I just took the plunge and ordered a 2006 ML500 two weeks ago. After driving many different SUV's including the BMW X5, which being a BMW man thus far I was strongly leaning towards. I think the blend aof attributes that the new ML's have is unbeatable by any of the manufacturers out there, and I feel I drove everything out there I should consider. I owned a 94 Jeep grand cherokee that has 150K on it. I drove the Jeep, GMC Envoy, Cadi SRX, BMW X5 4.4, Acura MDX, Pacifica(R350 clone. The benz took it hands down. I was wondering if anyone has gotten just the plain jane radio that comes standard in the 2006 ML500 or ML350. I looked at the ML500 Nav and HK system but I have been seduced by the functionality of an Eclipse entertainment and nav system that my good friend and Audio shop owner showed me. Fujitsu Ten makes this unit(model AVN5495) and it includes a 30 gig hard drive, touch screen with excellent user interface. Especially the Nav system. You can search by phone #, street, city, and many more features easily accessed via the screen. Price for the system installed with the works is $2300. It rips any CD you play into the drive and can record off the radio. It is MP3 compatible, camera ready for a rear camera or output to rear screens from the DVD player. It plays DVD's on main screen(6.5" TFT) which looks about the same size as the OEM screen. It flips down to access disc drive. The nav system zooms almost instaneously and can route a cross country trip in about 5 seconds. I am wondering whether Mercedes has a radio delete option like some other manufacturers do. The only other concern I have is speaker placement. If get the base radio I dont know where and how many speakers you get. My audio guru tells me he can accomplish the same thing as the HK system (11 speakers) with fewer speakers. After listening to what he did for my M3 with a relatively simple system,(Have an Eclipse subwoofer in the trunk) my confidence level is high. Cosmetically, it looks factory in screen size without all the buttons on the sides. My guru can make a very nice surround that is compatible with the rest of the console. I have seen him make these in wood as well, and the results look great. I ordered the appearance group with charcoal and Alpine rain, comfort, air suspension, hitch, lighting, rear hatch openerand park distance. It was ordered two weeks ago and I just went back to Ray Catena Mercedes in New Jersey today to mull this over. I am adding a couple of things I missed on the options list that my wife bugged me about. Namely, the park distance control, the hatch opener, and the comfort package. Sheesh! And I thought I was going to get away for less than 60K! Oh well, you only live once. I just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. I would appreciate any pitfalls to look out for from you knowledgable folks out there. Thanks.
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MikeK
1976 BMW 2002
1995 M3
2004 R1150RT
2006 ML500
1994 Grand Cherokee 5.2 V8
Hello Mike.I just finished to install new Panasonic Navigation on ML500. My client's order is to replace factory nav to panasonic,but I gave up.I just add on new navigation on the dash panel.Pana's HDD main unit is installed under rear seat.If you try to install Ecripse nav,be careful for followings:1 no vehicle speed signal available, only CAN-BUS signal. 2:GPS radiowave can not run thru windowshield,I wonder Ecripse has film GPS antenna... new ML500's installation is tough! Good Luck!
I checked into the compatability issues and found out that It might also affect the teleaid system and and accident locator systems. I have decided to leave well enough alone. Even though the features sound tempting, I just feel uneasy about ripping into the electronics in this baby. Things are pretty sophicated these days with all the intercommunication between systems in the car. It takes a very knowledgeable installer to do it right. Besides, there is so much out there on Sirius that the need for a jukebox or even burning MP3 discs becomes tedious. I've got enough on the few MP3 discs I carry around now to keep me happy for long rides and six of those babies packed into the changer can last for a long ride. The nav system might not be the easiest interface, not like the touch screen, but its simple enough once you get the hang of it. My audio installer tells me its only a matter of time before they have a block box that allows the player to play DVD on the factory screen in dash. His 740il has a plug and play solution like this installed already. Thanks for your info.
More info I have. the reason why I gave up remove factory head-unit is: I have no scan-tool,"STAR-DIAGNOSE".Plus,I was shocked I tried to remove head-unit,there are no speaker cable wires behind unit,and optical-fiber cables there,I guess head-unit communicate with other units via optical-fiber cables.Please tell me when you finished to remove and exchange head-unit from factory's to aftermarket.
Good luck!
why not just stick with the factory HK/Logic 7 and DVD? not sure it's worth the hassle to go custom, not even taking into account the compatibility issues. i don't think the Nav is as bad as people have made it out to be, and the HK/L7 system is excellent. Combine it with Sirius and ipod integration, and I have all the entertainment i need in that car.
I checked into the compatability issues and found out that It might also affect the teleaid system and and accident locator systems. I have decided to leave well enough alone. Even though the features sound tempting, I just feel uneasy about ripping into the electronics in this baby. Things are pretty sophicated these days with all the intercommunication between systems in the car. It takes a very knowledgeable installer to do it right. Besides, there is so much out there on Sirius that the need for a jukebox or even burning MP3 discs becomes tedious. I've got enough on the few MP3 discs I carry around now to keep me happy for long rides and six of those babies packed into the changer can last for a long ride. The nav system might not be the easiest interface, not like the touch screen, but its simple enough once you get the hang of it. My audio installer tells me its only a matter of time before they have a block box that allows the player to play DVD on the factory screen in dash. His 740il has a plug and play solution like this installed already. Thanks for your info.
Mike
The japanese technologyh is not the same as rest of world. They have head units in Japan we can only dream of.
If you install the iPOD kit and TV tuner option you may then operate DVD players, MP3, DIVX hard drive. There is no need to re-invent the car for the joy of entertainment. Many W164 options already exist with Mercedes and not many people know about them.
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Modz ... enjoy the difference. www.benzmodz.com
I may not have made it clear in my above post, but I decided not to change the factory setup. After listening to it I could not imagine needing anything better. It would be hard to beat the HK system. I didn't know about the fiber optic cables, but that would necessitate running wires all over the car. Who needs it!
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