SL55/63/65/R230 AMG: SL55 audio advise
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 18
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Sl55
SL55 audio advise
I'm in the process of wanting to upgrade/replace my Bose system as I need a more up to date set up for my Sl55 2003.
I would like to have a good sound system, Bluetooth, dab radio, phone, reverse camera, ipod connectivity, sat Nav, cd, etc.
So here is were I'm confused.
How many speakers and types are there. So far I think I have established that there are two speakers per door, rear speakers, centre speaker and sub woofer.
1) is this correct and if so what sizes, wattage and ohms are they?
2) if I replace the door speakers with component system, what do you recommend.
3) amplifier to run new door/A pillar components.
4) 12 or 13" sub woofer in passenger footwell with separate amp. Recommendations.
5) what are the speakers in the back and centre speaker and can these be run from the same new amp (5 channel) or run from the new head unit direct? Will they need replacing.
6) how do I know what chargers to use for the amps?
7) read a lot about people mentioning remote base control, what does it connect to?
8) depending on the head unit ( double din touchscreen recommendations) will any of my steering controls work and what will I need to connect to the head unit. What functions will I loose?
9) anything else that I will need
I know that these questions have been on here before and that this is very lengthy but your advise will be greatly appreciated as I'm totally confused with trying to figure our what I need and how to do it.
Thanks in advance.
I would like to have a good sound system, Bluetooth, dab radio, phone, reverse camera, ipod connectivity, sat Nav, cd, etc.
So here is were I'm confused.
How many speakers and types are there. So far I think I have established that there are two speakers per door, rear speakers, centre speaker and sub woofer.
1) is this correct and if so what sizes, wattage and ohms are they?
2) if I replace the door speakers with component system, what do you recommend.
3) amplifier to run new door/A pillar components.
4) 12 or 13" sub woofer in passenger footwell with separate amp. Recommendations.
5) what are the speakers in the back and centre speaker and can these be run from the same new amp (5 channel) or run from the new head unit direct? Will they need replacing.
6) how do I know what chargers to use for the amps?
7) read a lot about people mentioning remote base control, what does it connect to?
8) depending on the head unit ( double din touchscreen recommendations) will any of my steering controls work and what will I need to connect to the head unit. What functions will I loose?
9) anything else that I will need
I know that these questions have been on here before and that this is very lengthy but your advise will be greatly appreciated as I'm totally confused with trying to figure our what I need and how to do it.
Thanks in advance.
Member
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 241
Likes: 16
2005 SL55 AMG
Check out the Audio/Electronics forum (and ask your question there) You'll find a wealth of information and, get more replies:
https://mbworld.org/forums/audio-electronics-38/
https://mbworld.org/forums/audio-electronics-38/
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 955
Likes: 127
From: Kansas
2003 E55, 2003 SL55, 2014 CLS63, 2018 q50 Redsport, 1968 Camaro SS, 1999 Trans am Firehawk
you don't have to replace the speakers, but with an 03 you have to use an external amp as the built in amp on any head unit will not be sufficient to power everything and it sound good.
The steering wheel controls will work with a converter module.
there is a company that makes a custom made double din insert for the SL. You will probably want to upgrade to the cupholder covers off an 05+ as you will have to cut off the surround that goes around your command now and make it look like an 05+.
I would wait until pioneer comes out with the next carplay unit (if you are an iphone user) as that unit will have wireless carplay, while the current one requires you to be plugged in. (this is what i am doing).
The steering wheel controls will work with a converter module.
there is a company that makes a custom made double din insert for the SL. You will probably want to upgrade to the cupholder covers off an 05+ as you will have to cut off the surround that goes around your command now and make it look like an 05+.
I would wait until pioneer comes out with the next carplay unit (if you are an iphone user) as that unit will have wireless carplay, while the current one requires you to be plugged in. (this is what i am doing).
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
Sl55
Thanks for you reply and advise.
When you say upgrade to the 05 look for the head unit, is this a matter of getting rid of the cup holders and fitting the new surround?
Will car play work with iPod and android ( samsung S6)
What amp will you suggest?
When you say upgrade to the 05 look for the head unit, is this a matter of getting rid of the cup holders and fitting the new surround?
Will car play work with iPod and android ( samsung S6)
What amp will you suggest?
