soon to be owner of C220CDI Elegance needs your help

[whitenemesis]

COMAND is more than just satnav....

It is expensive as a retro-fit and if all you want is satnav then TomTom is far, far cheaper (and looks it!!) retro-fitted COMAND is ~£1200+ and IMHO well worth it

Again with the CD, don't spoil a great car with cheap after market add-ons. The MB changer will sit nicely in the glove box and intergrate with the audio system and steering wheel buttons. CD changer cost ~£500 fitted

 

[whitenemesis]

Errm... How did that happen??

 

[A210AMG]

Hello & Welcome


I too had a Bmw before swapping for my ML (330ci convertible), I was on a BMW forum and almost every week there was a post about blown turbos, either 320d's or 330d's not good..

Has the merc got a single CD at present? maybe easier to stick with that and an an ipod interface (assuming you have an ipod) then you have the ultimate disc changer

Command retrofited I'm think about £1500 to £2000 as its a hefty job. I like the look of it in the dash but not sure its worth paying that for, depends on your millage and what you want. I use TomTom 6 on my Orbit phone it works a treat.

 

[A210AMG]

wwwoooow,

our reply is before the question....


now wheres the lottery ticket

 

[mzaslam]

Hi guys,

As the title suggests - I will soon be the (fingers crossed) proud owner of an 03 C220 CDI Elegance bought from a dealership in the North-West

I'm currently looking at getting a cd changer and/or COMAND sat nav unit fitted.

With regards to the CD Changer, the sales guy at the dealership recommended that I have one fitted by a third party audio fitter. I was quite surprised that he would advise me of doing this and not recommend having it fitted by them.

Anyway, I was really after some advice on the following:

• Would it be better to have the standard cd changer fitted or other after market one?
• If I decide to take the dealers advice, can anyone recommend a good place to have this work done?
• What should I be looking to pay for a typical install?
• For those people that have COMAND - what do you think of it? Do you think its worth the money or is something like TomTom just as good?

I'm from Rochdale so looking for somewhere local.

I'm really excited to be joining the MB club and can't wait to get hold of my little beauty. FYI - I am doing a part-ex with the car I have at the moment which is an 02 BMW 320D SE!!! Only had it for a few months but have heard some horrendous stories regarding engine failures etc. Definitely not what I was expecting from "the ultimate driving machine" thats for sure

Thanks

 

[mzaslam]

wwwoooow,

our reply is before the question....


now wheres the lottery ticket

lol thats good. Why dont we go 50/50

 

[mzaslam]

Errm... How did that happen??

good question... got no idea !!! Maybe my comp is possessed !!!

 

[mzaslam]

Hello & Welcome


I too had a Bmw before swapping for my ML (330ci convertible), I was on a BMW forum and almost every week there was a post about blown turbos, either 320d's or 330d's not good..

Has the merc got a single CD at present? maybe easier to stick with that and an an ipod interface (assuming you have an ipod) then you have the ultimate disc changer

Command retrofited I'm think about £1500 to £2000 as its a hefty job. I like the look of it in the dash but not sure its worth paying that for, depends on your millage and what you want. I use TomTom 6 on my Orbit phone it works a treat.

Thats exactly why I am getting rid of my beemer.

yes - it has. I don't have an ipod and would rather just have a cd changer fitted if its not going to be overly expensive.

What the heck is going on with this thread and all my replies - I seem to be 1 hour ahead of everyone else. I wouldnt mind if it was the case in reality !

 

[mzaslam]

COMAND is more than just satnav....

It is expensive as a retro-fit and if all you want is satnav then TomTom is far, far cheaper (and looks it!!) retro-fitted COMAND is ~£1200+ and IMHO well worth it

Again with the CD, don't spoil a great car with cheap after market add-ons. The MB changer will sit nicely in the glove box and intergrate with the audio system and steering wheel buttons. CD changer cost ~£500 fitted

Thanks for the advice. So would you recommend that I get this done from my local dealer or elsewhere?

