Jun 15 2017

How to Install Mercedes W204 Android Screen Upgrade?

Android screen head unit for Mercedes-Benz C-Class W204 is available now, this w204 screen upgrade unit fits Mercedes Benz W204 C180, C200, C220, C230, C280, C300, C320, C350, etc. Inbuilt a 8″ OEM looking HD touch screen, Apple carplay and Android auto, GPS navigation system, Bluetooth phone calling, Bluetooth streaming music with your phone, USB. It also supports steering wheel controls and a backup camera with RCA connector.

The latest version comes with 2 theme style available, it can be set in factory settings of the new w204 Android screen.

benz w204 head unit upgrade

For more information about this w204 screen upgrade, you can check it here:

https://www.dvdgpsnav.com/mercedes-benz-w204-android-screen-head-unit-stereo-upgrade.html

If your Mercedes W204 comes with an original 5.8 inch small screen and a working aux function, you can order and install this unit in your car, this head unit can also fit factory 7 inch screen w204 now.

If you don’t know if your car has aux or not, you can check our previous post: How to check if my W204 has aux function?

Installation for this W204 screen upgrade is more or less the same as the Wince version, if you have checked other posts from this blog, you may have already seen How to install Wince version Benz C W204 navigation GPS.

Installation instructions for Android Mercedes W204 screen upgrade

The first step is removing the factory Mercedes W204 screen unit and radio/CD, then you can connect all cables and install new touch screen W204 head unit in your car.

  1. User a special installation tool to remove the central air vents.
    step 1
    removing air vent
  2. Unplug the cables behind the air vents, then you can take out the air vent.
    step 2
  3. Remove 4 screws to take out the screen unit and radio/cd system.
    step 3
  4. Take out the w204 factory screen unit, unplug cables behind.
    step 4
    unplug screen cables
  5. Take out the w204 radio and cd system, unplug cables behind.
    step 5
  6.  So factory w204 screen and radio have been removed and the next step is to install the new W204 screen Android head unit. Here’s a picture showing you how to connect plugs behind the w204 android screen.
    install w204 navigation plugs
    The above photo shows you the old model with many plugs connections.

    Upgraded in 2022: You just need to connect less plugs now, see below photos:

    cables for android screen and main box connections

    w204 screen back

    You will need to connect the white LVDS plug behind the new android screen(right plug as above) with your w204’s LVDS plug which was disconnected from the back of your factory screen.

    Old model: need to check every plug with different colors carefully, the correct connections should be as following:
    plugs
    New model: Less plugs, clean install as below:
    w204 android unit

  7. There are 2 square big plugs to connect your CD and factory wiring harness, see below picture:power plugs
    Important! If there are fiber optic cables from factory wiring harness, you need to move them to our new plug at the same position as below:
    fiber optic cables

    cd plug with fiber optic plug

  8. Where to put the main unit control box?
    You can put the main unit box in the glove box as below.
    glove box
    If you don’t know how to detach the glove box, you can check this video on how to remove the glove box for Mercedes W204.

Want to connect an aftermarket backup camera with this w204 android GPS unit? That’s easy to do that. Check a black cable with yellow RCA connector and BACK-VIDEO-IN label on it which connects to the video cable from the backup camera, see below pic:
rear camera plug
And there’s trigger line which should connect 12V+ reverse light, see below pic:

w204 rear camera triggle wire

Besides, you should get the power for the camera with 12V reverse light(not from our 12V power), so after you put in reverse gear, the camera can get power and automatically display rear view images on screen.

Trouble Shooting

  1. Rear camera no signal, or rear image is flickingIf you have connected the camera correctly  (check the above step for the camera again), but still no signal or the display is not stable, that’s because the voltage from your car reverse light is not stable, we have a solution, you can connect a relay to power the camera. A professional mechanic should know how to connect the relay for the camera easily. Here’s a document with clear photos for you to check how to connect the camera for Mercedes W204 and how to connect a relay, you can download it here
  2. No sound from android music playing after installationIf there’s no sound after installation from Android music or video playing, but have sound from your radio and CD, you need to enter into factory aux mode to activate aux mode. If still no sound after you have already activated the factory aux mode(this rarely happens with only 1% possibilities according to our experience before), then you will need to check the factory aux wires from the plug behind the CD, and compare them with our aux wires(red, white and black wires in a group) from our new plug, make sure they are matched, if not, then you can move the factory aux wires to match the position of our new aux wires, or you can connect the factory aux wires directly with our aux wires, this is the first solution.The second solution is by using a aux-adapter audio cable from us to connect our main unit and your 3.5 mm aux port directly in the glove box to get the factory aux working. You can check this cable as below:
    aux-adapter-cable
    Note: this cable is not included in the package by default, because only very few cars need it.
  3. No sound from factory radio or CDIf there’s no sound from car radio or CD playing, you need to check the fiber optic cable plug which connected to our new plug as below:check fiber optic cablesSolution: Please turn off your car and the unit, then you can disconnect the entire square plug from your CD, then re-connect the fiber optic plug with our CD plug, make sure it’s well connected. We had one customer the first time installed but there’s no sound from radio, after he checked and re-connected the fiber optic plug the sound issue solved.

    After installation, if you want to listen to radio and navigation sound at the same time, you can try these steps: When the unit displays original radio interface, long press the voice button from your steering wheel controls, then the screen will automatically switch to our GPS function, so that the GPS sound will come out from small speaker, and radio sound comes out from car speakers.

    Switch from factory menu to new Android menu: just activate and enter into factory Aux mode, the screen will switch to new menu automatically. For new version, you can touch the screen to switch from old menu to android menu, click FM/CD icon to switch from android menu to old menu.  If can not switch, you can check another solution here: How to switch W204 screen to Android menu?(note: this is just for old model with switches, new model does not have switches anymore, because CAN system can be set in factory settings for new model)After installation if your old factory OEM menus does not display normally, don’t worry, you can contact us we will tell you how to set it correct in settings. Because there are 2 different OEM screens from Mercedes-Benz W204, one is with factory small 5″ screen, the other is with factory large 7″ screen, the screen resolution is different.

If you still have a question while installing, please take some photos for us to check all cables and plugs connections and send to us via email sales@dvdgpsnav.com, our technicians would be glad to assist you. You can also contact us on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/dvdgpsnav
or send a message to our whatsapp:

https://api.whatsapp.com/send?phone=8613424170755

By following our facebook page, You can get latest news of our products including new arrivals, installation instructions, product videos, etc. And you can send a message on our facebook page.

Last modified: November 23, 2022 By DVDGPSNAV Posted in Android Navigation System, DVD/GPS Installation, Mercedes Benz • 44 • Tags: , ,