Hey guys. First forum post ever. Please be nice. So im looking to do some audio upgrades. The OEM alternator is 200amps. Im looking for 240amps. Anyone have any idea where look. The search has been surprisingly difficult so far

 

Why do you need to upgrade your alternator? What kind of system are you looking to place into your car? Also, did you find a aftermarket alternator.

 

audio control 6 ch amp pulling 1200 watts and a kicker mono amp 500 watts. Kicker L7 10” sub 500w rms. Replacing the 2 “subs” in the footwells with 2 hixipro neo 6.5” 300rms each amd matchup rear 60w rms each. Possibly replacing the door 4” but i doubt it. The stock amp might be enough for this but i absolutely hate pushing anything to the limit constantly. Especially electronics Id love a little overhead to play it safe. Only alternators i can find above the stock 200A arent a match fitment wise for Mercedes

 

Also if im understanding correctly the general rule is take the total amp draw. In my case 1700 watts and divide by 10 and thats what you need amp wise from your alternator. So 170amps just for the stereo. Thats not including the slew of other electronics that the car already draws naturally with no mods. I would assume somewhere around 40-50 amps

 

I wish I can change the whole sound system the speakers are so small

 

I absolutely cant stand the 4” door speakers. MB in their infinite wisdom decided to put in useless cup holders in the spot 6.5” would normally go. And to top it off MB definitely does NOT want people messing with the sound system unless you have really deep pockets. Kinda forced me to get a little creative either way my build. Ad a true sub for actual bass. Then replace the footwell speakers with some good 6.5 mid bass speakers to fill out the sound and make it louder. Even the burmester is pretty bad. Id hate to hear the stock sound system

 

MB didn't design the car to **** off people who want to upgrade their cars audio system. Back in the day, you could do this in any car but auto manufactures over time have learned that consumers want a car with an already good system as an option.
My friend has a W204 with 2 12" in the rear and has not had any problems with his current setup. Keep in mind, the W204 has less options, less modules and no start/stop. I do know that W205 hates to be low on anything as all the modules love to see consistent V. I have seen many shops Youtube upgrading sound systems in the Benz and I have never seen them upgrade the Alternator. I'm not even sure if there is an alternator replacing for our cars which comes in higher amps but if you find one, you are in luck but I would also install a capacitor with your 10" subs to take any strain off the alternator.

 

What is your estimate of SPL sitting in the driver's seat with 1700 watts RMS?

 

Never said MB wanted to **** off customers. But they did make it very difficult to upgrade the burmester system on the w205. You can spend a few hundred dollars upgrading the speakers which wont do much at all and you’re leaving a lot of performance on the table so its basically pointless. They made it essentially an all or nothing for audio upgrades. And I wouldn’t dare call the stock burmester “good”. Its acceptable at most. At least for me. I was lucky enough to find a very informative video on this topic. And essentially unless your playing individual low, med, and high frequencies full volume non stop, which is practically impossible then 200amps is more than enough for my application. Thanks for the replies

 

 

Sorry still getting used to how the forum functions but this is the super informative video i found explaining even a 160amp alternator would be fine. I can’t highly recommend this youtube channel enough when it comes to car audio. This guy is an absolute PHd audio wizard all things audio. Thanks again safe travels