Pumpkin Double Din Head Unit Install on 2002 – 2005 Mercedes CLK 320 (AA0495B)

Installation Overview:

Vehicle: 2005 Mercedes Benz CLK 320
Head Unit: Pumpkin AA0495B Android 9.0 Double Din Head Unit
Difficulty: Medium
Time: 3-5 hours

Let’s face it, most vehicles in the 2000s era have head units, or just car stereo technology in general, that’s outdated. Bluetooth was just catching on (although aux inputs were the thing), GPS navigation was a luxury and touchscreen head units were few and far in between from the factory. At the time, the 05 CLK 320 was a great, stylish and luxurious car but to bring it into the modern age it needs an upgrade.

We sought a price-friendly but powerful head unit to upgrade our 2005 CLK 320’s stereo and bring it up to speed with some of the latest technology to make it a decent commuter. We were thrilled when PUMPKIN reached out to us with a unit that we could test for them.

The Head Unit – PUMPKIN A ndroid 9.0 Double Din

This installation will apply to nearly all double din touch screen head units, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, or double din multimedia head units regardless of the unit we chose to install. If you’re looking to match the product we used in this installation, the head unit that we chose was PUMPKIN’s Android 9.0 Double Din, model AA0495B. You can find it directly on Pumpkin’s website here.

About PUMPKIN

PUMPKIN is a China-based manufacturer that was founded in 2014. They’re primarily focused in the European market, but also have a presence in the U.S. Their staple products include OEM replacement head units, double and single din head units, portable and dual screen DVD players along with headrest monitors. Most of their products are Android systems, including the one that we installed in our CLK 320.

Out of the Box

In the box, the PUMPKIN head unit comes with:
1x Android Head Unit
1x ISO cable
1x external microphone
1x USB+ Mic cable
1x Audio Output cable
1x wifi antenna (4.9ft)
1x GPS antenna
1x AUX Input cable
1x Cam-in cable
1x Installation Accessories (wire harnesses)
1x User manual

Installation In 2002 – 2005 Mercedes CLK320

Note that the instructions and parts below are for a CLK320 WITHOUT Harman Kardon. If you’re looking to install a head unit in a CLK320 with Harman Kardon/amplified stereo you’ll need a special harness. It’s all-in-one so the only thing you’ll need to do is substitute this harness for the Axxess harnesses that we show below.

Necessary Parts for the Installation:

Head unit (of course) – We used our PUMPKIN double din head unit
Axxess XSVI-9005-Nav harness – adapts the OEM Mercedes head unit wires to the aftermarket head unit. Also creates an accessory 12v power. Without this harness and adapter, you’ll have to find another source for wiring your accessory turn-on power. This harness also plugs right into the ASWC-1 below.
Axxess ASWC-1 – Steering wheel control interface. Optional if you want to retain steering wheel controls.
Metra 40-EU10 – Adapts the OEM radio antenna plug to an aftermarket plug.
Metra 99-874B – Dash kit that adapts the double-din to the factory dash cutout.

Step 1: Disconnect Your Battery

First things first – you’ll need to disconnect your battery so that you don’t blow any fuses during your install. The battery in the CLK 320 is located on the passenger side of the car under the hood, just in front of the firewall. Remove the negative terminal on the left hand side of the battery (when facing it).

Step 2: Remove Dash Trim

Start with the console trim piece that surrounds the shift boot. Open up the ash tray and pull upwards starting from the front, working your way backwards. Next, gently pry the back side of the shift boot trim upward and work your way to the front. Once the boot trim has been removed, you can then feed this trim piece through the hole in the console trim piece and fully remove the console trim piece.

Next, you’ll remove the ash tray by pulling the two pronged-like clips on the bottom towards you and lifting it out of the dash.

Now that the ash tray is out of the car, you’ll have access to two torx screws below the climate control unit. Remove these two screws and pull the climate control unit out. Note there are two clips at the top corners that are holding it in that’ll ‘pop’ out as you pull it. Once the unit is removed, you’ll pull the connected wires – there are two to remove. Remove these two wires and remove the unit from the dash.

With the climate control removed, you now will have access to the two bottom screws that hold in the head unit. However, there are two above the unit as well so before you remove them, you’ll need to pull the trim panel and buttons off that are above the head unit. To do this, press the cup holder to extend the cupholder out. Using your fingers, pull on the inner right hand corner of the panel to unclip the corner, then work your way to the left. With the trim piece removed, unclip the wire harness from the back of the unit in order to remove it entirely.

Once this panel is out you’ll be able to access the two top screws to the head unit.

