When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I recently imported a 2005 C55 AMG from the US to Europe.
The car has a few issues, most of which are easily fixed like bumper repair/replacement, a few scratches and some interior leather restoration.
However, I am facing a huge challenge with the audio system:
OEM, the car had Audio 20 CD player with Harman/Kardon sound system.
Unfortunately for me, the previous owner (with whom I have no contact with) had an aftermarket navigation system installed and apparently it was very poorly put together.
There was a cheap camera installed with 2 screws at the license plate holder, a GPS antenna glued to the windshield and a complete mess with the wiring harness, or what has left of it. The aftermarket navi is not present.
Long story short, the car came with the original Audio 20 CD player at the trunk and a huge mess in the front, where it is supposed to sit.
Bellow you will see a picture of the quadlock and a pic from the trunk where the H/K amplifier was not attached to anything.
I have 7-8 connectors and optical wires at the back near the amp and I suspect missing connectors to the quadlock at the front.
I wonder if you could help me solve that audio puzzle. I bought a used EU Audio 20 (because the US one will not accept the EU radio frequencies) and I would like to connect it, however I have no clue what is missing and where to find/connect all of the cables at the trunk. All of the connectors at the trunk, near the place the amp should be The H/K amp with the 2 connectors I suspect
The quadlock with "tyco" logo on it. Missing almost all of the connectors
Ok, I am replying to myself, but that could help someone else who is troubleshooting the same thing as me
Regarding the quadlock connector:
On cars equipped with 810 Sound System option - which in my case is H/K stereo, the quadlock connector should have exactly what is shown in the picture from the above post:
1 white connector which is for Aux and factory phone
2 optic connectors
3. the black connector in the middle
I was convinced that something is missing, because almost all of the pictures of the quadlock on the Internet had an additional Blue and Orange/Yellow connectors as well.
It turns out the Orange one is for cars WITHOUT the 810 H/K sound system option (normal mercedes stereo).
I will post an update once I have the new (OEM Audio 20) unit installed and the amp connected.
Regarding the amp, I presume all the additional connections shown in the pictures above, are for regular sound systems and in my case are just not to be used.
I will update you on that.
With regard to the rear amp - the rear amp was only used with the HK System. I am not sure I understand your statement: "I presume all the additional connections shown in the pictures above, are for regular sound systems and in my case are just not to be used," but it may be incorrect. The "normal" or non-HK systems did not have an amp. The speakers on a "normal" system were powered from the head unit and there were fewer of them. The "normal" systems had speakers in the front and rear doors. (The front door speakers have a separate tweeter.) The HK system has speakers in the same locations as the "normal" system plus a center speaker in the dash, two speakers in the rear deck and a subwoofer in the rear deck. The HK system may have had separate tweeters in the rear doors as well. The diagrams below may help clarify this. "Normal" System HK System
The connector in the dash for a "normal" system is different because all of the speakers are powered from the head unit and it has a connector for the speaker wires. The HK system has a fiber optic cable that runs to the amp in the trunk. The majority of the wires on the connector in the trunk are the speaker wires. Those run to the speakers in both the front and the rear of the car. When the car had its original HK system, it used those wires to send the power to the speakers.
If you install a European head unit which uses the fiber optic system and the previous owner didn't disconnect any of the wiring, you may be OK. However, if the previous owner of your car bypassed the amp and rewired some of the speakers to run off the head unit of his after market navigation system, you may have a significant amount of repair work to do.
Good luck.
Last edited by KevinH2000; 07-31-2020 at 10:41 PM.
Thanks for the clarification. The parts that are wrapped in the black foam (for example the Fakra coax connectors in the third picture from the bottom) are likely to be OEM. I expect that they were included to support options such as the Command system (which would have needed a GPS antenna) the OEM cell phone antenna and the optional Sirius satellite radio. The satellite radio module mounted in the same general area as the amplifier.
If your European head unit is working, I think you can ignore the unused connectors..
You can.
But, if you’re using the OEM fiber ring, you have to ensure the loop is set up accordingly using the orange fiber optic connections. Then you want to ensure the modules are on the ring in the correct order for initial wake up sequence and self test. Early facelift models (luckily for those of us that maximized them with retrofits) had all options hardwired, or prewired onboard. Presumably this added some material cost, but saved inventory and assembly cost. This was changed in later models having looms installed per option code.
Do a search on MOST, fiber ring and or fiber loop.
First, I want to thank you for the time spend on collecting the materials and posting a reply, that will definitely help me a lot! Second, please excuse my typos and other mistakes, English is not my native language .
Yesterday the amp was put back in place and then I temporarily installed the OEM US version Audio 20 headunit.
The results are mixed:
+ the sound is there,
+ all the speakers are working
- there is a constant static noise
I haven't got the option to test the CD, because I didn't have audio CDs available, so the only option was radio.
Since the US frequencies are in odd numbers, not all of the FM stations were available. Anyway, I am expecting a EU Audio 20 delivery next week.
The mentioned static noise was still there even when I clicked the 'power off' button to turn OFF the Audio 20, which was wired. Then ±20 seconds later it disappeared, until I turned the radio back on ON.
My action plan is to wait for the EU Audio 20 unit to arrive and then test again.
Maybe the US version is searching for satellite signal or something else we don't have in Europe.
Or like BF_JC230 suggested, I should investigate the optic wires/connectors for more aftermarket 'fixes'
Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks!
07-29-2020, 01:48 PM
.
