The Problem

 

Mercedes Benz vehicles from 1999 - 2004 were limited to four choices of phones in the US market:

 

 

 

 

Only the handsets that were purchased from the dealership can fully integrate with the car, since their firmware is different from  their off the shelve counterparts. Those phones, especially the V60, are sold for several hundred dollars, even on E-Bay.

If you purchased a pre-owned Mercedes Benz automobile with an original Mercedes Benz phone, it is most likely not E-911 compliant (an FCC regulation), so the cell phone companies will be reluctant to activate it.

 

The Solution

The Mik-Box is allows to integrate a selection of newer phones with Mercedes Benz vehicles. This is not another aftermarket solution that makes use of just the built in microphone and loudspeakers. Full integration means, using the buttons of the radio, COMAND navigation head unit, and wheel controls to dial, accept/reject calls, toggle call waiting, browse the cell phone's directory and call history, etc... in other words, almost everything that the original MB phone can do (for an exact list for features click here).

 

How it Works

Below, you can see a typical setup of an integrated phone system. The green parts are factory installed in most MBs, the brown parts are required for the integration:

The PSE is the central unit that controls audio and data. It has DSP functionality as well as logic to control the phone, and communicate with the head unit, using the fiber optical link. There are different versions of the PSE that work with the different cell phones.

The Compensator is used to compensate for the signal loss of the RF path inside the vehicle.

The Antenna-Switch is only necessary if the car is equipped with an emergency system (Tele-Aid).

The "Cell Phone" box represents the actual handset plus the cradle and coil cord that it used to connect it with the car.

 

 

As you can see, the Mik-Box is hooked up to the PSE, it will translate the information received from the phone to the PSE and vice versa.

 

Please verify which components your car has already installed. For more details on where the components are located in your car, I recommend downloading the installation bulletin for your vehicle here. Also, read the part-number that is written on the label of the PSE. The format is something like  "Q682-0845". If you email me a question, it helps when you are able to provide me that number.

 

Currently Supported

 Currently the following phones are supported:

- All V60 phones except v60v (tested: V60t, V60s, V60p, V60x, V60c, v60i, v60 TracFone), and of course all the MB versions will still work

- V66 (tested)

- V80 (tested)

- V260 (tested)

- V262 (tested)

- V265 (tested)

- V300 (tested)

- V330 (tested)

- V400 (tested)

- V500 (tested)

- V505 (tested)

- V525 (tested)

- V551 (tested)

- V557 (tested)

- V600 (tested)

- V620 (tested)

- V635 (tested)

- V710 (tested)

- E815 (tested)

 

- Other Motorola P2K series phones (not yet tested): V550, C330, C331, C332, C333, C336, C359, C350, C550, C450, E380, E390, E398, E550, C370, C350L, C353, C250, V150, V810

 

Following PSEs are currently supported:

- Q682-0460 (StarTac) 

- Q682-9460 (StarTac) 

- Q682-0648 (Timeport) 

- Q682-9648 (Timeport) 

- Q682-0754 (V60 & Timeport "auto sense")

- Q682-0845 (V60)

- Q682-0886 (V60)

 

Following cars are supported:

1999 E (W210)

1999 SL (R129)

1999 CLK (W208)

1999 SLK (R170)

1999 C (W202)

2000 All cars

2001 All cars

2002 All cars

2003 All cars except E (W211)

2004 All cars except E (W211), CL (W215), S (W220)

2005 M (W163), G (W463), SLR

Functions that are currently supported by the Mik-Box

(please report any broken links)

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