[tawfeeq]

hi there this is my first post in this great forum ,i personally have learned much since i joined .

i have a 2003 w220 S320 CDi euro spec .Now i know that the fibero optic system has changed during the year 2003 from D2B to MOST how can i tell for sure which one i have on my car

thank you

 

[Skylaw]

You can tell for sure by looking at one of the connectors (there is one at each of your components on the fiber optic loop). D2B connectors have a red and a white plastic lens, both raised and prominent. See Mercedes D2B Fibre Optics.

The connectors for MOST have two white lenses that are slightly recessed, and also have small arrows designating the direction of light, and a blue release for the ends of the cable.

The first photo below is of the end of a male D2B connector. The second and third are MOST male connectors; arrow "A" indicates the release, and arrow "B" shows the directional arrows. Both types of connectors may be straight or curved.

 

[msbarsi]

hi there this is my first post in this great forum ,i personally have learned much since i joined .

i have a 2003 W220 S320 CDI euro spec .Now i know that the fiber optic system has changed during the year 2003 from D2B to MOST how can i tell for sure which one i have on my car

thank you

Hi tawfeeq and welcome aboard. Please remember to fill your profile with your car year and location so we can help you in the best and quickest way.
The fiber optic system in W220 and W215 changed in September 2003 from D2B to MOST.

D2B cars have a 5 speed gearbox and you load navi CDs in the COMAND unit.

MOST cars have the 7 speed gearbox 7G-Tronic and you load the navi DVDs in a DVD player in the trunk.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

 

[Skylaw]

Hi tawfeeq and welcome aboard. Please remember to fill your profile with your car year and location so we can help you in the best and quickest way.
The fiber optic system in W220 and W215 changed in September 2003 from D2B to MOST.

D2B cars have a 5 speed gearbox and you load navi CDs in the COMAND unit.

MOST cars have the 7 speed gearbox 7G-Tronic and you load the navi DVDs in a DVD player in the trunk.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

Not entirely; 4Matics have a 5-speed gearbox, and can be D2B (if 2003) or MOST (2004 or later). But you're correct about the nav systems.

 

[tawfeeq]

thank you guys for the information its been really informative

 

[Grahm]

1999 W210 Radio upgrade options?

My '99 e430 has a 4/99 production date. Which type of wire connection do I have so I can proceed with a radio upgrade. Any one offering suggestions as to a few choices would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Skylaw]

If your car has a fiber optic audio system at all, it will be D2B. If not, it will be copper wire. Check the most easily accessible component - CDC, head unit itself, or whatever you can get to - look for the orange (in some years, yellow) "wires" shown in post #2 above. If you have them, your system is D2B fiber. If not, it is copper wire. Very easy to tell.

 

[MrNotes]

D2B or MOST? I remain confused...

First, a sincere compliment: The posts on this site are the best I've seen on trying to unravel the runes of the various MB audio/telecom systems.

Couple of quick questions

1) From what I am reading on the forums, it looks like 2003 is the transitional year from D2B to MOST. Aside from digging around inside the cars to find which connectors they have, is there an easy way to tell which optical system I have? - I have a 2003 SL55 and a 2003 CLK320. Would the VINs help?

2) While both cars are wired for a phone, there is none installed in either car and no connection port in either center console - is there a concise list of what I need to get so I can simply add Bluetooth to these cars so we can use our cell phones handfree and maintain integrity with their internal systems without incurring the national debt of Greece in the process?

Thanks.

 

[Skylaw]

The transitions were made from D2B to MOST in different models in different years. One of our most reliable sources for checking the changeover by model and year, the phone bulletins, is unfortunately no longer available. I am very sorry, but without checking the connectors, I can no longer say with certainty. It is most likely that in '03 both cars were still D2B, but before committing significant money, I would check the connectors. They are easiest to reach in the trunk.

Those same phone bulletins would have provided diagrams and photos as well as installation instructions if we still had them - but we don't. However, '03 models would have used what was known as the "autosense" PSE (portable support electronics). Since neither car had a phone system, you would most likely want to add a "universal" PSE, a "cradle Eliminator Cable" and a V-60 Bluetooth puck in each car. Part numbers are in post #3 at http://www.benzworld.org/forums/aud...13173-how-guide-cell-phone-upgrades-plug.html You may also need some fuses; check your cars' fuse diagrams.

Unfortunately, once again the absence of the phone bulletins will be a hinderance. Paul Dick, who maintained them on his site and did us a tremendous service for many years, has apparently removed them. With any luck, perhaps a friendly dealer tech will let you copy what you need; alternatively, I am sure they do the installation.

NOTE: Thanks to great work by Ex-Fed, s pdf file through which you can access the phone bulletins is now available in the stickies. See post 5, http://www.benzworld.org/forums/audio-telematics-forum/2041985-great-update-phone-bulletins.html for the comprehensive list from 2000 through 2005-2006.

 

[television]

The 230 went Most in 01-06-04 the 209 went MOST at the same time by my records

 

[MrNotes]

Thanks, this is great info. I am off to pursue Bluetooth connectivity

 

[Richgar]

I have a 2003 c240. In the center console is a 10 pin rj45 jack as well as a coax cable. There was nothing connected to either interface. My question is this, can I use the 10 pin jack to connect Bluetooth to a command 2.0 that I am going to install?

 

[Skylaw]

Welcome to the forum, Richgar.

The short answer is no. In your model car, COMAND and the phone system require separate equipment. Also, regarding which COMAND can be used in your car, please be sure to see http://www.mercupgrades.com/COMAND+++All+about+the+different+Mercedes+COMAND+systems-article-54.html (COMAND 2.0 covers several types of COMAND units). On that site, also note that the model years are for European cars - a MY '02 car referenced there may be an MY '03 in North America.

