Does anyone know what happened to Ken? I emailed him over Christmas and never heard back.

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Democracy dies in darkness, you have to kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight

Where is the amp in the 1991 124? It has the premium system with the subwoofers. Thanks!

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2012 E350
2006 Callaway SC560

Ken thanks for your willingness to help out , I have a 1981 240D want to upgrade speakers & add new CD Player / Receiver , plant to buy from Crutchfields and will be using their proprietary harness for my vehicle , what speaker size for front & rear , any and all help/suggestions will be greatly appreciated . Joe

There is a tuner along with two separate amplifiers.
All in the trunk on the right-hand side near the gas tank filler pipe.

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2012 E350
2006 Callaway SC560

I have a 1992 400E Mercedes with the stock / OE radio (non-Bose) and want to replace the unit with ANY other head unit that has Bluetooth / telephone / USB functionality.
Can’t find any harness adaptors for this car, not even Crutchfields.
Do you have any options to replace this radio WITHOUT re-wiring the car?

Hi I have a 1986 420 SEL with the stock Becker Grand Prix which has failed. I want to replace it with an inexpensive radio that works, and I do not want to cut the harness. Can you provide or recommend an adapter?
Regards,
Randy Roberson
UPDATE: I ordered a simple Kenwood unit from Crutchfield, and they included a harness adaptor which plugs nicely into the factory main harness, and speaker plugs for these wires, so no cutting. My car is simpler as it does not have the additional amps; a + and - to the front and to the rear, via the fader on the center console. The only information I need now: the two female spade terminals on the factory harness: one is brown/blue stripe, and the other is solid blue. What does each of these do? I figure one triggers the antenna and one is something for the alarm system.

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Providing a home for these cars:
1951 Buick Special De Luxe
1977 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith II
1970 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
1986 Mercedes-Benz 420 SEL
2005 Mercedes-Benz E 320 CDI
2012 GMC Sierra 1500 4X4
1927 Pierce-Arrow Series 80
1931 Pierce-Arrow Series 43
1926 Ford Model T coupe

I'm not sure if anyone makes an adapter that just plugs in to accommodate a new stereo HU. Though you could leave the harness intact and piggyback the new radio harness onto the old by splicing into it. You just have to get the Mercedes color codes since they're usually different with most stereo HU wire harnesses sold.

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91 MBZ 300TE 4M 91 Jag XJS V12 94 Alfa Romeo 164 LS 80 BMW 320i 85 BMW 528e 86 BMW 325e 88 BMW 325e 88 BMW 325i 89 BMW 325ix 95 BMW 525i 96 BMW M3 78 Fiat Spyder 124 98 Land Rover D1 LSE 98 Range Rover HSE 4.6 93 MBZ 190E 2.6 96 MBZ C280 93 MBZ 400E 90 MBZ 300ce 71 MGB-GT 91 VW Corrado G60 97 328i 99 E320 Wagon 97 E320

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t...r+sig+copy.jpg

The problem with installing the aftermarket unit is the speaker wire connections. You can find power, ignition, illumination, ground, right from the oem harness, but you need to wire the speaker wires by either splicing into the fader control on the center console, or going to the oem amp which is behind the rear seat.

Either way you're looking at some work at removing trims.

Easiest way is to shop for an exact factory model for your becker unit online.

I found a refurbished becker 1432 for 99 shipped on ebay, and it's been working great!

I wired in a double din radio in my 300TE with using the existing speaker wiring. The stock amp didn't work any ways (was disconnected) and was mounted in the rear. So I piggybacked two more speakers off of that and mounted them in the rear.
It's pushing 8 speakers off the stereo HU's amp and sounds great.





The GPS Garmin C550 can be used as an MP3 player, blue tooth phone will pause the music and put your call through the stereo



The stereo also illuminates in different colors.

