May I present the extra that some of us have been waiting for ...
(If photos don't show - right click and choose Show Picture, it seems to be misbehaving).
You can imagine my surprise at seeing a small antenna kit for sale at the MB visitor's centre, and it is for the R171!!??!?!?1 [:0]
The kit retails for just under 170 euros - so same price as the Braubus one, and I'm guessing comes with the same items:
Note the AMG sticker - wonder what other model's this is used in ...
The full kit's part number is A 171 820 14 75.
Now probably the most intriguing thing is the fact that the instructions are a printed sheet and are only in German - doh. [:(!]
So two questions related to this - can anyone recommend a good site where I can translate the above document, or is anyone willing to translate it for me?? [8)]
Obviously I've not had time to fit the wiring in the rear bumper, but have fitted the small antenna, as you can tell from the photos [:I].
Key Fob Range - This does not seem to be affected in anyway, I can still open the door's from the same distance's as the other antenna. I'll try and test the range of it when I leave work tonight (large open car park!!)
Radio - I'll hold my hand up and say I'm not a big radio listener, but I did some testing. The antenna can still pick-up all the stations that were stored in the radio, and there was no interference. I next did a scan on FM and it picked up every station as it went through, again no interference. I then tried MW and it picked up one station, with what I would call the normal MW interference. So overall very pleased with the small antenna [8D], without the rear bumper wiring as there appears to be no radio loss or keyfob loss.
The only thing I will say about radio reception is remember I live in Cumbria, where we do not have a great abundance of radio statrions (8 on FM).
And here is the best bit - if you wish to just try the small antenna, without the wiring - you can. The MB Visitor's Centre had the antenna for sale by itself (Part No. A 170 820 06 75), and at a cost of 28 euros.
I don't know if this is available to purchase outside of Germany or not, I've not even sure if it's available in the UK??
I will try to get some better photos of the antenna, but the rain is not helping matters [:(!]