First of all a warning. Don't mess with the electrics of the SL unless you are good with sparky things. SL electrics exist in a parallel universe. It's verging on Terry Pratchetts Multiverse.
The radio, sat nav phone thingy.
The SL came with the standard Comand 2 unit of a 2004 car, albeit with a Bose speaker upgrade so the sound quality is good. The sat nav is disc based but the disc is 2003/4 vintage Merc unit and an upto date disc is £150. Cheap ones (£25.00) are available of a well known auction site but the MB owners club web site is full of threads about problems with these. The standard setup will not accept addresses by postcode.
No reversing camera upgrade is available without fitting a TV upgrade unit which is a gray area as it's illegal to fit one without having it wired so that the handbrake must be on before it will work, but you can't reverse with the handbrake on. They are hard to get hold off and cost a typical MB price.
The hands free system is based around a Nockia phone that hasn't been made since 2003 but an adaptor is available from Viseeo for about £100..
The Star computer at WDM had showed a canbus error on the steering wheel phone control.
It had to go and a replacement was required.
Two local audio experts showed me the door when I asked for a radio for an SL so it's fame precedes it.
Just before Xmas it visited Bass Junkies it Wolverhampton and spoke to Smudge about my requirement.
Went for the Pioneer F950 DAB, expensive but it was to the spec I wanted and he seemed to know what he was on about. This pioneer unit is pretty much top of the range and is big brother to the unit I had in the 430.
It went in just before Xmas for a day and a half. I went to collect it and the central console panel was sitting on the passengers seat, and I don't think they had had a customer who was so pleased that his car was returned in bits.
Why was it still in bits.
As I am rapidly getting used to, bits for the SL don't fit the SL. The centre console won't fit back if you have the Pioneer trim panel designed to fit the SL (just needed trimming a bit, well a lot really) and the wiring to link the steering wheel volume control to the radio didn't fit. A new one would have to be ordered.
On the plus side the radio is brilliant, the hands free Bluetooth is 100% but of course only worked on the head unit due to the can bus error. The reversing camera is working and even the wife likes it.
The steering wheel wiring arrived with Bass Junkies at the end of Jan. Guess what, it fitted but didn't work (this is direct from Pioneer not a third party). Bass Junkies ( I wish I could think of an abbreviation of the name) set about getting Pioneer bits talk to SL bits. They reprogrammed the can bus. Net result, the volume control now works and better than that the hands free on the wheel works as well.
The Pioneer unit lets you change the splash screen so it will get the the avatar I have photoshopped for this forum.
It has been the law since the start of the year that all new cars must have a tyre pressure monitoring system. The new Furrari didn't have one as it's only been available since 2005 on the SL but this can be added to this Pioneer unit but I won't do that until the new Furrari had its new wheels.
Expensive? Yes. But it all works now.
Photo, as soon as the monsoon season is over.