Hello. I have a 2000 S500 which gets terrible radio reception. I took it to the dealer and they said in MIGHT be the antenna combar? They wanted about $300 for the part and $850 for labor? I believe the combar is located under the headliner but I am not completely sure. I was hoping that someone could help me with some knowledgable info about this fix? Thanks for any help in advance.
Johan

"Combar" is not a word.

__________________
Kent Christensen
Albuquerque
'07 GL320CDI, '10 CL550. '01 Porsche Boxster
Two BMW motorcycles

Combiner or Antenna spliter/combiner DRTYLNDY does your car have a multi use antenna VHF/UHF, Phone?

__________________
BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
15 VW Passat TDI
00 E420
98 E300 DT
97 E420 Donor Car - NEED PARTS? PM ME!
97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
(o\|/o)

Yes I have the phone option which I do not use at this time.

If you have the Audio 20 or Command system in use you need the combiner. If you are not using these simply bypass the splitter e.g. Radio to antenna. If you do not feel comfortable working on - try a neigborhood audio specialy shop.

__________________
BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
15 VW Passat TDI
00 E420
98 E300 DT
97 E420 Donor Car - NEED PARTS? PM ME!
97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
(o\|/o)

Is the rear window tinted? If so, that can absolutely kill radio reception.

If I by-pass the combiner will my Nav system stop working? No, I do not have any after market tint on the car only what it came with from Germany. Thanks for the help. Does anyone know where this combiner is located exactly?
Johan

The mecedes tech bulletin I am looking at http://www.mercedestechstore.com/pdfs/287_R171/287%20HO%2002%20Audio%20&%20Communications%20(CrullG)%2008-02-04.pdf
indicates the NAV is part of the combiner.

__________________
BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
15 VW Passat TDI
00 E420
98 E300 DT
97 E420 Donor Car - NEED PARTS? PM ME!
97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
(o\|/o)

The COMBAR is the rear window antennea amplifier module for radio, central
locking, phone, ect. They are not very fun to replace. The headliner needs
to be dropped down to access them correctly. The silicone feet that connect the rear glass to the combar can get faulty connections some times.
You still have to remove it to access the connections to the glass, (unless the rear window is out!) Do you have any scratches on the inside of your rear window? This can break the antennea grids.
This is probably not a D.I.Y. type job due to the expense of parts and possible damage to the headliner.
Regards,
Dr.D

__________________
Dr.Diesel -
Shop Foreman
Master Guild Mercedes-Benz Technician.

Think the dealer is expensive? Do you know how much it costs to train a dealer tech? Or buy the required MB special tools to have on hand?

Thanks for the info Dr. D. The funny thing about my reception problem is that the nav gets reception, the remote lock works from very far away and I have spoken with a operator on the phone with no reception problems at all. It is only the radio, I can be less than 5 miles away from a station and I will lose reception.

The different functions (AM/FM / Cental locking) are in different parts of the unit. That may be why the other features are ok.
The COMBAR is called a diversity antennea. It is an active antennea module that filters unwanted frequencys. It also switches between different window antennea wires for the best reception.
Needless to say, there is a lot of hokey-pokey going on inside of the thing.
There was a DTB from 4/12/01 talking about interference on the radio when ther rear defroster is on. This was DTB 33/01. The fix was a new rear window glass.
If you have your dealer dig deeper, I would have your dealer pull out your COMAND unit (radio) and test the coaxial cable from the head unit to the COMBAR for resistance. There should be less than 1 ohm from the ant. module to the radio.

Regards,
Dr.D

__________________
Dr.Diesel -
Shop Foreman
Master Guild Mercedes-Benz Technician.

Think the dealer is expensive? Do you know how much it costs to train a dealer tech? Or buy the required MB special tools to have on hand?

The NAVI and C-Tel/Tele-Aid systems use the shark-fin roof antenna. This antenna doesn't use the COMBAR. Checking the co-axial cables is a good idea and it's easy to do, but I'm betting the COMBAR is either faulty, or possibly has a loose connector/poor contact with rear glass, etc.

Could you tell me where the combar sits under the headliner? Driver side, passenger side, front or rear? Thanks