I now have video in motion and auxilary video in!!
I highly suggest you call Mid City Engineering at tel: 312.421.1114 and order from TJ or Dan or Rob!!
Tell them that Dan Hazelwood sent you...and they will take care of you. The VIM unit was $400 and the Aux in was $70.
Those guys have clear concise instructions, and while it was not EASY to do...I managed to get it installed and working fine. I had the factory Ipod, which made it VERY tight to get the radio back in...but with patience, I was able to get everything back the way it was and now I have VIDEO IN MOTION!
When you put a DVD in and start playing and put the car into drive, you get the "DO NOT WATCH VIDEO" message. All you have to do is just push the VOLUME + and VOLUME - for less than a second and you have video in motion. To disable VIM, just do the same button keypress again and the warning message reappears.
When you have VIDEO IN MOTION activated, the NAVIGATION does not display properly, because VIM overrides the signal. You can't have both at the same time, but when you re-enable the NAV, it finds your position again in less than 15 seconds and you have fully working NAV again. So if you go on a long trip and are using GUIDANCE, when you enable video in motion, it interrupts the NAV, BUT...when you disable video in motion..the NAV finds where you are within 15 seconds and the guidance picks up from exactly where you are.
To enable the AUX in...I had to push HANG UP, CONNECT, and MUTE buttons. Now AUX in is enabled, and I don't have to do another thing ever. When I use the COMAND knob to go to VIDEO, I now have a new choice, which is AUX video. I ran the wires to the glovebox, drilling a hole above where the factory AUX audio plug is. I can plug in my ipod video or my Archos 605 and the video and sound play through the factory system and displays on my COMAND screen. To watch Aux Video in motion, I just do the volume buttons trick and VIM is enabled!
Again, give TJ or Dan or Rob a call at MidCity Engineering a call and tell them that DAN HAZELWOOD sent you. These guys are really professional and the quality of their product is TOP NOTCH. If you ordered the same thing from NavTV, it would be two separate pieces totalling $750!!!
The connections were all very easy to make, just like that video on YouTube that I posted earlier. Getting the radio back into the slot was the biggest pain, so if you don't want to install it, there may be people in your area that will do it for you.
VIDEO IN MOTION!!! Works like a charm.
* To all the haters...I DO NOT PLAN TO WATCH THIS WHILE I AM DRIVING. It is strictly for my kids to watch on trips. (My wife can watch it too.) I will not crash my car while watching movies.....TRUST!
Have fun.
Feel free to PM me with any questions you might have. I highly suggest you call those guys today. I am not a spammer....I ordered it...I put it in my own vehicle...and I am DAMN glad that everything went great!
Im glad to see everything went well with the install, Dan...
Do you still receive Bluetooth phone calls when your VIM is on?
Turning the vim mode on should not affect the ability to answer calls.. the effect should be the same as having the vehicle standing still but I will get further clarification on this and other questions...
Dans install was actually the first self-installed vim for the C and because of it I decided to rewrite the instructions/guide sheet for the vim module. There are alot more bits of information that should be included that will make the installation process go more smoothly for anyone doing it themselves. As dan noted the actual install process is straightforward but can be a bit difficult or intimidating if you are not used to working in unfamiliar parts of your vehicle.
In the meantime if anyone has any questions please ask away...
I just install my VIM module with the backup camera from MID CITY engineering and it work great!!!!!
It was a DIY and thanks to Rob I was able to do it.
Most of the part is easy the only hard part that we got stuck is putting back the radio with the VIM module inside as there is not much space in it if you have the ipod integration kit which I have.
I have suggested to MidCity that VIM module should be located under the glove box instead of behind the radio so that it would make DIY much much fun.
The total time needed is approx 3 hrs including the rear camera installation. If you can get the radio back-in easily. Hopefully MidCity would take my suggestion with regards to re-locating the VIM module.
I'm here in the Philippines if I can do it so do you.
Vehicle: 2008 Mercedes Benz C300 Sport AMG 18" Type V Wheels and Bodykit Package - Video In Motion Mod!!
Location: Georgia
Posts: 124
Thats awesome rebelmtc. I opted to go with auxillay video input instead of a back up camera. The car is small enough that I don't require the camera, and I would much rather hook up my ipod video so that it plays through the factory system, and displays on the screen.
Great job though...the install was pretty easy...except for getting the radio back in there.
Let's hope the unit works flawlessly...because I really don't want to have to pull the radio out again!
I just install my VIM module with the backup camera from MID CITY engineering and it work great!!!!!
It was a DIY and thanks to Rob I was able to do it.
Most of the part is easy the only hard part that we got stuck is putting back the radio with the VIM module inside as there is not much space in it if you have the ipod integration kit which I have.
I have suggested to MidCity that VIM module should be located under the glove box instead of behind the radio so that it would make DIY much much fun.
The total time needed is approx 3 hrs including the rear camera installation. If you can get the radio back-in easily. Hopefully MidCity would take my suggestion with regards to re-locating the VIM module.
I'm here in the Philippines if I can do it so do you.
It works great!!!!
Glad to see everything worked out..
We are working on getting longer harnessing for the cars with ipod. The w204's are supposed to be coming soon with the cool new multimedia adapter instead that actually allows you to control your ipod properly from the command (i put a video on youtube of me messing with the new system on the 2009 SL) and is so much nicer then the current ipod kit. The new adapter will also mount in that space under the glovebox form what i understand which will leave the extra space behind the radio which will certainly make the re-installation of the radio easier...
Thats awesome rebelmtc. I opted to go with auxillay video input instead of a back up camera. The car is small enough that I don't require the camera, and I would much rather hook up my ipod video so that it plays through the factory system, and displays on the screen.
Great job though...the install was pretty easy...except for getting the radio back in there.
Let's hope the unit works flawlessly...because I really don't want to have to pull the radio out again!
So far we have had no problems with the vim modules.. (well except getting the radio back in ). The w204 module is actualy developed from our vim module for the 221 S class which is very very stable and has been out in the field for about a year now without any reliability problems. Our modules are actually the only aftermarket units to be built OSEK compliant which means that they are effectively transparent to the vehicle operation. This means that even when the vehicle is in for service and they use the diagnostic machine to check the vehicle there is no detectable change to the vehicle when the vim is in the off state.
Still due to the number of different vehicle configurations we cannot always test every possible model/option configuration and ocasionally we do need to make design, programming or procedural changes to provide the best possible product. Becuase of this we take feedback very seriously and make every effort to incorporate these changes to produce a better product. For example because of the small amount of space behind the radio I have been on the phone every week with our harness supplier trying to get them to put longer leads on the connectors...
All of this work allows us to bring you the best product we can build and do it better than anyone else. we have the best quality product in its class and we bring to you at a better price than anyone else and we are proud to do it. On top of that we still have alot planned for the C class as the command system has some really cool features that are not being used and we are working daily to unlock them...
Vehicle: 2008 Mercedes Benz C300 Sport AMG 18" Type V Wheels and Bodykit Package - Video In Motion Mod!!
Location: Georgia
Posts: 124
Yep. MidCity is top notch! I was extremely pleased by, not only the product itself, but by the level of customer service that Rob and the guys showed! I highly recommend that you keep your eyes on these guys. If more can be done with COMAND...they already have plans for how to get it to us.
Will the new adapter work on existing command? To improve our control of the Ipod? I believe there are some limitation currently on how we can use the Ipod with the comand.
Keep us update if you can unlock new features in the command.
[quote=rob13572468;2880054] The w204's are supposed to be coming soon with the cool new multimedia adapter instead that actually allows you to control your ipod properly from the command (i put a video on youtube of me messing with the new system on the 2009 SL) and is so much nicer then the current ipod kit. QUOTE]
Last edited by rebel_mtc : 05-11-2008 at 08:32 AM.
I was extremely pleased by, not only the product itself, but by the level of customer service that Rob and the guys showed! I highly recommend that you keep your eyes on these guys. If more can be done with COMAND...they already have plans for how to get it to us. 
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