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The later model Mercedes use an optical interface between audio components known an D2B, which I believe stands for Deutchmarks to Benz. The only aftermarket products made for this system come from Becker. This page documents the installation of a Becker 2662 CD changer in a ML430.
This is the Becker 2662 mounted in the official Mercedes CD changer bracket and resting on official Mercedes black carpet in the cargo area.. [OK, not the best conditions for photography.] The Mercedes bracket is hinged so that you can get to the tire jack. I would use the hinged bracket versus the fixed bracket unless you like to remove the CD changer to get to the jack when you have a flat tire on a cold and rainy night.
The bracket au natural. The clip on the right of the right is meant to be inserted in a hole in the vehicle, which will be cursed later.
The mechanical installation is pretty obvious. Here is the side panel before mounting the changer:
And here it is with the changer installed.
Now is the time to discuss that pesky clip. Mine fell out once. I managed to retrieve the clip and reinstall it. Later, when accessing the CD changer, the clip fell out again, except this time it has gone to a place where the sun don't shine. I now just use a nut to hold the CD changer in place. Just hold the nut when turning the knob and catch it when it is free.
The fiber optic connectors need to be liberated from the housing. Nothing needs to be cut here. You need to lift a gray piece of plastic (not shown unfortunately) from the housing and the fiber optic cables will slip free.
The fiber optics connectors are color coded and physically keyed so you can't screw up. [Famous last words.] Red is the input, and white is the output. When hooking up fiber optic cables between devices, red will go to white and white will go to red.
The power connection is pretty obvious. Hooking up the fiber optics is slightly more complicated. To insert a fiber optic cable, the metal on the housing needs to be lifted. Once it is in place, put the metal flat to the plastic to hold the cable.
The CD changer will not work until the fiber optics are hooked up under the center console between the two front seats. Remove the two screws, lift the center insert, and this will expose the fiber optic cables.
Assuming you haven't installed the telephone in the center console, all that is required is to swap the fiber optic connections. That is, break both connections, interchange the cables of the same color, and reconnect the cables. I suggest shining a flashlight on the fiber optic cables at the CD changer (obviously not in their plastic connector) and looking for light at the cables in the console. This may come in handy later should you decide to install other devices on the bus.
At this point, the CD changer should be working. You need to press the CD button on the MCS. It may find the CD player used for the navigation system first (if present). If so, just press the CD button again and the changer should show up on the MCS display. Note that the "random" feature of the CD changer won't work with the MB MCS controller, which is no great loss.
The performance of the Becker 2662 is fine, though I don't have the official MB changer available to do a side by side comparison. The Silverstone has no problems with CDR's. [Burning you own CDs is a good idea for use in the auto since you won't feel the need to hit the "skip" button since presumably you only burnt songs that you enjoy.] Does the Silverstone ever skip? Sure, but not very often during on road driving. You have to get the vehicle really moving to get the CD changer to interrupt the music flow. Off road travel is another story. On a rough road, you will get a skip ever so often, maybe a skip every 20 minutes.
Some useful web resources:
The CD changer above was purchased through:
Perzan Auto Radio Larry Perzan 6409 Market Street 610-734-1234 Upper Darby, PA 19082
The usual disclaimer applies here that I am only a customer of Perzan Auto. Larry did give quite a bit over the phone.