Step 3: Unscrew and Remove OEM Head Unit

Now that all the trim pieces are removed, you’ll have access to the four torx screws to pull the head unit out. Remove these screws and pull the head unit straight out to get access to the harnesses on the rear side of the head unit. Remove the large harness on the left of the unit by pinching the clip and pulling the bar downwards. This harness is large, and includes multiple sub-harnesses. The whole thing should come out. Then, unclip the two wires on the right of the unit by pressing on the top of the clip. Once all of the wires from the back of the unit have been removed, pull the head unit from the dash and remove it from your car.

Step 4: Prepare Your Wiring Harness & Head Unit
With your OEM head unit out and your dash ready for your new head unit, the next step is to prepare your wire harness adapter and your head unit for installing in the car. In our case, the adapting Axxess XSVI-9005-Nav and ASWC-1 plugged together, but we needed to adapt the aftermarket head unit wire harness to the vehicle adapting Access harnesses. To do this, we soldered each of the wires from one harness to the corresponding wire on the other. Typically, all of the colors will match but just in case, we have a list of all of the aftermarket wire colors to help guide you.

Couple things to note:

Brake wire – we typically just combine this with the main ground wire so that any features that are restricted by movement will be unlocked. Note that some units are smarter and use GPS to sense motion but this will typically open up any video or other features that are locked when your vehicle isn’t in park.
Steering wheel control – the ASWC-1 comes with a 3.5mm plug that will adapt to most head units by plugging into the rear of the unit. However, in some cases it needs to be further adapted into two wires: Key 1 and Key 2. These two wires will need to be connected to the corresponding Key 1 and Key 2 wires from the aftermarket head unit harness.
You can either solder each of the wires like we did, or use crimps and a crimping tool. Here’s what the resulting wire harness looked like:

To prepare your head unit to be mounted into the dash, you’ll need to mount your new aftermarket head unit to the Metra 99-874B dash kit. Do this by mounting the two left and right mounting plates to the head unit losely. Once they’re mounted, place the adapting dash trim over the face of the head unit to check your mounting point and that the unit sticks out as far as you would like it. If your satisfied, tighten the side plates and mount the trim piece to the side plates.

Step 5: Wiring Accessories – Antennas, USB & Microphone
Before you mount your new head unit in the dash, you need to make sure that all the wiring that plugs into the back of the head unit are wired into the back of the dash. This includes things like:

USB chords
GPS and WiFi Antennas
Microphone

The PUMPKIN head unit that we chose had all of the above so we wired up all three to the back of the dash before we re-installed our new head unit.

USB Chords
Our head unit came with two usb inputs that are wired up to the back of the head unit, so we had to choose a spot for the new USB chords to go and then wire them. In our CLK 320, we decide to utilize the ash tray below the head unit. No need to cut holes, simply pull the removable ash tray component out of the ash tray cubby and feed the wires into the ash tray cubby.

GPS & WiFi Antennas, Microphone
For all three of these components, we fed the wire from the dash area, underneath the steering wheel and to the far left side of the dash. To do this, there’s a panel above your feet that has two torx screws. Remove the torx screws and pull the panel to gain access to behind the dash under your steering wheel. Then, remove the panel on the left hand side of the dash that faces the door (when closed). Feed the wires from the central dash area through to the left side of the dash. We used zip tie to fasten the wire under the dash.

Once your GPS, WiFi and microphone (or any combination of the three) are through the dash and out of the side panel of the dash, we mounted the WiFi antenna straight to the dash right next to the fuse box. Continue to feed your GPS and Microphone up through the pillar by placing the wire in between the pillar panel and the rubber seal. Tuck your wires behind the pillar panel.

At the top of the pillar, feed your wires across and to the window. We typically mount our microphones in the top left hand side of the windshield and clip it in between the head liner and the windshield. For the GPS, continue to tuck the wire behind the head liner through to the left hand side of the rear view mirror. This is where we mounted our GPS unit.

Step 6: Installing Your New Head Unit
Finally, you’re ready to re-install your head unit and connect all of the wires. One last step before you place start connecting your head unit and screwing it in – use the Metra 40-EU10 to connect to the black antenna wire that was connected to the back of your OEM head unit (there was a black and a yellow/tan one – use the black). Plug the antenna wire into the back of the unit.

Now, move on to the microphone, GPS and WiFi connections (if your head unit has them). Connect these to the back of the unit. Finally, connect your new adapting harness with the Axxess modules connected and tuck the modules behind where the climate control would go. You’ll need to make as much room behind the head unit so that it will have enough depth to mount. If you don’t tuck your wires and modules neatly out of the way of the back of the head unit it will not have enough room to mount flush.

