don't you like?

By the way PodPlus is good for copying from IPOD to PC. BUt make sure you temporarily disable autosync or you lose the songs on your pc. It does tell you each time.

 

[dogsbody]

Ipod integration Help required

I bought an Ipod for No 1 daughter over Xmas and it cost £112. To pay £230 for a kit to integrate it with the car is ridiculous!
My Ericson phone plumbed into my Eclass is Bluetooth enabled, and the Ipod works fine on bluetooth, though in fairness, the output is only via the front four speakers.
I found yesterday, an MP3 player in a computer warehouse, which looks like a standard radio, cost about £60, and would fit a standard cd/radio DIN slot on the car. I did not question how it would fit into the Comand, and if it can hold as claimed about 1000 tracks, it is going to make CD changers obsolete. It would seem to me that the way forward is some sort of Bluetooth standard, so that Sat Nav, Ipods and even the talking clock can be integrated into the car without spaghetti junction!

 

[Steve_sos]

Itunes

Hi Charlie

I’m glad you enjoy your Ipod connector too.

Itunes is like many of the other Apple products, I feel it does not give you enough control on how you want your collection to be handled, it does all the thinking for you and you must just live with it that way. I personally use MusicMatch 10 to rip and manage my music (in Wav format, yes large hard drive required {250Gb presently} ) then export the albums to MP3 and tell Itunes to read the MP3 folder and that seems to work for me.

BTW the volume on the Ipod is no affect on the connector at the bottom it only affects the headphone output.

I am looking at ways to boost the volume from the bottom connector to give more level to the radio.

If I find a way I'll let you know.

The problem with the fluctuating audio level is the audio system remembers the level of all the different modes {radio/CD/Telephone) but does not take into account the AUX. so when you leave the radio at a reasonable level and switch to AUX and turn the volume up to hear the Ipod it increases the level of the radio volume so when you switch back it blears at you. I think a minor design error. I'm sure it will be fixed in the next audio release.

Cheers

Steve

 

[blassberg]

Itunes ... does not give you enough control on how you want your collection to be handled

... I personally use MusicMatch 10

BTW the volume on the Ipod is no affect on the connector at the bottom it only affects the headphone output.

I am looking at ways to boost the volume from the bottom connector to give more level to the radio.

Hi Steve - I agree on the collection handling as it pretends to hide the files. I used MusicMatch before - paid the lower amount to not to get licence updates - and the licence included a backup copy of the software - but when you run the installation programme again it just asks for a new key and will not re-install the back-level.
Interesting about the volume at the connector - thanks. I have downloaded mp3gain but want to learn about clipping before trying.
My M8 has a pre-amp for his iPOD inegration on his scooter (yes - scooter). But assume that will get in the way on the MB integration kit.

 

[iancropper]

Thanks Steve, a useful little programme and other good stuff via the site, difficult however to get much improvement without clipping.

I'm still persuing this with MB. It should be easy for them to get the pre-amp on a level with other inputs or at worse have separate volume as they have provided separate bass and treble.

MB's initial response was that because it was an aftermarket dealer fit, rather than a factory option, it was not possible for them to get the levels the same!!

As regards to them not being able to use the Comand display, it seems strange that the Dennison Ice-link can, but Mercedes cannot.

I am of the opinion that I have been misled by MB.

 

[blassberg]

MB really ought to think before they speak on some matters

 

[pongee]

Alt Source for iPod Int Kit

You could always try to obtain the kit from alternative sources.

Google 'mbenznl' - Steve, the European proprietor is well known in other forums. Apparently, he sells only original MB parts, though supposedly somewhat cheaper than the stealers.

My friend has a C230K SS and enquired about the same from them. He was told that they could supply the kit for USD250 and they would include full DIY instructions (which I believe involves removing the glovebox insert, centre console and centre A/C vents).

I have not dealt with these people directly, and am not involved with them in any way. As ever, caveat emptor.

Cheers,

P.

 

[angus falconer]

Itunes is like many of the other Apple products, I feel it does not give you enough control on how you want your collection to be handled,

Yes I found iTunes irritating. And I found two junked iPods extemely irritating ......I have now gone for Creatives - one 40Gb Zen Touch and one 1Gb Zen Nano Plus. Both work fine. The software is better too IMHO. But then Creatives are designed and build by engineers, the iPods by marketeers......you pays your money.

Irritatingly neither software package can cope with my proliferation of mix CD's - they keep inserting gaps between tracks. I gave up making playlists about 25 years ago - why bother when you have thousands of pre-ordered mixes out there?

Or I am just the only ex-clubber here?

 

[clark]

hi, i fitted a merc i pod inerface to a 2005 c class last week. was a piece of cake. took less than an hour, and able to use steering wheel controls for i pod use. just need to remove comand unit and panel under the glove box.

