Burmester Stereo Issues :(
#101
www.w205audio.wordpress.com
Short version, start by adding a DSP amp and that will vastly improve the performance of the stock speakers. The primary deficiency in the Burmester (and most MB HK systems) is in the factory EQ. Properly tuned the stock speakers are fine. You may want a sub at some point but even the "Frontbass" speakers wake up and start hitting with the right power and EQ applied.
Last edited by Mike5215; 08-29-2017 at 10:36 PM.
#102
I've started by taking some some foam tape and stuffing it between the door panel and the panel that has the door speaker grill and seat controls. The buzzing mainly comes from that panel (aluminium or ****ty wood look) or the center speaker. I've cured the center speaker buzz by taking the grill off and taking single side adhesive foam tape and sticking it along the edges on the inside of the speaker grill. Basically, padding the grill,making it more stiff when you clip it back in. Seems to work well. MB lubed the sh*t out of the clips on that speaker.. Grease from hell. Geniuses over there.
Anyway, doing the above has made the buzz or loose panels much better. But, the door panels are the most stubborn. Still get the buzz at some levels. But, 80% better than before. I will take the panel off and stick more foam tap inside between the panels and get some dynamat and stick it near the actual speaker to lesson vibration.
It sucks that you need to do this to a £50k car but it seems MB are incapable or just don't want to fix it.
Mike's suggestion of adding a DSP to the setup to get the frequencies right will fix most the buzz issues. But, it does not remove the fact that the door panels and center speaker grill are poorly designed for speakers or anyone listening to half decent music. So, even with a DSP added and the setup done, the buzzing might still occur due to loose parts. So, adding the DSP and doing something similar to what I did (felt or foam tape) will sort it out.
Last edited by shaunds; 08-30-2017 at 09:48 AM.
#103
I have a 2016 C250 with the 'burmester' system and I have taken it back to MB. They just lubed (yes, lubed!) the speaker clips in the hope it stops the buzzing. It didn't. I'm taking matters into my own hands.
I've started by taking some some foam tape and stuffing it between the door panel and the panel that has the door speaker grill and seat controls. The buzzing mainly comes from that panel (aluminium or ****ty wood look) or the center speaker. I've cured the center speaker buzz by taking the grill off and taking single side adhesive foam tape and sticking it along the edges on the inside of the speaker grill. Basically, padding the grill,making it more stiff when you clip it back in. Seems to work well. MB lubed the sh*t out of the clips on that speaker.. Grease from hell. Geniuses over there.
Anyway, doing the above has made the buzz or loose panels much better. But, the door panels are the most stubborn. Still get the buzz at some levels. But, 80% better than before. I will take the panel off and stick more foam tap inside between the panels and get some dynamat and stick it near the actual speaker to lesson vibration.
It sucks that you need to do this to a £50k car but it seems MB are incapable or just don't want to fix it.
Mike's suggestion of adding a DSP to the setup to get the frequencies right will fix most the buzz issues. But, it does not remove the fact that the door panels and center speaker grill are poorly designed for speakers or anyone listening to half decent music. So, even with a DSP added and the setup done, the buzzing might still occur due to loose parts. So, adding the DSP and doing something similar to what I did (felt or foam tape) will sort it out.
I've started by taking some some foam tape and stuffing it between the door panel and the panel that has the door speaker grill and seat controls. The buzzing mainly comes from that panel (aluminium or ****ty wood look) or the center speaker. I've cured the center speaker buzz by taking the grill off and taking single side adhesive foam tape and sticking it along the edges on the inside of the speaker grill. Basically, padding the grill,making it more stiff when you clip it back in. Seems to work well. MB lubed the sh*t out of the clips on that speaker.. Grease from hell. Geniuses over there.
Anyway, doing the above has made the buzz or loose panels much better. But, the door panels are the most stubborn. Still get the buzz at some levels. But, 80% better than before. I will take the panel off and stick more foam tap inside between the panels and get some dynamat and stick it near the actual speaker to lesson vibration.
