I am still in the process of wiring my Blaupunkt Toronto into my 300SD and I have a question. I originally had a Becker unit of some sort and it only only has a switched power connection. I am unable to find a wire supplying constant power. Am I missing something, or do I have some custom work to do?

__________________
Ben

The MBs:
1976 300D (W115) - 330K and still going (sort of)
1991 300D 2.5 Turbo - Sold at 221K
1983 280SEL - Sold at 206K
1981 300SD - Sold at 232K

Did the Becker have a clock or am/fm presets? If so, it had to have a constant. On my 126 ('87 560SEL) there is a small wire harness containing 4 leads (black=constant, lavender=switched, ?=illumination, brown=ground). If there isn't one, you will need to run one from the battery.
Justin

No, it does not have a clock. It does have presets, but they are the mechanical type. The Becker has the old style mechanical tuning knob. There is no wiring harness to speak of, just a bunch of wires with various connectors. I haven't actually tested to see if the power wire is switched or not, but since there is only one power wire I assume that it must be switched. Due to the construction of the radio it seems that it would not need constant power. Ugh!

Has anybody done a similar installation before? Any tips for running a wire?

__________________
Ben

The MBs:
1976 300D (W115) - 330K and still going (sort of)
1991 300D 2.5 Turbo - Sold at 221K
1983 280SEL - Sold at 206K
1981 300SD - Sold at 232K

It is fairly simple to run. You will need to run a wire from the battery through the firewall to the deck. There should be a few rubber gromets near the battery that lead into the passenger compartment, on my car they are on the passenger side. I removed the panel under the glove box and the right side kick panel. Once done, run fish tape (or a coat hanger...the cheap way) through the gromet inside to car to the engine compartment and use it to pull your wire through. Then remove whatever paneling needed to run the wire over to the center console, replace everything and you're set. Make sure to attach a fuse to the wire, as close to the battery as possible. Good luck!
Justin

Ben,

In my car, there is a two-connector (female) factory wiring harness where the radio goes. The wires terminate in a squarish molded factory connector. One contact is all-time power, and the other is ground. Look for it, Also, use a 12v probe and check your wires. If the hot wire isn't switched, then you can use it, and tap into the cigar lighter for the switched one. Have you addressed, or even considered the "bypass the factory fader" issue yet?

You can also do a search in the archives. I have posted on how to wire up a modern stereo into an older W126 on several occasions...

Happy to try to help you figure it all out, If you need the help, just ask.

__________________

Scott Longston
Northern California Wine Country...
"Turbos whistle, grapes wine..."

ben i tried to email you but it said no so i was going to ask you to please take a look at my diesel page and w126 club just click on the drive to w126 in my signature