andy41384

Hi all,

I have my subs & amp from my old car and wanted to toss them in my 2003 C230K. My main concern is where I need to finagle the RCA connectors from the amp to the head unit and where to connect the remote turn on from the amp. I am familiar with installing a system with an aftermarket head unit, but I have no clue what is needed to be done for an OEM system.

Also, another question was, would it be ok to ground to the metal in the trunk? I was informed that Mercedes uses galvanized metal and if I needed to ground something it would have to be to a specific location.

rlee02135

you can tap into the rear door speaker wires and use a line level converter to get the RCA's.
for the remote turn on, tap into fuse #7 in the fusebox in the trunk.
it is okay to ground on the metal in the trunk.

Brunelleschi

what he said

although on the C-Class several peoplem including myself have had problems with alternator whine. It might be worth your time to pick up a ground loop isolator

andy41384

Thanks for the replies! I'll take a look and see if its something simple I could finagle. I'll try to get some pictures if I get it finished up this weekend

Justinius7

out of curiosity... do you have the bose? if so... note: its a fiber optic system

so you have to tap your line wires between the amp and speaker, and use a high level input on your amp... do this after the amp before the sub.

andy41384

I actually have no idea. I took a peek in the trunk and there appears to be an 8" sub mounted on the left top area. On the right top area there is just a solid metal plate, whereas where the speaker on the left is, there is holes in the metal. Also up front I have the speaker that is on the center of my dash..... I was told I maybe had a Harmon/Kardon system? I honestly have no idea But thank you for the heads up if that is the case.

BTW, how many speakers are there in the car? I've noticed the 1 on the dash; 2 tweeters by side mirrors, 2 speakers in front and 2 in rear doors, and 1 sub in the trunk. There is 2 grills where one would assume to be speakers behind the headrests in the back seat... but when I looked I only saw that one sub from inside the trunk. So if that is the case, could i just remove that subwoofer and connect the line level converter to that wire and then run it to my amp?

rlee02135

you have to take out the entire rear seat and rear deck to get to that subwoofer. have fun.

genesis471

Hi Andy41384,

I have an '06 C230 and have the H/K system in it. On the grill behind the rear seat (driver's side), it actually has an 'Harmon Kardon' plate on it so it's a dead give away for me at least. If it is not there, maybe then you have the Bose.
I am getting ready to do the same because I have an Alpine 5 channel amp, MBQuart seperates, and a nice sub from my previous car. I just purchased the JL Audio Cleansweep covert from the OEM.

Justinius7, you're saying to pickup the speaker wires coming off of the factory amp? Is that because of Fiber coming from the OEM head unit into the factory amp? In this case, then aren't you amplifiing your signal going into the cleansweep, and then into my amp for example?? I have searched the forum for more info on this but haven't really got the answers I've been looking for.
If anyone has photo's of an install for the above example, that would be great. Yes, I searched the forum and came up empty!


Thx, Mike

EDIT: Andy, I assume you have the Bose because of your car being an '03.

genesis471

I was doing some searching around on other sites and now I'm under the impression that I may need something like the Audio Contol LC6 to summon the wire coming from the factory amp into the LC6, and then I can go into the CleanSweep and so-on. What do you guys think?

Thanks for any help.

Mike

Justinius7

genesis... hey i see your in MONROE, we should really think about seeing if we can get a MB group going.

anyways. From my understanding, as this was a topic discussed about a year ago on this forum... The lines between the head unit and the amps are all fiber optic. There really is no practical way of tapping into those.

Many Amp's as you know already have HIGH LEVEL INPUTS, so yes, your taking the speaker wires which have already been AMPED UP, but you can typically adjust the input level on your amp. (besidse not massive amounts of wattage comming out of hte stock amp anyways) If you get an inline RCA converter, the clairty falls dramatically.

Now i have only read about people adding subs to the exisiting system (hence why i originally recommended taking the sub amped wires to the amp as they would have already been crossed over by the H.U.). I am not sure how the sound quality would be off the stock h.u. and aftermarket everything else, especially using a high level to low level RCA converter. I'd probably say.... just get a new deck also... otherwise, you may have a worse sounding system than you started with (assuming you had the bose or h.k.)

MB Nubee

Genesis471: Good call on the Cleansweep. One thing to consider......I do not know how much of an audiophile you are but check the frequency range of your stock HU. I found out mine only played down to 50 Hz, so I decided to replace everything. It made it much easier!

Brune: I am surprised you had the whine! To my surprise, I did not have any when I fired mine up for the first time last weekend! It sounds incredible! As soon as we can upload pictures here, I will get some up. It came out great!

genesis471

Thanks for the replies. The more I study this the more I see that not only would the CleanSweep be required, but summing the stock amp output as well with the Audio Control LC6. My aftermarket amp is an Alpine 5 channel, low level inputs (no highs). Speakers are MBQuart, can't remember what sub I have.
Justinius7, I took the car about a year ago over to CarToys in Lynnwood and asked how much they would charge to install all of this stuff. That's when I found out about the Cleansweep as well. They wanted about $1000 just in labor costs. Seemed a little steep to me. So I decided to hold off for a while and pondered doing the job myself.
Oh well, some more studying to do! argh!
Mike

PS Edmonds - nice to see someone close by!

