where do i find the CD PACK WHERE I CAN LOAD CD,s please J.B.

 

nice ............ thanks for the info

 

Hi John.
The CD changer should be in the trunk on the left side if your car equipped, if not the prewire should be down the goove in case you found some CD changer to add on. But I think it's easier and cheaper to add the aux input like OP.
Hope this help

 

Very happy to know about this. Using the tape adapter really ruins the quality of the sound.

 

Nice! My girlfriend thanks you.

I found a male-to-male audio connector and snipped off one end to strip and solder the wires. She has the eyeglass compartment beneath the audio, so I drilled a hole in the back and pulled the plug on the opposite end through.

 

Hi, this works on several Blaupunkt models too. today i did this to Dealer-mounted W124 Blaupunkt Verona RCR 45.

 

Do you put such a radio in my Mercedes w208 will work phone, the phone is factory-built

 

Do you like this if I put the radio in my Mercedes w208 2001 will operate the phone. The phone is factory-built

 

Hi jc-place, just wanted to thank you for posting this. I tried it on my 95 W202 with Becker head unit and it worked great. I have been searching for weeks for a solution and it was so easy, I could hardly believe it. Greatly appreciated! Cheers from Ontario, CANADA.

 

Im trying this today. I have two radios so I might sell the first with a adapter.

 

I just did this for my 1996 E-Class, has anyone had a problem with it overdriving the input ? I have an iPod cable with a line out instead using the headphone jack so I am not sure if that is the problem .

 

Does the bass sound over driven?

I set my iPod to 80% volume and then turned on "bass Reducer " in the EQ settings. The non bose stock speakers are terrible.

 

Yes the bass seems pretty high, using the line out instead of the headphone jack on the ipod though the volume control doesn't adjust the level. I went with a line out cable that plugs into the dock connector for the better sound quality. I am guessing the pre-amp for the tape heads need a different impedance .

 

Try the head phone jack instead. I thought about putting a resister in line into the tape input, but even with the ipod's volume on minimal you get that "over driven" sound.

Does anyone know the output voltage on the ipod or the what the stock deck looks for on the tape input?

I would think the tape deck would be in the milli amp range, like a phono input.

 

Doesn't tape drive motor run? What about cell phone input?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you have to place an empty (gutted) cassette in the deck to use this mod, doesn't that mean the tape drive motor is constantly running when you're using the aux input? And doesn't that generate undesirable noise and heat?

Is it possible to feed an aux signal in through the RJ-45 jack used by the factory cell phone? I'd like to keep the factory CD changer functional, but I could care less about the cell phone. Seems like that should be possible, since the phone, when in use, overrides whatever else is playing on the radio.

Cheers,
Paul
1996 E300D
(Becker 1692 head unit; factory phone, amplifier, CD changer)

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you have to place an empty (gutted) cassette in the deck to use this mod, doesn't that mean the tape drive motor is constantly running when you're using the aux input? And doesn't that generate undesirable noise and heat?

Is it possible to feed an aux signal in through the RJ-45 jack used by the factory cell phone? I'd like to keep the factory CD changer functional, but I could care less about the cell phone. Seems like that should be possible, since the phone, when in use, overrides whatever else is playing on the radio.

Cheers,
Paul
1996 E300D
(Becker 1692 head unit; factory phone, amplifier)

Has anyone successfully hacked into the phone jack as discussed above? (Ref: 1996 W210-E320)

 

Thanks for this post. I just tried this out with an auxiliary cable, I only wish that i had a soldering gun with a smaller tip, that would of made it much easier. This was quick and easy.

One warning, i didn't know about the CODE message. unfortunately i bought a car used and the codes were not provided. If you are going to try this, get your codes first, i'm anxious to hear how it worked out.

 

Just did this mod this morning, works very well as advertised.

As a side note, my radio was the CD2936 from Alpine and my car is a 98 SL500. Looks identical on the outside to the OP's radio. Inside, the board is printed differently, but the pin-outs seem to be the same as it works perfectly and the balance is correct as well. I soldered the ground to the same spot as the OP, but in my Alpine radio there is a ground strap already going to that point. I was able to wrap my bare ground wire around that and solder it on.

As others have said, the board is very small so take your time and be sure not to let any of the wires touch. I was able to route the cable through the back of the unit in front of the heat sink and through a small gap near the plastic connector for the wiring harness.

Thanks to the OP and this board for a great DIY!!:bowdown:

 

Hi... Great topic, with very clear step-by-step instructions. WELL DONE!! I have very limited wiring experience, and even i could do this (hehehe). I would like to maybe just add a few pointers (and questions) if i may.