 

[iancropper]

Which Comand do you have? Is it APS with MOST or 2.5?

 

[MBC180]

IPOD Integration Kit "all you need to know"

Dear All,
As new member I used the forum to educate myself on the IPOD Integration Kit, as MB Info was very hard to locate.
I found some good info on the forum site so thanks to those for putting it up there.
I had found a great FAQ sheet on a hard to find MB site and Apple IPOD site so here its is: I hope its as helpful to you as it was to me, a sit was the result of several hours web searching to get all these answers in 1 document.
Mark Badi. Budapest Hungary. Owner to be (this week ) of C180 K with IPOD integration kit fitted after delivery.

B67824213 iPod integration kit iPod not included[/COLOR] Approx USD 350 Incl. VAT
B67824207 iPod holder for glove box. (Only with iPod integration kit) Approx USD 15 incl.VAT


What is the iPod Integration Kit for Mercedes-Benz?The iPod Integration Kit for Mercedes-Benz is an integrated system solution that provides connectivity between a customer's iPod device and the electronic and audio systems of the Mercedes-Benz vehicle. The solution offers the ability to connect and stow the iPod device with a specially designed interface in the glovebox that charges the iPod device while allowing the driver to manipulate iPod menus and device functions via the multifunction steering wheel buttons. Also, the driver can conveniently reference the iPod menu, playlist, and artist or title information on the multifunction display on the dashboard

What is included with the iPod Integration Kit for Mercedes-Benz? The kit includes a unique physical interface for the glovebox, as well as all software to support vehicle system integration and interface functionality. The iPod device is sold separately, and is not included with the iPod Integration Kit for Mercedes-Benz.

Can the iPod Integration Kit for Mercedes-Benz be used with other MP3 or other audio devices? The iPod Integration Kit is engineered with specific software that interprets the data from the Apple iPod device. Other MP3 players or other audio devices are not compatible with this solution.

With which iPod devices is the solution compatible? The iPod Integration Kit for Mercedes-Benz is compatible with any iPod device equipped with a dock interface and the latest iPod firmware installed. This includes iPod, iPod mini, and iPod photo. (after researching IPOD web pages its any New IPOD with IPOD Dock interface connector on it e.g. NANO, see Apple link below to check:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61688#ipodphoto )

For which vehicles is the solution available? The iPod Integration Kit for Mercedes-Benz is now available for the redesigned 2006 M-Class SUV, C-Class (MY05 and newer), CLK-Class (MY05 and newer), E-Class (MY04 and newer), CLS-Class (MY06), and SLK-Class (MY05 and newer; vehicles equipped with COMAND [Cockpit Management and Data system] system only). Upon vehicle introduction, the solution will be available for the new 2006 R-Class.

Can the iPod Integration Kit be installed by my dealer or is this a factory option? The iPod Integration Kit for Mercedes-Benz can be installed by an authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer, allowing for installation after initial vehicle delivery, or the kit can be ordered as a factory-installed option (Max 1 hour).

What is the price of the iPod Integration Kit for Mercedes-Benz? The MSRP for the dealer-installed solution begins at $299 plus installation.

Is the solution covered under warranty? If installed at the time of initial vehicle delivery, the iPod Integration Kit is covered under the standard term of the MBUSA New Vehicle Limited Warranty (4 years or 50,000 miles, whichever comes first). If installed after initial vehicle delivery, the iPod Integration Kit is covered for the remainder of the New Vehicle Limited Warranty or one year, whichever is greater.

How is the iPod Integration Kit for Mercedes-Benz different from after-market solutions? The Mercedes-Benz solution is specifically engineered for Mercedes-Benz vehicle systems. This solution provides increased functionality over after-market solutions, such as device function manipulation via the multifunction steering-wheel controls and view of the iPod device data on the multifunction display. Because Mercedes-Benz vehicle systems do not recognize the iPod device as a CD-changer component as competitive solutions do, customers can use both the CD changer and the iPod device without sacrificing one for the other. Also, unlike after-market solutions, the Mercedes-Benz kit is covered under warranty.

How is the Mercedes-Benz solution different from solutions offered by other vehicle manufacturers?
The iPod Integration Kit for Mercedes-Benz offers increased functionality. For instance, the Mercedes-Benz solution allows the driver to play and view any playlist that has been created - without having to make a special new playlist for the vehicle solution, as in other manufacturer's solutions. Also, song title information can be viewed in the dashboard multifunction display, allowing the driver to "See What You're Hearing".

If the iPod Integration Kit for Mercedes-Benz is installed, are other devices such as the CD changer nullified? No. Because this solution recognizes the iPod device as a unique input, other audio inputs such as CD changers can still be utilized.

 

[braintimbers]

A reasonable priced option is the Harman Kardon drive play. Sound quality is very good, and the display is majetic suiting the interior.

This is a wired option, it costed me £50 to fit from my local garage