It sucks that you need to do this to a £50k car but it seems MB are incapable or just don't want to fix it.
Mike's suggestion of adding a DSP to the setup to get the frequencies right will fix most the buzz issues. But, it does not remove the fact that the door panels and center speaker grill are poorly designed for speakers or anyone listening to half decent music. So, even with a DSP added and the setup done, the buzzing might still occur due to loose parts. So, adding the DSP and doing something similar to what I did (felt or foam tape) will sort it out.
Honestly the whole audio system, from the way it's designed to how it's installed, is a huge disappointment. If music in the car is a priority for you this is the wrong car. The amount of time and money it takes to make it reasonably acceptable is proportionally very high relative to other cars in the segment.
For example, I rented a 2018 BMW 430i 'vert for two weeks over the summer. It had the "base" unbranded audio system, which is largely the same stuff as in the optional upgraded Harman/Kardon, with a few less speakers and less amplification.
It gets two 8" shallow mount dual voice coil subs under the front seats, 2-way 4" fronts in the doors, 4" mids in the rear panels and a center dash speaker. It's very easy to tune, and simply playing my Iphone music through a $3 DSP app was more than enough. The Prima DSP would be next level stuff in that car, where in the C it just manages to make the system listenable.
In fact, I liked the car and the audio system so much I just locked a build on 430i Coupe with the upgraded HK hardware.
#104
The DSP would allow you to suppress the frequencies that cause the buzzing but at the expense of getting the sound you actually want. When we did my 205 the shop also Hushmatted the crap out of the interior door panels. So much in fact that they had to use slightly longer panel clips to put the door panel itself back on. In addition to killing rattles, it also makes the doors sound much more solid when you close them.
Honestly the whole audio system, from the way it's designed to how it's installed, is a huge disappointment. If music in the car is a priority for you this is the wrong car. The amount of time and money it takes to make it reasonably acceptable is proportionally very high relative to other cars in the segment.
For example, I rented a 2018 BMW 430i 'vert for two weeks over the summer. It had the "base" unbranded audio system, which is largely the same stuff as in the optional upgraded Harman/Kardon, with a few less speakers and less amplification.
It gets two 8" shallow mount dual voice coil subs under the front seats, 2-way 4" fronts in the doors, 4" mids in the rear panels and a center dash speaker. It's very easy to tune, and simply playing my Iphone music through a $3 DSP app was more than enough. The Prima DSP would be next level stuff in that car, where in the C it just manages to make the system listenable.
In fact, I liked the car and the audio system so much I just locked a build on 430i Coupe with the upgraded HK hardware.
Honestly the whole audio system, from the way it's designed to how it's installed, is a huge disappointment. If music in the car is a priority for you this is the wrong car. The amount of time and money it takes to make it reasonably acceptable is proportionally very high relative to other cars in the segment.
For example, I rented a 2018 BMW 430i 'vert for two weeks over the summer. It had the "base" unbranded audio system, which is largely the same stuff as in the optional upgraded Harman/Kardon, with a few less speakers and less amplification.
It gets two 8" shallow mount dual voice coil subs under the front seats, 2-way 4" fronts in the doors, 4" mids in the rear panels and a center dash speaker. It's very easy to tune, and simply playing my Iphone music through a $3 DSP app was more than enough. The Prima DSP would be next level stuff in that car, where in the C it just manages to make the system listenable.
In fact, I liked the car and the audio system so much I just locked a build on 430i Coupe with the upgraded HK hardware.
#105
I'd think it would be limited to damage to the factory amp or the factory speakers specifically. For example if the DSP caused a low impedance condition that cooked the amp, or if the DSP had a power surge that blew some speakers. I wouldn't sweat it with the Match/Helix or Prima.
#106
BURMESTER RESPONDED
Hey guys! So i reached out to Burmester regarding the "buzzing" and 'crackling" sound coming from my speakers. They have responded and with a solution! I have showed this to my dealer and hopefully this is the final time I have to hear this annoying noise. Hope this helps everyone out!!
