07ML350NNJ

Hi - I am wondering whether anyone has tried this..(sorry for the long intro, the question is toward the bottom).

My 2007 ML350 (USA) is still alive and kicking. It has the HK sound system. I currently have replaced factory radio with a nice Alpine unit and use a Fiber Optic converter. (previously I had converted to an android based head unit, but that got outdated and software kept crashing). The Alpine head unit is working great. However, I sort of miss having control of the fader, etc. which happens when using the fiber optic converter. Meanwhile, the Alpine head unit has nice controls and outputs where you can separately control a subwoofer as well as the front and read left / right speakers. So, I am thinking of installing an amp and bypassing the HK system, but I was interested in re-using the existing speakers. I wasn't too interested in replacing more than the amp because it sounds too expensive.

I do have a wiring harness which came along with the android unit. One one end, it has all the individual wires for each speaker input from the head unit or replacement amp. On the other end is a harness/plug that is designed to be the same as the output of the HK amp - so generally, you would go to the current HK amp and unclip the big set of wires that go to the speakers and then plug that big set of wires into this harness. If you use it, in theory you won't have to run new speaker wires through the car.

Finally the questions ---
Has anyone ever used one of these wiring harnesses? If so, what was your experience?

I am also wondering how to get to the amp to do this. I see on you tube, some people take the entire seat out to get to the HK amp. Others grab a carpet knife and cut into the carpet under the drivers seat... The carpet cutting method seems faster but wouldn't that leave a mess?

If someone has a better method for bypassing the HK amp while still using factory speakers I'd be happy to hear that too.

Thanks

07ML350NNJ

I just got a new idea that might be easier to do than replace the HK amp and re-wire all the speakers. I have a nice Alpine head unit and I am using a fiber optic converter to connect to the HK amp. To (sort of) restore the fader capability, I am thinking that I can still use the rear outputs of the head unit to connect to my fiber optic converter. (The result would be that the HK amp would still be running sound to the read speakers and sub) And then I would just unplug the front speakers in the door (to disconnect them from the HK) and power them with the front outputs of the head unit.

Can anyone provide advice for running wires from the head unit to the door speakers?
Do the connectors in the lower door also connect to the tweeters, or do I have to run a separate wire to the tweeters?
Do they make aftermarket clips to fit the mercedes speakers in the doors (to connect my bare wire speaker wires?
What to do with the front center speaker? Should it sound fine without it?

Thanks

Tsumi

The stock amp is located under the driver seat in a well that's basically identical to the battery compartment under the passenger seat. There is a LOT of room down there; I've contemplated putting in a big sub (12" should fit easily, 15" will involve some creative box design) and replacing the amp. Each speaker set is wired to the amp; it'll be just a matter of figuring out which wire connects to what. Some of my speakers are starting to go out so I might be replacing things in the near future. It'll be a big project for sure though.

https://www.benzworld.org/threads/x1...eeded.3053036/ It's not for our exact cars but should be a very close approximation.

07ML350NNJ

One of the things I don't like about getting to the amp in the 2007 ML350 is that it seems that you have to move the entire seat or cut the carpet. (When I grow up and am president of Mercedes, I will make them put in something that will let a person fold the carpet to the side and remove the plastic cover over the well.)

One thing about replacing the amp in the ML350 is figuring out the amp wiring and making a decision on what amp I'd want to put in. It seems difficult to decide what to do with the rear roof speakers vs rear door speakers vs front center speaker, etc. I don't know how many channels I would want the amp to be. The more channels, the more expense.

At the moment, I have no issues with the amp or my speakers, I am just missing having a real fader control due to the fiber optic converter from my aftermarket head unit. So for now I am going to try the least expensive thing, which is to run about 20 feet of speaker wire from my analog head unit front speaker output to the front speakers, and let the current amp take the rear pre-amp output and do whatever it currently does. (the head unit lets me do a lot of sound shaping stuff separately for channels, so there is a chance I could be happy without spending hardly any money)

To avoid the amp under the seat connections, I am thinking I will try to access the front door speaker wires in the footwell areas on each side of the car, since they are much easier to get to than under the driver seat. I can run speaker wires from the head unit to that area and attach to the current speaker wires (while disconnecting the speakers from the current amp). I think I figured out the wire colors on the wiring diagram, so now I just need to look behind the panels to see if this is feasible.