2005 Mercedes CLK55 AMG: Navigation Radio Upgrade

This client has been working with us for many years and brought us his Mercedes that we last equipped with an iPod/Auxiliary port. The factory radio began to fail and with a new replacement radio from Mercedes approaching several thousand dollars, he wanted to explore an aftermarket option.

He initially suggested a piece he found on the Internet that was listed as compatible with his vehicle. Unfortunately, this is yet another reason why you need to rely on professionals to save you time and money instead of working with an unfamiliar brand and product of low quality. The unit he brought to us would fit physically in his Mercedes but because his vehicle has a MOST communication ring, there are very limited options for such a vehicle and what he bought online would not work.

We did a trial-fit to confirm the incompatibility, found our initial assessment was correct and did some research [...]

Our client came to us wanting commercial-free music for the long trips to visit family out of town. We suggested two methods of integrating SiriusXM into their factory radio as a solution. They selected a seamless integration which ties into the factory steering wheel controls and radio interface.

While we were at it, we suggested a reverse camera to leverage almost all the integration possible for the factory 6.1″ radio (a navigation add-on is available for select non-navigation equipped radios) to add some driver safety.

On this vehicle, we were able to provide additional rear visibility by installing a reverse camera when it was not installed by the factory. You can see the increased visibility you have, even at night.

This long time customer in home and commercial audio/video integration brought us their new Sprinter Van for a number of upgrades over the first year that they had it in service. Over the past months, when the van was in town and not on the road, we added a custom subwoofer enclosure and five channel amplifier, door speakers, backup camera, new AV receiver and a power inverter to keep them entertained on the road and able to do the work they need to.

We usually only have it long enough to get the installation done and have not had a chance to snap photos of all the different components installed but did manage to get one of the inverter before they reconfigured the interior work space again.

This customer’s family (father and son) have been coming to us for many years. In this case, we were helping them with the backup camera installation that came with the truck when they purchased it.

Whoever installed it cut the usual corners and it was a double whammy because not only was the backup camera damaged because of the poor quality of work but so was the vehicle’s data module from the shorted out wires.

We were able to work around the two failures and installed a new backup camera (with a longer warranty) which they hopefully won’t need because the installation was done correctly this time!

Have a project that needs fixing?

Schedule a Consultation: 919-779-8755

This customer’s Jeep was missing a reverse camera but had the factory navigation radio. So we added a discrete camera to the back and the appropriate electronic hardware.

Now the customer has a fully functioning backup camera!

Schedule a Consultation: 919-779-8755

This client is very particular about his installations. He came to North Carolina from California (the land of car audio) so his expectations were high. In his eyes, Radio-Active was the obvious shop for the job when he was doing his research.

We ended up doing 3 projects total:
Project #1: CarPlay receiver integration and backup camera
Project #2: LIDAR laser speed detection
Project #3: Custom RADAR detector mounting (not shown)

Ready to start your own project?

Schedule a Consultation: 919-779-8755

A long-time customer came back to us to have their sound system removed in preparation for trading the car in for a newer one. We were able to utilize their amplifiers and initially were going to keep the subwoofer and enclosures but they decided on new subwoofers, a ported enclosure and grills to protect the drivers.

A new GPS receiver was also added to integrate with their smartphone and to ensure they have navigation at all times. Steering wheel control integration and a replacement factory panel were also included in their installation along with some vibration dampening material in the doors.

Schedule a Consultation: 919-779-8755