BIG RON

I just bought a 1997 E320 which is in very good condition. Only problem is that the radio reception is really poor , fading when 20 miles or so from the signal. Anyone else have this problem, and if so what is the cure ? Thanks for any help, BIG RON

MARK CUMMINS

Ron, Yes the Radio reception is Very poor!
I Have Replaced the Radio, AMP,Coax Cables and the Reception is still crap!...Mercedes tries to BS you ..Ahh Normal
I Have Installed The W140 S Class Antenna in the rear Bumper and It Works!..Might Want to Give it a Try!

AJChenMPH

Since I live in NYC, FM reception is decent, but AM reception sucks big time.

Mark -- do you have detailed instructions and part numbers for the install?

MARK CUMMINS

Sorry No Pics, Try The Dealer on the Part Numbers (Late 140)
All You will need is the Coax Adapters to Connect the cable from your radio to the Antenna ...The W 140 S Class Fits in the Rear Bumper...Give it a try!

synchrocnc

I've just done the W140 antenna mod and it works !

The part no is A140 8202775 which gets you a quite complex bent piece of stanless steel with a single core cable from it , I actually thought I had bought the wrong thing

It fits inside the left side of the rear bumper (viewed from the back) . you need to modify the corner piece of foam that pulls out and then secure the antenna with double sided sponge tape . you need to drill a hole for the cable to feed into the boot which is a shame but has to be done . the cabling simply is a piece of coax from the head unit to the boot area which I stripped back and connected the centre to the antenna cable and connected the coax earth to an earth mounting point inside the boot .

It is a simple and quite cheap mod to do which took me about 2 - 3 hours to do .

Thanks to Mark Cummins for the tip !

PA28150

AM reception on my 2001 E430 is the WORST of any car I've owned. This mod sounds like it might work. What the heck...it's worth a try. Anything is better than the static I hear all the time...it sounds like an AWACS plane is trying to jam the whole east coast!

BenzE

Does the mod work on all models? My 2000 E430 4matic had worse reception than my 1998 E320 4matic; maybe it has something to do with fiber optics? I don't know. I might try this...

rp718

Pretty much all the models that have the radio antenna in the rear glass have bad reception. My 96 E320 has marginal FM and terrible AM reception. I really hear the engine noise in AM mode. I was considering an in-line noise supressor to cut the engine noise. I was also wondering if there was a way to bypass the window antenna, and somehow use the retractable cell phone antenna. Of course, the retractable antenna would have to be powered up so it extended and retracted normally.

PA28150

I ordered the part recently, and will make the modification soon.

My question for synchrocnc and those others who've made the change: Did you run a new coax cable from the radio to the new antenna, or just disconnect the existing antenna cable and re-direct it? I should think it would be easier to re-direct, once you've located the correct connection. How hard was it to spot the antenna connection at the rear window?

Thanks guys!

Rich

synchrocnc

Rich ,

I bought a cheap aftermarket antenna with a long cable and ran it inside the plastic cable holders with all the other cables along the inner sills , the reason for this was that I didnt want to disturb any of the original equipment so that it could be switched back if I sold the car . For your information the original coax meets the amplifier at the passenger side (RHD) so I guess drivers side in the US rear behind the "C" pillar trim .

To be honest its easier to run a new cable .

Good luck !

Alan

PA28150

Thanks Alan...

I can understand your reasoning regarding running a new cable. My thought was if I could find the cable from the radio near where it terminates at the rear of the car, I would have fewer trim pieces to disturb. I probably won't really be able to decide on the best course of action until I find myself wedged half-in, half-out of the trunk...er...boot.

leeroytandy

Just replaced the antenna on a w203 2002 c class. The connection point for the antenna is on the c pillar on the passenger side (RHD).
it's possible that is the same for the w211 e class