2MCHCAR

Post #4 should answer this question:
https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class...questions.html

Yes, I did wire everything through the passenger side.

I disagree, I think you should do the speaker replacement as well, and here's why:

1. The Bose speakers are 2ohm, so you would have to get an amp that is 2 ohm stable; if not, then you will blow out the speakers or worse, blow out your amp.

2. Removing the doors is not that hard, all 4 speakers are located at the door.

3. Either way you go, wiring the speakers will be a hassle. So do it right the first time and you never have to mess with them again.

I just Dynomated the trunk, BTW....

Good Luck!

MarcusF

iPod replacing the CD . . . . sounds like my headunit, except I went with an SSD drive (750 hours of music per 100GB). Are you getting an Alpine iDA X305? It reads digital files (not analogue output) from an iPod/iPhone.

PAC-Audio (dot com) makes the converter boxes. I bought mine from Crutchfield (dot com). I bought a PAC OEM2 (unbalanced to balanced output converter), a PAC SWI-CAN2, and a PAC SWI-JACK.

The last two boxes allowed the Alpine head unit to use the steering wheel controls. They're wired as follows - the input side of the PAC SWI-CAN2 plugs into the Mercedes-Benz factory wiring harness. The output side of the SWI-CAN2 plugs into the input side of the PAC SWI-JACK. The output side of the PAC SWI-JACK plugs into the Alpine head unit.

Here's the conceptual basis for how this works: The PAC SWI-CAN2 reads the output signal of the Mercedes-Benz steering wheel controls and converts it to a universal signal. The PAC SWI-JACK converts the universal signal from the SWI-CAN2 to a format that is understood by the Alpine head unit. The SWI-Jack supports Alpine, Clarion, JVC, and Kenwood. If you go with some other headunit, you'll have to use one of PAC-Audio's other manufacturer specific converters.

mk4mike

why didnt you do a double din... plus i think your trunk setup is a little unconventional.. but i guess you like it

bheng

Well this is my plan then. i will get a kenwood DNX5140. its a double din so therefore i will be able to have my speakers plugged into the direct unit. but to make things easier i think i will rewire new speakers to an amp that will be located in the back. which then should be wired to my HU. sigh. long work head of me. -_- and this project will take awhile andy. im not expecting ALL the audio to be done for a couple of months. still trying to get all the parts now. haha new speakers are gonna set me back some.

btw. m2char what speakers did you get? and what sizes were front and rear? any other speakers you replaced?

2MCHCAR

I think post #7 will answer the first question.

I didn't want to sacrifice my trunk so I can get some bump. I had to remove the spare tire (I can call roadside assistance), but I can still use all of the trunk (I didn't lose any utility).

The speakers on the door are 1" tweeter and 2 - 6.5" woofers. Get one component set for the fronts and some two way speakers for the rear.

bheng

any recommended speakers?
since i have a JL sub that is going to be installed i was thinking about getting JL speakers also.
whats your opinion on MB quarts... and what speakers do you have? unfortunately if i want to match my sub the max i can go for my amp for the speakers are 50rms. -_-

2MCHCAR

JLs, MB Quarts are excellent speaker choices, I went with Infinitis. Just know that when you replace your door speakers, you will have to reuse and modify the bracket that holds the speakers in place (you will have to cut, file and create new screw holes on the bracket in order for it to work for your new speakers).

bheng

0.o
haha is that difficult?
is there a way to get new brackets to fit? to be honest im worried about messing that up and ending up without speaker brackets lol. but i guess i gotta do what i gotta do right?
i guess i'll take it as it comes and hope thats its not hard when i get to it. thanks for the heads up.

ohh did you dyno the wheel well for the spare as well or just the surrounding walls and the floor of it?

