Vos

I have a chance to buy a Comand A 163 820 36 89. Is this plug and play on an MY2000?

Thx in advance

Kar don

ill take your MCS.

SUNILP

i don't believe it's plug an play. I think you have to add a speed sensor on the ML. Scorchie confirm?

Vos

Al, do want the CD changer as well?

I think all Comands need an optical link for the CD changer, so I won"t be needing mine.

scorchie

No. You will need to modify the dash to accept the COMAND; also, the speed pulse will need to be fed to the C2 connector pin 6 (so a C2 pin housing and shell will be required).

A new CD changer (fibre) will require a new wiring harness.

-s-

Vos

Eeeh, according to Steve my ML has the speed pulse already in place.

What mod for the dash? Unit size is the same....

According to the seller's dealer it requires a harness adapter but nothing else.

And, yes, the CD harness once I get around to that.

What did I miss?

BigSis

Hmm... Scorchie didn't say you didn't have the speed pulse, he only said it needed to be fed.

BTW, I don't think Steve himself gave you that info, since he is on an install trip - long one this time. Must have been his hired help. :p

greetingz,

BigSis

Vos

Just threw out the email this morning, but fine, I guess I'll find out when I try the unit on Saturday.

Even in local lingo, heeft een 2000 dus geen speed puls achter het dashboard of wel?? In welk jaar is dat wel het geval? De unit die ik bekijk komt uit een 2001.

Vriendelijke groeten!

scorchie

The speed pulse is THERE on the 2000 model, it just also needs to be fed to pin 6 on C2 (I wrote this in the earlier post). Don't you think an adapter harness would feed the wires in a different way? Your original question was whether a COMAND and an M-class are plug and play... not if the COMAND + ADAPTER + M-class are plug and play.

I'm not sure how it helps, but speed pulse is there starting MY 2000 (but I thought you were only really interested in your car!).

And what did you miss? Well, when you try to put the unit in, you will see what I mean about modifying the dash. COMAND certainly fits into an M-class that comes in, say, Germany... where COMAND is available in the M-class. But in the US-spec cars (MCS is fitted only in US-spec), the dash must be modified.

If the seller says it should work, why are you asking here in the first place, and then telling us we are saying something different than someone else and questioning if our statements are correct? That's one of the quickest ways to lose your sources of information.

-s-

Vos

Whooooa, Man, I didn't imply you were wrong or try to question your authority in the matter. I was merely trying to clarify the situation, you may be looking at this stuff every day, I am not. I dislike flamewars on fora, we never met face-to-face and there is no reason to assume malintent. On the contrary, I just figured out from a thread that you seem to be involved with Krabbenborg and he gets the highest praize around here!

Just to give you an idea, in the last few days I did read a lot of information regarding this switch. I think I finally understand (at least partially) what the Can Bus is (I have worked on DEC 11/34s in the past and know how a bus functions) and I also fathomed why my CD changer is obsolete with Comand.

I have learned what all the connections on the back are and that there are certain adapters to make the install easier. What I understand from your last reply is that the adapter plugs the speed signal into the right place without custom wiring.

I am still not clear on what the physical difference is between the two units and why the dash needs to be changed. Is the depth of the cavity too shallow, is the locking machanism different or is there some other issue? I have one and a half hour drive to get to the seller and it would be easier to know ahead of time what I will find when I try to slot it in.

My car is a MY2000 so it is relevant to know at what point one no longer has to bring the signal from under the consolde to the dash as Wolfgang shows for his 98....

Again, no offense. I understand that this is quite complex issue with a lot of different Comands floating around and a lot of different vehicles that in addition have evolved over time. There is a lot of information on the web about this, unfortunately it is scattered in a lot of different sites. No one site gives an overview of the technology first and then goes on to explain what is used in which vehicles and which Comands feature which technology.

Thanks for the info thus far and in advance for any other.

Best rgds
LV

Vos

So far, so good, the mod on the dash is minimal. Cutting the two tabs that "guide" the MCS unit home (and probably support a single DIN unit when in the upper slot).

