Horrible FM reception!
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 31
Likes: 1
2001 CLK55 AMG
Horrible FM reception!
I've read numerous threads on this topic, but I thought I'd pose the question again. My FM reception wavers between a "stereo" signal and a "mono" signal. In other words, briefly at times the sound is very clear and full, but mostly it's just average. I have a Bose audio system in a 2001 CLK55. I've had the head unit replaced with another factory head unit at the dealer with no results. The dealer never acknowledged the problem, bless their hearts. They simply don't really know good audio I think. I had several technicians ride with me and they never understood what I was talking about. In my previous car I had an Alpine stereo system and was used to a very high end sound, but I have to say this Bose stereo is barely adequate. I've had the car for over 3 years and I've gotten used to lack of depth in terms of sound from the CD player, but the reception problem is just ridiculous. I get better reception and sound from the radio in cheap rental cars. I'm afraid to tamper with the car in terms of replacing components with any after market equipment, not to mention the look. I've read about the rear window being replaced as a possible remedy (the antenna is in the rear window I guess), I've also read about replacing the head unit (someone was mentioning that switching to an Audio 10 head unit helped). Anyone else have any fresh perspective on this? I would appreciate any input or advise, even if it's redundent in terms of previous info in this forum. Thanks!
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 259
Likes: 1
2003 SL500
2 possible problem/solutions come to mind. On one of my MB's there was an issue of a very sensitive antenna connection issue at the rear of the radio. The antenna cable plug had to be either pushed or pulled in or out just a bit to make a good reception connection. Otherwise the FM reception was just terrible. Try that first. The second issue was a poor connection at the antenna splitter on the left side of the car near the C-pillar near the headliner. I think this was an issue for AM reception but I don't remember fully at this time. Hope this helps.
Glenn
Glenn
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 31
Likes: 1
2001 CLK55 AMG
Audio 10 fixed bad FM reception
This is a follow up to my earlier post. I kicked down for one of those "Audio 10" Bose head units off of ebay after reading about them in this forum. I have to say that I'm impressed with the sound and performance. Originally I thought I wanted it just to have access to the CD player on the head unit. I hate having to go to the trunk and to load new CD's, and I never use the cassette tape deck. I had heard that the FM reception was improved with these new head units, but I was very sceptical. Not only was the reception much better, but it had the RDS info on the screen (station and song names). It also has more power. I believe the stock Alpine in my car (2001 CLK55) was powered by an external amp only, and this head unit has something like 25W per channel (100 Watts). This improved the sound greatly, especially the bass. The only downside to this head unit was the AM. It tunes in stations in increments of 9 khz, so it's just 1 point off on 3 of the 4 stations I listen to. The other station doesn't come in at all. Overall it sounds good on the other stations, at least as good as before on AM. That's all for now, hope this helps others with this problem.
