2000 SL500 cellular phone integration problem
#1
05-23-2007, 03:50 PM
2000 SL500 cellular phone integration problem
Greetings,
I just purchased a 2000 SL500, which I am very pleased with. It has a Motorola StarTac analog handset in the center console, and it appears fully interfaced into the radio, there's a steering column stalk control to activate hands-free dialing, the whole 9 yards.
I would like to replace this phone with something more modern. Ideally, I would like to use the Motorola SLVR that I currently wear on my belt, and take advantage of Bluetooth, or some other GSM phone.
When I asked my MB dealer whether it was possible to use a newer phone in the SL-500, I was told "no" unequivocally. When I called MB corporate, they told me that Auto Wireless Solutions (wireless4mb.com) handles all of the cellular phone stuff, and I should contact them.
When I visited the wireless4mb.com web site, and looked at their Vehicle Phone Compatibility list, it clearly states that an SL-500 of the year 2000 can upgrade through a V60 bluetooth adapter.
However, when I called Auto Wireless Solutions, they said that this is incorrect and in fact there is no upgrade or retrofit path for the SL class of this year -- that Merecedes only made parts to retrofit the S class, but not the SL class.
I could not believe this, so I called Mercedes again. I spoke to a technician who explained that the 2000 SL-500 was not built with a dual-band antenna, and when they did a feasibility study to evaluate whether or not to manufacture a retrofit kit for this car, it came up too expensive -- the antenna, the command unit, the coax cabling, basically everything would need to be replaced, and the cost would be in the thousands, which they did not figure (correctly, I might add) people would want to spend.
They implied that there are no third-party or after-market solutions to this problem either, but I find that hard to believe. Surely I am not the first to have run into this problem. Surely someone has devised a way to marry modern cell phones with the existing speaker/mic and radio-dialing capabilities of the 2000-vintage SL-500?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
-Mike
I just purchased a 2000 SL500, which I am very pleased with. It has a Motorola StarTac analog handset in the center console, and it appears fully interfaced into the radio, there's a steering column stalk control to activate hands-free dialing, the whole 9 yards.
I would like to replace this phone with something more modern. Ideally, I would like to use the Motorola SLVR that I currently wear on my belt, and take advantage of Bluetooth, or some other GSM phone.
When I asked my MB dealer whether it was possible to use a newer phone in the SL-500, I was told "no" unequivocally. When I called MB corporate, they told me that Auto Wireless Solutions (wireless4mb.com) handles all of the cellular phone stuff, and I should contact them.
When I visited the wireless4mb.com web site, and looked at their Vehicle Phone Compatibility list, it clearly states that an SL-500 of the year 2000 can upgrade through a V60 bluetooth adapter.
However, when I called Auto Wireless Solutions, they said that this is incorrect and in fact there is no upgrade or retrofit path for the SL class of this year -- that Merecedes only made parts to retrofit the S class, but not the SL class.
I could not believe this, so I called Mercedes again. I spoke to a technician who explained that the 2000 SL-500 was not built with a dual-band antenna, and when they did a feasibility study to evaluate whether or not to manufacture a retrofit kit for this car, it came up too expensive -- the antenna, the command unit, the coax cabling, basically everything would need to be replaced, and the cost would be in the thousands, which they did not figure (correctly, I might add) people would want to spend.
They implied that there are no third-party or after-market solutions to this problem either, but I find that hard to believe. Surely I am not the first to have run into this problem. Surely someone has devised a way to marry modern cell phones with the existing speaker/mic and radio-dialing capabilities of the 2000-vintage SL-500?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
-Mike
#2
06-09-2007, 08:06 AM
RE: 2000 SL500 cellular phone integration problem
Not sure if this helps, but I too am looking to upgrade the phone system in my 2000 CL500. It is possible, but I do aveh to replace just about everything, at around £1,700. I guess you'd need to get everything pulled out and a dual band aerial fitted to. sounds possible but expensive.
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