#107
Same issue
i’ve got the same issue unfortunately in my c300 4matic (18000km) even i did use my phone and i plaied songs on some brand new MB C E AND CLA CLASS that have Burmester system all got the same annoying sound except S CLASS
i hope u got the solution soon
i hope u got the solution soon
#110
#111
#113
Ahh, I think I have this same problem on my 2018 w/ Burmester. I listen to NPR 80% of the time in the car, and the random buzzing sound is driving me insane. It's almost always John Sepuvado's voice from the California Report :P
#114
MBSebas87 can you please advise how the speakers were repaired. I'm having the same issue with 2015 S63 AMG. Music pops and when your on the phone the phone calls are horrible with this popping noise coming from the speakers. Its so irritating.
#116
I went in twice. The first time they replaced the front speaker on the dash and adjusted some thing on the speakers of the drivers door. Buzz still coming from other speakers, I took it in again. They adjusted something on speakers from all doors. I can’t find the paperwork otherwise I would post it. Also, I noticed that when there’s no sound and driving over bumpy roads or uneven, the buzz, rarely, comes out with no sound being played. I think the housing of speakers is the problem. Since it rarely happens now, haven’t bothered to take it in.
#117
SOLVED !!!!! (rattling front left door speaker)
*** Didn't work out after all *** Read my message further down from 03-21-2019 *** It's the LED strip that rattles in its frame !!! ***
Hi all,
I love my E-class Merc (a W213), and I absolutely love the (little) Burmester... but not always...
I've had a rattling/buzzing front left door speaker for almost 2 years now. It's nerving during phone conversations, and sometimes audible whilst playing music (depends on the song). With an oscillator I could provoke the buzz somewhere between 250Hz and 300Hz.
I took it to the dealer when the car was about 3 months old (early 2017), only to hear that they had one other car with the same problem (a W205), couldn't do anything about it, and would get back in touch when they had a solution. Which they still didn't...
All "sounds" familiar ?
After reading and re-reading this whole thread a couple of times, it inspired me to the following successful approach (=> THANKS TO ALL OF YOU).
I didn't want to take off the whole door panel (car still under warranty, and it's a company lease car so not really mine). But I dared to try to remove just the part in which the speaker is placed. I fiddled around, didn't succeed to remove it, BUT whilst lifting up the TIP of the panel (= under the door locking pin at the far end of the speaker) about 1/10", all of a sudden the buzz stopped ! So I definitely found the root cause.
It's NOT a speaker problem, it's the speaker panel rattling against the rest of the door panel !!! (at least in my case)
So I only needed to find a way to keep the tip of the speaker panel slightly away from the rest of the door panel.
I lifted up the tip, and slipped in 2 small pieces of soft isolation (about 1/4" thick). After releasing the tip it gets compressed to about 1/25" - totally invisible but just enough to keep the parts slightly away from each other.
Other material like some thick felt or so will probably also do the trick - just give it a try.
I'll drive it for some time and see if it comes back. If it does then I just need to redo the job but a little less "quick and dirty".
Hope this helps at least some of you !!
The 2 RED LINES ON THE PICTURE indicate where I pressed small soft pieces of isolation tubes (about 1/6" wide - reduced to about 1/25" once compressed) between the edge of the speaker panel and the door panel. Just enough to have the tip of the speaker panel not touch the rest of the door panel.
Hi all,
I love my E-class Merc (a W213), and I absolutely love the (little) Burmester... but not always...
I've had a rattling/buzzing front left door speaker for almost 2 years now. It's nerving during phone conversations, and sometimes audible whilst playing music (depends on the song). With an oscillator I could provoke the buzz somewhere between 250Hz and 300Hz.
I took it to the dealer when the car was about 3 months old (early 2017), only to hear that they had one other car with the same problem (a W205), couldn't do anything about it, and would get back in touch when they had a solution. Which they still didn't...