To see what you must do to add a Bluetooth phone, go into the stickies (the area at the top of the page with the blue background) and open the How-To Guide for Cell Phones sticky. Once there, pay careful attention to the first post. Among other things it will provide links to the phone bulletin for your car; and it will tell you which of the 6 posts that follow the first apply to your car's system. You will not need to go through the entire thread; all anyone needs is in the first 7 posts.

The phone bulletin will show you the locations of connectors and equipment in your car, and what kind of system that would have originally be installed. Once you know the system your car would have used, you can tell from the applicable posts what new or additional equipment you need for a Bluetooth setup.

As originally equipped, if it had a phone setup, your car would have had an "Autosense" PSE and a V60 cradle. It has a D2B fiber optics bus. That much should give you a good start.

Once you have installed your COMAND and the equipment discussed in the How-To Guide, the phone will integrate properly with it. You may have to get the COMAND version coded for a phone (also for voice control and a CDC, if the car it came out of did not have those things and if you are using them). If the car the COMAND unit came out of already had all of that, additional version coding should not be necessary.

 

[Borhene]

I think people's here can help me,I have ml 350, 2006 lately I put a aftermarket radio unit I get it work ,I can command everything from the wheel, my only problem got no sound ,I understand it's fiber optic system so I went buy the FOB02 what they said work for fiber optic I attached picture,can someone help me how I install it ,thank u

 

[Skylaw]

You leave us to guess at a tremendous number of things; you should try to provide as much as possible to give us something to work with.

Unhampered by facts, I will try.

First, were there no installation instructions?

Second, are all three non-RCA plug leads - the yellow, red, and black(?) ones all fiber optic leads? Most analog to fiber units I am familiar with would have, in addition to the analog (copper wire) inputs, three fiber optic leads: a fiber optic in, and a fiber optic out, and a copper "control" wire (possibly the yellow one) that turns the unit on or off as it is needed.

You are going to have to connect the RCA jacks to the outputs on the back of your head unit; then, you need to connect the FOB02 unit to your fiber optic amplifier. Because you have apparently already removed your original head unit, that could be more difficult. If you can power up the remaining portions of your audio system (you may not be able to), disconnect whatever fiber optics are going into the amp; the one that is lit up on the end is the input; the other is the output.

As for as identifying which is the input and which is the output on the FOB02 unit, unless your instructions cover it, or unless you connect the RCA jacks to your head unit and can turn it on via the control wire, I cannot tell you which connection is which. If you are able to get anything out of it, the fiber lead that is lit up on the end is the output, and it will go to your amp's input.

You can read more on how the MOST fiber optics system works, and what the leads do (and how to add to the connectors) at https://web.archive.org/web/2006090...elematics/416 HO MOST (CooksonI) 07-01-04.pdf

You will need to be able to make the fiber optic connections (DO NOT CUT ANY FIBER LEADS) - you do this either by replacing the wire from your old HU in the original fiber optic connector; or by using splicing devices (they are inexpensive, and available from your dealer).

Sorry the answer is so indefinite, but you really need to give us more to go on - and I hope your FOB02 unit came with instructions. None were available through the sites I saw selling them.

 

[Borhane Chaieb]

I have only 1 fiber optic cable, I took picture for it and also for the harness I have . I think I can get it to work because look like I'm been wiring it wrong , some times when moving the wire I hear like beep coming from the speaker, so I think my problem don't know where to wire the red and yellow , and black from that decoder to the harness or the main cables

 

[Skylaw]

OK, I think I see what is going on here. With your photos one can see that the red, yellow and black wires are copper, not some improperly color coded fiber optic leads. The photo in the link above shows another connector in the FOB02 itself. My bet is that is the point that must be connected via fiber optics leads (which will the thicker than the red, yellow and black wires, and will have pale orange or yellowish insulation) to the amplifier.

The red wire needs to connect to a +12v power source. The black wire is ground. You didn't let us see the label on the yellow wire, but my bet is that it is a control wire that switches the unit on and off with the radio. In the US, those wires are usually green, and will operate a motor to raise or lower an external antenna, or to switch on or off an external amplifier. If you new radio has such a wire (NOT the antenna wire itself), you could connect it there.

The RCA connectors are in the right spot. You haven't told us what connectors or leads came with the kit. You could locate the device close to the radio to make the red, yellow and black connections, and the RCA connections easy; but you will have to run a fiber optic connection between the FOB02 and your amp. Unless the device kit provided such fiber leads, you'll likely have to buy some at an electronics supply store.

Alternatively you could locate the FOB02 near the amp, use shorter fiber optic leads, make your copper wire connections there (the problem will be finding as place for the yellow control wire; you may have to extend it to the radio). And you'll have to extend the RCA connections (which may be cheaper and easier than finding the fiber optic leads).

 

[FilamMD]

I see that this thread has been idle for a while but hopefully someone might come upon the questions I will post here. I have a 2003 MB c240 wagon with the fiberoptic (I presume Bose) system. I would like to upgrade my stereo head unit but have not found a head unit with the fiberoptic connection available. That said, an alternative is to buy a 3rd party D2B adapter for an aftermarket radio but the cost is prohibitive (anywhere from 300 to 600 dollars, more that I would like to spend even on a head unit itself). What have others done to solve this? I have heard that some just sacrifice the fiberoptic system and build from scratch, including a new amp or amps. Thank you for your help to suggest perhaps a better alternative.

 

[Skylaw]

Some options are discussed in the sticky titled "Primer on Audio Systems" (etc).

 

[kmillikin]

Skylaw,

Extremely helpful stuff. Does my 2006 C280 have the necessary wiring for my iPhone7? How can I tell? I’m in Washington State, USA.

Thank you in advance.


Kerry