Mercedes Stereo Upgrade

 "If science can't be questioned, it's not science - it's propaganda" - Aaron Rodgers

Thought I should roll with a little humor after that previous post :)

 I've been eyeballing the vintage stereo system in the Mercedes, with a mind to upgrading.  Mind you, there's nothing really *wrong* with it.  It plays tunes with impressive quality.  It seems to have some channel fading now and then - very likely due to some oxidation on the volume knob internals.  That issue I have the ability to correct.  However...

It's a bit dated, and there are a couple of things bout it that are obsolete and not functional - the navigation function, and built-in phone systems - that were built in 2005 or so come to mind.  The display is also not a touch-screen, so you have to find your way around by reading menus and locating the appropriate buttons.  Also, the vehicle has no back-up camera, which would be a nice safety feature.

I located something that might make a good replacement, once I get financial authorization from the family CFO.  Below:  The original 2005 unit:

A company called Seicane manufactures an Android-based unit that is designed specifically to fit in this spot.  The front end is an Android 12.0 tablet with a 9 inch screen.  There will be good familiarity with this, since the entire family uses Android phones, tablets, or Android-based notebooks.  With an Android, you get WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, GPS, plus the simple interface that we all know pretty well.

The WiFi allows for installation of a wireless rear camera (or a dash-cam) and thus have a really good view whilst backing up the car.

The above things are true of all Android-based car stereos, it seems.  However with this Seicane manufacturer, you also get a CAN bus interface, so that the Android front end can communicate with the vehicle's control network.  At a simple level, this means that the toggle switches on the steering wheel can still be used to operate the volume controls, place phone calls, and make changes to the radio station.  It also means that the Android unit screen knows when the vehicle is in reverse, and to then display video from the back-up camera.  Seicane has a brief YouTube commercial (with somewhat marginal syntax English) if you are curious.

Here is a guy explaining the installation of the unit on YouTube.  Unfortunately, he already has the unit installed when the video begins. 

On an even cooler functionality note, you can install the Torque App on any Android device, connect it to the OBD2 port, and display tons of data from the CAN bus, and customize the display.  Pretty cool.  Apparently there are a number of apps for Android that allow a fully customizable virtual dashboard, which you can graph or display the values available on your vehicle's CAN bus.  All of this stuff is new to me.  I was just looking for a touch screen stereo, useful phone interface, and navigation - but this is a nice fringe benefit!  

Below:  Video of the Torque app on a diesel truck, superimposed on a dashcam video.

One other reason to choose the Seicane over a generic in-dash Android head unit is because the Mercedes uses fiber optic data cables to carry signals from the CD magazine in the trunk up to the stereo unit.  Other Android units don't seem to offer the optical converter module, which converts the optical audio signal to digital for the Android O/S to read.  

I need to do quite a bit more research before making a request for funding.  I'm not sure exactly which extras will be required for the installation.  It will certainly need the optical/digital converter, but will it need a separate GPS and radio antenna?  Also, from the installation video above, it certainly looks like a complex project to complete and test out.  Lastly, I'd like to have some more time with the car and make sure it doesn't need anything costly before plunking money down on peripherals.