Help! Must replace head unit!

I've had a problem with my Alpine Head unit for the past couple of months. The local Mercedes dealership ran some diagnostics and said I would have to replace the unit. So...

It seems I have two options: buy a new Mercedes unit for about $600 or buy a replacement unit from an audio shop for significantly less.

For aesthetic reasons, I would like to buy the Mercedes unit. I really cannot justify the premium, though, unless the NEW unit has a CD player built in (instead of the tape deck).

So here is my question: can I buy a new, Mercedes head unit with an in dash CD player, or does Mercedes only make the CD changer option available?

Just in case the answer is NO -- can you please also recommend a good quality head unit that won't completely destroy the look of my interior?

Thanks!

Kane
1993 190E 2.6

[Ashman]

nakamichi and blaupunt make units that fit well in mercedes.

Alon

[Holson Adi]

I must admit that I was very skeptical that the Pioneer would look good in a Benz dash. However, I think it looks right at home in my old W123.

I have a Kenwood head unit in the W124 and it definitely doesn't look nor sound as good as the Pioneer in the W123.
However, the W124 has a pair of 10" subs.. so it is louder.

I would go for either Nakamichi, Pioneer, or Blaupunkt. However, some Blaupunkts are kinda ugly.. choose wisely.

OR!

you could try E-bay and with some luck you'll find a decent radio out of a wrecked or upgraded car!

Good luck,

[BENZ-LGB]

The new Alpine headunits are very good and look right at home in a Benz dash. I have the Alpine 7876 with a 12 CD changer. I am very happy with the sound quality, functionality and looks. The Alpine h/u made the OE speakers in my 1991 420SEL come alive.

The newer units, with MP3 and XM radio are just awesome.

[SCLJA]

We do an exchange rebuilt factory radio for $250.00 through our repair department. There is a becker am fm cd @ 699.00 that is made as a replacement radio but it doesn't look just like your radio. Your radio should have a round knob and it should be an alpine (it doesn't say on the front of the radio). There are a lot of other options and an alpine would be one of my 1st recomendations. If you need to talk to our repair shop the # is 858-581-6545

Scott@lajollaaudio

[Champa]

I had a pioneer unit on the 300E and worked and looked pretty good, but have had Blaupunkts on other cars and they worked great too. For the MB's I think some Blaupunkts looks better since some of their designs are square and not too flashy; also some economical units have iether similar back lighting color or it is selectable. This makes your whole interior have the same glow at night. I don't know if this is true with the new models but its worth a try.

my $0.02

I have a Sony-XPLOD M750, Face in my 1986 300E, looks great. Mainly because it has the constant black panel face when its closed, they dont make teh 750 but they still make the Face units with Active Black Panel Faces. It fantastic, i bought it for the system that I installed in it, because its powerful and has many features, but it also provides a very versatile Factory Replacement face.

[piccolovic]

I have a blauplunkt as a replacement to the becker in my '84 190D. Works well, and you can turn off a lot of the electronic flashiy stuff on the display. They are also very reasonably priced.