The adapter harness is not very helpfull at this stage as it really only drives the CD changer which I don't have yet. It does not link the the speed pulse to the NAV C1 plug out of the box. But I guess having the adapter helps to bring the speeds pulse there.

Funny thing was that there was no sound when we slotted it in. Then we found that the NAV voice would function, but nothing else. When we decided to have a little drive to check the NAV, we found that the sound would come briefly when I moved off. I decided the unit was allright as I just saw it work in the seller's car minutes before, I paid and drove home.

Back home I found that the sound would come on with the car in reverse gear. A little box with "Kommunikation Activ" would appear... Turns out that in my car the reverse signal is attached to the phone mute....grand :-( A little tough driving backwards all the time to hear the radio....

I guess a little plumbing work will be needed to hook every thing up where it needs to go but otherwise it seems like an easy shoe-in. Now the hunt is on for a CD changer with optical input.

THANKS TO ALL FOR INPUT!

Rgds
LV

Vos

Bump

MBenzNL

...not that I ever check the M-class related posts...but erm...when the M is US spec and one wants to swap the MCS for a comand - make sure to take the reverse signal out of A connector pin 3...as that is the pin that telephonemutes the comand.

greetingz,

scorchie

Umm... hahaha.

-s-

Vos

Cool! But it needs to be fed a signal since having Pin#3 @0 V leaves the comand on mute, just feed it switched 12V. I had not come across this info before. (This page being a good start http://www.ibex.co.uk/mbstuff/Retrofitting%20Comand.htm)

In the interim since the last post I bought a CD changer (this one happened to be from an E-class) and the optical fiber cable required. (Under 200 on ebay for the whole thing) Got some ISO connectors from Dietz Audio technik http://www.audiotechnik-dietz.de/default.htm (the dealership, tho normally very helpful in gettng me parts, had no idea what I wanted when inquiring about the ISO pins....).

I put the opto changer under the passenger seat by removing the tray that was there originally. I made two very simple brackets from 2x25 mm aluminium and attached them where the tray was attached before. I got the 3-pin plug for the changer from a friendly installer but that might normally be harder to come by. Next step is to attach the AUX harness.

FAZIT: If one buys the 'correct' Comand and changer this is a pretty easy swap. Not plug and play, but only simple changes required except perhaps for routing the opto fiber. That is a time consuming job but can be done given some patience.

I am very happy with the way it came out, particularly with the improved radio reception. Also, being able to switch CDs on the go without having to rummage around in a full trunk area on a long holiday drive is GOOD!

MBenzNL

feeding 12V into that pin doesn't sound good...that is not normal...

greetingz,

Vos

Well, feeding it 0v gives the tel. mute on the screen, what would your suggestion be?

scorchie

Well, if you don't have a phone, it is N/C, and it shouldn't mute if you don't have a phone.

-s-

Vos

Should that pin be floating rather than powered...? Hmm, since the Comand only "unmuted" when the reverse signal was putting 12V on C1P3 I assumed it needed 12V. I'll pull the Comand and unplug the 12V on Pin 3 and see what happens when it floats.

SUNILP

simply removing pin 3 should be all that you have to do. I hope you didn't fry anything with the 12 volts.

scorchie

Technically, I believe there is a pullup resistor on the board that pulls it up to 12v when it is not grounded, therefore it probably is never truly "floating". So putting 12v in probably doesn't hurt it, but I definitely would not be putting 12v in places that you aren't sure it's SUPPOSED to be that way.

-s-

Vos

Just went out and unhooked it from the 12V and it works fine. It had been running like that for about a month and no issue with the unit. I guess it accepts any input above ground to not mute.

Thx for the tip! I hope this thread is useful to others who want to do this in the future. I found it enlightning and interesting to adapt my car to this set-up.

I did the Aux input yesterday, very pleasant. Now I am musing about hooking up my a video adapter that is normally connected to a PC screen.... anyone with experience?