Which car stereo for 190E? Original Mercdes or other brands?

[ymt]

I have a 190E 2.6L and I am planning to upgrade my car stereo with a radio/cassette player with control for CD-changer. I am considering to buy the Mercedes-Benz Audio 10 CC with Mercedes-Benz 6 CD-Changer (which you can find on later models of Mercedes). Does anyone have any experience with those? Or is it more sensible to go for other brands (such as Sony, Alpine, Pioneer, etc)? Any advice? Many thanks.

[MTI]

For "bang for the buck" aftermarket head units would be the choice unless you want to keep that Mercedes logo in the center console. Consider getting an MP3 capable deck, which will hold more tunes on a single CD than all 6 CD's in the trunk mounted changer, or a deck that can handle AUX input so that you can connect an iPod or such.

[mig1f16]

I've got a '93 190e with the original am/fm cassette stereo and I've got a similar problem. I want to put a cd player in the vehicle, but from what I now understand, the vehicle's head unit sends a low voltage signal to an amp in the trunk which then powers the six speakers (2 x 4 inch in dash, 2 x 4 inch in rear deck, 2 x subs in the front doors).

Went to Circuit City and bought an Alpine unit without them telling me this. Picked up the car and found out the subs in the door no longer work since they had to hard wire the Alpine's output to the left and right front and rear speakers, taking the MB amp and door subs out of the picture...totally unsat as far as I'm concerned...

Does anyone out there have a solution besides putting the stock unit back in and getting a cd changer with RF modulation through the radio? Is there a low power output from the Alpine to the MB amp I can use? Thanks much!!!!!

[MTI]

Do yourself and your audio needs a favor:

1) Get rid of the old tech Becker or Alpine unit
2) Get rid of the fader switch on the shift console
3) Get a modern headunit with CD/MP3 or Aux In capability
4) Run new speaker wires
5) Put quality 4" coaxial speakers in the dash
6) Put quality 6.5" coaxial speakers in the rear deck
7) If you need more bass, consider a trunk enclosure and use the first aid box (removed) as a port to the trunk, just remember to dynamat the turnsignal area at a minimum

[xscottyx]

mti is right....if you want something done right you have to pay....you cant expect the stock speakers to be any bit decent. ...start off buying a head unit w/ mp3 capibility and take all the speakers out and put some decent ones in "infinity", or "alpine". run new (slightly) larger gage wire to through-out the system and if you have the desire to but a box enclosure in the trunk...you have to dynomat the whole trunk and trunk lid... cut a cardboard template of the bottom of the trunk to the exact size and copy the template to a 1/2" or better thick piece of plywood then place that wood in the bottom of the trunk on top of the dynomat then you can cover that with a fabric of your chose/color/price...make it look orginal and the way you want it... then bold your box to that piece of wood there will be less rattleing, trust me, i had my friends old 12" jbl's powered by a 1200watt amp, and a cap ...it sounded damn good...the trunk lid rattled a lil but the more dynomat you put on there the less it seems to rattle so with that said, hopefully you get the best quality that you want!

[Ruudje]

guys, how can I detach the speaker panels in the doors? I tried to move them a bit but feel breaking all the clips.
PLease help me out!
any suggestions for good brands of speakers?

thanks a lot
RN

[Ruudje]

guys, how can I detach the speaker panels in the doors? I tried to move them a bit but feel breaking all the clips.
PLease help me out!
any suggestions for good brands of speakers?

thanks a lot
RN

[Ruudje]

guys, how can I detach the speaker panels in the doors? I tried to move them a bit but feel breaking all the clips.
PLease help me out!
any suggestions for good brands of speakers?

thanks a lot
RN

[Axel F]

MTI - 1/25/2004 8:32 AM

Do yourself and your audio needs a favor:

1) Get rid of the old tech Becker or Alpine unit
2) Get rid of the fader switch on the shift console
3) Get a modern headunit with CD/MP3 or Aux In capability
4) Run new speaker wires
5) Put quality 4" coaxial speakers in the dash
6) Put quality 6.5" coaxial speakers in the rear deck
7) If you need more bass, consider a trunk enclosure and use the first aid box (removed) as a port to the trunk, just remember to dynamat the turnsignal area at a minimum

yup i couldnt tell it better myselve
aftermarket systems have the same (of better) quality than the original becker, and they are less expensive.
The only thing is: problems with the MB connectors, but its no problem to change them.
I have a kenwood mp3 player, i have other 4" speakers in the front, and i have 2x 100 Watt RMS amp and to 6*9 speakers in the back. (4" speakers are to small to install in the back)
And im planning to put a 12" openairsub in the first aid box hole.

Good luck

[pv0463]

I recently had the same dilemma. I wanted to keep the car as stock as possible, with the MBZ logo on the radio in the dash, along with the same color scheme as the instrument panel. However, I could not justify the rather high expense of an MB CD headunit capable of reading and playing MP3 files.
I ended up with a Clarion head and Infinity speakers. 4-1/2 in the front, 6-1/4 in the back. The CD headunit has a multiple color, customizable faceplate, so the look is about as stock as I can get.
Sound quality is outstanding.
Cost was still a little higher than I originally estimated (about $800 installed, with a little customizing in the back to fit the rear speakers). BTW, my installer managed to retain the functionality of the fader switch in the console.
Overall, I am extremely happy with the new installation, it makes me want to drive the car more frequently (as if I needed any more excuses).[:D]