All "sounds" familiar ?
After reading and re-reading this whole thread a couple of times, it inspired me to the following successful approach (=> THANKS TO ALL OF YOU).
I didn't want to take off the whole door panel (car still under warranty, and it's a company lease car so not really mine). But I dared to try to remove just the part in which the speaker is placed. I fiddled around, didn't succeed to remove it, BUT whilst lifting up the TIP of the panel (= under the door locking pin at the far end of the speaker) about 1/10", all of a sudden the buzz stopped ! So I definitely found the root cause.
It's NOT a speaker problem, it's the speaker panel rattling against the rest of the door panel !!! (at least in my case)
So I only needed to find a way to keep the tip of the speaker panel slightly away from the rest of the door panel.
I lifted up the tip, and slipped in 2 small pieces of soft isolation (about 1/4" thick). After releasing the tip it gets compressed to about 1/25" - totally invisible but just enough to keep the parts slightly away from each other.
Other material like some thick felt or so will probably also do the trick - just give it a try.
I'll drive it for some time and see if it comes back. If it does then I just need to redo the job but a little less "quick and dirty".
Hope this helps at least some of you !!
The 2 RED LINES ON THE PICTURE indicate where I pressed small soft pieces of isolation tubes (about 1/6" wide - reduced to about 1/25" once compressed) between the edge of the speaker panel and the door panel. Just enough to have the tip of the speaker panel not touch the rest of the door panel.
Last edited by BenzIsTop; 03-21-2019 at 06:30 AM.
#118
Sounds like the speakers are blown
I have the same issue with my 2018 C300, here in NY.
When I listen to certain AM stations (710 & 770), sounds like the speaker cones are ripped.
For the most part, when listening to FM, Sirius, Bluetooth, my iPod, sounds normal.
Definitely has to do with certain frequencies.
Dealer has replaced the antenna booster, and the radio, it’s the same thing.
I wouldn’t have expected this on a 50K car.
Not sure what else to do at this point.
When I listen to certain AM stations (710 & 770), sounds like the speaker cones are ripped.
For the most part, when listening to FM, Sirius, Bluetooth, my iPod, sounds normal.
Definitely has to do with certain frequencies.
Dealer has replaced the antenna booster, and the radio, it’s the same thing.
I wouldn’t have expected this on a 50K car.
Not sure what else to do at this point.
#119
I have the same issue with my 2018 C300, here in NY.
When I listen to certain AM stations (710 & 770), sounds like the speaker cones are ripped.
For the most part, when listening to FM, Sirius, Bluetooth, my iPod, sounds normal.
Definitely has to do with certain frequencies.
Dealer has replaced the antenna booster, and the radio, it’s the same thing.
I wouldn’t have expected this on a 50K car.
Not sure what else to do at this point.
When I listen to certain AM stations (710 & 770), sounds like the speaker cones are ripped.
For the most part, when listening to FM, Sirius, Bluetooth, my iPod, sounds normal.
Definitely has to do with certain frequencies.
Dealer has replaced the antenna booster, and the radio, it’s the same thing.
I wouldn’t have expected this on a 50K car.
Not sure what else to do at this point.
#120
Turned surround off
I turned the surround off but, I think it got worse.
The cold doesn’t seem to make any difference.... still sucks.
I’m going to call Mercedes corporate tomorrow, and see if they have any info on it.
The cold doesn’t seem to make any difference.... still sucks.
I’m going to call Mercedes corporate tomorrow, and see if they have any info on it.
#121
Burmester buzzing, rattling, distortion noise.
I don’t know if this thread has been resolved, however I experience the same issue with the speakers making a buzzing noise... anyway... after many times back and forward from the dealer,, replacing the speakers etc... one of the technicians solve the issue by replacing the speakers holder... this worked for me and the speakers now sound perfect... as it should be.. I can now enjoy the quality of the music hassle free...
