Cellular Phone in 2000 SL500

[meystel]

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!

-Mke

[page62]

Long question, short answer:

http://www.mikbox.com/

[bwheitman]

I have an 01 SL500 that came with the Timeport. It did not have a dual sensing controller box for the phone system, In other words it would not accept a Motoroloa VS 600. So I had to replace the controller and the handset coupler. This was all plug and play, then you purchase the blue tooth puck. The phone uses it's own antanae, not the one in the car, although you will notice that until your phone disconects from your car, the antanae will stay up. The system works really well, you can use all your voice controls, phone controls on the radio, and the phone itself. When making a call the name is displayed, but when recieving a call it is not smart enough to put the number with the name, you still have to save your phone book for voice dialing. I also had the tele aid upgraded to digital, that got rid of all the quirky problems it was having, and now the only trouble I have with it, is I can't use hands free when on the highway, there is too much feedback. It was expensive, about $800 for the phone upgrade, and $1600 for the Tele-aide upgrade. I have replaced the microphone twice, thinking that would help with feedback, now I am torn between replacing with a new bluetooth system, or keeping the current, because I just hate putting the phone up to my ear while in the car, it is dangerous and honestly everyone should have hands free, it is just safer. Good luck!
Brian

[Ralph Burnette]

I just bought a 2000 SL500 myself but, or course, there is no phone support for the car.

However, there are other solutions. One to consider is the Garmin Nuvi 660 with bluetooth capability. The GPS attaches to the screen and can either run on its battery or plug in to the cigarette lighter. It has a touchscreen display and will automatically sync up with your telephone. I put mine on the left side of the steering wheel and I can operate it with very little hand movement.

However if you have the top down and the windows down doing 70 mph as I was this afternoon, you won't hear anything anyway, which is the real benefit of the SL500. :-)

You should be able to purchase a Garmin Nuvi 660 for about $750, maybe cheaper online. However, watch restocking fees and make sure that you check with Garmin's website to make sure that your phone will work with it.

It isn't the cheapest place to buy one, however I'd recommend jandrmusic.com or jandr.com. They have an excellent return policy just in case you don't like the product.

-Ralph