What a difference this one device make to a 16-year old car. Yes that’s right, this car is that old Youtube wasn’t around yet when it was released 🤯. I’ll tell you what was also not around back then: Spotify, Apple Car Play and Android Auto. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use them in this oldie.
If you own a similar car (W203) and don’t know where to start to upgrade the stereo, make sure to check out my DIY video on youtube —>
And here’s my DIY recipe for this job…
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What you need:
A car, preferably a Mercedes Benz C-class with the W203 chassis
1 cup of Android-based headunit. There are two options to choose from:
8” display with built-in wired ACP/AA. You can buy this here 👉 https://tidd.ly/3yPeEjz
7” display with built-in wireless ACP and wired AA. You can buy this here 👉 https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Af3Hfr
A teaspoon of plastic pry tools
A pinch of T20 Torx screw driver. You need a long (at least 4” so you can reach the torx screw inside the aircon vent. If you don’t have one, you can buy this T8-T40 1/4" Torx Security Bit 150mm 👉 https://amzn.to/3LWQPvf
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Instructions:
1) Unbox your new gadget.
Inside the box, you should have the following items:
- The Android headunit. Mine’s an 8” Android 10 with 4GB ROM and 64GB RAM
- Quadlock connector (i.e. Power interface) that connects to the car’s wiring harness
- CANBUS decoder (So the radio buttons on the steering wheel works)
- Accessory/RCA connectors
- 2x USB connector
- GPS Receiver and a 4G Antenna
- Radio antenna connector (FAKRA-to-ISO)
- External microphone (trust me, you need to install this)
- Plastic pry tool
2) Remove the aircon vent
3) Remove the Upper control panel
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FAQ
In this section, I will cover all questions frequently asked by viewers of my installation video. You can find the link to that video in the link at the top of this post.
1) Why is my steering wheel buttons not working?
The CANBUS decoder (aka Steering Wheel Control module (SWC) might have been set for a different car type. To make sure you get full advantage of all features this headunit has to offer, make sure to set it to the correct CAN Type. To do this, follow these steps:
1) Go to Car Settings
2) Tap on About Device
3) Tap the settngs icon ⚙️ at the right
4) Enter password "8888" then OK
5) Go to CAN Type and change it to BENZ(Lz)
6) Save these settings then Reboot
2) I don’t have a reverse camera installed with this headunit so I don’t want to see a blank screen while I’m reversing the car. How do I stop the system from switching to the reverse camera input when I put the car in reverse?
If you are one of those types of driver who find reverse camera useless or maybe you can’t be bothered routing the cable along the length of the car, then you might want to stop the car from trying to switch to the reverse camera video input jack because all it will show is a blank screen. It will also try to stop playback of any music. I know this is annoying. Fortunately, there is a manual way to stop the car from switching to the reverse camera video input although it will be nice if the system know there is no reverse camera installed and not switch inputs in the first place. So to manually do this, follow these steps:
1) Go to Car Settings
2) Tap on About Device
3) Tap the settngs icon ⚙️ at the right
4) Enter password "8888" then OK
5) Tap Backcar
6) Tap Reverse Camera Detect
7) Set to “Not Detect”
8) Save the setting then Reboot
3) There is no sound coming out of the car speakers. How do I fix this problem?
Coming soon!