system in 300SEL

[traksta15]

my dad just bought an 89 300SEL and is putting a small system in it. I've installed a fair share of systems but never in a car like this, so i have a few questions for you mercedes gurus. I've all ready found a wiring harness for the deck off crutchfield so that's covered.

What he's wanting to do is:
1. install sub/amp combo (8" ascendant audio in .9 @ 40Hz box (already built) off a profile BA400 amp)
2. Install pioneer 4600mp
3. Replace the stock speakers (he just wants to run some "better than stock" coaxials off the h/u, nothin special so no amp needed)

So onto my questions:

1. What size speakers does the car have and where are they?
2. Where can I find a single din radio kit for his deck? (pioneer 4800mp)
3. Is there a factory amplifier in the car? Do I simply run speaker wire to each speaker to bypass it (never had a car w/factory amp)

Are there any tips/tricks I need to know? Anything to watch out for? I apologize for the long thread and so many questions im just trying to do this right. Thanks in advance and any help is greatly appreciated!

[Hit Man X]

4x6 dash. 6.5" rear fill.

8" isn't going to do much in the trunk of a 126, it'll make more noise outside the vehicle than inside.

Don't need a kit, just put the radio in. You will need wire taps as the only harness is about $30.

It may have factory amplifiers for the door drivers. '88+ came with the 10 speaker system as an option, standard on 560. Don't use deck power, it's garbage. Limited range, lots of distortion, etc. A puny 35x4 amplifier will blow away any HU.

[traksta15]

he's not wanting anything spectacular and it's a great sub and im sure it'll give him what he's wanting. He had a 10" bazooka tube in his jeep grand cherokee and he loved it so im sure this will please him. thanks for the reply, i was about to give up hope, lol. When you say "just put the radio in" how would i go about doing this? Every deck i've installed i've been able to find the appropiate kit but not this one. Wouldn't i need some sort of trim or something? thanks again

[Hit Man X]

There is piles of metal, fuel, and deadening material in the trunk is what I mean. I don't know if you're going to receive the low end benefit with it.

This is the typical Euro DIN install, just slide the HU into the slot. The wiring is simple:

brown - ground
violet/grey - dimmer
red/white - switched 12v
black/white - constant 12v

The 12v could be backwards, I always forget and just take out my meter to be certain. Crutchfield has just the power harness, but at $30...



It's a pile of work to rewire the car just to run on deck power.

[traksta15]

i think he's gonna buy the harness, thats his choice i guess. I knew these cars were "thick" but didn't know how much. He has a flip down arm rest in the back seat, how hard would it be to cut the material behind it so there's a direct hole into the trunk? So what you're saying is just pull out the stock deck (any tips/tricks to this car?) and slide in the new one and it'll look good? Never had it that easy! lol, thanks again for the help

[Hit Man X]

Originally Posted by traksta15

i think he's gonna buy the harness, thats his choice i guess. I knew these cars were "thick" but didn't know how much. He has a flip down arm rest in the back seat, how hard would it be to cut the material behind it so there's a direct hole into the trunk? So what you're saying is just pull out the stock deck (any tips/tricks to this car?) and slide in the new one and it'll look good? Never had it that easy! lol, thanks again for the help

It's a nice harness, just spendy for what you get. It probably costs $1.50-3 to make.

My running BMW is like that, works fine to get low frequency into the car.

Yeah there are two tabs on both sides of the HU, pull them down and pull from behind the Becker to remove. You'll understand once you get in there.

[traksta15]

im still not understanding how the pioneer is gonna look good w/out a trim kit. I apologize for not understanding but i've ALWAYS used one on all of my installs. Next time i see the car i'm gonna see how thick the stuff in the arm rest is. Is your bmw box rear firing or toward the seats? how exactly would you make the harness? Just connect wire to wire?

[Hit Man X]

Originally Posted by traksta15

im still not understanding how the pioneer is gonna look good w/out a trim kit. I apologize for not understanding but i've ALWAYS used one on all of my installs. Next time i see the car i'm gonna see how thick the stuff in the arm rest is. Is your bmw box rear firing or toward the seats? how exactly would you make the harness? Just connect wire to wire?

It doesn't require it. You'll see when you are in there.

My box fires toward the cabin, if I was in town I'd snap a pic.

Yes, just use a wire tap for each wire.

[traksta15]

ok, think i got it now (finally) lol, thanks again. So 4x6 in the dash and 6.5's in the back. No door speakers? is there enough mounting depth in the dash for pretty much any 4x6 on the market? Are there any speakers in the doors? If there are i'd just put some 6.5's in the doors and be done w/it......

[Hit Man X]

Some have door speakers, they're aimed at your elbow and are strictly midbass drivers. Unless you have money to waste by bandpassing a pair of drivers, just run the dash and rear fill.

Just need to worry about tweeter height on the dash. I think it's about 2" max or less. 4x6m work best. Alpine, Eclipse, etc.

[traksta15]

i was lookin at some of the lower end infinity, hes gonna go to a shop and listen to some jl's (probably end up w/some of those) and then some 6.5's for the rear. He might get an amp later on, but for now just off the h/u for him. I guess crutchfield was wrong on their speaker size, lol.

[Hit Man X]

The rear is about a 6", it's a metric size so you have to do some head scratching to get them to fit properly. Not a big issue. I would do the same and listen to all at a store. I'm telling you, for the trouble to rewire that headunit's internal power, you may as well spend the time with an external amplifier.

Have you seen the five/six channel ones? The main four are between 35-70x4 typically and gives you a single subwoofer channel around 125-300x1. It's the easiest to install. Alpine makes them, Kicker, I think Kenwood does, I know PPI did (I have their Ax606 in the BMW) um, most quality brands.

I have all JL XRs in my Z71, long before the ZR series came out. I like them for the cash, very clean and very loud.

ALWAYS be sure to have the same speaker up front as you do in the rear, you want the same tonal quality from front to rear.

The 4x6m is the easiest to install up front. Or you could just run some 4" and modify the existing bracket/basket to hold it. Then you can run a higher end 4", just cross it around 300-500Hz. It's useless below that. Then the 6.5" out back cross around 80-100Hz.

[traksta15]

sounds good, i'm gonna look around for a decent 5 channel, see what i can find. is there enough room for 4" up front, with a bracket or some kind of mdf adapter

[Hit Man X]

After '87, all front 126 speakers are a 3.5 or a 4" driver. You can just remove it from the bracket and install the new 4" there.

[traksta15]

sweet, thanks again man you've helped a ton....back to shoppin!