They have experienced the problem. it is because the tight fit between the old cradle and the puck is causing some contacts not to be made, or to be poorly made.
If indeed you have a V60s cradle, you should not be having the problem (and there would be no need to replace it); are you sure you don't have an smaller V60 cradle?
Skylaw, I have the v60s and the old v60x cradle. Indeed, the problem I am describing is with the v60x cradle. Even though I have a v60s cradle, it is for the MY2004 and I do not have the correct wiring in my MY2002 S430 to connect it properly. I have written to MIK to see if he has a cable ( or a conveter) or a cradle and cable assembly to help me get over the problem, but I am still waiting for the reply. Its odd that I can receive audio great everytime but cannot send audio out everytime; I was trying to confirm if the cradle is the best place for me to start looking further into. Thank you for your response, this will save me from expending a lot of enegry needlessly. Of course my final option is the Blutooth Puck at around $380.
Looks like the official phone cradle avaialable from MB for MY 2002 is for v60i/x/s phones. I have one of these in my car. It not 100% reliable. Is there a specific cradle ( perhaps a little larger ) available for the v60S for MY2002, perhaps from MIKBOX. I have not been able to get a response from Mik directly yet. I realise that the other solution is to buy the BT puck for about $350.
Just to conclude this issue, my final solution ( the most economical ) was to find a MERCEDES V60s on Ebay and activate through Verizon. It does require some care when plugging it into the cradle as the connectuon is not always great, but when its plugged in correctly, it works fine. BTW the Mercedes phone was just over $120 on Ebay. Luckily, I did not need any additional parts. Having read Skylaw's posts as few times and experimenting with my car, I have a pretty good understanding of what is needed and why. ( I never did hear from MIK.)
Is there a way to convert a v60s cradle for MY 2004 to work in MY 2002 ? The connectors inside the car are different.
Post #7 in this string deals with that. If you bought the V60S cradle new, it should have come with the adapters. If you didn't, perhaps your dealer may have some.
__________________
2005 S500 4-Matic
with Gateway 500 iPod integration
Formerly: 2000 S500
with Ice>Link iPod integration
Moto V710 phone with MikBox
Upgraded Voice Control
Skylaw, I bought the Mercedes phone and cradle on Ebay. The dealer here did not seem to know anything about the adapter. Can these adapters be bought from anyone else or made up somehow, if the correct connectors are available ?
Yes. The antenna connectors on the newer V60S cradle are FAKRA connectors, which is an industry standard connector. If your dealer simply had the latest cradle in stock, he could open the box and probably find the adapters. Perhaps there would be part numbers on them.
You may have to go to a professional electronics supply house, however.
In addition, it should be possible to create an adapter with the proper OE connector, a short length of the proper wire, and a FAKRA connector on the other end. Your car originally used an RJ-45 connector for the phone, and a mini-UHF plug for the antenna.
You may me able to find them online as well. I have seen them, but have not looked for a long time.
Skylaw,
Looking at the MIKBOX site, seems like one only needs a cable to connect the phone to the car, such as a C-1011 or C-1012. These cable have a RJ45 connector at one end and the Motorola phone connector at the other end. I realize that there is no connection for the antenna in this scheme but the phone should work fine with the MB hands free console ? In CA one cannot hold the phone to the ear in a car anyway. What am I missing ? The other option seems similar -- the cradle eliminator cable Q6820976 which costs $150+.
I own an '05 S500, and have owned a '00 as well. I no longer have the '00 and cannot open up the console to reference it for answering questions on the '00 through '03 (which use the same phone connections). I do not have access to the equipment you are asking about, and I go to the phone bulletins to compare photos for information on equipment and fit for other cars. As to what will fit with what, that pretty well exhausts my resources unless a contributor is kind enough to provide feedback on how things work out.
MIK is only selling existing MiKBox inventory; he has moved on to other products. I do know that obtaining cables was a problem for him on occasion. I had a MikBox in my '00, but it used a V710 cradle that also had an antenna connection. I don't know if the cable you mention will work with the V60 Bluetooth puck, but it might, if MIK has one to sell.
I do know that the cradle eliminator cable was designed to go with the new "universal PSE" that replaces the StarTac and TimePort PSEs, and to be used in cars without phone systems that would have used the Autosense PSE. If your car had a phone system, as an '02, it could have had an Autosense PSE. The cradle eliminator sould work with it; some ebay sites selling it indicate that it will work with the Autosense and also with any StarTac or Timeport PSEs having a blue label (which indicated a particular PSE firmware update), but I have not tried it and I do not have feedback from anyone who has (please let us know if you try this).
The other solution is to buy the V60S cradle kit with the proper adapters - but I understand they are in short supply. Dealers are recommending the cradle eliminator when the cradle isn't available. Having confirmation that it does not require the Universal PSE, but will work with the Autosense as well, would be nice.
I don't like my last answer to you - it was incomplete. I dug into things more yesterday afternoon, and here is what I found.
1) Some e-bay sellers are advertising the Mercedes "Cradle Eliminator" cable as working not only with the Universal PSE, but also with the Autosense PSE and with the "blue label" TimePort and StarTac PSEs. Because the connections for the Cradle Eliminator cable are in the console, and the console connections are the same for cars with these three PSE types, you should certainly be able to connect it with no difficulty. You are correct that it does not connect to the car's external antenna. You will also need to use it with a V60 Bluetooth puck. I do not know if it will work with Mercedes branded plug-in phones such as the V60S, V710, E-815 or others having the same Motorola connector.
2) I am not aware if the pinouts are the same between the C1011 or C1012 cables you mentioned, and the Cradle eliminator (which is just a fancy name for a cable having an RJ-45 connector on one end, and a Motorola plug for its V60 and similar phones on the other). If the pinouts are the same, those cables should work.
3) In part because of your question, plus coming across some additional information, I have updated the stickies - the How-To Guides on Cell Phones - here and on MBWorld. Thanks for pressing the point.
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