So I had buzzing coming from the center speaker, mainly during speach and news. I did some investigation on the forum and web and determined for a 2007 E-Class, I probably had a failed speaker rather than something loose. That did indeed turn out to be the case.

So, lets start with the hard part, removing the grill. You need to get a piece of plastic, somewhat flexible between the grill and the dash at the 12 o'clock position. I rotated the exposed part of the plastic toward the windshield to start to pry up the grill. You may need to use several pieces of material to gently pry the grill up enough to get your fingertips on the grill to start pulling it out. As I was pulling out little by little I moved my fingers to 11 and 1 and started pulling harder. Finally the metal clips let loose. Someone mentioned using a screw driver on another thread but I see no way to use this without scoring the dash material. Here are some pictures to get the idea.

Grill pulled up (actually this was when I was putting it back) with the tabs at the bottom inserted (see tabs in second and third picture.


Grill in hand. Note the tabs at the bottom near my hand. You CANNOT pull this up from the bottom unless you break these. See the little tab at the top, and the big metal clips.


Lastly, a view from the top to give you an idea how it mates.


As for the speaker, this shows that the adhesive on the speaker cone and suspension cone both failed. Other than that, all materials were like new. I replaced it with a new OEM once since the screw locations are in no way close to the same as a replacement speaker. I also did not want to mess with the wiring. MB part number A169 820 18 02, but on parts web sites type in1698201802


Here is the new speaker in place ready to tighten the screws (T25).


When pushing the grill back in place, those clips take a good push to go back in. Very much like the engine trim piece you need to remove to change the oil filter.

 

I figured i would ad this for anyone who doesn't know and eventually does this. For the cars with the other type of grill, everything is the same except for how the center grill comes off. You have to release little tabs right at the center closest to the controls then slide it towards you.

Aaron

 

Excellent write up, thanks!

 

Nice! This will come in handy.

 

Yes, great write up and providing part number!

 

I recently purchased a used E350. When test driving, I only listened to the radio momentarily. More concerned about everything simply working and the mechanical condition.

I noticed a slight rattle in the dash speaker after a couple of days. That's when I began searching for a solution and found several answers on this forum. Most threads and examples had a different dash speaker grill. I suspect pre-07.

This post had the answers I was looking for to either replace or repair the speaker. I decided to repair after removing the speaker. As described by Jon, the speaker material was in very good shape. The adhesive had hardened/become brittle.

I used the tools in the picture including a Q-Tip (not pictured) for applying adhesive...



I used a plastic card and flat head screwdriver to remove the speaker grill...



After removing as much of the old adhesive as possible from the speaker, I applied a thin layer of adhesive to the metal (blue arrows), backside of speaker rubber/foam and backside of spider (green arrows), and where the spider is attached to the voice coil (black arrow and circle).



Repair took about 20 minutes from grill removal to reattaching the grill.

Very noticeable sound difference. No more rattle!

I'll see how well it holds up. Possibly could have put a second coat of adhesive around the spider and voice coil.

Hope this helps someone willing to do a DIY.

 

Thanks for posting this.

 

I have a 2015 E400 Cabriolet, the center speaker is making a distorted sound when you turn the volume up. If you turn the Logic 7 off, it works better but still not as it should. I think the center speaker has gone bad. Has anyone else recently had to replace one of these?

 

One of the first things I did on my E63 along with replacing the broken blower motor.

Same symptoms. Super easy removal.

Youre in the W211 forum, so not sure the replacement procedure for your vehicle. But sounds on the money with a blown center speaker.

For anyone finding this thread in the future here's a good video

 

Looks like the images are gone. I have the same issue and would love to be able to see what you did.