Looking to up grade my stereo in my 1993 Sportline. I got the original Alpine radio but has a dismal aftermarket stereo installed now. I would also like to reinstall the cruise control which I understand has been deleted with the aftermarket install of the stereo.

First I want to start with swapping out the speakers front and rear. Any recommendations of some recent up graded speakers. I have no budget

I think I want to go with this radio-
It has the looks of the era and is bluetooth capable.

 

Crutchfield sells these retro replica's of Becker Grand Prix stereos that came in my '89 W201 as well. The continentals are also close in the look. Continentals do make some more capable models as well.
You might want to check them out. Some models have handsfree etc. and blue tooth. Unfortunately they do not include a CD player which I prefer to have.

https://www.crutchfield.com/shopsearch/grand_prix.html

I'm not sure about the speakers. They are pretty small, so getting good audio out of them is not easy. If you find a good one do let us know Dave.

 

You can actually go to Becker Auto Sound directly. A few years ago, my W201 needed a new antenna so I sent them my old one and they sent me a new one.

 

Thanks for reminding us 190EFan. They (Becker) has an ebay online store that sells bluetooth enabled old units. They are not cheap but they are the real deal.
That is also an option.

The cassette players are a bit antiquated unfortunately. I would like to have the same Becker Grandprix with the cassette player replaced by a CD player and blue tooth and handsfree !

 

You're welcome. I'm still working to understand the radical concept that the words "cheap" and "Mercedes-Benz" never go in the same sentence. Good luck with whatever you pick..

 

Some great options listed in this thread.
Dave-another neat option besides the Continental and the Retrosound Grand Prix is the new Blaupunkt Bremen https://blaupunkt.com/product/bremen-sqr-46-dab/. They're pretty much replicas of the ones from the 80's, except they have bluetooth and USB underneath a dummy cassette door.

 

Hi! I just did a custom sound system in my w201, like a complete system. I like to think I have a pretty good scope of audio, so before I give some recommendations from my experience, let me ask you
1. Really, whats the budget? Unfortunately, "no budget" in the world of audio, I could show you a 20k system for your 190e
2. How much work do you wanna do? Mind taking the interior apart a little or only the bare minimum?
3. Do you have door speakers? Some 190s come with them others don't
4. What are your main goals? Something that just sounds pretty good and requires the least amount of work or something a little more daunting yet more rewarding?

Sorry for responding to your post so late but I think I can really provide some value for you if you haven't made a move yet, I know whats compatible with what and I've done the hard part of actually taking the car apart multiple times, so I feel like I can give you a pretty good insight on making your 190 sound amazing!

 

thanks for reply.I have 2 190e’s I that need better sound systems. Both have the newer ‘flashing light display’ radios with the original.speaker. No speakers in the door on either cars.

my plan was to just replace the head unit and speakers in one car the maybe go a little high end on the other. Budget of $500 on the first car?

Radio - $150
front speakers $150
rear speakers $ 200

continental has a retro older looking radio the is Bluetooth ready and fairly cheap-$150.that I am ready to buy. Bluetooth is a requirement. The only reason I haven’t bought it when I pulled out the radio because the cigarette lighter didn’t work, the PO just spliced, cut wires and I didn’t feel like messing with it at that time.

what drop in speakers do you recommend?
what are your thoughts on the continental radio?

Another thing holing me back on the Continental radio is I have two air cooled Porsches from the 1980’s that have the original radios and they both sound WAY better than the 190es. So my point is - is the head unit that much important??

Thanks !

