W203 Radio Hard Wired Aux (for my iPod)

[peet]

Also according to SteveNL the switches are an array not singles. I can relate as taking these apart numerous times (audio 30 out, audio 10 in, audio 10 out, audio 30 in, dealer replaces audio 30, audio 30 out, ipod mod, audio 30 in) the switch banks are just that large pods of multiple switches. Can't get just one. Also that tow switch - if there you probably have it (unless your in Canada?) then I think it's optional. Peet

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[wrio]

Hi "lovin_my_C230K"

I'm thinking about instaling an aux input in the head unit of my slk 230, 2001 and I was looking at the info you posted. It seems that the page with the pictures you took is down. If you have the pictures would you mind e-mailing them to me? -
flanders@fas.harvard.edu


Thanks!
Wil

[lovin_my_C230K]

sorry guys. my isp changed my static IP address.

Here's the page.

http://66.15.182.201/w203aux/

enjoy. As i can't.

My c230 is totalled. I ran through about 6 inches of water and the kompressor sucked all she could into the motor.

[CitronC230K_03]

looks really good. do you keep that aux plug out so you can plug in other devices as well?

[PaCMaYNE]

Just curious if anyone has done this for a 99-00 C230K with NO tape deck!??

[pshek]

I modded my audio 30 head unit for the aux input, but I have a couple problems. The connection works and the music sounds much better now, but when I connect my mp3 player to the DC power adapter, there is a lot of background noise. I think the noise is because the DC current is poorly filtered. If I do not connect the power to my mp3 player, there is no noise. I placed a ferrite core filter around the audio cable, but it doesn't seem to help. Can anybody suggest a way to remove the noise and still power my mp3 player? Another problem I noticed is that my head unit will sometimes display a "no tape" message, especially if my mp3 is not powered on. Does there have to be a signal to the tape deck in order for it to recognize it, or did I mess up the mod?

Thanks

[PaCMaYNE]

I would suggest another power adapter, i have a similair hook up when not using my carputer (current FM MOD until i actually mod the tape deck) and i had the same prob, new adapter nothing. No real grounding techniques here.

[PaCMaYNE]

im wondering how similair the w202 and w203 boards are,, as i want to do this to my 99C230 and get rid of my FM MODULATOR. Anyone have any info on this? THanks guys.. a lot

[PaCMaYNE]

Hello there bud. I have been researching doing an AUX input on my head unit for a few weeks, and i finlaly decided to give it a shot.

The difference is i have a w202 head unit as yours was a w203,, so since i hav removed everything i notice the board is a lot different and placed differently.

My Tape board has much fewer traces and chips, but its obvious where the 5 wire ribbon cable comes into on the board. There are 5 wires running from the Head of the tape player to the board, then 4 traces running from the board to the port that plugs into the main board. So i thought that maybe the Head units were similair, and that i could wire in a wire to trace 1 and 3, i as well disconnect the negaive of eatch motor. I found after disconnecting the negative on the tape rotating motor that when pushing tape it will go to tape,, say side 1, then go back to radio. I am not sure if this is happening because i didnt cut the traces, and that maybe the Head is trying to read from the tape but cannot as its not turning,, and therfore cuasing it to go back into radio. But i was able to play a blank tape with the tape motor running to listen how wires 1 and 3 sounded, and i found that 1 is a high end input and 3 is i believe a low, or unamplified input.

I guess my question on the matter is if you would maybe tell me IF the w203( since i dont have one to refrence) had the 5 wires from the head to the board, and if so what eatch wire did? And before i cut any traces is in cutting them for the w203 whats making the tape to be able to not be spinning and think it still is allowing for an input to be introduced. Also if so what trace is being cut? i know for the w203 trace 1 and 3 are cut then wired into, but what exactly is trace 1 and 3 on the w203 board?

Anyways any help on this would be greatly appreciated, especially anything i may have left out, in helping me if im able to figure this out i could then post my findings for the w202 guys like myself who dont really have any directions,, I very much appreciate it maYne.

[pshek]

I bought a ground loop isolator cable and hard wired it into the aux input connection of my mod. This cable can be bought for about $17 from Radio Shack. I highly recommend that people buy this if they plan on modding their audio30 head unit, especially if they plan on attaching their ipod or other mp3 player to their car's 12-volt power. I found out that a car's 12 volt power does not have a clean ground connection and introduces engine noise and humming into the audio signal. The ground loop isolator worked perfectly and there is no perceptible noise at all.

[Elvis Presley]

Does anyone know if a 2001 210 (wagon) body radio would have the same tape transport? Thanks

[jamesnajera]

Could you just run the ground wires from the two motors to short pins 1 and 3? If so, could that make it easier to install a switch? Just a thought.

