My 2008 Mercedes B170 came with a double DIN radio bulk bought by a Japanese importer who converted all their JDM to NZ radio with reverse camera and touchscreen. It seems they did a deal with a Chinese radio maker to give them a bulk deal.

I hate it

Clearly designed by a desk-jockey engineer not a driver who actually had to use it every day. Fiddling with its controls invites a car crash. The touch screen does not work great and it requires diverting eyes from the road. And the reverse camera is bleached out, probably meaning more money to spend, so better to replace it entirely.

In contrast, my 2012 Mercedes SLK has an OEM radio that has a great ergonomic design, but it's outdated. The era of CD's are gone. The GPS works but is antiquated, especially as it does not seem to receive traffic conditions. The Bluetooth connects for phone calls but not other functions. Yes, I can hack in a Bluetooth device to the USB, but that means running in AUX. It would be nice to replace it as well, but the priority is the B170.

Most aftermarket radios are touchscreen, with controls that are not driver friendly. The era of real knobs and buttons had something going for it that today's aftermarket radios don't - the driver kept eyes on the road, not looking down to make a change. 

And a lot of today's aftermarket are real bling looking, but I don't wear a lot of gold chains or pimp up my car. I want something that fits the car, is driver friendly and hopefully understated, although if anything has to be sacrificed, looks go before performance.

After spending a few hours looking online, I thought I might see if someone else shares my views, has already gone through the pain and found a great radio for 2022. The ideal would have:

• Bluetooth interface that runs GPS and Spotify and AM/FM radio, with an interrupt for phone calls. In other words, not much different than a modern Android phone except running through the car speakers.
• Reverse camera with the safety lanes
• A real dial for sound volume, real buttons for key controls and a real power off button that works instantly and can be found while keeping eyes on the road (best if integrated with the volume control (turn to lower or raise volume, press to power off).
• Integration with my OEM steering wheel controls (would be nice)

The ideal would be a radio that simply takes over all the controls on the Android screen - so the Google maps is emulated on the screen with the phone in ones pocket, not magnetically held to the dashboard. In other words, a horizontal cell phone design, but with real button and knob controls that can be changed by touch, not diverting eyes from the road.

If anyone has gone down this road, I would appreciate hearing from you.