DickB,
That's great news, I know of a few forum members that have been waiting for this adapter for a long time. If you want I can also put a link to your email on my CarDomain website page, just let me know if you want to go that route. I greatly appreciate you taking the time to modify the Mercedes adapter for our Crossfire and selling it at basically the same retail pricel Thanks a lot

 

Is there any possible way this could work with using the radio control ***** for the volume? I use the Harman / Kardon Drive + Play system and I really don't want to give that up since there is no way to control my ipod with this setup.

 

With the factory head unit and the Mercedes MP3 adapter you control everything thru the ipod. All this does is play your MP3s thru the amplifier and car speakers

 

DickB, do you want to start a group buy on this? I know I'de like to have one.

what kind of discount can you offer us on say 10 orders?

 

Yes, but you also said that you cannot use the Radio Volume *****.

With the Drive + Play you cannot control the volume. I would hate to have to ditch that system and use my ipod to control it. The D+P is so conveinent !!!

 

well then your probably better off buying another radio, as for the cheap *****, like myself I would rather buy the cable to jack into the ipod and amp while keeping the interior stock

 

Yeah, I have an aftermarket radio right now, but I much prefer the stock one.

 

with harness installed, What about muting radio while you hear ipod? that way radio and amp are on,


For $119, I rather invest on new aftermarket headunit with better sound controls, input.

 

Good question - I'm interested in the unit and realize the Ipod will control everything, but is the system quiet while the Ipod is paused or stopped?

 

Yes, until you switch the adapter off and turn the radio back on.

 

has anyone hooked up one of these to their factory installed system?

http://www.installer.com/item/displa...php?it=AIP-RCA

would look a little ugly hanging out of the dash but just wondering...

 

where do I paypal my money to, so that I can get one of these now?

 

The cable plugs into their FM Modulator. So it should work OK. But you'll spend $90 for both parts. For long road trips it might be worth it. You can always find a place for the cable termination.

 

hook me up, I need one.

 

I'm ready to buy one also..

 

Sorry for the late reply.

A true group buy would actually help me out. Selling retail involves a fair bit of overhead – handling different payment options, shipping, etc. This is a hobby business for me, and I have to balance time spent on it against other demands, so I normally don’t do this. If I could get a group buy with ONE payment and ship to ONE address, with one of you acting as agent to collect funds, receive the shipment, and reship to individuals, I can do $89 for a group of 5 or more. If I take individual payment (PayPal or personal check) I’ll go $99, and if I also need to ship individually I’ll need $109. Shipping is included in all prices. I’ll need a couple of weeks turn-around time, or maybe more depending upon the size of the group. You keep your money until I’m able to ship.

Per MI1XFIRE, there are 3 different Crossfire systems:
1) 2005 to 2007 Base model with no amp or rear speakers
2) All 2004, 2005 SRT-6 and 2005 to 2008 Limited without Navigation (Most common configuration) with amp and rear speakers
3) 2005 to 2008 Limited and 2005 SRT-6 with Navigation radios, amp, rear speakers and CD changer hookup.

The adapter will only work on configuration 2. It will definitely not work on config 1, and will probably mute navigation audio on config 3.

This will be the “added switch” design, requiring you to locate a switch somewhere to enable MP3 play.

 

I know I've been hammering this for a few days and don't want to come off as a know-it-all, but after a good week researching this on Becker USA, the Porsche and Mercedes groups, the factory wiring diagrams for the 6806, model 23 (the non-Nav factory Becker Head unit), conversation with the Becker USA tech, I concluded the only way in to the non-Nav head unit was through the phone connection.

I ordered it from Becker USA ($13) and installed it. You get either Left or Right speaker, a mono connection and the head unit is muted. The amp circuit from the input device provides the juice to the speakers, presumably through the power amp.

That means your iPod is going to be left or right channel only (or you can bridge them before you go in to the head unit and have mono in one channel), no power amp signal going to the power amp (if you have one), and sound coming out of only one speaker (left OR right).

It's a slightly better than nothing approach, kinda like using your iPod as an AM Radio. The constraining feature is in the head unit. When the phone mute signal is received, the head unit lets the sound coming in through the input to to whichever speaker (Left OR Right front ONLY) - you chose in the menu - not both.

Here's the unfortunate facts from the factory manual for the non-Nav head unit.



The Porsche, VW and Mercedes guys pounded their heads against the walls on this and the best they could conclude was that flashing the head unit to change this feature might work, but there was no one who actually did it.

If someone wants to find a Porsche/VW/Mercedes dealer and is willing to risk bricking a head unit or three to figure it out, there might be a way but I think it's a long shot.

Somewhere on one of these threads I found somebody said they got quoted $200 to flash the head unit with no guarantee it would come out alive or providing the correct capability.

After a week of reading circuit diagrams, some deep Becker unit specs, a discussion with the Becker USA tech, about 50 well informed forum messages, and looking at dozens of CD-emulator solutions (for the nav-unit) I concluded it was a long shot to make the non-Nav unit take aux inputs, and even assuming success with flashing the head unit, still some other costs.

The easiest and most effective path to this is simply to swap the head unit with something that takes your iPod as another input device. If you buy a moderate to expensive replacement head unit ($200-$1000) you will get at least as good sound and features (at the low end) and superior sound and features (at the high end).

If you really just like the admittedly nice look of the factory head unit, well, you are stuck with the fm transmitter/modulator routes and mediocre sound.

OR

you can go to one of those companies that take factory units and basically convert an aftermarket unit so that the faceplate looks like the factory unit but the guts are upgraded to the aftermarket unit. (Click for an example) This is very big in high-end vintage car restorations where the owner wants the car original for shows but wants quality tunes for real life. This is a cost-no-object exercise but for those who already have everything else....

I'm a dreamer - I saved my factory unit for the day when I either have everything else in the world I want and a conversion is the only thing left, or I sell the Crossfire....

I am open to being wrong but the wiring diagrams, the factory owners manual, and the tech don't lie. Oh yeah, I tried it too just to make sure...

 

Well, here's an ameteur thought:

I know that some people have the Motorola Bluetooth device for their phones hooked up to their car. If there was some other bluetooth receiver that hooked into a different input rather than the phone jack, all you would have to do is have that and a Bluetooth transmitter attached to your iPod and it would wirelessly stream music. Does anyone know of another device?

 

It's an interesting idea. But in your example, what the bluetooth replaces is the wires connecting the input source (the iPod) and the head unit. That still leaves the problem with the non-Nav unit of the input channel. There is no other "different input rather than the phone jack". That's the problem. There's no place to plug in...

Consider these two drawings. One is the non-Nav unit, showing the input choices. The other is a typical head unit with auxiliary input channels.

The factory unit has a choice of ONE channel of input, intended for a phone. The left or right front speaker is selected in the head unit menu.



The typical aftermarket unit has an AUX input (left and right channels), selectable in the head unit menu. It may also have CD changer option. Both of these capabilities are absent from the non-Nav Crossfire head unit.

 

Ah. I get it. Maybe one could be wired directly to the amp with a switch like someone previously suggested.