Edude

Ok.. so my freaking stereo... SUX AZZZ.. Damn it, I should of bought the premium stereo setup, whatever MB calls it, with the Logic7. Oh well, to late...

IS there anywhere to upgrade my stereo with logic capability? thanks~

CE750

Funny, you should ask. I too went thru the same mess you did. The dealer told me this was a good stereo, plenty loud enough he said. Well, wrong!

Anyway, there is a cure, but it's not cheap! Steve (MBenzNL) can ship you the parts, and the dealer install it.. or better yet, have Steve do the Install himself on one of his tours. That runs about $2000.. And you wouldn't know the difference from a factory installation.

I love my HK now.. it's worth the $2000..

Edude

2000 greenbacks? I guess after I dump this kilo of cocaine that is sitting in my living room.. damn most likely it would of been cheaper w the car.. how much is that option on the new Mercedes?

CE750

Can't remember but I got my mom's 350 with it, as well as drive dynamic seats with heaters, Parktronic, and NAV and that car had a sticker of $56500..

I'm guessing $1000 or so from the factory... but it's really worth it! Trust me! Especially if you love low end bass. The only guys that don't like this system are the type who have to have 1000 watts and 4X15" bass woofers, etc... and those type of guys are just hard to impress with anything stock.

GearHead

Hi Edude

Like CE750 said, the HK system is nite and day when compared with the non upgraded system.

Since you live in SF, go ahead and send an email to Steve@MBENZNL.com as Scorchie (Steve's good buddy) actually lives near the Bay Area. You may be able to hook up with him for an install much earlier.

GL in your decision.

p.s. It is funny that the stock BMW system is actually pretty good but the stock (non upgraded) MB sound system is kinda sad.

Edude

Just sent Steve an email. thank you guys!!!! ill keep you posted!

CE750

not really funny for me! I just spent $2000 to get HK.. cause I made the assumption that a "Benz" was going to come with a decent stereo since the Audi and BMW I test drove did! MBUSA SUCKS!!!!

Edude

who did you buy it from? Are you satisfied? Would you mind providing more details? thank you in advance.

CE750

I bought the CDI at Phoenix Motor Company, and the E350 at Autobahn motors... That came with the HK... but I bought that 3 days after the CDI which I got with the basic stereo.

The only reason we got the HK for my mom's (and for that matter the drive dynamic seats) is she absolutely needed the PTS.. she has never driven a car that big before (her last car being a 1998 accord, which was hard enough for her to park).

BigSis

Retrofitting parts and units afterwards is more expensive in most cases, then getting them from factory...

Good luck with dumping your cocaine.

greetingz,

BigSis

Edude

got an email from Steve MBenzNL(see bellow)> I asked Wanda how much would it be to buy just part. I want to try and do the work myself.

/***************************
Hi Max,

We can get you the HK (logic7) upgrade - no problem. It means swapping your current Audio Gateway for an HK AGW, and swap some wiring as well as all speakers. You will then get HK speakers instead of the regulars you have right now.

The upgrade will cost approx. USD 2000 including installation. If interested in Steve doing the job for you, we can put your name on our future install list and contact you as soon as Steve starts arranging another CA trip again...


***please leave the string of mails attached in your reply***

greetingz from the Netherlands,

Wanda Klein Gunnewiek for Steve Krabbenborg

www.MBenzNL.com


*******************************/

CE750

Unless you are an ace MB tech, and know how to remove door panels, hat trays, and rewire major harness parts.. DO NOT do it yourself. It's a lot more involved than just a simple pop out and pop in. You'll wreck the car!

Dean lives in the San Mateo area and works with Steve... he was out here in Phoenix installing my system and knows the W211 inside and out... he can do it for you and best of all, YOU'RE ALREADY IN THE BAY AREA!

don't be a fool... have them do it! (that is unless you're a real ace on car interiors and wiring).

Edude

Thanks for the advice buddy. Two of my friends do own bodyshop in san Francisco, so parting it out will not be a huge problem. but Steve says that installed or shipped the price is the same. So I will take your advice once I'm ready to roll...

Regards...

praveen

hi, i also have a rock bottom audio 20 in my e220 cdi W211. not even a cd changer, i want a high end sys but retaining the originality of the car. eg Bose/HK. Read that the parts would cost 2k. do you have any used ones for less? does my car even have a audio gateway? thanks a million. praveen

KennyDFW

Well, since this is a 2 year old thread - I'll give you a current solution. Ask you local car audio shop about the JL Clean Sweep. It completely neutralizes the factory EQ control from the OEM head unit (which is a big part of what makes it sound like sh*t). You maintain full OEM controls from the steering wheel, etc, and you can then add amps, speakers (I recommend Infinity Kappas or Polk Audio 5.75 components w/ tweeters in the OEM position) - no door or grill mods needed. I added a 400w x4 amp for the system, and a 300w for the sub box in the trunk, and the sound is clean, and LOUD when you want it!

christiaan

hey kenny, how much did it cost without labor??

also, how much did they have to dig to get to do the whole job?? Is this labor intensive?

thanx!

Pekkle

How can you tell if you have the upgrade premium stereo in your car? My car does say Logic 7, but it still sound like crap. I am just not sure if my is premium or none premium?

KennyDFW

They all suck - the HK is crap too. The setup I described above priced out as follows:

JL Clean Sweep - $400
Infinity Kappas - ~$279 a pair
Alpine Amps (forgot the model #'s) - ~$400 for the pair
JL 300w amp for Sub - $229
JL 8" Sub w/ custom built enclosure - $250

I spent just over $2k (including labor) - but this will blow away the HK setup, and I still have full functional controls AND extra inputs for toys.

Call Crutchfield for the parts, and either dig in yourself - or have a local shop do the install.

YMMV of course.....

christiaan

Thanx for the info!. the good thing is that in the future i could allways remove the set up, and put it on any new Mercedes I would purchase....

One question, how much did they have to Strippp down the vehicles inside to install all of this? Did you do this @ dealers?

Also,, the extra inputs for toyz? what would does be? Ipod?

KennyDFW

I had the install done at a local shop - they built a rack mount for the Clean Sweep and amps that is mounted to the back of the rear seat, then the sub box sits in front firing backwards. That said, I didn't see everything they did, but they just had to run a power wire and tap into the head units' harness, and then they connected an iPod cable to the aux in on the clean sweep and ran it to my glove box. They did also have to remove the cig lighter to mount the remote vol/gain control for the Clean Sweep. Volume can be controlled by wheel controls, head unit, or C Sweep knob, but it's best to use your head unit vol as a pre amp - then control master volume w/ CSweep control. The install too about a day and a half, but I'm not sure how busy they were with others.