UK best uhi phone retrofit installation harness part number?

[perdikoula888]

I have a w203 2002 UK model C-class. I was looking to find the most appropriate wiring (best one for upgrades) harness. I have found on EPC three part numbers:

A 203 440 22 10
A 203 440 48 05
A 203 540 36 34

what are the differences between them? Do they use different uhi controllers and if yes, which controller corresponds to each wiring harness? which one is the best? please let me know! :confused:

[miro]

I have a w203 2002 UK model C-class. I was looking to find the most appropriate wiring (best one for upgrades) harness. I have found on EPC three part numbers:

A 203 440 22 10 = UHI D2B
A 203 440 48 05 = UHI MOST
A 203 540 36 34 = UHI MOST + VOICE CONTROL

what are the differences between them? Do they use different uhi controllers and if yes, which controller corresponds to each wiring harness? which one is the best? please let me know! :confused:

First of all there is one harness for cars with existing phones and a curly cord.

Second there are extension cables from the junction point under the ashtray section to the armrest or a long contact plate to the dashboard

Third there is the facelift version using MOST optical.

Fourthly, there is also a combined "full option" harness with everything in one big heavy cable.

Many possible variants just for UK.

[perdikoula888]

Thank you for clearing it up. However is there a d2b uhi harness combined with voice/linguatronic option? I am trying to figure out what harness and modules CitronC230K_03 used in his car. Please check the following thread that shows the d2b uhi with linguatronic:

http://www.mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=90078&highlight=uhi+armrest

Please let me know. thank you :confused:

[miro]

Thank you for clearing it up. However is there a d2b uhi harness combined with voice/linguatronic option? I am trying to figure out what harness and modules CitronC230K_03 used in his car. Please check the following thread that shows the d2b uhi with linguatronic:

http://www.mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=90078&highlight=uhi+armrest

Please let me know. thank you :confused:

You cant make sense of that since they have tele-aid prewired and all cars come with phone wiring. All steering columns come with the stalk hole for the lever and all cars are setup with the extra D2B cabling latently hidden in the trunk with the necessary VCS connector.

Steve would have installed the UHI conversion kit which takes the existing Nokia / Motorola setup and makes it UHI. Then just added the armest cable and trims. Its the first method as stated above.

Stick with using a VIN from a 2004 car with UHI and D2B that is UK based. Then you are safe. I usually get mine from used car lots (or as new cars over the years I spy the dealers).

Every time I see a variant, short run model I grab the VIN. Years later it saves me hours of farting around.

I dont think there is a combined harness for VCS in D2B since I buy mine stand alone and they click togther very nicely.

[perdikoula888]

thank you once again. :) By the way, you mention that you personally used a seperate d2b voice/linguatronic harness. what part number did you personally use for your car?

[miro]

thank you once again. :) By the way, you mention that you personally used a seperate d2b voice/linguatronic harness. what part number did you personally use for your car?

*runs over to red VCS tub and looks into it for inspiration*

A203 540 43 06 - UK spec VCS harness for W203 sedan D2B.

I also ran the fully loaded W209 D2B loop some time back with BOSE, Phone, VCS, CD and COMAND (HU). That solved all of my optical issues.

I bought the D2B part from Steve MBENZNL since he seems to know the common items almost from memory.

[perdikoula888]

Thank you once again! :) :) :) I figured out the three part numbers I need:

LINGUATRONIC
A 203 540 43 06

UHI
A 203 440 22 10

UHI – armrest harness
A 203 820 63 15

The only one I miss now is the fibre optical d2b full option harness. Which one did you use? Could you please let me know the appropriate best part number please? Thank you

[miro]

The full option optical loop is in the garage (have several in hand) and I will look soon. If I dont please bump the thread

[perdikoula888]

Thank you. I was checking epc... Is it the following?

A 209 540 47 07 (386+390+810+819)

The only one I found was for w209 clk I am not sure if it fits perfectly the c-class w203.

