MEDICUS

I have an 03 E500 with the Bose sound package. I let a friend borrow my car and when he returned it the rear sub woofer sounded blown. Upon closer listening I realized that when I apply the brakes there is interference in the sub and it crackles. The part that is throwing me off is that sometimes it sounds like the sub is working until I apply the brakes. The rear speakers are extremely weak compared to the rest of the speakers maybe 20% volume. I went to the dealership to ask them some questions and they told me that it sounds like I blew the amp and the rear sub is extremely hard to blow. They are thinking that its a $1600 amp but I feel different. Every time that I have ever had an amp go out I had no audio coming out of the speakers. Now unless Mercedes does something different with their wiring I don't feel like there should be any sound coming out. I plan on taking everything apart and check the wires and go more in depth with the amp and subs but I wanted to get some ideas first. Has anyone had a similar problem or know of anyone? Any ideas on where to look that I am not thinking of? Thanks for the help

dsm2925

i am in the same exact boat here..
Mine is doing everything you said.

i noticed my sub makes some deep hums after i shut it off the car. Basically seconds after i get out i hear the sub pumping.

BTW: i noticed when my brakes interfere with sub my cluster light blinks.

MEDICUS

I have not noticed my cluster lights blinking yet but that helps me out alot. I am leaning more towards an electrical wiring problem. I will keep you informed as to what I am coming up with

MEDICUS

New update today my head unit on the FM setting the channel did not show up on my dash. When I tried to change it manually the screen was frozen on my last station but the radio would change stations. When I turned it off and turned it back on everything worked fine. I do not know how related these problems are other than it's the radio system. Any ideas would be helpful before I go deep into this car trying to figure it out

MEDICUS

Update. I took the back half of my car the other day to investigate the speakers/amp. I found out that I actually did blow the subwoofer and that the sub couldn't handle the power coming from the amp. If i unplug one clip the sub play okay but very weak. It works good enough to buy me some time to figure out the interference noise. It sounds like when the brakes are building up pressure or releasing pressure is when I get the interference in the sub. THe interference could actually be what blew my sub in the first place. When it comes through it pumps the sub extremely hard and with almost a higher pitch sound but mainly the sound of a blown over powered sub even when the radio is off. Still need advice

dsm2925

we are both at a dead end.

dsm2925

any updates. its killing me.

MEDICUS

No real update now money has been kinda tight to take it into the shop. What I did though to help with the sound was popped off the speaker cover on the rear pannel and unplug ont of the connectors. The sub is still getting power but about half and I turned down the bass. One thing that I notice now is that it seems to make the noise when the brakes pressure up and down and that is almost the only
time other than with heavy music. I am still trying to figure it out little by little. I am going to go to the dealership and see if there is some recall for the brakes which might be causing this problem. I did read that they extended the brake recall until around the end of the year or so. It's worth a shot maybe they can hook me up but I doubt it they are the only Mercedes dealer on Oahu Hawaii

dsm2925

Well again, same here... i disconnected the sub but it still is working.i called dealer and they told me there is no open recall for this car . although edmunds says there was a recall for the brakes system- maybe linked issue-- im going to try to bring it to a local radio shop this week. keep each other posted

dsm2925

Humm? today my battery light came on.. related?? who knows!!

MEDICUS

Yeah I have been doing some recall reading and I found something that might be related P-B-42.46/27c. Buzzing noise during pressure buildup from SBC system. The correction is to instill a pulsation damper. This takes away most of the problem quote unquote. The only time that I get the interference is when the SBC system is pressuring down. I have been holding off on taking it into the shop because money has gotten real tight on my end. One thing that I am going to do is ask for a VMI (Vehicle master inquiry) printout. it has everything that is listed for your car and everything that needs done plus what has been done. I am just doing this because my mb dealership SUCKS I get the feeling that they will screw with me because they are the only dealer on my island. (oahu) Hopefully this will help you with your dealership. Let me know how things go. I should be heading there this week but not to put my car in just information. I have a list of things to ask them.

dsm2925

keep me posted.. i have decreased the driving of this car cause of this

MEDICUS

bump

baller420

I have a 2003 E320 and have the same problem. When I press on the brakes I can hear the SBC pump rattle coming through my rear subwoofer. This is what blew my subwoofer. Now everytime the SBC pump works or I turn the car on or off, the subwoofer rattles like crazy even if the stereo is off. I showed it to the mercedes dealer and they said that the pump SBC pump is causing static noise in the subwoofer. They replaced the SBC system under the 100,00 waranty, but that did not solve the problem. They checked the ground wiring of the SBC pump and they are all fine. Then they wanted 230 dollars to trace all the wiring and to make sure nothing was broken or bent. I did not pay for it.
Let me know if you find out what the problem could be as this seems like a common problem with the 2003 models.

dsm2925

im in the same boat too. i thought it went away and came back. i disconnected my sub. now i can hear it. but every once in a while i get the electrical malfunction

confidant

I've been having the exact same problem for the past 2 years on my 2003 E320!

It is the oddest thing and I also traced the problem to the SBC when I brake. Even after I took mine in last year for the recall, it did not solve the problem. I even had the speakers changed out for $700 and it still didn't solve the problem...

I did notice, however, that when the window is up and I pull up on the window trigger, and the window can't go up any further it will cause my rear speaker to rattle. All this sounds like an electrical issue... as if when there's extra power surging through the car, it's not discharging properly and surging to the rear speaker... someone did mention to me a problem with the rear audio modulator in the rear driver's side... but same boat as you guys, I haven't had the funds to go get that changed out. The thing is.. the SBC will not cause any problems for the first 10-15 minutes of driving... it's as if there's a build up over time and then causing the problems.

Also, when exiting the car... the driver's seat automatically moves back... which causes the speakers to rattle... all relating to electrical units...

Really hope we can find a solution... it's very annoying and embarrassing to say the least... that Mercedes doesn't know a fix for this.

MEDICUS

bump

MEDICUS

bump

dsm2925

bump

dsm2925

i starting to live with it!!!

MEDICUS

Yeah if you unplug one of the connectors to the subs its not that bad. GOOD NEWS Though it is going into the shop on monday to hopefully get fixed or at least replace some parts under warranty

MEDICUS

I went in to the dealership to get a bunch of things checked out and they said that the speaker was a seperate issue and they would have to charge me more diag time at $200 an hour I told them no this car hit me for $2,500 already with me doing the work and I am looking at another $1,800

dsm2925

Any updtaes? i bouggt another w211 and has same issue....

willy_manilly

This won't help but i believe the early W211's where riddled with electrical issues like this.

For example if i open my cars boot and then lock the car, the battery will be dead the next morning i go to drive it. So i have to open the boot then lock, then open front driver door then close and lock to avoid this issue.

W211 FTW!!

ap10046

Same here..along with ESP inoperative..rear left door not locking..cruise control inoperative..steering column making noise..everyday it's something else with this damn thing!!
I mean, I thought E's were supposed to be reliable!!