When i saw this topic, i was very excited, since i love the stock look of my head unit, yet would like the functionality of mp3 playback. I also saw some other potential with this modification (pluggin in your GPS so that the instructions are played over the cars speaker, for when conditions are such that one cant hear the commands clearly over the GPS speaker, or for a handsfree kit, as described here: http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w210-e-class/1602500-easy-add-bluetooth-your-added-aux.html .... on a side note, one doesnt really need to have such an elaborate setup for a handsfree setup-just plug the phone straight into the aux jack, and put the phone on loud speaker when a call comes through-aloot less wires that way)...

anyway, i soldered my first aux wire, which consisted of 3 separate wires (L-channel, R-channel, and earth). This worked great, except that as a handsfree kit it didnt work out fantastic, since the aux wire now acts as an aerial as well, with ALLOT of EMI interference (the same sound you get when you hold a cell phone in front of a speaker)

Round number 2, and i got a new shielded Aux wire, where the earth isnt a separate wire, but rather copper strands AROUND the isolated left and right channels. Desolder and Resolder... this improved the EMI a little, but still audible to the extent where its irritating.. Wheter the phone is plugged in directly into the aux cable, or done via a bluetooth adapter as described above, the EMI is still there, and i dont notice that the one method is worse than the other.

Then onto the net for some research, and i found this:

Some more research, and a phone call to a friend, and i realize this isnt as simple as just snapping it on the Aux input, these little magnets comes in different ratings, and one needs allot of tech-savvy to know which to purchase, how many to purchase, how far down the line they must be snapped on etc etc. Plus i read that it STILL wouldn't be a guaranteed fix.

There are better shielded cable out there, but where i live those are hard to come by, and ill need to wait until im in the city again. for that matter, im going to have to wait for my city trip anyway to buy these ferrite chokes.

Any thoughts on this? Has anyone else had similar problems?

Let me just state once again that the Aux input works great, and does exactly what it was intended for, my problems comes from trying to add some more functionality to a great hack/modification

 

Sorry, batling with the pics, ill just post the links to the ferrite chokes instead:

http://i41.tinypic.com/2cgnd09.jpg

http://media.popularmechanics.com/images/nugget1106.jpg

 

My only issue with this mod is that I have to turn my iphone all the way up and the volume on the unit pretty far up to get equal volume level to the radio. If I forget to turn the volume down before switching back to the radio, I get blasted.
I really like that I can relieve a phone call and hear the person through the car speakers.

 

Hi just wanted to add to this thread.

I installed my new aux cord using the method mentioned. This method has its pros and cons. But i'm grateful that this was available. Saved myself $100 by not sending it to Becker USA.

Pros: Cheap and easy to do. Better quality than cassette, and you don't lose the functionality of tape player.

Cons: If you raise the volume up on your media device the sound will become distorted. Much like using a cassette tape with the aux cord attached.

Sorry for the blur I ran the line through the back of that pen holder next to the cellphone module.

 

If you have an iphone this solves the "con" (standard output volume that is not adjustable on iphone, just the radio.

Amazon.com: Ecomgear Universal USB Mini Car Charger Adapter + USB 3.5mm Jack Car AUX Audio Charger Connector for Ipod Iphone 4 4s 3g 3gs: Cell Phones & Accessories

P.S. I'm not suggesting the one above, just an example. Shop research for quality/cost.

 

I did this mod today .... I didn't have a ground wire in my cable so just did the left and right ..... used the cable from my cassette adapter ....... it sounds just like the cassette adapter did ..... does it need a ground or is this generally just the way tapping into the tape deck will sound? .... like a cassette?

 

Should sound better. Maybe you need the ground wire. Also did you cut the traces to the cassette?
Mine sounds almost as good as a cd

 

Then I definitely have a problem because mine doesn't sound nearly as good as a CD .... In the dummy cassette I eliminated everything but the plastic ..... what are the traces?

 

You definitely need the ground wire. Not just "maybe", Think about it - a twelve volt circuit needs a "hot wire" and a "ground" to complete the circuit. In this application you have two separate circuits the left and the right - each with it's own hot wire and sharing the ground (which most circuits in you car do - share a ground, usually the chasis). The circuit that you have created (without a ground) is basically trying to ground itself by somwhat grounding itself by going through the other connection (channel).
This is why the sound is not optimal, when a note come through on left channel it is grounding itself through the right channel and as a result everything is coming from both channels - probably sounds like mono as opposed to stereo.
In fact if your cable didn't have a "ground wire" it probably just had two wires - if that's the case you used a mini plug for a mono hookup instead of stereo. The stereo miniplug has three conductors and three wires in the cable attached to it.

 

You know I believe you are right .... and it does sound mono ...... I used the plug from the cassette adapter and it must have been mono .... looks like its gonna be redo .... Thanks for the info

 

I looked at the plug and it does have the two ribs in it so I believe it is stereo ..... but I'll get another one and give it a listen with the ground

 

Put a new cable with proper ground .... still sounds about the same which isn't bad but similar to the cassette adapter I was using .... even with the phone on about 6 it distorts a bit in both the highs and lows ..... and very bassy .... any ideas?

 

Ok, it does sound great when playing a MP3 through the garmin, but the phone MP3's distort somewhat, must be my cheap phone