Hey guys,
Help! I can't find the Fiber Optic cable in my trunk!

I have a C32 that doesn't have the CD changer and show no signs of ever having one installed before. I got the original Mercedes CD changer model MC3010. I looked online for tutorials and all of them go into quite a bit of detail regarding taking apart the vents and removing the head unit, however none mention anything about the Fiber Optic cable other than "it's in the trunk".

Well, I opened my trunk, looked for it and only found some cables underneath a plastic shield held together by two torx bolts that hold down the plastic shield and two metal swivel anchors.

Underneath this shield, I saw a bunch of wires and a black motorola box. In this bunch of wires, I saw what looked like the same fiber optic cable in other people's tutorials. It was orange, had one end with a connector with a cap on it and was held on by 3 zip ties to a bunch of wires. I followed the cable to find the other end but couldn't find the other end. As I followed the cable, it seemed to go up into and behind a carpeted cover/panel near the rear passenger side of the car. I tried to take this panel off and only took part of it off since it covers the entire passenger side of the trunk. Anyhow, as I lifted the panel off to one side, I noticed the orange wire was going straight up. Before I went any further (plus it was dark outside), I wanted to consult all of you who have installed a CD Changer before in a W203 C class sedan w/ Bose and help me locate the fiber optic cable.

I would like to do a tutorial with detailed pics b/c seems that there isn't one out there. As long as I get some help locating the fiber optic cable, I should be okay and can complete the rest. Can anyone help?

Thanks!!!

 

why are you looking in the trunk???

it's behind the center dash. the CD changer is mounted in the glove box.

 

I thought I read somewhere that it was in the trunk so that's where I looked. Maybe that's why none of the picture tutorials ever mentioned looking in the trunk. I'll take apart the dash and hopefully I'll find it tomorrow.
Thanks again!

 

Yes, there is a fiber optic connection between the head unit and the CD changer in the glove box.

In the US 2003 C32 , there is a fiber cable that goes from the headunit to the trunk mounted BOSE amp, which is how the sound is transferred from the head unit to the BOSE amp.

 

Hey guys,
Thanks for your help. I've made substantial progress and now can take apart the dash and stereo in 10 minutes. Anyhow, I looked at the bundle of wires in my trunk and found out that one of them actually was a spare fiber optic cable. It was labelled something like "SPS Out" and "SPS In". Anyhow, I used this fiber optic cable to install the CD Changer and did everything except for I couldn't find the power cord. I didn't see an extra cable just dangling and looked at all of the bundles of cables behind the stereo and didn't find anything. I also dug through all of the foam and didn't find anything. However, I did find a similar looking plug but it plugs into the climate control unit and is black, thin, the connector is part of a "wiring chain" (middle part) and the wiring is a flat 3 conductor wire. I plugged this cable into the CD changer as well as the fiber optic cable and the CD changer didn't turn on and the stereo didn't make any noise. I assume that I have the wrong power cable. Can anybody help? I assume that I tapped the wrong power cable but I'm hoping it's not the CD changer that's bad.

Can any of you tell me what the power cable looks like to your CD changer?

If anybody is in the Bay area and wouldn't mind taking their CD changer out of their glovebox to test mine to make sure that it works, I would highly appreciate it and give you a souvenir from my company for your help.
Thanks!

 

After some tips from other members, I have finally figured everything out and have everything installed and in working order. Thanks everyone!
For people looking at this thread in the future, I used the spare Fiber optic cable from the trunk with SPS In and SPS Out tags. The Power cable is behind the head unit but tucked away near the passenger footwell. It's multicolored and is wrapped once in masking tape. You'll have to put your fingers in there and dig for it b/c you can't see it.

 

glad you sort it out with our friends here! I really love the C55, but i wish there was a coupe of the C with the 55 motor! and by the way, the Logic 7 is the greatest!

 

Sorry for the thread resurrection, but this is the perfect post. I found the power cable already, but I can't figure out the fiber optic part of this.

Assuming I can track down the spare mentioned in this post (or use the spare I bought from the dealer when I started this) how can I get it in-line with the head unit? Here is what I have right now:

 

Deductive reasoning won the day. Wish I had time to do a proper write-up/how-to since this was VERY easy, just a little esoteric with the fiber optic cables. I'll take some pics of key stuff and try and do something helpful here.

Many thanks for getting me this far all who posted on my other threads on this topic!