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 955
Likes: 127
From: Kansas
2003 E55, 2003 SL55, 2014 CLS63, 2018 q50 Redsport, 1968 Camaro SS, 1999 Trans am Firehawk
you can cut your current surround off, so that it is of the same size as the 05 surround. You would then snap off the cup holder covers from your 03 and snap on the 05+ ones (they are about $40). The cupholders themselves are the same through all model years, just the covers that snap on the front of them are different. The area above the cup holders would be replaced by the Connects2 CT23MB11 dash kit, which you'll have to search around for whoever has the best price for currently. If you don't switch out the cupholder covers it looks silly, just look at this link
http://audioexpress.com/mercedes-sl500-stereo-upgrade/
When I do mine I'm going to wrap both the radio dash kit in carbon fiber as well as the door and console trime, so that it all looks uniform and not silly like the above link, which has some wood and some black plastic.
Look into the pioneer appradio 4 (I'm waiting for the 5, which will have wireless carplay). The pioneer appradio works with both apple and android, though the google equivalent of carplay (mirrorlink) is not yet wireless, so in that instance there is no reason to wait, except for the plummeting in prices the appradio 4 will take when the 5 comes out.
As for the amp, speakers and wiring:
there is a center channel in the middle of the dash, 2 speakers in each door, and 2 speakers in the back that are wired in mono. The center channel you take the positive of the left channel and negative of the right channel to make things work.
As you know there is also the sub in the passenger footwell. My plan is to take out the stock amp (under the stock CD changer, which you'll want to remove b/c both will be worthless) and then directly wire the amp to the battery. The door speakers and sub will be driven by the amp, and the head unit will drive the center channel and rear speakers (it is the door speakers and sub that need the amp, the other speakers will do just fine with the headunit power).
For amps:
JL XD700/5 or Alpine PDR-V75
should both fit where the stock one is & they are both 5 channel amps (1 channel for the sub, and 4 channels for the 4 door speakers)
The Cerwin Vega 8 would make a good replacement sub, if you think you really need it.
Big shout out to latemodel21 who gave me much of this advice that I'm passing along.
http://audioexpress.com/mercedes-sl500-stereo-upgrade/
When I do mine I'm going to wrap both the radio dash kit in carbon fiber as well as the door and console trime, so that it all looks uniform and not silly like the above link, which has some wood and some black plastic.
Look into the pioneer appradio 4 (I'm waiting for the 5, which will have wireless carplay). The pioneer appradio works with both apple and android, though the google equivalent of carplay (mirrorlink) is not yet wireless, so in that instance there is no reason to wait, except for the plummeting in prices the appradio 4 will take when the 5 comes out.
As for the amp, speakers and wiring:
there is a center channel in the middle of the dash, 2 speakers in each door, and 2 speakers in the back that are wired in mono. The center channel you take the positive of the left channel and negative of the right channel to make things work.
As you know there is also the sub in the passenger footwell. My plan is to take out the stock amp (under the stock CD changer, which you'll want to remove b/c both will be worthless) and then directly wire the amp to the battery. The door speakers and sub will be driven by the amp, and the head unit will drive the center channel and rear speakers (it is the door speakers and sub that need the amp, the other speakers will do just fine with the headunit power).
For amps:
JL XD700/5 or Alpine PDR-V75
should both fit where the stock one is & they are both 5 channel amps (1 channel for the sub, and 4 channels for the 4 door speakers)
The Cerwin Vega 8 would make a good replacement sub, if you think you really need it.
Big shout out to latemodel21 who gave me much of this advice that I'm passing along.
Last edited by carguyshu; Dec 29, 2015 at 04:11 PM.
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you can cut your current surround off, so that it is of the same size as the 05 surround. You would then snap off the cup holder covers from your 03 and snap on the 05+ ones (they are about $40). The cupholders themselves are the same through all model years, just the covers that snap on the front of them are different. The area above the cup holders would be replaced by the Connects2 CT23MB11 dash kit, which you'll have to search around for whoever has the best price for currently. If you don't switch out the cupholder covers it looks silly, just look at this link
http://audioexpress.com/mercedes-sl500-stereo-upgrade/
When I do mine I'm going to wrap both the radio dash kit in carbon fiber as well as the door and console trime, so that it all looks uniform and not silly like the above link, which has some wood and some black plastic.
