Greetings all,

Long time lurker here from San Francisco. I'm about to order a 2017 S550 with my dealer and I've got a question. Well, a few.

I've read online reviews of the Burmester system, I'd like to hear from the community about your real-life experience. Is it worth it? I'm hoping some of you are also audiophiles, and if so how does the Burmester system compare with say Meridian, Dali, Dynaudio, etc? Another reason is .... what better venue to ask this question, because we S/7 owners tend to have similar tastes when it comes to many things in life

Or is the standard sound good enough from your perspective? Your input would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Ronnie

Balance the upgraded stereo with the loss of (already small) trunk space if that matters to you

Search the forums, people posted pictures

You'll also lose your eyeglass holder. For me, it wasn't worth the money. I usually listen to news radio stations. I enjoy looking at the front speakers surrounded by LEDs. 😊 My car just happened to have it. I bought it off the lot.

It is worth every penny, and then some.

Further, I have the B&O upgrade on my GL63, and it cannot compare to the Burmester Upgrade.

I regret not adding the 3D Burmester to my build. I wanted it, but my salesperson & my wife talked me out of it.

Do it.

Better idea

Take your music to a dealer and sit in both cabins

I will say this if you like music...
It's a no brainer...
When I went to trade assistance my s63 (basically stop lemon law litigation)
The only two NON NEGOTIABLE ITEMS were 3D high end... & peeling interior...
Which is how I ended up with a s600 maybach.... Lol....
Worth every penny...

This is a subjective question so you are going to get opinions on each side and each person will swear by their decision.


I could have gone either way. On my '14 S550 4matic I did not have the 3D system. When I was faced with having to purchase another S Class due to totaling the '14 in an auto accident, I order every item on my '16 S550 4matic except the 3D sound system and the refrigerator--by the way I love the back seat tray tables as I use my car for business. I listened to both the standard system (which is absolutely amazing) and the 3D system (which also is absolutely amazing). I simply could not justify the $6400 but that is my opinion.

My S550 does not have it, even though I shopped for the most built s550 on a dealer lot at the time. That said, if I were placing a custom order, where I could put everything to my liking, I would definitely include 3D sound. I love Burmester audio in general, and having an even more upgraded sound system, would be totally so cool.

I have it in my S63 sedan and S63 coupe and it's worth the cost

The difference between Burmester and other brands I'm heard, including B&O, is like night and day. Burmester is far superior. I love the Burmester system in my S550 and would probably order the 3D upgrade from the reviews I've read. The B&O in my SL550 is way below what I expected, it only sounds good with a special audio DVD, as the rear speaker only works when using the DVD, go figure. I'm bringing the car to an audio shop in an attempt to get the rear speaker to work all the time.

I have it. It's amazing. I was comparing several different cars/brands. I test drove a 550 with the 3D, and couldn't imagine having a car without it.

6000$.

You need to look at the threads here. You guys are just Crazy.

https://w205audio.wordpress.com/

It's a surround speaker stein. So if it's not in the source material it's not going to play on your rear ...

Burmester doesn't make car audio. They source it. They are a home audio relic.

They just design these speakers systems from China. Whatever that means.

Burmester does have a great laser etched grill but I don't think they make that either.@@...

I can't imagine why you had these impressions......

yes, correct, I'm bringing it in to a stereo shop, they can access MB schematics and try to run the rear speaker on a front channel, its sounds monotone with just the front sound

Interesting article, not surprising though, given how cost conscience auto makers are. BTW that article is evaluating a Burmester in a C class.

Regardless, the Burmester stereo in my S550 sounds AMAZING, by far the best car stereo I have ever heard. I don't care what is behind the speaker grills

You might want to check this youtube video out. I remember looking at this when I first purchased my '14 S550 in late 2013. Dieter Burmester was contracted to build the Burmester sound system in the S Class.

I wondered reading that article if you can conclude the same for all the systems in all the cars. I would be very interested to see someone take apart the premium system in the 550 and confirm or refute this.

Running a custom audio system on a S Class is difficult. Even on the E63, I think people were having so much of a problem that they only did some speakers due to the amount of time it would take to complete.
Also, on topic, I wouldn't get the system for 6000 dollars+. It's £6,430 here and I would not pay that much for it. On a S63, maybe, but not a S350 or S500(equivalent to your S550). I didn't even have Burmester at the start but I detested every moment in the car, so I went with Burmester, but due to retrofitting it wasn't up to the quality of a factory install so I only settled for it when some 3D parts were added. If you have the money for it, I would heavily recommend you to go for it.

Maybe you don't have much of an imagination.

How long do you keep a car? They don't add much resale value so the $6400 gets pretty much all amortized over the first owner. Dave

You are factually correct.


But let's be real


If we look at automobiles this way, I would be driving the car my son drives--a 2000 e320 4matic with 123,000 mile on it that I might be able to sell for a couple of thousand on a good day. Point is I am a numbers guy but when I buy an S Class I am less worried about the depreciation/resale than simply just buying the car I want. I ordered everything on my '16 S550 4matic except the 3D Burmester and the refrigerator. To say I never thought about the $6400 disappearing in "thin air" would not be correct. But with spending the kind of money one spends on an S class I simply listened to both sound systems and the difference in sound was just not worth it to me since if it was I would have spent the extra $6400 and jumped my MSRP from $137k to $143k. Bottom line--all cars are a waste of money. One just needs to decide how much they are going to throw away on cars based on ones financial circumstances.