2016 E220 Bluetec JL Audio Sub+Amp install
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2016 E220 Bluetec JL Audio Sub+Amp install Help
Hi all
Unless I missed something while going through the threads searching for answers I’ve noticed most posts are of w212s are of none Bluetec and of vehicles with a factory HK set up or Logic 7 and I would appreciate if you guys/girls can maybe help me with my install.
So my last install was around 15years ago hence why the rustiness. I have the Blutec version which has a tank in the space of the spare wheel to hold goat urine according to me also doesn’t come with HK so no amp to tap into.
I have purchased the JL 10 3W3-2 along with JL JD500/1. The enclosure will be sealed and amp will be mounted to the parcel shelf deck.
Questions are, can I run the power from the auxiliary battery in the rear or best to pull it from the main battery?
Secondly, the amps specifications state that it does not require a line out converter and because my car isn’t HK equipped am I good to tap into the stock woofer to feed into the amp?
Any input will be helpful as I mentioned I’m a little rusty lol
thank you.
Unless I missed something while going through the threads searching for answers I’ve noticed most posts are of w212s are of none Bluetec and of vehicles with a factory HK set up or Logic 7 and I would appreciate if you guys/girls can maybe help me with my install.
So my last install was around 15years ago hence why the rustiness. I have the Blutec version which has a tank in the space of the spare wheel to hold goat urine according to me also doesn’t come with HK so no amp to tap into.
I have purchased the JL 10 3W3-2 along with JL JD500/1. The enclosure will be sealed and amp will be mounted to the parcel shelf deck.
Questions are, can I run the power from the auxiliary battery in the rear or best to pull it from the main battery?
Secondly, the amps specifications state that it does not require a line out converter and because my car isn’t HK equipped am I good to tap into the stock woofer to feed into the amp?
Any input will be helpful as I mentioned I’m a little rusty lol
thank you.
Last edited by r12nut; Jan 3, 2021 at 05:03 PM.
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I'd need to see the wiring diagrams for your version to even hazard a guess, and I don't have any W212 wiring diagrams, just W124 (late 80s, early 90s E class), and those are US model only.
no way of knowing if the existing subwoofer output has any equalization on it tuned for the factory sub, which likely would be sub-optimal for an aftermarket sub.
no way of knowing if the existing subwoofer output has any equalization on it tuned for the factory sub, which likely would be sub-optimal for an aftermarket sub.
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good luck... I tink you need a WIS subscription, which is $$$$$
or a bootleg WIS which is delivered as a virtualbox VM running a snapshot of the database (real WIS is online). warning those bootlegs are often unstable and/or crashhappy.
or a bootleg WIS which is delivered as a virtualbox VM running a snapshot of the database (real WIS is online). warning those bootlegs are often unstable and/or crashhappy.
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I did call Mercedes and apparently it’s against their Ts&Cs to give out diagrams.
That’s a first for me even the receptionist was amazed.
Love driving the cars but they have some issues when it comes to customer satisfaction.
I guess I will just have to figure things out myself.
Will update as I do and hopefully will be of help to anyone in my shoes.
That’s a first for me even the receptionist was amazed.
Love driving the cars but they have some issues when it comes to customer satisfaction.
I guess I will just have to figure things out myself.
Will update as I do and hopefully will be of help to anyone in my shoes.
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E220 bluetec, basic audio set up with no speakers in the rear deck. So I need to tap into rear door speaker to take to the aftermarket amp but this is where I’m confused. Rear doors both have a mid/woofer driver and a tweeter. The tweeters both have a separate connection going to them but thw mids/woofers have a connection with 4 purple wires going into them. Now I understand that these are 2 negatives and 2 positives, 1 for the highs for mid frequency and 1 low for lower frequency. The problem is I don’t know how to figure out which is which?
any help would be highly appreciated.
any help would be highly appreciated.
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From: 122W, 37N
2016 E350 4Matic wagon, 2019 Ford Expedition, 2019 Chevy Bolt EV
E220 bluetec, basic audio set up with no speakers in the rear deck. So I need to tap into rear door speaker to take to the aftermarket amp but this is where I’m confused. Rear doors both have a mid/woofer driver and a tweeter. The tweeters both have a separate connection going to them but thw mids/woofers have a connection with 4 purple wires going into them. Now I understand that these are 2 negatives and 2 positives, 1 for the highs for mid frequency and 1 low for lower frequency. The problem is I don’t know how to figure out which is which?
any help would be highly appreciated.
any help would be highly appreciated.