I could not find one for the c-class... please find the one you have to compare it with the one I found and please let me know.

[richard]

Thank you. I was checking epc... Is it the following?
A 209 540 47 07 (386+390+810+819)


Thats the D2B fibreoptics for a CLK with UHI, Lingua, Sound System and CD changer - I would get the C class part not the CLK part ..

Rather than replacing the whole fibre loom, you should just get some pieces and modify/extend the existing loom

Now, I think that in one of the door sills (probably right hand side) is where all the fibre optics come together and you get lots of couplers which allow you to re-order the ring and insert extra bits. If indeed you do have that, then you can order the appropriate part which should be the right length fibres to reach from the control unit to that patching place. You may need a D2B coupler as-well - which part number I can never remember.

To find the full set of parts, in the fibre optic section in EPC for C class, find the part A000 540 38 08 and look at the footnotes.

Alternatively you can order single bits of fibre, A000 540 38 08 ordered with ES2 code showing length (for instance 4260 = 4.260 metres) and the plugs to make up the end - the plug housings (straight or right angled) and the D2B connector is all in EPC in the same place mentioned above.

Ask your dealer nicely , there is a retrofitting linguatronic document for C class in WIS - or pay for www.startekinfo.com and go look it up yourself !

Richard

[perdikoula888]

Thank you for the reply. The car I modify did not have any optical harness at all. Also I do not have previous experience in car optical harnesses and would like to get a complete solution for my first time to avoid possible surprises! As soon as I feel confident in the future, then I can start playing around with pipes of different lengths and connectors to make up my own optical harnesses.

At the moment I just look for the full option d2b optical harness for w203 but I cannot find it on epc. The only one I found was for w209, which practically is more or less an uprated w203 shassis therefore lenghths are more or less the same. However to be safe I asked MIRO to double check the part number and compare it with the one he uses for his car. can you also check epc and let me know if you see an alternative w203 number? thank you

[miro]

I have used many W209 parts in my W203. Some of the most recent parts such as EIS, SAM and other modules are all labelled A209.

The UHI is labelled A230 (woohoo .... my car is 0.5% SL)

There is no major issue using W209 optics in a W203 because of the shape of the cable path and the length of the wheelbase. The head unit run is the most critical one. The trunk options are all the same in all aspects.

The CLK has a dip in the cable run inside the passenger rear trim panel which soaks up quite a bit of length.

Just use that configuration and it should be fine. (famous last words).

A 000 540 38 08 xxxx is the part number for ordering to length in mm

A203 540 70 09 is a useful cable with many options on it. I notice on this cable the CD stacker is optional and can be removed.

[richard]

Thank you for the reply. The car I modify did not have any optical harness at all. Also I do not have previous experience in car optical harnesses and would like to get a complete solution for my first time to avoid possible surprises! As soon as I feel confident in the future, then I can start playing around with pipes of different lengths and connectors to make up my own optical harnesses.


OK, use Miro's advice in the post above this - he is spot on as normal and has a lot more experience than me ..
(I only have only deconstructed my own cars over time A(169)/SL(230,129),ML(163),CLK(208),SLK(170) and helped add comand to a E(W210) as a hobby !)

But, do remember when you install you will have to loop out the units you dont use with a D2B joiner - very carefully so you dont bend the fibre too much - or the D2B fibre ring wont work ..


R

[miro]

OK, use Miro's advice in the post above this - he is spot on as normal and has a lot more experience than me ..
(I only have only deconstructed my own cars over time A(169)/SL(230,129),ML(163),CLK(208),SLK(170) and helped add comand to a E(W210) as a hobby !)

But, do remember when you install you will have to loop out the units you dont use with a D2B joiner - very carefully so you dont bend the fibre too much - or the D2B fibre ring wont work ..