At this point, you should have all of your wires connected and the head unit should not be fully mounted yet. Re-connect your vehicle’s battery and test out your unit. You’ll want to check:

Power – obviously this is the most important first-check
Radio – check sound and that the radio has reception
GPS – If your unit has GPS ensure that it has signal
Bluetooth call – make sure that your new microphone works
USB – check that your USB connection works
WiFi – in our case we had a WiFi antenna, check that you have signal and that you can connect to a WiFi network
Test general features – Roam around the features of your new head unit. Make sure that nothing is defective before you permanently re-install it!

Once you’ve checked your unit and everything is confirmed working, you can begin mounting it back. Mount the unit by screwing the four torx screws.*Note – the climate control has clips that you’ll need to remove from the old head unit. Take these clips and place them on the back side of the screw holes on your new unit BEFORE you screw it in.

Move on to the trim pieces, reversing the process that you took to remove them. And your finished product:

Article resource: https://www.caraudionow.com/double-din-head-unit-install/

Car Stereo Installation Guide

radiokit

By Robert Ferency-Viars

This installation guide walks you through the process of installing a new Android car stereo. Please read over these guidelines before beginning the installation in order to give yourself an idea of what to expect.

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Tools Needed (depending upon vehicle)

Remove the factory stereo

When installing a new stereo in your car, your first step will be to remove the old stereo. Pay close attention to the steps involved, for the process for installing your new stereo will be the same, but in reverse.

For detailed information on how to remove the factory stereo in a specific vehicle, refer to your Crutchfield MasterSheet™ instructions, if available. They will walk you through the process step-by-step. Otherwise, you may use the general guidelines below.

Before you begin, start by setting the parking brake and removing the negative cable from the car battery to prevent accidentally short circuiting something.

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Disconnect your battery’s negative terminal before any installation job to protect your electrical system..

Your factory stereo will be mounted in one of two ways:

secured in a metal mounting sleeve by spring clips
bolted to the dash with brackets

Spring clip mounting
If the stereo is held in by spring clips, you’ll need a pair of DIN tools. Insert the DIN tools into the holes on eitter side of the unit until a click is heard. The tools serve to release the spring clips and also hook onto the sides of the stereo so that you can pull it out easily. Spread the tools apart slightly then pull the stereo out of the dash.

2-HU-deinstall

These DIN tools are used to remove the factory stereo from a 2000 Ford Expedition.

Bolted in place
Sometimes, accessing the stereo requires the removal of one or more trimpanels from the dash. You may have to (carefully) pry the plastic trim away from the dash (which is often secured by hidden pressure clips), or locate and remove bolts to disassemble other pieces of panel. Once you have gained access to the factory stereo, removal should be obvious. The audio player will almost always be secured by four screws, sometimes bolted directly to the front of the dash, other times secured to side brackets. Remove the screws and pull the stereo from the dash.

4-1998Sienna

Four bolts and a pair of side brackets attach the stereo to the dasgh in a 1998 Toyota Sienna.

American cars built before the early 1980s often came with a “shaft-style” stereo, which secured to the dash via nuts and washers to the right and left knobs. A shaft-style stereo must be installed from behind the dash. Getting it into position is the tricky part, since your vehicle’s wiring,heater controls, and ductwork may be in the way.

Unplugging the factory stereo
If your vehicle has (or once had) a factory stereo, or if it was pre-wired with a “stereo prep” package, there should be at least one plastic wiring harness behind the stereo opening. This plug(s) connects the stereo to your vehicle’s electrical system, and also makes the speaker connections. You will need to unplug the factory stereo from the wiring harnesses, and unplug the antenna to complete the removal process.

Connect the wiring

If Crutchfield carries a custom wiring harness for your vehicle, you can use it to connect your new stereo to your vehicle’s factory wiring harnesses. This will ensure that everything works seamlessly, just like the factory stereo did.

plug

A custom wiring harness makes installing a new stereo much easier.

If a harness is not available for your vehicle or if the factory stereo plug was cut off, you’ll need to identify each of the stereo wires and connect them to the corresponding wires of your new stereo.

Crimping, Posi-Product™ connectors, and soldering
Decide how you want to connect the wires together. Crimping is fast and fairly simple. If you crimp the wires together, be sure to use the correct size crimp connector — typical in-dash stereo wires are 18-gauge, but a few use heavier gauge power and ground wires. There are several types of crimp connectors, including bullet connectors, butt connectors, or crimp caps.

Posi connectors offer a quick and secure twist-on connection for wires, and they can be re-used. Like crimping, you’ll want to make sure you have the right wire gauges for the job.

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Posi-Product connectors provide secure connections for your wiring.

Soldering creates a permanent, professional connection that ensures maximum current transfer. We strongly recommend that you use heat-shrink tubing and a heat gun to insulate the soldered connection. Avoid taping the wires together — the tape will dry out and fall off, exposing the wires and making it only a matter of time before something shorts out.

crimp solder

Power
Usually, it is best to make all of the new stereo‘s wiring connections via the wiring harness, but if you have to make a direct power connection, you’ll need to know the difference between “switched” and “constant” power.

A switched power source is only on when the ignition is keyed — connect your new stereo’s main (switched) power lead to a switched power source, so that the stereo will turn off when you turn off the car, and not drain your vehicle’s battery.

A constant power source is always on — connect your new stereo’s memory lead to a constant power source, so that you don’t lose your stereo preset, sound shaping, and clock settings every time you turn off the vehicle.

A rare few high-powered stereos require you to make a direct constant power connection at the positive terminal of your vehicle’s battery. This requires a heavier gauge power wire, an in-line fuse (usually included), and a ring terminal to connect the power wire to the battery clamp. You will have to route the power wire through the vehicle firewall and into the engine compartment in order to make the connection at the battery.

Ground
A good ground connection is vital for proper stereo performance. If you are not using a custom wiring harness, look for a bolt, screw, or wire that contacts the bare metal of your vehicle’s chassis. Loosen the bolt, slip the ground wire underneath (this is almost always a black wire), then tighten the bolt. If your ground wire doesn’t contact bare metal, your stereo won’t operate. A loose or weak ground connection can result in signal noise interfering with your music.

In-dash video wiring
If your new Android car DVD player has a video monitor built in, you will also need to connect a wire to your emergency brake wire. This wire acts as a switch to turn on the video monitor when the parking brake is engaged. Follow the instructions included with your in-dash monitor to locate the emergency brake ground wire.

Install the new stereo

If the original stereo was bolted into the dash, you might need to remove the mounting brackets from the sides of it and attach them to the sides of your new stereo. More likely, you will need a mounting kit (which may include a trim ring, a dash insert, brackets, a faceplate, and/or a metal mounting sleeve) to install the stereo (Figure 1).

If a mounting kit is required, install it first. Then slide the new stereo’s metal mounting sleeve (if included) into the kit. Secure the metal sleeve by using a screwdriver to bend the sleeve’s metal tabs into place (Figure 2).

6-figs1-2

Once the dash opening is ready for the new stereo, hold the stereo near the opening. Connect the stereo wiring adapter to the vehicle’s wiring harness and plug in the antenna cable.

Slide the car stereo Bluetooth into the dash opening, but don’t fasten it down just yet. First, test the stereo to make sure everything is working properly. It’s easier to fix a problem while everything is still exposed. Turn on the power and try each source (AM, FM, CD, USB, etc.). Then adjust the balance and fader settings to check that each speaker is working. Once you’re sure the stereo is wired and working properly, finish securing it in the dash and reinstall any pieces of dash trimpanel that you removed.

Installing a backstrap
A mounting bracket — or backstrap — is often included with new stereos. For most installations, a backstrap usually is not a necessary part of the installation process. However, it can be useful to help support the stereo in your dash; it also helps reduce vibration. One end of the backtrap attaches (with a screw) to the rear of the stereo. The other end attaches to an existing bolt or screw behind the dash. Just bend and shape the backstrap as necessary to enable mounting.

backstrap

You might need to use a backstrap to support the rear of your new stereo.

Can you do it?

If your vehicle has an upgraded version of the factory sound system or an integrated stereo/climate control panel, you will probably need a special “OEM integration” adapter in order to install a new stereo. An adapter allows you to use a new stereo with your existing speaker system.

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This adapter allows you to install an aftermarket stereo in a 2010-up Chevy Camaro’s dash panel, while maintaining all heating, ventilation, and air conditioning controls.

Evaluation
By now you should have some idea of what is involved in replacing your factory stereo with a new, better, aftermarket stereo. The next step is to see if Crutchfield has a MasterSheet™ for your vehicle. That’s a set of installation instructions custom designed for your specific vehicle. It will describe every step of the process and tell you where to find every screw you need to remove for the installation. A MasterSheet™ takes all the guesswork out of the installation.

Even without a Crutchfield MasterSheet™, most people can install an in-dash stereo without much trouble, using just the tips in this article. This in turn leads to a savings in installation fees ($50 is common, and often it’s more). But if you would rather not tackle the task, there are competent and highly trained professional stereo installers in every town where you’d find teenagers and cars.

First published by Crutchfield.com.