The 1994 system is actually quite good and needs no mods. it is more accurate than the new Mark Levinson systems in the Lexus autos. The other systems aren't nearly as good.

If you are a bass head- then this won't apply.

I spoke with Kevin V. at Revel and also with Gayle Martin Saunders of Martin Logan- as well as a lot of other High end speaker designers. Their feelings were that the polar radiation apttern for off axis response had to match the path the driver had towards the listener for good sound.

I would tend to agree with that.

I would also say that most of the after market car audio speakers are not up to the 500E in quality. But the high end rainbow speakers might fit the bill. They are from Germany and are quite expensive. http://www.arcaudio.com/reference_line.htm

You could also try these. http://www.eminent-tech.com/lft10/carspeaker.html these are a fine planar magnetic speaker. Think of Infinity or Magnepan. These could be put in a custom install.

As for head units. The best one available in terms of sheer build quality is the TP-1200 from Nakamichi. The sound is comparable to a Wadia Cd player Costing nearly $8,000. If you want to go a step further there is a special shop unit which are only sold in Japan the TP-1200 Limited Special shop which would have to be modified for the USA tuner specs. I've got one- .....amazing. I have yet to install it.

For Cd Changers you would have to hunt for a MB-1000 or a cnc-1000.

Amplifiers.
You can do a silly thing and use this. http://www.monarchyaudio.com and put several of these great sounding mini amps in with a dc/ac converter.

Or buy a MC4000M or MC440M McIntosh unit. These are nicer than the newer ones as the signal to noise ratio is better on the orignal models.

While you are at it get a MEN 459 and MEN 456 crossover and controller. McInstoshLabs.com. You may as well pick up a MEM 4000 display unit as well.

Subs. The Audiomobile Subs. Or you culd go "free air" with some subs Derek would reccommend from the respected French speaker company FOCAL.

Installer? The same guy who did the installs for Wes Phillips at Stereophile and do many of the installs in the car audio mags. Derek Kenney at Sound In Motion in Allston MA.

Unfortunately you'd have to get me to tune it and dial in the crossovers and gain structure.

You can get control gauges from Dakota Digital. These will show your amp temperature, Amp current, voltage etc. and will match the amps display if you spec the teal color. These can be fit in the rear seat roll top unit.

I have all this stuff- and I have yet to install it. My car was totaled before I could put it an and I bought it all before I bought the car.

I felt the stereo was adequate and kept the car stock....but if anyone wants it let me know- I spent years getting it all together. I'd selll it all complete if I was offered reasonable money.

I even had custom plugs that made 65 gold connections at once and had the amps mounted on fibreglass removeable boards so you could remove the stereo- (for either theft worries or for using in a ski house).

Best of luck to you e500mercedes@yahoo.com