My driver side front speaker plays but very softly regardless of what volume I have the stereo set at. All other speakers appear to be fine. Ideas ?

 

Pull that Bose crap out of the car. The stock speakers, amp, and head-unit are horrible.

 

OK - thanks for your wonderful - colorful insight. What would you replace it with ?

 

If you dont want to keep the original stuff try crutchfield.com
as far as correcting the original problem make sure the wireing to the speaker is ok.Broken strands in the wire could cause your problem or maybe driver for that speaker is gone.Swaping speakers with the other side that is working correctly will take the guessing out if the way if it's the speaker problem.

 

I should have explained a little further but I thought that you would get the point, sorry. Pretty much any high end Pioneer, Sony, Kenwood, or Alpine is going to sound better than the stock system. Just a change in the headunit will make a huge difference. A change in the speakers, amp, and headunit would be the best solution for great audio. However, you can put a band-aid on the system and just change the headunit and add a sub. The Bose system in the 210 has tolerable highs and mids but horrible low frequency sound.

I was very dissappointed at the stereo system in my E55. It's hard to believe they would put such a bad audio system in an $80,000 car. The first thing I did, when I purchased my car, was pull my stock head-unit out and replaced with a high end Premier system. I still need to replace all the speakers and amp with something nice but I have yet to find the time for the next step. I don't trust anyone else messing with my car so I'll have to do it myself.

 

Ok - I will test the speaker first. Thanks for the suggestion.

I already did call Crutchfield - and they said they did not have the technical data on a '99 E430 - so they were not able to tell me what speakers sizes to use for repalcements. After I heard this - I didn't ask about the head unit. Maybe a had a less than knowledgeable person on the phne - it seems strange that they would not have data on a '99 Mercedes. Maybe I'll try a second call ...

 

You'll most likely have to do the install yourself. Call Becker USA and ask for the ML radio to stereo harness so you don't have to butcher your harness in the process. That way, you can pull the aftermarket radio out and reinstall the old one in a matter of minutes. Get the radio keys from Mercedes so you can slide the stock radio out. Basic rewire from there.

 

6.5" front doors 4" in rear door you could squeze in a 5 1/4" if you can cut. and 6.5" in the rear. the stock stereo is a poor excuse for a stereo. throw that junk in the trash where it belongs if you want good sound. stay away from sony!

 

Do you only have this problem when playing CDs? I had the same problem and discovered that my CD changer connector in the trunk was loose. Unplugged it, plugged it back in, and the problem disappeared.