I have mentioned in the past that I was working on installing my amateur radio transceiver in the S550. Unlike my prior cars, I decided that I was not about to try to run the cables myself. I have had a few requests for information on doing this so I am posting some pictures of the process here.

First, the radio. I am having installed an Icom 5100H 2m/440 radio in the S550. This radio mounts in the trunk but it has a remote faceplate that goes in the front of the car. It also has a speaker mounted in the cabin and a microphone. The control head and microphone in the cabin are connected to the unit in the turn via CAT6A Shielded cables with shielded couplers. The extra shielding is overkill but with the number of electronic systems in this car, an abundance of caution was warranted to minimize RF noise creeping into the cables.

Having contracted Blvd Customs in Clearwater, Florida to do the install, we worked out a plan and I stopped down today to confirm placement of everything. While I was there, they had the trunk all apart and the engineering was just amazing. This car looks great from the outside but when you pull the covers back, you can really appreciate Mercedes Engineering.

Attached are some pictures I took of the trunk area uncovered.

In one of the pictures you can see some red cables going into a distribution panel. That is where the fridge would hook up if I had one and it is the perfect place to get power (13 amps is max draw of the radio).

They are running the cables into the cabin past the rear seat and down through the channel. Then, the wires head up under the dash. The external speaker for the radio get mounted above the passenger footwell.

I will include more pictures of that when I pick it up tomorrow.

If I may preemptively answer a few questions...

First, why? Because radio is a hobby and I like to do it including talking to others from my car. Put another way, the same reasons one climbs mountains.

Next, ham radio is NOT CB. More info is available here if you are interested: http://www.arrl.org/what-is-ham-radio

Finally, no warranty issues as Mercedes actually tests running two-way radios in their cars. The online owner's manual actually has power limits and antenna placement information just for this purpose. I was very impressed with how well MB tested things.

In the first picture, the metal bracket is where the fridge would go if I had one. On the third picture (with the spring in the top), that spring is used as a counterforce to the trunk closing. For reference, the fuse box under the spring is the one you can access on the right side of the trunk by the black netting.

 

Thank you, Tom. This information (and especially the pictures) will be very helpful to me when I install my 2 way communications (probably a motorola apx6500 trunked 700mhz system for emergency services use). I look forward to pictures of the completed install. BTW, where in the online owners manual is the radio information?

 

Tom, thanks for sharing. I know nothing about ham radio but it's great to hear about the fantastic MB engineering.

 

Thanks for letting me know about ham radio . I have learned something new and you did an awesome job without messing up your car's electronic systems at all

 

More install pictures



Above is the radio faceplate mounted.





Antenna on trunk





Radio main unit in tray underneath trunk cover





Microphone plug in the ashtray. The cig lighter plug was a casualty but I don't use that. The mic plug comes out of the bottom of ashtray so it stays closed normally.



Bracket before it was painted and textured.

Note I realize some will think I lost my mind to install this but it's an "eye of the beholder" thing. Sort of like the trim kits people use but I hope not that bad.

If anyone else wants to install a VHF or UHF radio in an S550, this is one way to do it.

Also, if you need any custom installations in the Tampa Bay Area, I highly recommend Blvd Customs in Clearwater, FL. They were very creative with install. It took two days to do.

 

That looks very nice!

I haven't had a ham radio in my vehicle in almost a decade. I am just afraid of damaging anything.
73

 

Everything can be removed with no sign of the install. On this car, I let the pros install it. I wasn't about to tear it apart like they did.

 

Great pictures!

How did they attach the head unit bracket to the console? Glue? Velcro? Screws? Or something else?

Can you upload a picture of the finished bracket/ head unit from the passenger side?

 

I just have a Yaesu VX-8DR hand held in the glove compartment of all my cars for emergency use mainly. but cool setup.

