I have been trying to find a solution to put a sub in my E320 sedan for about 6 months now. I talked to the "ghetto" audioshop that installed my head unit and new speakers, and they said I would have to port it into the cabin via the rear shelf under the first aid compartment. Has anyone tried just sitting two twelves in the sealed trunk? They quoted me $1000 for the job. I dont want to spend that much. I don't quite understand the "ported" function. Would the subs be turned to face inside the box, instead of facing out? Please advise on some options. I am obviosly an audio amateur. Also, I don't want to rock the neighborhood, I just want some nice deep bass, what wattage do i need in a sub?

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'95 E320 Sedan w/224K Miles (W124)

In my 95 E420 I have two 10's in a ported box and it sounds just fine.

In my 94 E500 I have 1 15 and have loes ported into the cabin. When I purchased the car it was like this already.

To me the both sound good. I myself would prefer not to cut into the chassis.

Would you please describe to me the design of a ported box, is it a special box or something? in what direction are the subs pointed? thomas

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'95 E320 Sedan w/224K Miles (W124)

Thomas there is nothing special about the ported box. The back of the box sits up against the gas tank and the subwoofers facing outward, so if you open up the trunk you just see the box and the subs. It leiterally just sits in there. Nothing special.

Porting and sub placement are discussed in depth in this thread from the archives - a good read! 500E Stereo upgrade

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John

2003 Firemist Red/grey leather SL 500
2015 Palladium Silver/black mbtex GLK 350
1987 Smoke Silver/burgundy mbtex 300E Sportline (SOLD)

Click to see 87 300E

ported box - a port, or a hole (or tube) in the box to port the sub woofer. generally 3-4 db gain, but usually doesn't sound as good as sealed. there is a way to tune the box by the length of the tube inserted into the box.

sealed - generally best sounding.

bandpass - loudest given the same wattage of all types of boxes. sub is mounted inside the box, firing into a chamber with ports. generally 3-4 db gain over ported box. most people i see use this box gets ****ty, but loud sound.

now this was the general way people catagorize different box types. there are also other weird boxes. ofcourse if done right a ported box can sound better than a ****ty sealed. etc etc.

but i think what the store is telling you is that since the sub is placed in the trunk it needs a way to reach the inside cabin. by "porting" it this means removing the obstacles, so it can reach the inside of the car. if you have a gas tank behine the seat, like a lot of mercedes do it will seal the trunk sound proof. honda's or cheaper cars don't have anything back there. so they can just stick a sub in the trunk and hear it.

$1000, IMO is way too much. does that include the stuff or just labor? also what does it include? if labor alone then whoa!

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198? 300D ???K - Future DD
1989 300TE 285K - traded in '12
1984 300SD 186K - Sold in 08
1978 300SD 330K - Died in 05

This is way too much money for this job unless this includes high quality subwoofers, amps, wiring a custom box and labor. Especially if this it at your "ghetto" shop.

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W126 1983 300SD 286,000 miles and ticking
Baby blue exterior Grey MB tex
Recent work:
Replaced air cleaner mounting brackets and heat shields
Replaced alternator, fan and power steering belts
Replaced positive battery terminal
Replaced negative battery terminal and cord
New Duralast Battery

My car needs work.

Since you live in San Diego, you could take your car over to La Jolla Audio, the sponser of this audio forum. Nice people who know their stuff.

Try to get a DRcoustic DR-328 bass pump. I have two of them installed on my 300 ce24. The best of this is that you need just a 4" hole, besides its soft sound. More info here

http://www.coustic.com/classic/PDFs/DR-328.pdf

If you need photos, let me know.

Here is a pick of my setup with the band-pass ported through the rear deck.





Need some additional help or questions, just email me.

- pls, I could use your photos -

Unfortunately i sold my 300 MB CE-24 a couple of years ago. I bought a MB S430 but I have not yet installed my Bass Pumps on it. Here are two pics from the top where you can see the hole (exactly 7,3 cm) needed. Hope this can help you.

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