Kimo127

I read a hell of a lot of threads about the problems everyone is having when they mess with their stereos. I'm not rich and do need a new stereo and was going to do it myself until I read all the problems people have with their systems. I have a 2008 Mercedes E350 and just want to put in a new stereo system that will include a new head unit , new speakers, new amp, new sub and everything else needed to make it sound loud and clean. I want everything to work and seamless interface so I can use steering wheel controls and just have a good sound system. Has anyone completely changed out their system with excellent results? I'm budgeting about $500 - $800 for the head unit. $800 for Amps, and $800 for speakers or any combination that gets me a system for about $2,500 which is all the money in the world I have, but since I may be broke and living in my car after this at least it will sound good.

Sandygear

For $2500, you can get a fully installed system at a local audio shop.

I installed my aftermarket system myself. Is recommended a head unit that has wireless Android auto and apple car play. For door speakers, get components, this means separate mid and tweeter.

Enfig made my install so much easier. Would recommend.

https://shop.enfigcarstereo.com/merc...tion-products/

Let me know if you need any advice.

VivaJ73

I am looking at the ATOTO A6 head unit. Pretty good price (240$ incl reverse cam on Amazon) and reviews. And there are frames in the market that would fit without loosing the CD changer or secret compartment.
Personally I don't care too much about concert hall volume and sound quality but perhaps you can add amps and speakers to it?

flbiggs

I’ve done it twice and found it easy (but it does require a good understanding of how things work plus soldering and mechanical and electrical skill).

In my case both w211s had the optical most network instead of speaker wires. I used an aftermarket optical decoder box to interface into that system so I could avoid dealing with speaker wires and could use the stock Harmon kardon amp. I took the cd player and nav systems out and added fiber loops to keep the network connected

The most network must be reconfigured with a good scanner. I was getting random noises from time to time until I realized that reconfiguration is required after removing old obsolete components. My scanner had that ability.

if you don’t have fiber then the speaker wire installation should be traditional and straightforward.

A separate decoder box is also readily available to tie the stereo into a w211 can system. A bus for the can system is under the glove box That lets the Android communicate with the car for steering wheel controls among other things.

i had to run a few cables to the trunk (antenna wire, gps antenna, backup camera).

I recommend the Ekiy t900 that is specifically made for the w211. It fits and looks really good. It sounds amazing through my Harmon kardon stock amp (but note that since I am using pre outs only to power the stock amp). So I cannot speak to the quality of the amp built into the ekiy

I think I paid $375 for the ekiy with decoder boxes, front and rear cameras and other adds. I had to buy a few cables separately but not much.

Those are my experiences and I hope they help.

SwedeE55

How was your MOST ring configured after reconfiguration? Is the fiber adapter recognized as the comand unit or did you remove all devices in the configuration?

I have AGW -> Comand -> CD -> Phone -> Nav configured today but get no sound at all when connecting the fiber converter directly to the AGW.

flbiggs

I am at work now, but I will take a picture of my configuration for you as soon as I can. As I recall, the amplifier on my system is the AGW (most gateway). I left that alone. The fiber decoder slipped in under the #2 slot (Comand). It was a plug and play replacement for me that did not need reconfiguration. I deleted the CD and the NAV physically and in the configuration. I added fiber loop connectors from Amazon ( ) to keep the daisy chain unbroken (absolute necessity to have an unbroken daisy chain). A few things remain alive on the network, and I will send a pic so you can see all.

The MOST network also has a redundant/backup wake up wire that went to the COMAND unit. I did not reconnect that to anything.

One reason the Ekiy t900 for w211 is so great because it allows you to remove the entire CD player that was under the prior head unit while still housing the necessary buttons. That frees up a ton of space under the head unit for decoder boxes, wire bundles, and USB connectors/chargers. That to me is very elegant.

I suggest maybe checking the entire daisy chain in the MOST system for optical breaks/continuity. My system worked flawlessly even without reconfiguring the MOST network. But, the lack of configuration caused some noises and odd behavior intermittently.

It would be really helpful to the community, I think, to come up with a list of best practices for people to use when preserving their MOST system and Harmon Kardon amp. I'm glad to contribute.

flbiggs

Hers is what my config looks like when I probe the agw:




I am not an expert at all. But if I were to troubleshoot your no sound issue I would:

1. scan the audio module for errors
2. Pull and check the most configuration and make sure what is there aligned with what is registered
3. Use a known good preamp out and test that the audio signal is playing through the rca cables before plugging them into the optical decoder. A line level signal from the audio source or android is not right and may not work at all.