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I took off the lower b pillar plastics to gain access to the harness which goes into the door. I located the speaker wires, twisted white and white with brown stripe. So the connection is split to 4 purple wires on the door side of the harness. And so I will just tap into the whites.
thanks
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Managed to feed the power cable earlier today. After going through forum’s on the best possible place to feed the cable I chose to go through behind the battery. I located the grommet under the passenger footwell which already had an 8awg through it. My only concerns were taking the battery out which might play with the cars settings. So I resulted to what I used to do back in the 90s. Grabbed a metal rod hanger, fed it through the hole from the footwell then tied the power cable to the thin rod and pulled it slowly from the footwell. Job done and didn’t have to touch the battery. Pic to follow.
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Decided to mount the amp to the rear seat. Power wire run under the plastic behind the seat with the Kicker kisl speaker to rca connection and any excess cables. Grounded to ofside rear luggage anchor under the carpet.
Box made by Visual ice can not recommend him enough! Wire fed under the carpet then under the rear plastic and under the carpet again ofside panal to the amp. To be honest it wasn’t a tough job just needed to get my hands on it and glad I did it myself. Did at a point get quotes to get it done and was being given silly prices. Happy with the chosen set up and does what I need it to do.
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2016 E350 4Matic Sport
So how does everything sound? I was in similar shoes to you with my W205 in that I had to tap into the left and right door speakers for a signal. Fortunately, I have the HK system in my W212 so it was a little easier. However, I have my amp hooked up directly to the aux battery in the truck and have had it that way for the better part of a year. No issues so far, I just try to not let the amp draw power when the car is not on.
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So how does everything sound? I was in similar shoes to you with my W205 in that I had to tap into the left and right door speakers for a signal. Fortunately, I have the HK system in my W212 so it was a little easier. However, I have my amp hooked up directly to the aux battery in the truck and have had it that way for the better part of a year. No issues so far, I just try to not let the amp draw power when the car is not on.
Could do with upgrading the door speakers to now match the sub and as I’m not interested in a dedicated amp for the doors I might just go with the JL audio c1 components set up.
I considered sourcing the power from the auxiliary battery aswell but settled with a desiccated power lead from the main battery and with the Rockford Fosgate rfk4 the amp is still getting over 14volts so happy with that.
Did you hook it up directly to the aux battery or to the power supply point from the alternator?
What’s you’re set up in the W212?
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2016 E350 4Matic Sport
Gotcha, thats great that you got it hooked up. I hooked mine up directly the aux battery.
So in my setup, my car has the logic7 Harman Kardon system. I hooked up a JL ported 8inch subwoofer and JL XD300 monoblock amplifier. I tapped into the low-level signal from the original subwoofer in the deck and rerouted it to the JL. I found that there is definitely a difference in sound level between the low level/preamp signal and the high level, after the OEM subwoofer amplifier. I really like this setup, however, I've found that the logic7 amp definitely tappers the bass off when the sound is high on bass-heavy songs. I don't really care however, as I 90% of the time it sounds great and balanced.
Everything else is stock (i.e., door speakers, tweeters, etc) however I added foam baffles around the 6.5 inch speakers in the doors and additional sound deadening material. This alone, made a dramatic difference in sound quality. I originally wanted to replace the door speakers with JL C1's (like you) however on the H/K, the speakers are 2 ohms and the C1s are 4 ohms. I'm not sure if this is the same with the base system, however you may want to check this as you could potentially be getting worse/weaker sound if you match 4ohm with 2ohm (I apologize if you already know this, I did not and had to figure it out on my own, so thought I'd repeat in case it helps anyone else). My unsolicited suggestion for you is to try the foam baffle and sound deadening treatment first before upgrading the speakers as you might be surprised with how much better the OEM speakers sound when the acoustic environment is improved. I know it is very tempting to switch those speakers out, however.
So in my setup, my car has the logic7 Harman Kardon system. I hooked up a JL ported 8inch subwoofer and JL XD300 monoblock amplifier. I tapped into the low-level signal from the original subwoofer in the deck and rerouted it to the JL. I found that there is definitely a difference in sound level between the low level/preamp signal and the high level, after the OEM subwoofer amplifier. I really like this setup, however, I've found that the logic7 amp definitely tappers the bass off when the sound is high on bass-heavy songs. I don't really care however, as I 90% of the time it sounds great and balanced.