MB Nubee

Those are great products you mentioned, you will be very happy with them. I did most of the work myself since I did not want to pay big $$$ for someone else to do it. I wanted to save my money for an awesome HU. Most of the work did not require complete removal of the interior though. I wanted to be able to put it all back to stock when it comes time to sell. Now, I did pay a shop to install my HU and door speakers since I felt uneasy about "gently prying up " on the trim in the car. But at $55 for the HU and $45 for each pair of door speakers, it was WELL worth it!

Keep up the research! I did quite a bit of homework through this forum before I started. It really helped. Matter of fact, I gave a few pointers to the stereo shop! I am really happy the way it came out!

Justinius7

Mike,

If you decide to tackle this project yourself, count me in for helping out. I can bring necessary tools if needed.
The car toys in Lynnwood, honeslty I had them do work on my RX7, and lets just say... i was not impressed, they ordered the wrong wire harness for my car, and rather than just waiting a few days for a new harness, they CUT a few wires... erghh...
Anyways, PM me if you want to do a BBQ or something and need help. Are you dead set in using your alpine? or would are you willing to sell it and buy a different amp with high level inputs.
What is this "clean sweep"? I assume its a high level to RCA adapter? Did i read it was made by AudioControl? They make some damn good stuff (or used to back several years ago) I was going to compete my RX7, was using AudioControl EQX and Epicenter... made a nice improvement!

genesis471

Thanks again Nubee, I had thought about having a shop just install the speakers for me and bring leads back to the trunk, as well as a power wire. That way I don't have to mess with panels and trim either. The rest would really be quite easy from there! Glad to hear your's ended up the way you liked.

The CleanSweep is made by JL Audio and is designed to take high level outputs and convert them to low level rca so you can adapt an aftermarket amp. I already own this piece so would not need another amp. The only thing I'm trying to get an answer on right now is whether the Audio Control LC6 to sum the signal from the factory amp... or from the factory amp directly into the CleanSweep.
Thanks for the offer for help! If I do it myself, a BBQ or something sounds great, I will let you know. I'm going to check around a few places also and see what some charge for misc work or the entire project.

Mike

MB Nubee

Sorry, I cannot help on the LC6 but I have owned 2 different AudioControl EQ's and they were fabulous. I cannot say enough about them except, I am not familiar with the quality of the new stuff.

I did take out the back seat, trunk panels and various trim panels to run my wiring. I made it easy for the shop, I had all RCA's, speaker and remote wires ran for them.

Overall, it wasn't too bad. I recommend you try it. As one person on this forum said, you really get to know your car and appreciate how it is built.

Good luck and have fun! Keep us posted on your progress!

c230ftw

Someone do a DIY of this post some pics of how to get to the rear speaker and it will help many other ppl if you have the knowledge to do it then plz share. Basically pics of every step would be awesome

jay_mark_paul

A simple $50-$70 high/low converter will work if you just plan on running some subs.

T.O_c240

Any update on this install? Kinda bringing up an old thread here but i plan on installing two subs in a box with amp this weekend and ive searched the forum and havent seen a visual step by step install. I mainly wanna know how to stick a power wire through my firewall from my battery to my trunk and the easiest way possible to do that. Also i have an aftermarket nav/deck - not stock
Thanks in advance!

ELBMAN

Remove the battery and directly behind it is the pass through grommet that goes to the interior passenger foot well, you will probably need to remove the right side of the lower dash with the Glove box. From there straight back on the outside of the wire channel ( to help lower the interference) all the way to the trunk.

It's actually easier to just remove the rear seat back and bottom before running the cable than working around it.

MB Nubee

Thanks for helping out! I paid the audio shop to do mine. I will see if I can post a picture.

T.O c240: What do you need step by step on, the sub or power wire. I was not sure.

Here is my battery:



My wire actually goes thru on the driver's side:



This is what I did with my subs!



I hope this helps!

Edit: well, it has been a while since I posted pictures and I am not having luck. PM me and I will send you some.

jay_mark_paul

[QUOTE=MB Nubee;2527957]Thanks for helping out! I paid the audio shop to do mine. I will see if I can post a picture.

I did the same thing. I did not want to take the risk of tearing apart the door jams and the interior. So I had an car audio shop across the street from my business just pre-wire the power and ground. It was done in a just a few hours, and the cost was very minimal. Then really enjoyed the next few months building the sealed subwoofer enclosure.


Good luck and have fun!!

T.O_c240

AWESOME thanks so much for all the help guys ELBMAN, MB_NUBEE and jay_mark_paul.
It sounds like its pretty easy to do. My friend and I are gonna give it a try this weekend - hopefully we get it done before getting too smashed off our asses.
Anyways so ill run the power wire from behind the battery and down the passenger footwell and ill bring the rcas from the deck along with the power towards the back to the trunk.
It seems easy enough but ill give the place where i installed my deck and alarm and see how much they want to do it - that place was pretty good on their prices so if its really cheap i might get them to do it. But its always more fun to do it yourself.
Ill be sure to post pics whether i do it myself or get a shop to do it.

I should also mention that the subs are from my bro's mustang which he's storing for the winter so i figure ill put them in my car as added weight when the snow comes instead of cinderblocks. Theyre two 10" P2's