I have an 03 E500 and upgraded from the stock subwoofer. First I had 2 12" but there was crazy rattling on the rear deck. Since the subs I used weren't too great I assumed that was the problem...my amp was too powerful for the cheap subs. Now I have 2 15" subs that are decent (kicker solobarics L5) and I know that my amp can handle these because I had a similar setup on my Lexus. But still the sound isn't that great. Do I have to remove the factory sub or is there a port I can make in the rear deck to put more sound through? These subs hit so hard that on the outside it makes my rear windshield flex and my roof shakes violently. However on the inside it doesn't hit as hard. I was wondering if there was a better way to add subs in a w211 while maintaing really good sound w/o too much vibration, even at low volume. Thanks for your help.

I'm getting ready to upgrade my woofers as well, what method did you use? regular LOC's or did you go with a cleansweep type of box? I'm thinking about going with RF 3sixty.1 because it has the bluetooth and internal summing.

My guess would be that the subs are not getting through the sound dampening that well. I would certainly take out the factory sub, it could be making some noise from the soundwaves. I would also experiment with the direction of the subs. Some cars prefer them to face into the cabin or back seat, some the trunk...

I just disconnected the stock sub and added a box to the trunk. Sealed box by the way..maybe bandpass might be better?

I agree...as far as the direction of the subs...my box can only go in one way. lol. it's too big...i didn't realize that a box for the 15" subs was so much greater than the 12"

I have a pair of JL Audio 12" subs,and an Alpine sub amp in my trunk. The sound is exceptional,and most times, the bass control is at half way or less. The rattle is annoying ,but is only heard from the outside. I have some solutions for that as well: I'm going to put some foam behind my license plate,and get something called Damplifier to deaden the vibration in the trunk. I hear it's a great fix for what you and I need. Good Luck with your project..

Would you guys know where the OEM sub is located? And what size it it?

And wondering whether to upgrade that OEM sub itself, help to tighten up the bass response? Typically OEM speakers are pretty low grade quality.

yea let me know where you can get the damplifier...i really really need! I have 1600W rms going to the 2 15"s.

if you open the trunk and look right under the rear deck lid, you'll see it. i know people have replaced that sub with another 10" but i don't know how. i'm assuming to have to take everything apart in the rear including the seats. not too sure though

You can also use a product called dynamat...http://www.dynamat.com/products_car_...trunk_kit.html

ko123an: Did you use the existing wires from your old sub to convert into RCA's? On another note, we are sure lucky the car battery is located in the trunk...

Not sure if this helps anyone but I found this picture on another site that shows the 12 speaker locations and electronics for the H/K sound system.

Check out the Reus system in socal. Their reputation on high end cars is excellent and they fly their own techs all over for installations. call and talk to Rick or Cliff.

I went with the 3sixty and I love it!

I saw dynamat when looking for solutions,and realized that damplifier does the same thing for half the price...

My car had/has a sub???? You couldn't tell,I get more bass from my clock radio...

I used a hi-lo converter. also i had a problem with the power dimming my lights. instead of using the usual 1.5 farad digital capacitor i got a 12.1 farad cap and it still dims. lol.....man i shouldn't have messed with the stock sub in the first place. hahaha. oh and yea we lucky the battery in trunk.

Where did you tap in for the remote power?

I just finished installing my JL 500/1 with 2 12" Kicker Solobaric L5's. Sounds pretty good despite using only a hi-lo converter. I tapped the remote power from the fuse box in the trunk - hope that helps.

does it sound clean from inside the cabin? what about the outside?

Not sure how some of you have the fuse box in the trunk but my 04 doesn't have the darn fuse box back there. What I ended up buying is a PAC LOC with a signal trigger.

I'm fortunate to have the ski rack and fold down rear seats, I remove my ski bags and just open up the arm rest and show the access hole to the trunk.

It's night and day difference when the rear arm rest is open vs closed. For those that doesn't have it, removing the sub will allow much more sound into the cabin like you wouldn't even believe.

I'm just using a single 12 Eclipse Aluminum with a Soundstream 1002. I'm looking to get a 10w6v2 or something smaller cause the 12" box is a couple of inch to deep for me to access my spare.

From inside the cabin it sounds good. I suspect that if I created a port in the rear decklid it would sound even better.

My fuse box was located to the right of the DVD/Nav player

Another way of making a port for the subwoofer without removing part of your back deck??