[nmsno27]

So I am not good with electronics to say the least I was going to print out this page and the pictures to give to an audio shop to do it for me. By doing this, it hardwires the Ipod to the car and the quality of sound is similar to that of a CD? Also, is there a wire thats goign to be sticking out of the head unit and, can the steering wheel change songs or do you have to use the ipod to go from song to song? Thanks in advance.

[FLSL55]

Lovin,

Did you get another MB?

There are only 5 pictures in your DIR. Were there more before?

I am about to do the mod on my wifes car.

[lovin_my_C230K]

Good news. The car did not end up totalled. I put in a new starter and cleaned out the water and now its fine.

As for the pictures make sure to click the triangle just to the right of the 5 pictures. This will show the other pics.

Good luck.

[kobifuzz]

I have a 2002 C240 with the stock radio. I needed an aux input for my Audiovox XM radio. Mounted it in the ashtray and looks awesome there. The sound through the FM Modulator is pretty good, but of course i wanted even better if it was possible. I was able to do this mod successfully (many thanks to everyone on this forum who posted info on this!), however, I'm bummed-out because the sound isn't as good as what i get through the FM radio! The sound that it produces through the new direct route is faint and has static (hiss) behind it. When i switch the XM back to FM Modulation mode, everything is fine.

Is the hiss due to the ground connection made to the radio case? Does anyone know if there is a solder connection that can be made on the same ribbon connector we tapped into? Would that help or should i try the (Radio Shack) Ground Loop Isolator route instead - i read that adding one would kill some of the sound quality.

Also, does anyone know why the signal is so quiet compared to the fm modulator? i turned up the output on the XM radio to 'max', but it still is much too quiet. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

A couple of things I learned - 1.Go ahead and put the cassette tape in before you desolder the motor grounds...that would have saved me 45 minutes if i had been paying attention. 2. Painting the XM antenna metallic silver did not hurt my reception in any way-mounted it on my roof and looks great.

[Stiggs]

Originally Posted by nmsno27

So I am not good with electronics to say the least I was going to print out this page and the pictures to give to an audio shop to do it for me. By doing this, it hardwires the Ipod to the car and the quality of sound is similar to that of a CD? Also, is there a wire thats goign to be sticking out of the head unit and, can the steering wheel change songs or do you have to use the ipod to go from song to song? Thanks in advance.

Thats a good question....can you use the steering wheel controls with the ipod?

[govertime]

I did this mod last night.
Unfortunately I suck at soldering so this was a horrible experience.
Regardless I did end up getting everything working sort of...

I didnt have a cassette tape when I started so I figured I could add that later (a bad decision). After connecting everything back up I realized I had to have the motors connected in order to insert the tape so I temporarily removed the radio from the dash with the wires still connected. With my hands I manually held the power wires to the motor while inserting a tape. Finally I heard the ipod! The wierd thing is that the tape continued to turn even after I no longer held the power wires to the motor. So I decided to turn it off and on again. After a few seconds of music I got a TAPE STUCK message and the unit switched to RADIO mode. I tried reinserting the tape a few more times but this kept happening. Seems to me as long as the tape is in it and the power cables aren't connected, it should work fine. My only solution at this point is to resolder the power back to the motors. I'd rather avoid this so I dont hear the tape turning. Anybody have any ideas???

[govertime]

In the previous post, I meant GROUND wires to the motors, not POWER. In other words I had disconnected the ground wires from the motors while the power wires stayed intact.

[20FHK02]

I believe if you follow the original instructions exactly you won't have any problems. So I'd go back and retrace from the original steps and see which steps you missed.

[govertime]

I think my problem is when I remove the wires from the motor connection I get a TAPE STUCK message. At this point there is a cassette loaded in the deck and both GROUND wires are disconnected.

Its appears that not having the motor wires connected is whats giving me the TAPE STUCK message.

I guess my only solution is to resolder the GROUND wires back to the motor. I just don't see a reason for the TAPE STUCK message unless it has to do with me inserting the cassette in after the mod instead of before.

[PrsnBenz]

Anyone in the bay area wanna make some cash and do this mod for me

I'm not mechanically inclined at all and will probably break something in the process and mess it up.

[govertime]

Killed the HU. At least the tape mechanism. Everytime I switch to Tape I get TAPE STUCK message. I ended up F'ing up the ribbon that connects the tape mechanism to the HU.

Well I almost had it. Hopefully the dealer won't notice my modification and replace it under warranty

[W Cole]

With this mod can you use the AUX output on the bottom square connector of the ipod? Will you be able to get the volume loud enough without using the IPOD's amp?

[20FHK02]

Originally Posted by PrsnBenz

Anyone in the bay area wanna make some cash and do this mod for me

I'm not mechanically inclined at all and will probably break something in the process and mess it up.

I did the mod but I think it is only for the Audio30 unit, not sure whether you can do the same thing on a 2004 CLK...