Look into the pioneer appradio 4 (I'm waiting for the 5, which will have wireless carplay). The pioneer appradio works with both apple and android, though the google equivalent of carplay (mirrorlink) is not yet wireless, so in that instance there is no reason to wait, except for the plummeting in prices the appradio 4 will take when the 5 comes out.
As for the amp, speakers and wiring:
there is a center channel in the middle of the dash, 2 speakers in each door, and 2 speakers in the back that are wired in mono. The center channel you take the positive of the left channel and negative of the right channel to make things work.
As you know there is also the sub in the passenger footwell. My plan is to take out the stock amp (under the stock CD changer, which you'll want to remove b/c both will be worthless) and then directly wire the amp to the battery. The door speakers and sub will be driven by the amp, and the head unit will drive the center channel and rear speakers (it is the door speakers and sub that need the amp, the other speakers will do just fine with the headunit power).
For amps:
JL XD700/5 or Alpine PDR-V75
should both fit where the stock one is & they are both 5 channel amps (1 channel for the sub, and 4 channels for the 4 door speakers)
The Cerwin Vega 8 would make a good replacement sub, if you think you really need it.
Big shout out to latemodel21 who gave me much of this advice that I'm passing along.
http://audioexpress.com/mercedes-sl500-stereo-upgrade/
When I do mine I'm going to wrap both the radio dash kit in carbon fiber as well as the door and console trime, so that it all looks uniform and not silly like the above link, which has some wood and some black plastic.
Look into the pioneer appradio 4 (I'm waiting for the 5, which will have wireless carplay). The pioneer appradio works with both apple and android, though the google equivalent of carplay (mirrorlink) is not yet wireless, so in that instance there is no reason to wait, except for the plummeting in prices the appradio 4 will take when the 5 comes out.
As for the amp, speakers and wiring:
there is a center channel in the middle of the dash, 2 speakers in each door, and 2 speakers in the back that are wired in mono. The center channel you take the positive of the left channel and negative of the right channel to make things work.
As you know there is also the sub in the passenger footwell. My plan is to take out the stock amp (under the stock CD changer, which you'll want to remove b/c both will be worthless) and then directly wire the amp to the battery. The door speakers and sub will be driven by the amp, and the head unit will drive the center channel and rear speakers (it is the door speakers and sub that need the amp, the other speakers will do just fine with the headunit power).
For amps:
JL XD700/5 or Alpine PDR-V75
should both fit where the stock one is & they are both 5 channel amps (1 channel for the sub, and 4 channels for the 4 door speakers)
The Cerwin Vega 8 would make a good replacement sub, if you think you really need it.
Big shout out to latemodel21 who gave me much of this advice that I'm passing along.
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Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2014
Posts: 258
Likes: 7
2003 SL55
Thank you for laying out all this info in simple terms. very easy to understand. What is your opinion on the following head unit? i would like to keep the stock look as much as possible, if it makes sense. Should i just go with the pioneer? also the pioneer 4 now has wireless carplay correct?
The new kenwood 9902s has both apple car play and android auto support. Dont think its wireless though..
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 955
Likes: 127
From: Kansas
2003 E55, 2003 SL55, 2014 CLS63, 2018 q50 Redsport, 1968 Camaro SS, 1999 Trans am Firehawk
right now no head unit supports wireless carplay. the appradio 4 will do bluetooth music and phone calls through the built in pioneer software, though.
I put the appradio 4 in my Cadillac DTS and the only time I use carplay is when I am using it for the maps app. B/c the maps app uses a boatload of phone battery you'd want to have your phone plugged in anyhow.
The unit you have pictured have had poor reviews for both sound quality, reliability, and slowness of the software. There was a rather extension review of the sister headunit in the w211 forum that was pretty harsh on it.
The appradio with the double din surround (if you carbon fiber the surround like the rest of the car) will look pretty close to factory.
I put the appradio 4 in my Cadillac DTS and the only time I use carplay is when I am using it for the maps app. B/c the maps app uses a boatload of phone battery you'd want to have your phone plugged in anyhow.
The unit you have pictured have had poor reviews for both sound quality, reliability, and slowness of the software. There was a rather extension review of the sister headunit in the w211 forum that was pretty harsh on it.
The appradio with the double din surround (if you carbon fiber the surround like the rest of the car) will look pretty close to factory.
