Retrofit COMAND in W211 Estate now completed! £420 all in!!

[tpt]

Please also refer to my other thread
"APS 50 sat nav and ipod on a W211 Estate"


In the end, this retro fit was comapritvely simple, but only because I have an APS 50 as a factory fit option. The key to the build was getting the DVD wiring loom - Thanks to rpalmeida for identifying the parts and thanks to shakeapaw for general instructions.

W211s after 03 dont have the DVD NAV computer mounting bracket or the wiring loom so you need to order them in. Here are my top tips ..

1) Happily the power connector plug will only fit into a single socket in the rear SAM - so no chance of buggering up the SAM or the NAV computer

2) You *dont* necessarily need to connect the pink MOST wake up cable - it has some most wake up fuctionality on the MOST cable itself. If i do need to connect it, i may scotch lock it (!!!) into the exisiting pink MOST wake up cable

3) Parts
A211 540 31 32 Short MOST fibre
A000 545 44 84 MOST joiner
A211 540 99 10 Aux cable
A211 540 51 09 - wiring harness, navigation processor & antenna line, up to ident A303555
A211 540 51 09 98 - wiring harness, navigation processor & antenna line, from ident A303556 (post 03 - you will probably need this one)
A211 545 6340 - barcket for DVD unit

4) I ordered my parts online from http://www.mercedes-benz-parts.co.uk/, i found the retail dealers MOST UNHELPFUL!!!

5) I think you could upgrade from an APS 20 but you would also need to figure out where to place the GPS receiver - i belive all W211s have the Audio Gateway Unit which is vital to get this thing going

6) The correct path for the most cable is
Out of AGW --> In to Comand (in dash)
Out of Comand --> in to Nav unit
Out of Nav unit --> into AGW

7) to get the most cable out of its holder ,push down on the blue tab until it pops up and then carefully slide the cable out..

So what did comand give me over the APS50

* An AUX in socket - this was the reason i went down this root in the first place, i wanted to listen to my ipod on the go and the FM transmitter quality was crap, MB quoted me £700 for a denison ipod kit. It was while I was discussing this option that it occured to me how easy it would be to retorfit the COMAND....

* A graphical map display - quite customisable too

* TMC!!! Yep, I saw a lovely long line of red warning triangles on the map on the A2 this evening

* DVD playback - quite useful when you're shopping with your wife and you get bored!! And lik all small screen dvd palyers, excellent picture quality with sound through the speakers

So, all in all I am very happy. The total cost of the build, exceluding my time, was £350 for the comand off of ebay, £70 for parts - total £420

Coments?

TPT

 

[television]

Thanks for the write up, you did well there

 

[jberks]

I'm green.
One small correction
Sadly not all 211s have the audio gateway which as you rightly say, is key. Post 04 211s with the Audio 20 cd player (like mine) don't.

 

[tpt]

Thanks for that correction jberks - does the audio 20 use the MOST system though? I guess not.

Also one small correction, the bracket part for the DVD holder is A2115457940.

 

[mercedesnut]

Hi TPT. Interesting article and well done.
I have an early 03 W211 E320CDi with an APS50 based Sat Nav and would dearly love to upgrade it to a COMAND system to get the features you mention (as well as TV tuner capability). I recently bought a Nokia N95 8Gb phone recently and use that for my music and would love to be able to plug it in. Can anyone tell me if that is possible instead of an ipod please?).
Also, how difficult is it to remove the APS50 head unit (without damaging anything)? Given that I have an APS50 SatNav, I take it that I do not need a GPS receiver and would only require the COMAND head unit and the DVD player for the boot(?) with the maps DVD, plus any interconnect cables. I'll need to read your note again as I've got a thick head at the moment (I hope this is a temporary phenomenon) and much of what I read went straight over my head. Cheers.

 

[tpt]

HI M-nut

Well the good news is that you have the Audio Gateway which all of this connects into. The other vital bit you need to buy is the wiring loom for the DVD unit in the boot part number A211 540 51 09 98 - this is a foolproof bit of loom as it connects to your DVD unit, the Audio Gateway unit and the rear SAM (power supply) AND your existing sat nav areial. And all the plugs are different shapes and sizes and can ONLY GO INTO ONE CORRECT PLACE!! - what a great bit of design.

All of these units are in the boot on the passenger side and quite accessible. You may need to buy a cage to hold the sat nav unit - i didnt bother in the end - i just proped it up in a suitable corner and stuck it in with gaffer tape! - With the boot trim panel on you cant tell its there anyway...

As for removing ypur comand 50 APS - dead easy. Open the ashtray door. In the space the provides you, lift the front edge of the bit of trim around the gear stick lever. It should pop up at the fornt edge and then you can lift it out so it hange all arround the gear selector. I then started the car and moved the gear lever to D to give me some extra room.

Now you can remove the ashtray / cigarette lighter tray which should just pop out. I just let this hang over into the passenger footwell - i didnt bother to undo the lead to the cigarette lighter.

Next you need to undo two star screws which are horizontaly inclined and which hold in the the cd player/space for cd player. (you know the one behind the motorised flap). There will also be a power connector for the motorised flap to unclip. This pulls out horizontally, leaving a big gap. Now you should have the bottom of the APS 50 exposed. There are two more star screws to undo - both inclined vertically but upside down. You must losen these and then keep turning until they will turn no more. You are in effect losening a big bolt on either side of the unit.

When you have done all that the APS50 just slides out. Disconnect the power/MOST cable and the GPS areial. Fit your new comand is the reverse - it will take the same MOST/Power plug but it wont need the GPS areial as this now gets re routed to the DVD nav unit in the boot via the cunning wiring loom.

I didnt bother diconecting the battery - also, as i didnt have the wiring loom for the boot NAV unit I drove arrouund for a month with just the comand head unit in my car - and yes it should work the miniute you plug it in - so I had radio, DVD palyer and an AUX line in ( dont forget to order the line in cable A211 540 99 10 Aux cable which plugs into the back of the comand) all working perfectly until my wiring loom arrived.

It is all very straight forward if you already have the APS 50 - my only concern with your build is that I belive a TV enabled unit may need more wires which you would have to route from the boot to the dash - not a nice job!

Anyway, reply to this if you get stuck - cheers TPT

 

[carabind]

well, I haven't got the guts to try and do what tpt's done, so my wife has bought me a tom-tom which is a good substitute (and at least she can borrow it!) However, I'm not too keen on the power wire dangling from the cigar lighter socket to the windscreen. Does anyone know where I could pick up an easily acsseible 12v + and - supply from under the dash (Its a W211)? Also, does the end dash panel (hidden by the door) come off easily , so I can hide the wires here?