Homercedes

First time poster long time reader of posts. Hi all, my 2002 Coupe tape player has a tape stuck and the front window plate will not open or eject the tape. I couldn't find any info about this using the search feature, has anyone else ever had this problem? If so, is there any way to correct this issue before taking it in to the garage? Would this be covered under warranty? Thanks! Oh, P.S. I just got the car back from a bodywork garage for a $6000.00 touch up after a 5-10 mph collision.

Enze6997

yeah it will be covered... you havent heard anything about this since no one has attempted to play a "tape" since 1992

Lockbuster

My 2 cents worth;
Put in an Audio 10 CD, a much better radio. It is a simple replacement (only takes 15 minutes to remove and replace) someone in this forum may be selling one or look on E-bay. Trust me a cassette is no way to go. Your warranty will not be jeopardized in any fashion.

CarlssonPower

I did for a couple weeks, before I got my CD changer installed...

Lockbuster

I thought Cassettes were a thing of the past?

young

yes, i would think it would be covered by warranty. take it to your dealer.

good luck.

604_kpEscoba

cassettes?

whats that?

MB-BOB

You folks forget. Mercedes-Benz automobiles are sold around the world. (In truth, the US market is NOT MB's primary market, either.) While CDs have largely replaced cassette tapes in North America, CD-based music is not the universal norm everywhere.

Not making excuses for Mercedes-Benz... They could be more atuned to the US market if they want to compete for sales here. Just posing a reason why cassette is currently the standard audio item.

CarlssonPower

I was extremely surprised that a CD player is not standard on a "MERCEDEZ-BENZ" (even on the E-class!) when I first went to check out the car at the dealer.. MB should adjust their cars to fit the market they are selling to.

Lockbuster

Mr. Bob, Mr. Bob,
Could you tell me why the Audio 10 CD is a standard in the Euro Benz?
The Euro Benz gets an original Becker radio. And we get some junk Japan radio that it sends to the US!

Correct me if I am wrong, isn't Europe larger than the US???

yodlebenz

---answered own question. found this at crutchfield.com anyone tried it?

http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S...6SF120&o=m&a=0

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how in the %$% do you stop the beeping when the tape door is open!? this is stooooooooopid. i used one of those cassette adapter thingies to connect my MP3 player. but every few seconds the music cuts out and i get a LOUD beeping. i've tried closing the door, but the cord is too thick. i can force it, but 1. the door looks like it might pop off, and 2. it's damn near impossible to open. so, any suggestions??? i have the standard head unit with the 6 disk changer. anyone know of a small r/f transmitter that plugs into a headphone jack. that would be an ideal solution... just run it thru an available station.

help! thx.

young

you could go to a rf type of connection. one person filed a small groove in a corner for the little cable.

Lynn

In one of the corners of the door (I think lower right), there is a tiny pin type switch. If you glue or jam the switch closed, the beeping will not occur.

I would rather use an FM modulator than that device from Crutchfield.

Lynn

You are wrong on this one, Bob. Since I get to travel to some far away places in the job, I can tell you that cd's and mini-disks gained acceptance in even the poorest parts of the world before they did here. Neither of these media were invented in the US or first sold here. MD's were widely available in Asia over a year before they were introduced here and were cheaper there, too.

Lockbuster

Sounds familiar to me!

Homercedes

Thanks for the great feedback! Here's my excuse(a dang good one!) for not having the cd changer. When I ordered the car in July of 2001 I requested the 10 cd changer. Finally when the car arrived in October/2001 They called that morning and told me the car is there. I took the whole day off the next morning to enjoy the car, pick up people from work and go to lunch etc. Of course this day they told me the car was not yet ready since they never installed the cd changer but they said it would be ready in the afternoon and the Sales Rep said he would call me when it was ready. I waited until closing time and went to the dealership w/out the phone call. The manager helped me since most of the Sales Reps had already left. Low and behold no cd changer was installed and I wasted a whole day off of work just waiting for this car. Is this changer really worth $750.00 and all this irritation? I think not.

CarlssonPower

Actually, it cost me almost $1000. And, no, it doesn't worth it at all. I don't think any CD charger should cost more than $300. The cost was $600 if I added it as an "option" when I first purchase the car, but I thought I could easily add an aftermarket CD changer for ~$300. Then later I found out that non of the aftermarket CD changer fit to the stock head unit so I had to go back to the dealer and they didn't allow me to get it at the "option" price..

CarlssonPower

Go to Taiwan and you'll notice that many of the cars comes standard with TV screen and DVD player.

I just never understand why the US don't get to enjoy the most advance technologies when US is actually the most powerful country in the world. I can understand that some of the Japanese companies don't want to reveal their technologies outside Japan, but why even US company, Motorola introduced their newest, most advanced, color screen cellular phones in Asia instead of North America!!

Jim Banville

I discovered several years ago that it is usually mush cheaper to buy an OEM CD changer off of the internet and install it yourself. Most newer cars are pre-wired for them so it will be easier for the dealer to install. I got the Mercedes-Benz changer for about $400 delivered to my door, and it only took about 1/2 hour to install it myself

young

i don't know why either. but i do know that the cellular networks are far more sophisticated in europe/asia than in north america.

i don't necessarily agree that having a tv/dvd player in the car means that that's more advanced, but, i sort of get what you mean.

i also don't think that japan is specifically "hiding" any consumer technologies. they do hide their vending machine technology though! you can get anything from a vending machine over there.

MB-BOB

OK, since everyone says I'm wrong about my earlier theory on why cassettes come standard in the US, then I'll concede that you're right. Since the in-dash CD is available in Europe, there has to be a good reason why it's not offered standard here.

I know, here's a thought. They offer the CD as extra because they know Americans are suckers enough to pay extra for them. Since about 90% of the people on this forum paid extra for their CD players/radio options, etc., this theory must be true. Yea, that's it. We're all suckers.

Now, that said, does anyone like my earlier suggestion better? LOL!

I do wonder if the cassette comes standard in Venezuela, though. Or Libya, Pakistan, Indonesia, S. Africa, Poland, New Zealand, etc.

CarlssonPower

We are "FORCED" to pay extra for the expensive MB changer because MB designed their cars to creat the following situations:

1) no aftermarket CD changer can hook up with the stock head unit
2) no aftermarket head unit can link to the steering wheel control (beside Audio 10, which is still MB brand)

So MB knows that we have no choice but pay big $$$ for their overpriced CD changer.

MB-BOB

Next thing I'm gonna read is that we're forced to buy a Mercedes-Benz...

session

You mentioned the Audio 10 which nullifies every single point in your post. Nice one.

MB does not force anyone to pay extra for anything. You are free to buy the car at its base price. If you don't like the standard features, go buy a different car. That's what competition exists for, right?

Lockbuster

I really do not understand the problem, we bought the car and we knew what we were paying for. Mercedes as well as other auto manufactures are trying to keep the customer in the dealership for the repairs and parts for their auto. I was glad to find out that we had an option to buy an Audio 10 CD. I would never install an aftermarket radio taking the chance of a voided warranty on some part of my vehicle. We have a choice on what we want to drive.