Radio Replacement

hello everyone,

I posted a thread a few months back but couldn't find it through the search link about a radio issue. I own a 1998 E320 (145k miles). I purchased the vehicle in November of 2008 from my father who then purchased a CLK. I've fixed many of maintenance issues that typically come with these cars and have probably spent a few thousand in a couple of months. I've got a few more things to do before I can call it "referbished". I know the bushings need to be replaced along with engine/transmission mounts. I can hear some "creeking" going on and feel slight knocks and things. It's easy to hear all of the issues when your radio doesn't work. Which leads me into the actual topic of this thread.

After a few suggestions from this forum (thank you) I've decided to go with an aftermarket head unit. My car has the stock Bose system which has become a real pain to deal with. It might be a simple fix but maybe someone can help guide me.

On Saturday, I purchased a Pioneer DEH-1100MP from Best Buy because it was much simpler looking then some of the space age, blue halo ones I saw. I purchased the correct wiring harness and antenna adapter and thought it would be a simple plug and play experience. I correctly matched and secured all wiring colors accordingly to the harness instructions. I removed the existing tape deck using keys from Becker and was really happy to see power come alive on my new head unit. But, I had no audio Now, the instructions on the harness said "DO NOT USE BLUE WIRE for it will interfere with your vehicles diagnostics". The blue wire was labelled System Remote which I believe is the relay for the Stock amplifier correct? I think the harness they gave me was for a Non-Bose system unit. I was pretty frustrated and decided to package everything back up neatly and return it all to Best Buy. On my way out from their customer support desk, I stopped by their installation department for any guides or tips that I might have missed. They said on some Mercedes with the Bose Systems, that they had a few options. They could run another relay wire ($25+ dollars) and install it for $40 to see if that was the issue or I could purchase a new amp, and have them rewire the entire vehicle for around $400. After reading posts I thought it would be a simple plug and play project on a nice Saturday but it ended up being a mess. So I guess I'm looking for any suggestions/tips from other owners. I asked Becker what their thoughts are about my system issues. Becker says they think my stock tape deck unit is bad and they can exchange a referbished one for $175, but from what I hear around the forums is that the sound quality can be pretty bad. Sorry for the long post but I hope someone can help :thumbsup: