All, my wife has a 1990 300e that the factory Becker Grand Prix radio died on. I replaced it with another one from ebay that lasted a year. I bought another one that won't reset. ARRGH!

I have looked at lots of aftermarket radios, most look like a cross between a Las Vegas casino and a wannabe street racer.

I am looking for a new radio CD player that will install with a minimum of hassle, work with the factory wiring, and look as conservative as my white/ black interior 300e.

Any suggestions? I don't want to shake the pavement, conduct concerts for audophiles or anything else. Just want a modern radio for the car.

Try picking up a used Nakamichi 45z on Ebay...All black styling with very consevative looks...Love mine...Performs well too...

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83 300CDTurbo 307,000
2005 Honda Element 266,000
56 Nash Ambassador Country Club Special 34,000(under restoration presently)

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/car-audio-multimedia/125099-123-install-extreme-dynamat.html

You could also look at some of the older Blaupunkts (sp?). Nice sound, good price, and conservative styling. Before donating my 123 to charity, I made sure to take mine out to use again someday!

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Current:
2014 VW Tiguan SEL 4Motion 43,000 miles.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (wife's).

Past:
2006 Jetta TDI 135,970 miles. Sold Nov. '13.
1995 E-320 Special Edition. 220,200 miles. Sold Sept. '07.
1987 190-E 16 valve. 153,000 miles. Sold Feb. '06.
1980 300-D 225,000 miles. Donated to the National Kidney Foundation.
1980 240-D manual, 297,500 miles. Totaled by inattentive driver.

Aside from the Nakamichi's and (older) Blau's, I have an Alpine in mine, and it looks fine. Looking at pictures online, I wasn't sure I would like it, but once I installed it I did.

Was it easy to use the factory wiring with the Nak or Alpine or Blau? Did you (or your installer) need a harness to use the factory speakers?

I think Crutchfield sells a harness that looks like it matches the hookups on the early 124s for about 15 dollars. I don't know if it works for the cars with the amplified sound system, which starts somewhere around 89-91 and later.

I didn't have this adapter, so I ended up splicing the radio wiring harness into the car wiring. It's kind of a pain tracking down all the wires, but once you identify what goes where, it's pretty straightforward crimping/soldering stuff together.

you could try finding a becker froma newer benz, but not sure if that will work.

I myself am a big fan of pioneer head units, A little flashy, but I like the way they work and sound.

The others made some great suggestions to look into.

Alon

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'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
2002 C320 - 816 - Sport Wagon

I bought an alpine from crutchfield last week for my 94 e320 easiest install ever! The mount that comes with it snaps into place (like snap). Also when I purchased it they gave me a free wiring harness, factory radio removal tools,euro to us fm adaptor and some instruction book I didn't read. All for under $249 with free shipping! I could have e-bayed but I would need all the xtras. Also remember to switch the yellow and red wires on the harness or else radio will not have memory.

Wow- that's awesome.

I traded email with Crutchfield and they say they cannot establish fit on a 500E and therefore cannot provide the accessories, wiring harness, instructions, etc. They are saying I need to find a local installer.

I cannot imagine the 500E is that different from other W124's with the Becker 1432 head unit.

dw 3, this sound like something I'm looking for. I'm not very demanding of my sound system, except that any replacement will need to fit in the car's architecture - both mechanically and appearance. The only complaint I have with my original unit is the buggy volume control. I believe it would cost me around $100 just to have that fixed. Does the Alpine unit you mentioned accept the stock 6-CD changer in the trunk and use all six stock speakers?

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 169K

sorry to say but none of the after market radios will work with the stock mb cd changers at least thats what i'm told. door (bass) speakers don't work but you could just wire them with the others. then if it does not sound good just cut wire or replace speaker.

I have a 1991 300E that the previous owner apparently allowed his pet ferret to rewire. I had to replace the head unit, have the system rewired, and replace a speaker. I didn't need anything fan-cay, but wanted a respectable CD player for a good price--plus I'm a design geek who didn't want my radio to look like I'd stolen it from a rice racer.

I bought the Sony CDX-F5705X (http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/products/2004/158/h158F5705X-f.jpeg --looks better with a black box around it), and had it professionally installed with an XM tuner underneath. It won't impress the audio crowd, but sounds great to me and has found new sub-tracks in favorite songs that I'd never heard on the previous radio. The head unit can be found for $165 or lower, and once you figure out how to turn off the cycling rainbow display, you can calm it down to a soothing pale gray background with gray readout (the third "color" down on Crutchfield's photos is actually the pale gray, not a blue). The buttons are faux brushed aluminum in a subtle (relative to most things on the market) ring around the display. Sony has more expensive models with the same look.

It's very simple and doesn't look bad in the car. Plus, when I'm feeling festive, I can turn the display to green for Christmas, or pink for Valentine's Day. Doubtless there are far better models out there; but this one worked for me and both my snob aesthetic and meager budget.

A caveat: my _second_ installer said that they call these Sonys "Xplods" for a reason, and that you need to make sure the loads are wired correctly. He said he suggests them for a lot of motorcycle installs he does, but that if your wiring is already "creative," like mine was, you need to get that in order first.

You should be able to shop on Crutchfield or one of the other sites to see more pics of the display and find the right specs, then check that you're getting the best price from a comparison site like shopping.com. I also recommend checking out resellerratings.com before going with an unknown seller.

I have a 1992 500E with the Becker 1432 and Silverstone changer. I pulled the changer after learning that it was draining my battery dead. I finally replaced the 1432 with a Pioneer DEH-P660 that I picked up at Sound Advice for $220 (I think they can be had cheaper online).

I learned that Crutchfield is not authoritative when it comes to fit within a 500E. There were any number of decks that could work. So I wouldn't pay too much attention to Crutchfield. Sound Advice ran new wire from the head unit to the trunk and (I believe) tapped into the wires to the 4 deck speakers. We bypassed the trunk amps and I no longer have functioning door speakers (I can't say I miss them).

I also added an Aux input for my iPod. All in, it cost me about $375 installed. Sound is great through my Rainbows and while the display is a little gaudy, I'm not at all bothered by it. I have a Nak 45Z in my Porsche and don't necessarily like that unit any more than this one.

The only problem is that my antenna does not function with the head unit. Apparently, Sound Advice can confirm that there is a 12v signal going to the wire to the antenna when the unit is on, but the antenna will not raise. Note that it worked fine when I dropped the car off with the Becker. They are saying they don't know what to do, but if there's something specific about how MBs are wired that they don't know about, they will pay a mechanic's labor to get the antenna working.

Does anyone have any insight?

michaelrking:

If you're looking for new, and want to keep the stock look, you could try a Becker. The BE4602 is made for a car like yours. www.perfectmarketaudio.com