Upgrade from a Becker 1492 to a Blaupunkt Heidelberg CD52 in a '94 C280
 

My '94 C280's 2 subwoofers (however small they may be) began acting up about 1 month ago. ONLY those two speakers on the rear shelf started making a loud crackling noise after I had washed my car. It went away by the next time I drove the car, so I figured maybe a wire had taken on some moisture when I washed the car. However, in the past weeks, these speakers began making this noise almost continuously (to my chagrin). Frustrated, I ordered a Blaupunk "Heidelberg" CD52 from Crutchfield.com, thinking that this would solve that problem (and because the volume knob on the Becker had been malfunctioning since I got the car). I was very frustrated to find very little information on fitting for my vehicle, but had heard good things about Blaupunkt stereos, so I decided to take a chance. The radio arrived (without Becker head-unit removal tools), so I had to drive a total of 50 miles to the nearest dealership to have the radio removed. I was quite pleasantly surprised, however, to find that the factory plugs fit the stereo perfectly. Apparently, this was a hasty conclusion. The radio ran fantastically when the engine was off. Conversely, when I first got into the car to meet a friend for dinner, I was very surprised to hear a high-pitched wailing noise that varied directly in pitch with the RPM's of my engine. It does not increase proportionately with the volume controls, but becomes worse as accessories (i.e.-headlights, seat-heaters, window controls, window defroster, etc...) are activated. Can anyone suggest a solution to my problem? I am a high-school student in Florida with very little money for costly repairs, and this is my first do-it-yourself project concerning my vehicle's audio system. A friend suggested to me that perhaps my amplifier had gone bad, but I'm not even sure that I have one, unless it comes factory-equiped with one. ANY AND ALL COMMENTS OR SOLUTIONS ARE WELCOME! Thank you for your time.

Charles Harnish
1994 MB C280

I just replace my becker with the same radio from crutchfield. I'm surprised you didn't get the removal tool from them as they included it with the radio. Along with the antenna extension and wiring harness. I've got a 92 300e and the harness did plug in, but the speakers didn't work correctly. I finally just hard wired the speakers from the back of the new radio. I think the stock amps were going bad. I still used the supplied harness to power everything. This might be your best option. Now it sounds great.