 

By FAR the most important thing in your system the way you want to set it up is the most important and heres why; for starters since you're not running any kind of amplifier that means you want a powerful mosfet head unit which can output a strong signal to your speakers. Otherwise you're gonna lack volume and get a rather dead sound. You'll also want something with some tuning stuff. Before I dive into the sound stuff, how do you mean the previous owner cut some wires? Are you talking about the cigarette lighter wires or the radio harness? if the former, you should be all good as far as installing the sound stuff. Also for your second car, I HIGHLY recommend installing an amp, the difference is not night and day, its astronomical! I'd say its better to get cheaper or used stuff with an amp over going off just the head unit if you're really after premium sound, but using just the head unit will still be an incredible difference! Definitely get started with just the speakers and head unit and if you want more power and more expansive sound, then go for the amp and possibly a sub!
The Continental radio will give you pretty solid audio, at least from what I can tell from other forums and reviews. The specs are great, at 25RMS x 4 outputs, you'll get some powerful sound compared to the stock unit. However I cannot speak from personal experience with the continental products specifically, as I stick to the bigger brands like Alpine, Kenwood, and Pioneer. It will still be a major step up from your stock head unit, and how it will compare to the P cars... well I'm not sure depending on what models they are and options they have lol.
Now it will produce a great sound, but actually putting out that sound, is another story. That being said, the speakers are also incredibly important. I originally ran Infinity 3012CF speakers in the dash and Kenwood KFC-1666S's in the hat shelf, they were used and given to me, and they sounded pretty solid. I think its definitely important to have tweeters in the rear, and given your budget, you have two options for both front and rear. You can
1. Run a coaxial setup, meaning the tweet and woofer are combined, making install easier but producing a slightly lesser quality sound.
2. Run a Component system, which is a harder install but have a separate woofer and tweeter with a crossover.
I think for your setup and ease of install, the coax is your best bet.
For the rears, I think you should run the Pioneer TS-Z65F, as it gives great mid and low bass and have clear highs, which should make their way to the front of the cabin nicely.
For the fronts, I think the Infinity Reference REF307F is best. I Love infinity for front stages, their highs and mids are so so so clear, and sound incredible for the price point.

So to recap
Head unit - the continental unit you found ~ $150
Rear stage - Pioneer TS-Z65F ~ $200
Front stage - Infinity Reference REF307F ~ $100

Now Moving to the install of the head unit, you have two options
1. Buy a wiring harness kit that makes the install easy for a few bucks, one like this
https://www.ebay.com/itm/203734484805?gQT=2
2. Splice the wires yourself, using this chart as a guide to what connects with what
https://www.the12volt.com/installbay...tail/1412.html

Regardless, you need to make some connections, I recommend spending the extra few bucks and get the plug and play harnesses, then make your wire connections outside of the car on a bench or something. I recommend using solder seal connectors, where you strip the ends of two wires, slide the connector onto and down one of the wires so its out of the way, intertwine the two wires you're connecting, then slide the connector back up so that it covers the entire connection, then heat it up until the solder inside melts and the heat shrink contracts. This produces a super good seal thats really hard to pull apart. You can use a heat gun or even a lighter. You can also just solder and tape or make any other kind of connection you prefer!

And for the speakers, what a lot of people neglect is the small stuff surrounding the install, which is just as crucial to getting good sound. You're going to need a few things.
1. A wire stripper/crimper
2. Female spade connectors, I'd say just get a small kit for a few bucks off amazon
3. Weather stripping! Weather stripping? YES, weather stripping! I use it to seal the surround of the speakers to the hat-shelf and dash, it makes a difference trust me! Just get a strip like this
4. Other misc tools to take apart the interior for head unit and speaker install, I can list them specifically if you'd like!
The install is pretty straight forward, MAKE NOTE OF WHICH WIRE IS WHICH BEFORE ANYTHING DON'T MAKE THE MISTAKE I DID! After that strip the speaker wires, crimp your connectors, and plug them into the speakers, then mount the speakers and reinstall the covers!

LMK if you have any questions or other ideas, I can give other suggestions as well for a different style of setup!

 

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll go with the speakers and head unit.
BYW- the link to the wiring harness didn't work.

Big Thanks.

 

Ok, just for clarity the wiring harness should be two rectangular 12 pin connectors or 1 24 pin connector. Also, you're very welcome for the reccs, if you need any more help with anything whether it be wiring or assembly or whatever, just let me know and I'll do my best!

 

Can you explain what the 'Hat shelf' is? I

 

Of course! The hat shelf is the rear deck or shelf behind the rear seats where, in the 190e at least, there are the two speaker grilles and the third brake light. I think the term comes from the fact that a lot folks use the shelf to leave their hats on lol