SUPR C

Guys,

My dad's 92 300SE's stock cassette radio is not working. We looked into after market replacemets (i.e. Alpine) and found it very difficult to setup as far as wiring and due to stock amp. So, we dicided to either just replace the radio with a same MB unit or a later model's with CD. My question is, do you guys know which model and year's headunit will work in this car? I am from the C32 forum, and know all there is to know about my car, but not much about the W140. Potomac German Auto is close by, I can pickup pretty much any headunit..

Thanks,

NZ_Benz

Any stereo will work thing is with these W140 cars that the origional head units had some in the head unit and some in the boot and some under the back seat with all the parts working together, why you would not simply mount it all in the dash or in the boot is beyond me. Anyway you can replace with any headunit but you'll just have to run new wires to all the speakers etc.

Peter Guenther

The radio is a two piece affair, the tuner sits in the trunk at the base of the drivers side rear wheel. The front portion is the cassette and control, and the dreaded "amp" is on top of the rear wheel. It changed to a one piece in 95.
http://www.mercedesradiorepair.com/
http://www.carstereohelp.com/strmercedes.htm
This should answer some questions, changing out the system is not a feasable option

Peter Guenther

The 140 version in the US had the two piece radio, three if you had the CD, and a seven channel "bose" amp driving 11 speakers. The front to rear is controlled by the fader on the console thru the "bose". some of the speakers are 2 ohm with two in series on the back deck. The rewiring is a nightmare, since the wires are integrated into the looms, doable yes but a major project. In 95/6 the radio was replaced with a one piece unit the manual shows a cable adapter and antenna routing, the "bose" was changed.
Becker indicates that there is a radio that will fit the configuration and has CD (1), but it was pricey last time I checked. Becker and others provide repair service for this radio!

SUPR C

Thanks alot guys, from the looks of it the easiest and the simpliest way would be to either change the radio with the same unit or repair it. I'll also look into the becker unit as well.

NZ_Benz

Yea but there's no reason why you would have to remove the old wires just disconnect them, then just run new leads.

Peter Guenther

I value your comments NZ_Benz, If you have done it I respect your skills!

NZ_Benz

Me no way I would not even try, I had a shop do it, all the old wires are still in there basicly what it consists of is removing the head unit and stacker in the boot mounting a new unit, removing the door pannels and wiring it in, if you want to run a stacker in the boot you remove the head lining and run the cable through there so you don't have to deal with the massive wiring loom down the left hand side of the car, I decied rather than adding a stacker that I would just get a head unit that would take a USB connection to my iPod.

Just as a side note, the bose system is very good, I would try to keep it as for me the most PITA thing about the whole project was finding a stereo that looked ok with my interior, too many are all silver and neon glows for my liking.