R

I recently started to acquire MOST connectors from Tyco. There is a REALLY COOL piece of kit from Tyco called a 'developer loop'. What it does is complete the ring in the smallest possible form factor without dismantling the open ring end (not much bigger than a MOST connector itself). It does it by bouncing the light 90 degrees twice inside a prism.

Too bad I never found the d2B version.

From now on you will see more and more cars using MOST and run across these loop closing connectors which are left in place of future devices.

If I ever make it UK I will be interested in swapping some more notes.

[perdikoula888]

thank you miro and richard. :) :) :)

just to be safe miro, can you confirm that the part number you use in your car is the one below?

A 209 540 47 07 (386+390+810+819)

thank you once again!!! :D :D :D

[miro]

thank you miro and richard. :) :) :)

just to be safe miro, can you confirm that the part number you use in your car is the one below?

A 209 540 47 07 (386+390+810+819)

thank you once again!!! :D :D :D

Let me put it this way. Its in my car ..... really IN my car. I wont see it again till I go MOST some time later this year.

I have also supplied the W203 part number with the same functions.

[miro]

One more thing. The optical loop with the most options is the most expensive. A quick and easy verification.

[perdikoula888]

I went to my mercedes dealer, and the number below cannot be ordered, it is only an assebly number in the factory but not a spare part number. They told me that they can make a request for making a specific one in the factory. Therefore I have to join together 2 or three harnesses to make the one I need. Could you please let me know which ones to get then and join them together? My problem is that it is the last harness I left unfitted and need to get it ASAP in order to put back carpets seats, trims and panels to finish off my car and get it out of the garage which is not mine and they need the space. Please tell me what exactly I need to get. Thank you :confused:

[miro]

I went to my mercedes dealer, and the number below cannot be ordered, it is only an assebly number in the factory but not a spare part number. They told me that they can make a request for making a specific one in the factory. Therefore I have to join together 2 or three harnesses to make the one I need. Could you please let me know which ones to get then and join them together? My problem is that it is the last harness I left unfitted and need to get it ASAP in order to put back carpets seats, trims and panels to finish off my car and get it out of the garage which is not mine and they need the space. Please tell me what exactly I need to get. Thank you :confused:

You can add the phone harness and then get 2CD stacker harness for VCS and CD stacker. Steve is the guy with all of this stuff.

[perdikoula888]

I went again to the dealer and had in stock the following optical cable harness:

A 203 540 13 09 (CD+UHI)


I tried to install it to my car (cd and command connected) but it is too short to reach the boot/trunk to be connected to the UHI controller. It only reaches up to the bottom B-right pillar. It ends with a 1pin single back joint connector and its pair is without connector. Am I doing something wrong? Souldn't it reach all the way to the boot/trunk? Or it means that a second wire harness required up to the boot.trunk to reach the uhi controller? :confused:

[perdikoula888]

here they are two photos. one of the complete harness and a close-up of the connectors. As you can see it is too short...

[miro]

Which part of "try these part numbers" was misleading ?

[perdikoula888]

how about the microphone harness miro? Should I raise and glue it to the headliner from the C-right pillar all the way to the centre rear view mirror or from the A-right pillar to the centre rear view mirror? To me it makes more sense from the C-right pillar since I can unclip it from the connector at this point if I need in the future to remove the headliner. Is this correct? Also can I connect the new 4 microphones mirror or it will not work? thank you in advance.

[miro]

how about the microphone harness miro? Should I raise and glue it to the headliner from the C-right pillar all the way to the centre rear view mirror or from the A-right pillar to the centre rear view mirror? To me it makes more sense from the C-right pillar since I can unclip it from the connector at this point if I need in the future to remove the headliner. Is this correct? Also can I connect the new 4 microphones mirror or it will not work? thank you in advance.

2 pin harness from the c-pillar to the front (with your BOSE microphone harness alongside).

Beats me why you didnt do it when the headlining was new and not in the car ?

New mirrors have 4 microphones. How do you propose to connect the other 3 and colour match the plastic.

