Speaker wiring on Bose cars
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 257
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W209 CLK55 - 2003
Speaker wiring on Bose cars
I have a 2003 CLK55 with factory Comand and Bose amplifier.As I understand it, the Comand unit sends the signal to the Bose amplifier in the trunk and then from there sends it to the speakers in the car.
Could somebody say how exactly the speakers for the doors are routed? Do they run along the cavity alongside the kick panel? Pictures / wiring colors would be great.
I would like to install an Android stereo that will remove the need for the amplifier. For the first stage I would like to use the factory speakers. I am aware that the impedence of the factory speakers is not ideal (2ohm rather than the usual 4ohm and also the fact that the Bose speakers, I think, do not have filters for the tweeters).
Is there an easy way to pick up the wiring for the speakers without removing the door panel? I would like to do the upgrade in stages, hence the question.
Thanks
Could somebody say how exactly the speakers for the doors are routed? Do they run along the cavity alongside the kick panel? Pictures / wiring colors would be great.
I would like to install an Android stereo that will remove the need for the amplifier. For the first stage I would like to use the factory speakers. I am aware that the impedence of the factory speakers is not ideal (2ohm rather than the usual 4ohm and also the fact that the Bose speakers, I think, do not have filters for the tweeters).
Is there an easy way to pick up the wiring for the speakers without removing the door panel? I would like to do the upgrade in stages, hence the question.
Thanks
Junior Member
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 49
Likes: 2
From: Near Toronto, ON Canada
2005 CLK500 Cabriolet
IF you intend to let the head unit power the door speakers you can simply run speaker wire from back of head unit to the Bose amp in the trunk.
There you can unplug the stock amp, and tie into the speaker wire for the stock speakers. No need to touch the door panels.
I have attached the wiring diagram used for my 2005 - though the HK setup - not sure what is different for the Bose/CLK55.
There you can unplug the stock amp, and tie into the speaker wire for the stock speakers. No need to touch the door panels.
I have attached the wiring diagram used for my 2005 - though the HK setup - not sure what is different for the Bose/CLK55.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 257
Likes: 31
W209 CLK55 - 2003
IF you intend to let the head unit power the door speakers you can simply run speaker wire from back of head unit to the Bose amp in the trunk.
There you can unplug the stock amp, and tie into the speaker wire for the stock speakers. No need to touch the door panels.
I have attached the wiring diagram used for my 2005 - though the HK setup - not sure what is different for the Bose/CLK55.
There you can unplug the stock amp, and tie into the speaker wire for the stock speakers. No need to touch the door panels.
I have attached the wiring diagram used for my 2005 - though the HK setup - not sure what is different for the Bose/CLK55.
How easy is it to route the wiring from the head unit to the trunk where the amp is? Is there an obvious path? I seem to remember a cable conduit alongside the doors but not sure.
Also, do you have any idea if it would sound OK?
I don’t listen to music at high volume but aware there is a risk of cooking the head unit with low resistance speakers.
Thread Starter
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Joined: May 2017
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W209 CLK55 - 2003
I’ve decided to go straight for speakers in the doors. My plan is that the install should be straightforward; wires from the head unit straight into the doors.
I’ll leave the existing wiring alone. If I am unhappy it will be easy to swap back. If I am happy I will dig in later and remove the old amplifier and everything else.
I’ll leave the existing wiring alone. If I am unhappy it will be easy to swap back. If I am happy I will dig in later and remove the old amplifier and everything else.
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2016
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2013 E350 Coupe w/ p2
I prefer replacing the speakers too. If the quality isn't what I want, then I'll consider a dedicated amp. Still looking for the speaker sizes and locations. I tried googling, and the merc and hk sites but couldn't find a diagram
Thread Starter
Senior Member
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W209 CLK55 - 2003
I was driving this car just now. In the end I fitted the Android head unit and ran new speaker wiring into the doors. The speakers I went with were:
- Panasonic TS-G170C and TS-G1710F
The speakers were cheap and worked with no problems in the door positions. I had to tweak the plastic surrounds (I can’t remember what exactly I did) and needed to glue the tweeters into position, but all straightforward. I removed everything else, so sub and centre speaker.
I went for the Panasonic speakers because they were low power and I thought would be easy to drive for the head unit. However, I rewired because I wanted the option of a small dash mount amplifier at a later date. Something like the Alpine KTP-445.
In retrospect, I think my conclusion is that these cheap Android units really do need external amplification if you enjoy your music.
I can’t see myself going back to install an amp any time soon, but would probably fit one if doing the full job again.
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Newbie
Joined: Jun 2020
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CLK 55 AMG
Do you think a higher quality head unit (like a mid-range Kenwood or Alpine with Apple CarPlay) would be able to power the speakers fine without a dedicated amp? Or do you really just need an amplifier to get strong audio?
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Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 257
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W209 CLK55 - 2003
I think a branded unit would work better than the cheaper ones (for new speakers) but I would probably still use a separate amp.
By the way, the reason I didn’t go with any of those brands is because I didn’t like how they looked in the interior. The unit I went with looks stock. Obviously that is personal taste.
