Where to put the Sirius box on a W124?
 

I've outdone myself this Thanksgiving weekend. I'm much more of a mechanical guy than an electrical, but I put a new Pioneer head unit in, and also put in the Pioneer iPod adapter. Put the iPod unit in the center console box by running the power, ground, and bus cable up under the console window switch panel. My 11 year old son was as amazed as I when I fired the thing up and it worked!

I'm now on a first name basis with my console cover, ashtray, console box, A/C controls, etc.

Now I have another box to mount, the Sirius box, with another three cables, plus the satellite antenna. The limiting factor seems to be the length of the bus cable, as it needs to hook up to the iPod box - these things can be chained together in series.

Anyway, I can't figure out how the passenger under-dash panel (under the airbag, etc.) comes out to see if there is room there, and I can't really come up with another location other than under the passenger seat, which is problematic due to the seat moving fore and aft. My Service CD only covers old glovebox models - does not show airbag cars.

Then there is that antenna... Any ideas for routing that wire ? At least it is much smaller than normal antenna lead.

TIA,
Chris W.
'95 E300D

I put mine under the front passenger floor carpeting. If you pull that up, you will see that there is a lot of space to store it.

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pull out the passenger carpeting.. there is a black plastic panel. pull that out, and in there you will find the factory alarm unit and some other units. there should be space there to mount it.

To gett he airbag out on the underside of the dash panel there is a hole, you need like a 6" extension or more and I believe a 10mm socket and one that is out you can get the airbag out.

Thanks Ashman and E320. I never thought of putting it under the passenger carpet. Sounds like a good possibility.

Oh and I didn't want to remove the airbag - just the valence panel under it to see if there was room there to put the Sirius box. (if in fact you can remove only the valence without taking out the airbag) I did see that bolt/screw head way up there accessible through a hole in that panel, but I didn't know it was for the airbag.

Rgds,
Chris W.

I'd be worried about messing with panels near the air bag without knowing what I was doing. :eek:

To answer my own post, I did find a perfect spot for the box. It was, as the others said, under the passenger carpet. On my car, there is a sheet metal shield panel which is located under the carpet, not on the floor but on the angled-up portion of the footwell. This panel has a warning sticker about disconnecting a red connector related to the airbag. One screw removes that panel. Undo the screw and lift the top part of the panel and a clip slides out. Easy.

Under the panel is some sort of electronic box with Becker on it - presumably something for the radio (?) mounted on a sheet metal base and a red connector which is presumably the one referred to on the warning sticker. Anyway, the sheet metal panel there has plenty of room for the Sirius box and several holes already drilled. I used one of the holes in it by opening it up slightly, drilled one more hole, and it's a perfect mount for the box. Now the challenge of running the antenna cable!

Rgds,
Chris W.
'95 E300D

I know this post is getting a little stale but...

I too have a 95 E300D and am planning out my install now. How did you run the antenna cable? Out the trunk?

I ran my cable through the center console, under the left floor mat, out the back door, up to the rear window pillar (there is an external panel that is detachable by the rear door on either side of the car), then under the rear window gasket. From there around the gasket to the top of the rear window, centered. This approach isn't perfect but means I didn't have to drill any holes.

wow that was a fast reply! Thanks!

I hope it made sense...I can take a picture of how I routed the wire if that helps.

I'm in the process of ditching my XM radio (the add on type with the modulator) and buying the Kenwood unit with built in Sirius and HD radio.

Probably the same Kenwood I'm planning on buying - the EZ500. It looks like it should be in a Benz - very understated. I've been told there will be a Blue-tooth add-on for that radio as well in March (for phones). That will make a nice setup.

If you have a picture to send, I'd love to look at it. I'm making my purchase this weekend so I'm ready to install by the end of next week :)

Yeah, that is the one. Great features at a reasonable price and no add on boxes. But here's the question, does your e300d have the active base system that powers small "subs" in the doors? If so there is a small amp in the trunk on the right. I wonder how to connect those speakers when adding the new amp. I pulled up the service manuals and found information about the amp. Apparently it is powered on when the antenna goes up. So when installing the new head unit, I will need to figure out which wires are "line out" and which controls the antenna.

I will post some pics of how I ran the antenna. Could you post pics of the wire harness and plugs on the back of the stock radio....actually how do you plan to connect your radio? Is there a wire harness adapter available.

hehehe - I'm making a real project out of this :eek:

I'm putting in:
- Kenwood EZ-500 Head
- Sirius/Kenwood tuner
- MB Quart 4" 2 ways in dash
- MB Quart 5.25" 2 ways in rear deck
- CDT CL5 5.25" midranges in door (may go with MB Quart midranges if I can find)
- Boss 5 channel amp (80x4, 150x1)
- MB Quart 10" sub in rear deck

At least that's the plan. This will require me to rewire everything so I won't be using the existing wiring. While I've got everything ripped apart, I plan on using Dynamat Extreme everywhere I can.

My only concerns right now (just sharing, not sure if anyone knows):
1) 10" sub in rear deck. I plan on putting it under the first aid kit as others have described. Do I need to put it in an enclosure or can I use the trunk as one? I'd prefer to not enclose it.
2) amp heat. If I put stuff in the trunk, how much room do I need to leave around it?

My goal is to create a very nice clean sounding system, not to win any contests... I want to enjoy getting in my car for a drive. My job has changed (again) and I will be driving a lot again. I have no interest in replacing this car (bought it new in 95 and have 214,000 miles on it) - it runs great and looks great... and is paid for! :)

Here are the pics.

1. XM antenna...wire emerges from window gasket.
2. Hear you can see the wire go from the edge of the backseat to the panel I mentioned.
3. You can't see the wire in this pic, but basically it come out from the panel and then to the window gasket.

With the EZ 900 you don't need to buy the sirius tuner...its is built in + HD radio. They sell for $359. With other radios you need to buy the headunit + a $100 xm or sirius tuner box...and/or an HD radio tuner box.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-5b4LsQgT6ZU/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=280150&I=113EZ900