Mercedes-Benz Forum banner

Got my aftermarket stereo installed, and....

4K views 17 replies 11 participants last post by  X03 
#1 ·
Hmm, okay. First things first. The rear speakers have NO sound. The guy mentioned something about how the required would make one of the sets of speakers unuseable because its a six speaker stereo and the output on the aftermarket only has a four.. the work is guarenteed (got it done at circuit city) .. do you think they can/will fix this for free?
also, the front dash speakers crackle. i can see why. 12 year old paper cone speakers trying to handle 52 watts x 4. Poor things. Anyway, how hard is the dash speaker installation, and is it hard to get a pair of 4" 's in there? i'm quite car stereo illiterate, so bear with me..

thanks alot
 
#2 ·
Sounds like they screwed up...

It sounds as though they bypassed the fader control in the center console. Every time I have installed a new stereo in a mer-b, I have used just one circuit (may be what they were referring to) and routed to the fader knob and they have worked fine. It is do-able, and don't let them tell you otherwise. Just hope they didn't cut the wires...
 
#3 ·
Re: Sounds like they screwed up...

Yeah they did bypass the fader switch.. they said they had to do a complete 'rewire' to the speakers, because they couldnt wire through the factory amp. ... what should I do? their work is guarenteed, so , what should I tell them?

It sounds as though they bypassed the fader control in the center console. Every time I have installed a new stereo in a mer-b, I have used just one circuit (may be what they were referring to) and routed to the fader knob and they have worked fine. It is do-able, and don't let them tell you otherwise. Just hope they didn't cut the wires...
 
#5 ·
The way I see it, if they did a "complete" rewire (did they charge extra for this?) they...

The way I see it, if they did a "complete" rewire (did they charge extra for this?) they should have done it to all the speakers (ergo, "complete"). Since they decided to avoid the easy route and ignored the simple prospect of wiring either the front or rear channel from the head unit to the fader switch, they need to redo their work and make it right. Hopefully they did not mutilate the wiring during the previous install.

Anybody else care to chime in here? What stereo installation experiences has anybody else had with their Mer-B?

I always prefer to do such jobs myself because of problems just like this, but one time I took my Porsche to Circuit City for a stereo install and they charged me extra for a wiring harness adapter and scheduled an appointment. When I showed up for the appointement, they looked at the car and wanted to charge me extra because "that crazy german wiring" always took extra time to figure out. Smelling a rat I asked them for my wiring harness adapter and I would do it myself. Come to find out, there was no such adapter. I drove the car home with my stereo in hand and later that evening I was enjoying the excellent quality sounds coming from my Alpine stereo. It was a very straight forward installation.

I later ordered a blaupunkt head unit and cd changer from Crutchfield (www.crutchfield.com) who DID provide a wiring harness adapter and even a wiring diagram. This made the installation in my '87 even easier than normal since there were fewer wires to splice.
 
#6 ·
when i bought my 300E I found that a previous owner (not THE previous owner, but probably ...

when i bought my 300E I found that a previous owner (not THE previous owner, but probably the first owner) had installed his own 8" subs (ghetto) and amp (even more ghetto) and the sound quality was HORRIBLE. First thing I did was install a new head unit (Pioneer MP3 Deck, replacing the aftermarket tape player he had put in) and the sound quality was dramatically improved (he had put Bostons in the existing factory speaker slots and they sounded fine once they ran through a better power source) I then began playing with the bass and sound and was really surprised by the improved quality.. until my speakers went boom and ceased to play. I later find out that the idiot had 6 speakers (2 4's, 2 5.25's and the 2 subs) running through his bootleg-ass 2 channel amp. so I had to fork over another $150 to have the subs removed, and 4 speakers rewired to the head unit. I then ordered a 12" sub, box, and mono amp from ikesound for about $200 and had that installed for another $100 or so (i'd rather not tear my car up trying to figure out that ish on my own) and I have the sub running through the amp while the 4 speakers run through the deck and it sounds great. I dont kill it and play it at ungodly decibal levels but it sounds very clean now and gives me a very nice bump with the sub. The whole ordeal was a huge pain in the ass though.
 
#7 ·
Redo it all

Simple-

If you get a new stereo, you need a new head unit, new speakers, new amps (optional), and new wires. Don't use the fader and don't even use existing lines. The result doesn't even compare to the sound of burnt paper cones running through a crumb collecting fader.