 

[television]

This has happened on many threads, it is the forum clock that keeps flipping back to summer time.

See Dieselmans thread in feedback

 

[whitenemesis]

Thanks for the advice. So would you recommend that I get this done from my local dealer or elsewhere?

Dealers can be a bit funny regarding COMAND retrofits, some will, some wont. Those that will are certainly gonna be very expensive!

CD changers are different, a common retrofit. Still expensive through the dealer though.

I can thoroughly recommend comand.co.uk for genuine MB retrofits.

 

[mzaslam]

Dealers can be a bit funny regarding COMAND retrofits, some will, some wont. Those that will are certainly gonna be very expensive!

CD changers are different, a common retrofit. Still expensive through the dealer though.

I can thoroughly recommend comand.co.uk for genuine MB retrofits.

Hi - thanks for that.

Unfortunately, I would be looking for somewhere in the North-West.

 

[hawk20]

Hi - thanks for that.

Unfortunately, I would be looking for somewhere in the North-West.

Comand.co.uk retro fit for amazingly low prices and no VAT when I last enquired a couple of months back. About £1300 -less than factory fit. BUT you then have problem with factory guarantee or lack of it, of course. Only get 12 months on the COMAND. Ask if they'll come to you.

I've had COMAND and liked it but it is £250 every year to update the disc. I now have Garmin (more reliable than TOMTOM according to my local Halfords) and it is a wonderful system. I have the nuvi660 which has TMC, fixed speed cameras and all mobile cameras too and you can update weekly free. Great system. But if you do lots of journeys in areas you do not know, and don't want to plug in and unplug a mobile system every time, then COMAND is clearly best. But it won't give you speed cameras!

 

[rf065]

COMAND looks nice, but at the risk of upsetting the COMAND die hards, I would upgrade to a TOMTOM. Take a look at the TomTom 520, only £178 from Halfords. Don't use the windscreen mounts though, get a Brodit Pro Clip & hardwire the system to your car. TomTom now has the map share feature where if the map is wrong, you can rectify it yourself, or download corrected maps as often as you like from TomTom's site. Voice recognition, MP3 player, bluetooth handsfree, speed cameras etc etc.

Russ

 

[mzaslam]

I'm not too concerned about getting COMAND fitted - more so a cd changer. I have found (via Yellow Pages) a company who apparently retro-fit OEM MB changers. They're called AV Solutions and are based in Heywood so will give them a call once I pick up my car on the w/e.

With regards to a stand alone sat nav - I'm not sure about Garmin as I have read that it tends to prefer back/unclassified roads rather than routing via main roads which as you can imagine is far from ideal.

On the other hand I have TomTom on my PDA at the moment and am quite pleased with it so will probably go for a TomTom 520. Its not to say its perfect - no sat nav is but as a navigation aid I think its one of the best and the mapshare feature is genius.

Thanks for all your feedback guys. I'm even considering having a DVD player fitted. I guess first things first - need to get my car

 

[hawk20]

How interesting to see some serious problems with BMW's on this thread. I had heard about problems with the two and three litre diesels but did not know about the blown turbo problems.

I followed the Lexus forum for a while and was surprised how many problems turned up there. Never seem to reach the motoring Press though.

 

[hawk20]

Here is a link to some BMW problems: -
http://www.bmwland.co.uk/talker/viewtopic.php?t=53451

One posting says: -
"Yet another owner suffers!
My 320d went the same way as yours and Warleys some five weeks ago. Unfortunately as my vehicle had done 133k and didn't have a full BMW service history (Block Exemption - what's that!!) I was offered a generous 20% off parts on a £10k bill!! When you add this failure to the failed turbocharger, the failed injectors, the failed fuel pump, the failed springs and the failed front wishbone rear bushes over its five year life, I bought a vehicle that has turned out to be less of "the ultimate driving machine", more like a piece of overpriced junk!!"