W202 C280 in Toronto
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C280
W202 C280 in Toronto
Hi everyone. i am new to the group here.
I have owned my 96 C280 for almost 1 year now and it has been treating me great.
The car was purchased through a friend who was getting rid of it. It needed quite a bit of work but is now a reliable daily.
CAR AUDIO - i'm sure this was a great system in the 90s, but with the development of technology to what it is today, the car stereo is very hand when linked to your phone.
My car has a cassette player which I tried to utilize as an auxiliary input. I also tried using FM transmitters, but I was not pleased with the noise heard in both variations.
My reasoning for joining this forum was so I could share my experience, and knowledge I have gained with my fellow W202 owners. After searching, most of the resources concerning W202 / BOSE install were dated, and thus the links were dead.
SO...
one day, i decided to attempt a hack job and installed my old double din deck. It was not a screen deck, but had USB/AUX and bluetooth as well. I've installed enough car stereos on my own to know if I messed up or not. So I got power, but no sound to my speakers. **i'm sure some of you already may know where this is going**
so my car DID have the bose upgraded system. It sounded really nice actually, considering the age, and the fact they were paper cones.
Not knowing what was going on, I learned the issues people encounter with BOSE, and came to my two conclusions.
Purchase a deck that would be compatible with the stock bose amplifier, or install NEW everything.
Well, i already hacked my radio bezel, and the hardware behind it, so there really wasn't any way I could go back...
so guess what i did.....
I made a spontaneous decision of installing new speakers, wires, and my own amp.
This was also not my first attempt at this sort of thing... but this was definitely my first attempt at running wires through the entire car (fishing through the door, and my first at running speakers to the amp.
So I slowly collected material needed for the install (mostly through our local source kijiji.ca).
2x energy 5-1/4 speakers ENC525CV2
2x infinity 3-1/2 speakers
2x Alpine type x components
1x old sub
1x old amp
1x old alpine EQ
As I slowly worked on this, it probably took me a few weeks to finally complete everything. I spent a day to take the speakers out.
This wasn't too bad... but because this was not done in one day - I was audioless for months since the initial removal of the deck.
I also wanted to make a custom dash bezel to accompany my double din... but instead I came across a w210 command bezel for a great deal. I found out the hard way, but these aren't an exact fit. My friend used a table saw to trim it down for me.
I just completed everything including the fitting of the bezel, but my car is a great mess at the moment... so unfortunately pictures will have to follow at a later time.
Thank you for reading.
I have owned my 96 C280 for almost 1 year now and it has been treating me great.
The car was purchased through a friend who was getting rid of it. It needed quite a bit of work but is now a reliable daily.
CAR AUDIO - i'm sure this was a great system in the 90s, but with the development of technology to what it is today, the car stereo is very hand when linked to your phone.
My car has a cassette player which I tried to utilize as an auxiliary input. I also tried using FM transmitters, but I was not pleased with the noise heard in both variations.
My reasoning for joining this forum was so I could share my experience, and knowledge I have gained with my fellow W202 owners. After searching, most of the resources concerning W202 / BOSE install were dated, and thus the links were dead.
SO...
one day, i decided to attempt a hack job and installed my old double din deck. It was not a screen deck, but had USB/AUX and bluetooth as well. I've installed enough car stereos on my own to know if I messed up or not. So I got power, but no sound to my speakers. **i'm sure some of you already may know where this is going**
so my car DID have the bose upgraded system. It sounded really nice actually, considering the age, and the fact they were paper cones.
Not knowing what was going on, I learned the issues people encounter with BOSE, and came to my two conclusions.
Purchase a deck that would be compatible with the stock bose amplifier, or install NEW everything.
Well, i already hacked my radio bezel, and the hardware behind it, so there really wasn't any way I could go back...
so guess what i did.....
I made a spontaneous decision of installing new speakers, wires, and my own amp.
This was also not my first attempt at this sort of thing... but this was definitely my first attempt at running wires through the entire car (fishing through the door, and my first at running speakers to the amp.
So I slowly collected material needed for the install (mostly through our local source kijiji.ca).
2x energy 5-1/4 speakers ENC525CV2
2x infinity 3-1/2 speakers
2x Alpine type x components
1x old sub
1x old amp
1x old alpine EQ
As I slowly worked on this, it probably took me a few weeks to finally complete everything. I spent a day to take the speakers out.
This wasn't too bad... but because this was not done in one day - I was audioless for months since the initial removal of the deck.
I also wanted to make a custom dash bezel to accompany my double din... but instead I came across a w210 command bezel for a great deal. I found out the hard way, but these aren't an exact fit. My friend used a table saw to trim it down for me.
I just completed everything including the fitting of the bezel, but my car is a great mess at the moment... so unfortunately pictures will have to follow at a later time.
Thank you for reading.