[perdikoula888]

Miro, colour matching might be possible as the 4 mic mirror A2038103217 is offered in 7D43 orion grey as well, same colour with the headliner. regaring the mics, a custom spliter would do the trick.

I ended up buying the one mic mirror at the moment.

[miro]

Miro, colour matching might be possible as the 4 mic mirror A2038103217 is offered in 7D43 orion grey as well, same colour with the headliner. regaring the mics, a custom spliter would do the trick.

I ended up buying the one mic mirror at the moment.

One of my friend wrote the E-Class UHI control software and as you know that was the first car to appear with multiple microphones. The IDEA of many microphones does not mean it is RELEVANT to your project. The microphones are controlled by the UHI MOST control unit or MOST Linguatronic control unit which your car doesnt have.

If you must do something unusual then maybe order a ML W163 colour coded microphone cover which is sold in grey, beige as an alternative to the boring black circle you currently have.

At least then you will have something cosmetic and unique in a W203.

[perdikoula888]

Thank you for the reply.

Also miro, you previously asked me why I did not pass all the wires the very first time I had my new headliner out. The reason for this is that I did not have all the parts I needed from the beginning, neither I initially intented to do so many modifications. Also as I have mantioned in other posts, my car is in a body repair shop and if somethings stays out until other parts arrive, it gets very dusty plus there is a very high risk that it gets damaged or at least marked with grease and dirt.

I wish I had my own garage where I could take my time and work whenever I want. (now I am obliged to go only daytime when I am free and leave 5pm at the latest weekday, no weekends at all! Also sometimes I cannot even open the car doors in the garage since there are other cars for repair left and right too close next to my car... really frustrating... By the way do you have your own garage available when you modify your car?

[miro]

Thank you for the reply.

Also miro, you previously asked me why I did not pass all the wires the very first time I had my new headliner out. The reason for this is that I did not have all the parts I needed from the beginning, neither I initially intented to do so many modifications. Also as I have mantioned in other posts, my car is in a body repair shop and if somethings stays out until other parts arrive, it gets very dusty plus there is a very high risk that it gets damaged or at least marked with grease and dirt.

I wish I had my own garage where I could take my time and work whenever I want. (now I am obliged to go only daytime when I am free and leave 5pm at the latest weekday, no weekends at all! Also sometimes I cannot even open the car doors in the garage since there are other cars for repair left and right too close next to my car... really frustrating... By the way do you have your own garage available when you modify your car?

I have been known to work under a tarp in the pouring rain at 3am in the driveway of a suburban house with no carport.

Mistake #1 - it would be easier to strip the car down with all the parts in hand than to drag this out ad-hoc. I agree with your modification concept as its my stock hobby. However, thinking things up as you go along is extremely time consuming and labour intensive.

My advice is always to pre-purchase your kits and shop around for an installer or purchase the technical documents from that American Mercedes website (MBUSA).

It took me about 2 years to buy in all the parts I wanted and about 4 days to install them. After that I started on my next round of buy-ins and expect to have that installed in about a year or so.

I suspect that a GTG for modding could be arranged. One big showdown of people helping each other and a handful of guys helping each other and taking cars apart / back together. All we would need is parking spaces, a wash basin for dirty hands and some protection from the sun / rain.

I would happily come to it if my costs were $0.

My workshop belongs to a private owner who has about 15 car spaces indoors and another 6 outdoors. The rest of the time I am assisting Mercedes dealers all over Australia.

[perdikoula888]

It is great what you do! I am sure you are very knowledgable in mods. I would be great a GTG sometime in the future if there are enough people here in the UK with the same interests and hobbies and all of us share the costs to bring you here for free.