That's my humble opinion. Good luck to you!
 
#8 ·
Re: Redo it all

Simple-

If you get a new stereo, you need a new head unit, new speakers, new amps (optional), and new wires. Don't use the fader and don't even use existing lines. The result doesn't even compare to the sound of burnt paper cones running through a crumb collecting fader.

That's my humble opinion. Good luck to you!
Well they did rewire the entire system, and I feel once I take it back and have them fix the stupid no-back speakers thing, itll sound great. They didnt do the 'through the fader' thing, thats why i got charged an extra 100 for a rewire, and it took longer. Maybe in the long run its worth it
 
#9 ·
how hard is the dash speaker installation, and is it hard to get a pair of 4" 's in there?
not hard at all.....

at the side of your speaker grilles you'll see a plastic strip - which at first glance looks like part of the grille - it's not :)

lift the bottom edge with a flat bladed screwdriver or blunt knife and just pull it upwards - they feel like they are going to break but they dont (usually) as they are very flexible

You'll then see 2 screws - undo those and the speaker grill lifts out witha little careful manipulation.

The speakers are held in there with clips so just pop them out - 4" speakers will fit without too much trouble.

putting everything back is just a reverse of the above.

HTH

Andy
 
#11 ·
My experience was with a four-speaker system. I had all four of my speakers and the head ...

My experience was with a four-speaker system. I had all four of my speakers and the head unit replaced, and I had 2 amps put in w/ a 2 x 12 sub box. I should have done all of this myself. I was not happy with the sound until I went through and redid all of the wiring and connections. Maybe Benzes are just a little too different for most places.

Anyway, w/ only four speakers and fader control through the new head unit, I'm not using the factory fader control.
 
#12 ·
Re: Radio istall

How difficult was the remove and install? Any special tools needed? What additional parts did Crutchfield include that you needed? Were you able to save the fader?

Thanks,

Al
Check out Crutchfield.com to get a phone number for a salesperson. They'll give you all the info about what they can get you, and they're not pushy about trying to make a sale. They should be able to help out.
 
#13 ·
Re: Radio istall

How difficult was the remove and install? Any special tools needed? What additional parts did Crutchfield include that you needed? Were you able to save the fader?

Thanks,

Al
The removal was straightforward, requiring no special tools. To install the new stereo, I did have to break off the retaining clips for the old stereo, thus making an unobstucted standard sized hole. The crutchfield wiring kit provided a wiring adapter the plugged directly into the factory harness so the the wiring could mostly be done outside of the car. The only wiring I had to splice (other than the wiring adapter to the new stereo's wiring) was the speaker wire going to the fader control. This way, the fader does work by having only the front channel wiring going to the fader and the new stereo set to all front channel. I have had no complaints since installing this three years ago. The only thing that I may do differently is to use the crutchfield speaker adapaters as well, so no factory wiring would have been cut (but I was too cheap at the time).
 
#15 ·
I bypassed the fader because of the weakness of the switch and opted to use the head unit'...

I bypassed the fader because of the weakness of the switch and opted to use the head unit's fader. I installed Pioneer XM receiver/cd unit in the dash and wired directly to the front and rear speakers. The two front door mini-subs were connected to a low powered amp. Sounds great and was fairly easy and direct. Got the units from Crutchfield and they sent the proper connectors to make the job go much easier.
I'll never go without XM. It's great.
 
#16 ·
Re: I bypassed the fader because of the weakness of the switch and opted to use the head unit'

I bypassed the fader because of the weakness of the switch and opted to use the head unit's fader. I installed Pioneer XM receiver/cd unit in the dash and wired directly to the front and rear speakers. The two front door mini-subs were connected to a low powered amp. Sounds great and was fairly easy and direct. Got the units from Crutchfield and they sent the proper connectors to make the job go much easier.
I'll never go without XM. It's great.

Sounds like I'm the one talking here. XM is quite great, but I'm a sony guy [:)]!
 
#17 ·
Sony SUCKS! I don't mean to talk shit but everyone in this country seems to think that S...

Sony SUCKS! I don't mean to talk shit but everyone in this country seems to think that Sony makes the best audio products around. They do make some real nice stuff, but only for the Japanese market.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top