 

To answer m3422c's question, the bracket that the installers fabricated is attached under the console and hooks around. It is also glued with removable adhesive (but that is not necessary). The radio has an AMPS pattern on its mount which matches to the bracket. I should also add that the bracket can be removed with no trace it was ever there—not that I'm that concerned about that for the next guy years from now.

Here is a picture of the head unit and bracket from the passenger side. It blends in pretty well so look closely.

 

Beautiful!

Thank You.

 

Tom,

I appreciate the timeliness of this post. I'm about to take delivery of an E350 and I've been mulling how to put a 2m/440cm rig in it. I'd never have considered a professional audio installer to do it but I see the benefit. How did you come to select your installer?

I'm also curious about the antenna you have. Does the mount damage the paint? Is the trunk lid metal?

Thanks for the info in this thread.

73

 

I selected the installer based on reputation, their website and my detailer also knew them very well. I took the radio and wet to the shop and had a conversation with the project manager. Based on the conversation and his independent research after, it was clear he was genuinely interested in engineering a good solution. He was willing to learn about other things. He also had experience with marine installations and K40 hidden alarm stems (which is a very similar "Hide-the-wire" process from the trunk to the cabin). If you find a shop that has those attributes/experience, you should be good.

I use a Diamond medium-duty mount which has a rubber pad on the paint side. No paint damage although after 7 years, it might discolor some. I plan on removing it once or twice a year to check on it. The install process was not cheap ($1200 with the custom bracket) but it was done very well.

For your information, the way they fished the wires was past the rear passenger side towards the top. That seems to be a common point as that is where I fished the wires on my Lexus. Then, down the floor channels and up under the dash. I think I mentioned the speaker is under the dash by the passenger side. All the wire was run in split-loom tubing and the power went directly to the battery. The E350 has the battery in the front if I recall so you may have to deal with that.

 

It's been almost 2 years since the install. Two questions:

What would you do differently?

How has the lip mount antenna worked out?

Nice post. I found it just last week.

 

Hi. I would not change a single thing. It just works. I do change antennas from time to time but that is based on my operating habits. If I am staying local, I use a smaller antenna for local repeaters. If I travel away from home, I will put a longer 2m/440 antenna on there.

The Icom 5100 with the custom faceplate has worked great. The mic cable in the spot where the cig. lighter was works great.

As far as maintenance, I do check to make sure the coax connector into the rig is tight in case of vibration. I check that once every 6 months and it has yet to be lose. I will also make sure the antenna is tight. but again, I have not had to adjust it at all.

One thing I do suggest if you change antennas is to be extra diligent when you screw the antennas into the SO239 mount. I always keep one hand on the antenna and one to screw it into the base. I would not want the antenna to fall while I was screwing it in. My car is 2 years old and doesn't have a scratch on it. It's those type of little things that make sure accidents don't happen.

As far as operating, when I operate on high power, I have never had any electrical issue. As the current for the radio goes through the ECO Start controller (like any accessory versus direct to the battery), this ensures the load is factored into if the car will start up again. I mention that as we are always trained to install two-way radios directly to the battery but that bypasses the start-stop logic. It is safer to tap into a controlled source of power. I hope I made sense with that one

Good luck.

Tom

 

Hi Tom,
Would you drop me an email. Doug@douglynch.org I'm about to try something similar in my 2014 E350 Sport. I'd like to discuss your install. Did you go to the starter battery or the aux battery? I don't find an online manual for my E350 that talks about communications radio installs. Still looking and will check with the dealer tomorrow. I'm likely going the mag mount route, but I'd like to find a single roof rack tower and mount that at the left rear point. I'm going to put in a 12 Ah LiFePo battery and an Epic Power Gate to power the radio with the ignition off. I'm going to see if MB recommends anywhere to pull 15 amps on a switched circuit, if not, guess I'll run direct like the other cars. Like you, I don't want to mess with the electrical system, too much that can get fried.

Thanks,
Doug@douglynch.org
478-318-2655