questions regarding xm & audio in 2001 E320

2244 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by fju2112, May 16, 2006

fju2112

Discussion Starter · Apr 11, 2006

I'm looking at a nice off-lease 2001 E320 and had a couple of questions about the audio. I'm coming from a late-model vehicle with integrated XM.

1 - this Benz has an XM antenna, which tells me there must already be an XM tuner in the vehicle. Where is it located if installed from the factory?

2 - if i wanted to change the headunit, would I need to part with a piece of wood trim in the dash, or is it possible to pop in a new headunit and have it look ok? This has a trunk-mounted CD changer and the Bose audio package, so I'd likely keep the amp, use a compatible alpine mp3-capable changer, and new head unit w/ cd in-dash. is this possible without disrupting the integrity of the dash? i'm guessing the xm-tuner might complicate things in terms of narrowing my choices, can anyone offer feedback on how to ensure all of these pieces work well together if changing the headunit is an option?

Thanks!

Save

1 - 4 of 6 Posts

fju2112

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 11, 2006

thanks for the quick response!

I would probably change the factory head unit then, and get a trunk-mounted (if possible) XM or Sirius tuner that can talk to it. Then where would I put the antenna, is my only question?

I looked on crutchfield but they only had two satellite radio TUNERS included w/ the head unit itself, that fit the benz, but i'm sure i could find more that have XM/Sirius controls where I'd buy the tuner separately. any recommendations on what might be the best aftermarket solution? If I can't use the existing wiring infrastructure for the cd changer to also feed out a wire for an XM/Sirius tuner, is it easy to mount the tuner under the glove box or elsehwere in the vehicle where it won't be as noticeable?

the only changer i saw was $599 by US-SPEC, but I know there's an alpine unit that also works w/ this model, so i'm hoping i can find one on ebay or something. does the alpine unit have mp3 capability?

Save

fju2112

Discussion Starter · #4 · May 16, 2006

2001 E320 w/ nav

Now I'm looking at an E320 from 2001 but with the NAV system installed. I'd probably rip that out - is it any good compared to today's NAV systems? - and replace it with the Alpine CD player on Crutchfield that's compatible with this vehicle & iPod.

How do things change when there's a NAV vs. the stock radio/tape player in the dash? Is it just a different harness/casing needed around the alpine unit, and would the extra space just be a small, narrow storage compartment when I replace the NAV system? Does anything change in terms of wiring capability?

Save

fju2112

Discussion Starter · #6 · May 16, 2006

pictures aren't showing up...can you provide links?

Save

1 - 4 of 6 Posts

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 Contributors this Month