#122
It's crazy. It just got worse with the cold... When I turned OFF the "SURROUND" mode. It made it less noticeable. But with it on, for some reason it sounds like crap like a busted speaker with sound frequencies or sound combinations. As for why it got worse with the cold, I'm not sure.
I don’t know if this thread has been resolved, however I experience the same issue with the speakers making a buzzing noise... anyway... after many times back and forward from the dealer,, replacing the speakers etc... one of the technicians solve the issue by replacing the speakers holder... this worked for me and the speakers now sound perfect... as it should be.. I can now enjoy the quality of the music hassle free...
I have the same issue with my 2018 C300, here in NY.
When I listen to certain AM stations (710 & 770), sounds like the speaker cones are ripped.
For the most part, when listening to FM, Sirius, Bluetooth, my iPod, sounds normal.
Definitely has to do with certain frequencies.
Dealer has replaced the antenna booster, and the radio, it’s the same thing.
I wouldn’t have expected this on a 50K car.
Not sure what else to do at this point.
When I listen to certain AM stations (710 & 770), sounds like the speaker cones are ripped.
For the most part, when listening to FM, Sirius, Bluetooth, my iPod, sounds normal.
Definitely has to do with certain frequencies.
Dealer has replaced the antenna booster, and the radio, it’s the same thing.
I wouldn’t have expected this on a 50K car.
Not sure what else to do at this point.
I don’t know if this thread has been resolved, however I experienced the same issue with the speakers making a buzzing noise... anyway... after many times back and forward from the dealer,, replacing the speakers etc... one of the technicians solved the issue by replacing the speakers holder... this worked for me and the speakers now sound perfect... as it should be.. I can now enjoy the quality of the music hassle free... no need to turn surround off at all... it seemed the speaker was vibrating against the holder piece
Last edited by P111NOJ; 01-26-2019 at 11:59 AM. Reason: misspeling
#123
I don’t know if this thread has been resolved, however I experienced the same issue with the speakers making a buzzing noise... anyway... after many times back and forward from the dealer,, replacing the speakers etc... one of the technicians solved the issue by replacing the speakers holder... this worked for me and the speakers now sound perfect... as it should be.. I can now enjoy the quality of the music hassle free... no need to turn surround off at all... it seemed the speaker was vibrating against the holder piece
#124
I have the same issue with my 2018 C300, here in NY.
When I listen to certain AM stations (710 & 770), sounds like the speaker cones are ripped.
For the most part, when listening to FM, Sirius, Bluetooth, my iPod, sounds normal.
Definitely has to do with certain frequencies.
Dealer has replaced the antenna booster, and the radio, it’s the same thing.
I wouldn’t have expected this on a 50K car.
Not sure what else to do at this point.
When I listen to certain AM stations (710 & 770), sounds like the speaker cones are ripped.
For the most part, when listening to FM, Sirius, Bluetooth, my iPod, sounds normal.
Definitely has to do with certain frequencies.
Dealer has replaced the antenna booster, and the radio, it’s the same thing.
I wouldn’t have expected this on a 50K car.
Not sure what else to do at this point.
Have a look at my previous post... I would recommend to get the speaker holder piece replaced... I had the same issue and they even replaced the speakers etc... however, when they replaced the speaker holder, this did the trick....
#125
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 1,258
Likes: 151
From: Greater Cleveland area
2019 Dune Silver Metallic E-450 Mercedes Cabriolet NEW Mercedes 2020 GLC300 graphite gray SUV
You do realize that this Burmeister sound system doesn't really have Burmeister speakers. It's just that the system is balanced and processed by Burmeister. The speakers themselves are pretty stock.
Here's a member who replaced them with higher quality speakers a few years ago...shows what speakers we really have: https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ster-myth.html
Here's a member who replaced them with higher quality speakers a few years ago...shows what speakers we really have: https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ster-myth.html
Last edited by rustybear3; 01-28-2019 at 12:05 PM.