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91 MBZ 300TE 4M 91 Jag XJS V12 94 Alfa Romeo 164 LS 80 BMW 320i 85 BMW 528e 86 BMW 325e 88 BMW 325e 88 BMW 325i 89 BMW 325ix 95 BMW 525i 96 BMW M3 78 Fiat Spyder 124 98 Land Rover D1 LSE 98 Range Rover HSE 4.6 93 MBZ 190E 2.6 96 MBZ C280 93 MBZ 400E 90 MBZ 300ce 71 MGB-GT 91 VW Corrado G60 97 328i 99 E320 Wagon 97 E320

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t...r+sig+copy.jpg

that's a nice setup. I didn't know you can modify the console to fit a double-din!! Would've save me a lot of headaches trying to source a single din solution that does everything i wanted.

I ended up getting a pioneer unit (6300BT) so the screen flips up and turn into a 7 inch monitor, which is nice, but does get in the way of blocking the a/c access.

update:

Wait, you have the w124. that's why you're able to make the mod. w126 doesn't leave room for a double-din. There's a ashtray and 3 buttons for the heated front seats. Don't want them removed.

I removed the ashtray (made the plate around radio and filled in gap where ashtray was with a universal mud flap, trimmed to fit and added carbon fiber vinyl). With a little ingenuity you could relocate the buttons for the heated seats. Possibly Dremel out some slots in the center console. You would probably have to attached (solder) some additional wire for more length.

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91 MBZ 300TE 4M 91 Jag XJS V12 94 Alfa Romeo 164 LS 80 BMW 320i 85 BMW 528e 86 BMW 325e 88 BMW 325e 88 BMW 325i 89 BMW 325ix 95 BMW 525i 96 BMW M3 78 Fiat Spyder 124 98 Land Rover D1 LSE 98 Range Rover HSE 4.6 93 MBZ 190E 2.6 96 MBZ C280 93 MBZ 400E 90 MBZ 300ce 71 MGB-GT 91 VW Corrado G60 97 328i 99 E320 Wagon 97 E320

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t...r+sig+copy.jpg

g
reat-looking install! And thanks for the answer. if I can get power off my factory wire, I can run new speaker wire and get new speakers.
Cheapest thing probably is to find a working Grand Prix.
Randy R.

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Providing a home for these cars:
1951 Buick Special De Luxe
1977 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith II
1970 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
1986 Mercedes-Benz 420 SEL
2005 Mercedes-Benz E 320 CDI
2012 GMC Sierra 1500 4X4
1927 Pierce-Arrow Series 80
1931 Pierce-Arrow Series 43
1926 Ford Model T coupe

Running new wires for new speakers? That's a pretty hefty undertaking. Good luck with that.

I left the original speaker wires alone. Just ran 8 wires from the front hu to the 2 amps behind the rear seatbacks.

I think i might have shorted something because after the install, the rear dome lights stayed on so i had to remove the light bulb. LOL

It's not bad at all, fronts just go behind the dash and you can route the rear ones up under the carpet with the other wires. Honestly it's easier than splicing into a factory amp.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Actually the Grand Prix radios are selling for almost the price of a new HU.
The JVC double din in the photo was on sale as a open box buy for only $65.
Nothing was wrong with it, still like new. Box and everything included. I see them online for twice that. But still you get all the bells and whistles for not a bad price. CD/MP3, USB, Pandora, HD radio, and BT.

Stereo wiring isn't rocket science. Once you get the color code it's a "no brainer".
Invest in a $10 multimeter just as a precaution for testing so you don't wire anything wrong.

If anyone is interested I'm parting out a 93 400e. I still have the speakers, sorry no stereo HU.

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91 MBZ 300TE 4M 91 Jag XJS V12 94 Alfa Romeo 164 LS 80 BMW 320i 85 BMW 528e 86 BMW 325e 88 BMW 325e 88 BMW 325i 89 BMW 325ix 95 BMW 525i 96 BMW M3 78 Fiat Spyder 124 98 Land Rover D1 LSE 98 Range Rover HSE 4.6 93 MBZ 190E 2.6 96 MBZ C280 93 MBZ 400E 90 MBZ 300ce 71 MGB-GT 91 VW Corrado G60 97 328i 99 E320 Wagon 97 E320

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t...r+sig+copy.jpg