Everything else is stock (i.e., door speakers, tweeters, etc) however I added foam baffles around the 6.5 inch speakers in the doors and additional sound deadening material. This alone, made a dramatic difference in sound quality. I originally wanted to replace the door speakers with JL C1's (like you) however on the H/K, the speakers are 2 ohms and the C1s are 4 ohms. I'm not sure if this is the same with the base system, however you may want to check this as you could potentially be getting worse/weaker sound if you match 4ohm with 2ohm (I apologize if you already know this, I did not and had to figure it out on my own, so thought I'd repeat in case it helps anyone else). My unsolicited suggestion for you is to try the foam baffle and sound deadening treatment first before upgrading the speakers as you might be surprised with how much better the OEM speakers sound when the acoustic environment is improved. I know it is very tempting to switch those speakers out, however.
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That’s some very good advice thank you.
From wizzing through forums my door speakers might be 4ohm but with how decent they sound there is a possibility of them being 2ohm. I guess I’ll just have to use the multimeter and figure it out.
Yes I’m also thinking of speaker rings and deadening the doors and will only upgrade the speakers if the ohms match. I have heard the c1s on a friends car and they are exceptionally good for the price point so if I can’t get them and or experience some speakers as good I won’t be upgrading.
By the way, do you have any advice on breaking in a sub, is it necessary? On my previous installs yesrs ago I would hook it all up, all **** to the right and crank it up without blowing anything up.
From wizzing through forums my door speakers might be 4ohm but with how decent they sound there is a possibility of them being 2ohm. I guess I’ll just have to use the multimeter and figure it out.
Yes I’m also thinking of speaker rings and deadening the doors and will only upgrade the speakers if the ohms match. I have heard the c1s on a friends car and they are exceptionally good for the price point so if I can’t get them and or experience some speakers as good I won’t be upgrading.
By the way, do you have any advice on breaking in a sub, is it necessary? On my previous installs yesrs ago I would hook it all up, all **** to the right and crank it up without blowing anything up.
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speaker impedance isn't quite the same as DC resistance. to measure it correctly, apply an audio signal of, say, 1 Volt RMS at say 1KHz (or 100Hz for a woofer), and measure the AC current
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So my door speakers are 4ohm and can be replaced with the C1s but not quite ready to take that step yet.
I have had to do further work to my set up to improve it and here are my findings and solutions.
Issue number 1
The JD amps take speaker level inputs which it converts to low level for sub application. It accepts upto 4volts low level and upto 8volts high level. My speaker voltage was spitting almost 12volts and that to me is asking the amp to go wrong.
Issue number 2
Because I’m using speaker level input using some rca ends, the comand EQ has full control of the sub so if I take the bass down, the sub bass goes down with it drastically. This was obviously going to happen but wasn’t completely happy with how mush bass it took away from the sub.
My solution
I needed to lower the voltage going into the amp so getting a LOC was obvious now and so invested into a LC2i. By installing a LC2i I have corrected the voltage issue but also have better control over the sub. It sounds much better then it did before the LC2i and doesn’t take away as much bass from the sub so happy day’s.
I’ve also taken the rear deck cover off which revealed a very thick layer of foam I guess was placed there to keep away sounds from coming into the cabin. So I cut holes into the foam around the existing OEM sub cut out and that too has improved the the overall feel of the bass. Have also made an attempt in making an amp rack for the amp and LC2i just waiting on the glue to arrive in the post so I can carpet it. Will post a few pictures once it’s done.
I have had to do further work to my set up to improve it and here are my findings and solutions.
Issue number 1
The JD amps take speaker level inputs which it converts to low level for sub application. It accepts upto 4volts low level and upto 8volts high level. My speaker voltage was spitting almost 12volts and that to me is asking the amp to go wrong.
Issue number 2
Because I’m using speaker level input using some rca ends, the comand EQ has full control of the sub so if I take the bass down, the sub bass goes down with it drastically. This was obviously going to happen but wasn’t completely happy with how mush bass it took away from the sub.
My solution
I needed to lower the voltage going into the amp so getting a LOC was obvious now and so invested into a LC2i. By installing a LC2i I have corrected the voltage issue but also have better control over the sub. It sounds much better then it did before the LC2i and doesn’t take away as much bass from the sub so happy day’s.
I’ve also taken the rear deck cover off which revealed a very thick layer of foam I guess was placed there to keep away sounds from coming into the cabin. So I cut holes into the foam around the existing OEM sub cut out and that too has improved the the overall feel of the bass. Have also made an attempt in making an amp rack for the amp and LC2i just waiting on the glue to arrive in the post so I can carpet it. Will post a few pictures once it’s done.
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take the high level voltage and hook it across a 75 and 25 ohm resistor hooked in series (so 100 ohm total). hook the JD amp across the 25 ohm, and the voltage it sees will be 1/4 of the input. Those will need to be 5 watt resistors (12V / 100 ohm is 0.12 amps, and 12V at 0.12 amps is 1.4 watts, so 5 watts is a safe size)