I agree with you it is better to do everything together when you have the parts. My situation was a little bit strange as I started with having a full respray for my car, then I got the mod bug and ended up changing everything including full interior colour change including flooring and dash from grey to black, adding a factory sunroof, meaning changing everything roofwise and taking out front and rear windscreen, amg seats and interior, amg bumpers side skirts and rear spoiler, amg brakes, amg instrument cluster, parktronic, heated seats, memory seats, command, cd changer, tv tuner, aux port, partial bose sound system, linguatronic, UHI phone system, booster blower for armrest, bixenons, clear amg foglights, 18" original AMG new style 3 alloy wheels (including spare wheel), rear sunshade/roller blind, full amg springs and suspensions, changing trims in the boot to match the new equipment, luxury climate control with lcd screen, new ’05 clear mirror indicators /blinker lights, '05 grille, memory/dimming/folding mirrors, amg exhaust, illuminated and stainless steel door sills, original sports/amg pedals, plus many mechanical parts changed to brand new (e.g. all plastic trims under the car, all bushes including front and rear subframe, links, differential, prop shaft bearings and mounts, streering, air mass sensor, new increased capacity Mercedes battery, and many engine parts changed to brand new, a lot of work, still not everything completed 100% as some parts I still wait to find them (eg, rear tray/shelf and insulation with electric roller blind holes and fittings) and also still try to figure out some of the wiring from the booster blower.

I also skipped electric steering colum, distronic, multicontour and air-conditioned seats due to lack of parts and patience at the moment…. I also wanted to make a special air vent illumination wiring harness because although my car has illuminated air vents, however strangely enough there is no airvent illumination harness in my car to plug the illumination bulbs of the air vents… Finally would love some time in the future to add rear number plate camera and headrest monitors, plus I need to find a special micro dvd/mp3 player small enough to fit inside the glovebox next to my cd changer. Rear boot/trunk dvd changer wound be great, however I do prefer a single small enough for my glove box compartment. A good idea also would be an aux spliter so that I can use the ipod kit and still retain the aux port in case I need to connect anything else….

I think for a first time I have done too much….. most of the work was done by myself with your advice/help and occasionally the advise of 2 or 3 more people in the forums. Sunman had a spare OEM Mercedes multiplexer and sold it to me. ;)

[richard]

> [ Sunman had a spare OEM Mercedes multiplexer and sold it to me. ;)

As it a star diagnosis one ? How to you connect it to the PC ?

Where are you ??

Richard

[perdikoula888]

Yes I hook it up to a pc. You CAN use star diagnosis with it. Cardiff

[miro]

> [ Sunman had a spare OEM Mercedes multiplexer and sold it to me. ;)

As it a star diagnosis one ? How to you connect it to the PC ?

Where are you ??

Richard

If you want to see an Actia Multiplexer I can meet you in July and dismantle the one I have. I estimate about 400 pins ....

I also have a diagram of the pinout from 485 to 232. Once you sit down with it the whole thing makes bulk sense.

[miro]

I think for a first time I have done too much….. most of the work was done by myself with your advice/help and occasionally the advise of 2 or 3 more people in the forums. Sunman had a spare OEM Mercedes multiplexer and sold it to me. ;)


I think it's time you started to drive your car and enjoy it. There is always PHASE II.

[perdikoula888]

I agree with you miro!!! Time to drive this damn car! Life is too short to keep waiting for a long time! I am extremely stressed with the body shop at the moment. I do not want to become extremely particular, however I do want to make sure that I do receive an acceptable quality of service and that the paint job and rust protection is properly done. By the way do you really come to UK in July???

[richard]

If you want to see an Actia Multiplexer I can meet you in July and dismantle the one I have. I estimate about 400 pins ....

I also have a diagram of the pinout from 485 to 232. Once you sit down with it the whole thing makes bulk sense.

Miro, Id be really interested in that diagram - can you pm me and i'll send you my email address.. Ive seen inside (picture) of an actia mux - theres a board full of relays and a board full of processor etc !

R

[miro]

By the way do you really come to UK in July???

Not sure .... depends on whether there is a mod GTG.

[perdikoula888]

Richard the picture you have seen is not of an actia mux but of a copycat. I am attaching this picture here: