Fiber optic network in newer Benzes. Any understand them?

I have been having a chronic problem with my 2004 E320 wagon. The satellite radio, phone, CD player, navigation, FM, etc have been messing up for the first 6 months of my ownership. (it is 6 months old).

The cell phone disconnects (not dropped call, but locks up or "reboots"). The Sirrius is frequently rebooting or "updating station list", the navigation forgets where I am, and the other components get intermittent mutes and sound drops.

They have replaced all the modules... NOW they want to replace the entire fiber optic harness.

Is this as major as it sounds? I am starting to get very leery of this car especially since I bought it and it is only 6 months old. I WAS planning on keeping it in the family for 10 years (handing it down to the kids after 5 years).

This brings back memories or wiring problems, intermittent shorts, and other problems that I have experienced working on old motorcycles. This is not what I need in my daily driver.

Does anyone know about this kind of switch out, or can anyone speak to reliability? I wonder what the long-term effect is by making all these changes.

any comments?

Reply to
Rich Williamson
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It's actually fairly easy to switch out the fiber optic network. It's just a pair of cables that run between each component (head unit, TeleAid, Sirrius receiver, CD Changer, etc.) There are limitations to how sharply the cable can be bent before the fibers are stressed and begin refracting the light. My guess is that your cable has a kink in it and is cause the intermittent failures.

Reply to
Rodney T. Grill

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