2MCHCAR

Modifying the speaker brackets is not hard, but it's time consuming. I dynomated the spare tire compartment as well. I know you are planning to continue the install this weekend; so I'm trying to remember all the gotchas. Make sure you have a good set of torx bits with a #40 torx bit, you will be using it a lot (screws, seats, seat belts, ect).

bheng

haha thanks 2mchar. I need to get my hand on the torx bits. i hope my friend has these parts. However, i do not know if i will be working on it this weekend. something came up and i wont be able to tend to my car. i will probably try to dynomat it this weekend to get that done. i will do the sub hopefully the following weekend?

bheng

to save a couple of hours for now. since i'm not going to replace my speakers but to just install the HU (i'm getting a DNX5140 btw) and sub. I think i will go this route and get a converter box. i will get the steering wheel controls but i think i just need the swi-jack connecter, according to another site i read.
MarcusF, i wanted to ask where do you install the converter box? how, etc. your small tutorial is going to help me when i install the HU. cuz i dont wanna deal with too many wires for now. lol

thanks
Brian

MarcusF

I installed my converter box behind & below the HU. All three boxes went in the same spot. If you use wiring harness converters you can do much of the wiring before touching the car.

bheng

what did it get wired to?
im new to wiring too -_-
its the swi-can that conncects to the mb wirearnes, and the swi-jack connected to the swi-can and the HU. so where does the converter box go? and does crutchfield come with install intructions/wiring instructions for the converter.

haha sorry.

MarcusF

The SWI-CAN, SWI-JACK, and OEM2 are all converter boxes. Everything except the HU is a converter of some sort. The input side of the SWI-CAN2 plugs into the Mercedes-Benz factory wiring harness. The output side of the SWI-CAN2 plugs into the SWI-JACK. The output side of the PAC SWI-JACK plugs into the Alpine head unit. The audio output from my Alpine head unit plugs into the OEM2. The output of the OEM2 plugs into the into the Mercedes-Benz factory wiring harness through a wiring harness adapter (VW?). I also used a Motorola male to Volk female antenna adapter. Crutchfield supplied instructions, but if you’ve never changed a head unit before, you may want to invite a friend over to help. Offer to buy him dinner at Tommy Woks in Sausalito

This is a photo of what I used

bheng

hey 2mchar. do you happen to know which wires are the speaker signal wires?

2MCHCAR

Not too sure what is meant by "speaker signal wires", but if it's the signal from the head unit to the amp, then I think it's fiber optic.

bheng

well i think im just going to splice the signal wire from the original subwoofer.
and i just need the "turn on" wire to power up my amp.

SoCalCLK

The audio mods look great. I'm just hesitant because I don't want to lose steering wheel control of the audio.

bheng

uhm from what ive learned. you can retain steering wheel controls with pac production.

2MCHCAR

You don't have to lose the steering wheel control. Look at Marcus's post #27 and 39; he details the use of the PAC system in order to retain the factory steering wheel control. If you have any other radio install questions before you want to attempt any audio mod, post the question on this thread

SoCalCLK

Thanks, buddy. I'll admit, I scanned most of the thread. BTW, I love your handle "Too Much Car". That's a saying heard many times at a MBZ dealership!

iboom4u

Hey 2mchcar did you have any problems with radio reception i used a metra 40vw10 antenna adapter i did an install in a 2004 clk55 but i am not getting any reception was there a seperate antenna turn on? if so do you know what wire it is? By the way it had the bose system and the amplifier was on the driverside behind the fuse box. not the passenger side in the trunk. The car came with the factory nav and cell but i replaced it with the Kenwood 7140 (benefit touchscreen, ipod, bluetooth, etc..)

2MCHCAR

I did have crappy radio reception after the initial install (using the above adapter). I then added a HD radio kit (it comes with a antenna) and problem solved. You can also do satellite radio......

bheng

does anyone know the mounting depth in the speakers for the doors? looking to get that next. does it matter? i see a lot of the car audio sites include mounting depth. i dont want to get owned and get a speaker too big. LOL

2MCHCAR

Good question! I'm not too sure myself. What I did was go to the crutchfield website, input my car info, and then selected my speakers. The website will tell you if they will fit or not. Unfortunatly, thats all the info crutchfield has on our cars.......