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 believe you are alsodealing with an analog phone in the OEM package andthe cellular carriers are moving away from phone support on those older phones because they are not 911 compatible.
Please consider the Parrot CK3100 as an alternative.
http://www.parrot.biz/usa/products/ck3100-lcd

 

Great. Now it's even more confusing.

Yes, E-911appears to bethe reason that cellular carriers will not activate new analog service, although I fail to understand this, considering that OnStar is analog and they're not going anywhere.

After posting my question, I kept researching and discovered a couple of alternatives.

First I thought there was only one solution -- MikBox (http://mikbox.com/ ), for roughly $250 and another $100 for an upgraded cradle. It appears that the MikBox interfaces with the existing PSE in the vehicle (note -- I say this, but I have absolutely no idea what a PSE is, or what it does). Since I have no ideawhich PSE I have, or how to find out, and since my particular phone, the Motorola L7 SLVR, was not listed as having been tested, I was hesitant about using it. Anyone who has successfully implemented this solution in a MY 2000 SL-500, please let me know.

Then I came across this web site: http://www.eurocarphone.com/They seem to have a solution called the AIK, the ARGOS Integration Kit (for roughly $800 or $900), which appears to replace the PSE and allow the use of the phone that I wanted to use, in Bluetooth mode. I guess this means that the cradle in the center console, and the cable that currently connects to my analog StarTac phone, would be of no use to me, and this system would not allow me to recharge my phone while it is in the car.

Upon further looking, I found this site -- EIS -- http://www.eiskits.com/MB.html-- but they appear to also sell the ARGOS. In fact, this appears to be a sister web site of the same company as Eurocarphone.com. At least both web sites are in the Atlanta, GA area; their contact phone numbers are in two different area codes (of the Atlanta area).

I don't know whether EISkit's ARGOS is the same ARGOS as the one by Eurocarphones, or if that solution will work for my car, my built-in telephone techology in the car, and my cell phone of choice.

I keep hearing about D2B fiber optic wiring. How am I supposed to know if my car has D2B wiring? My phone, the SLVR, has a built-in iPod and I sometimes use it to listen to songs. The phone itself has a mini-USB connectors, used for everything from recharging the phone to plugging it in to the computer for iPod downloads. I'd love to leverage the iPod capability and play music from the phone throughmy car's audio system, but I'm sure that neither the ARGOS nor the MikBox (nor the Parrot) will do this.

I did find a product called the Denison icelink Gateway 500 D2B Mercedes GW5RD20D1 ($500 at places like http://enfigcarstereo.com/shopsite_s...GW5RD20D1.htmlor http://www.dension.com/icelinkgateway500.phpor http://www.discountcarstereo.com/detail.aspx?ID=1059), which allows attaching USB devices to the Mercedes radio, but this appears to only support things like iPods, and not USB connection to telephones.

I am aware of an article on benzworld.org by a fellow named Paul that talks about integrated cell phone installation and has a link to his web site, which has many useful PDFs to download: http://www.benzworld.org/tech.html?id=159.

But none of this answers my questions:
- do I need a new PSE?
- do I need a new antenna in the back bumper, and what if I don't install one? What about a compensator?[/align]- is there a cradle for the SLVR with the requisite cable and connector to plug that phone into the car's wiring so that it can recharge and interface with the radio and microphone?[/align]- why doesn't Mercedes support any of this directly??? Is the demand so small?[/align][/align]Any other advice from anyone?[/align][/align]Thank you![/align][/align]

 

I suggest Argos Bluetooth kit which works with 2000 SL.
Removal of stock phone kit is required. Works with most Motorola GSM phones.
Please check our vendor page.

 

Call Kieth Valintine at 714-746-5930, he is an outsource installer of cellular devices for Mercedes Benzon the westcoast. He will inform you of your options regardingyour particular vehicleand what it is your looking to achieve.He is also a distributor for Agros, and MB. He will set you up and walk you through installation which you can do yourself in a 2000 SL500.That year model does have fiber optics and can be retrofitted several ways including to your current cellular device.