There have been a whole lot of complaints about the stock Becker radios in our cars. Why do people think these are junk? What's so wrong with them? They seem to be built well, and integrate with the car pretty well, and just look like they belong. Why don't you folks like 'em? . (By the way, I'm specifically wondering about the very late '80s and very early '90s Beckers.) Your comments appreciated.

Well Sir. Speaking for myself. I found nothing technically wrong with the Becker that came standard in my SL. The radio reception was great and the overall tonal quality was very good; not the deep bass of a rolling boombox, but decent. That problem with the Beckers of my era car (1991) is that they are made to play cassettes. It's nearly 2004 and the world is playing MP3's from disc. What's a cassette? I don't think that even a new 2004 Mercedes can play MP3's. Auto manufactures are always 5 years behind on their OEM radios. A modern head unit ought to have a slot to play music directly from a compact flash card and / or audio DVD.

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Resistance is Futile.

I never had a problem with becker radios, they looked good int he car, but I always preferred the extras an aftermarket deck offered, and sound quality of the aftermarket decks I like are much better than the stock beckers units they replaced.

Other than that, the cost of repairing most older becker radios and or adding a changer to one equipped with changer controls, is not very cost effective, especially with the vast amount of aftermarket units out there and their good prices.

Overall, I wish a company would make a unit that looked stock in a benz, but had all the aftermarket goodies someone like me would want, Aux input, MP# playing off CD's, built in multiband eq, subwoofer and regular pre outs, you name it.

Alon

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'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
2002 C320 - 816 - Sport Wagon

Becker head units are used by mb, porche, maserati and ferrari. If a pioneer, alpine, nakemichi, sony or clarion head unit were able to provide better sound quality then surely these manufactures (bearing in mind that ferrari sound systems are an optional extra) would use them instead. Especially with cost considered. BECKER ROCKS!

p.s mp3's offer the possiblity to fill a cd with 150 of absolutly ghastly sound quality. Way to prostitute a high quality medium!

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Andrew
300e 294,000mi
380sel 185,998mi
380se 309,980mi

Thanks for the opinions, fellows.

I have a long commute and have a large financial investment in Louis L'Amour cassettes. Eventually, they will be converted to CD/mp3 format. That is going to be a big job and will take some time. Until then, I want to enjoy them still. Some of my cassettes go back to 1971, when I purchased them overseas while on a ocean voyage courtesy of Uncle Sam. They still play fine, but are starting to lose it. Those will be converted first. Some of the music has never been released on CD.

When the time comes, I can always add a RF CD/mp3 changer to the existing Becker. Alpine and Kenwood make a unit that would work okay. When I add the changer, I plan to put the remote display inside the ash tray. That way, when not used, or when parked, all I have to do is close the ash tray and no one will be the wiser. I think it will barely fit if I remove the metal insert. Only thing I've noticed is that it gets a little hot in there with the ash tray light. Do you think I can disconect it without the "bulb out" light on the dash coming on?

I suppose my next upgrade will have to be the Rainbows that Scott has available.

Gotta be careful about my mods. Have to do modifications that aren't very noticable. My wife said she would leave me if I spent the money to put a stick shift in the car. Boy! Tough choice, the wife or the manual trans . . . (just kidding). However, someday, someway, I'm going to put a real transmission in that thing! Possibly, the only reason BMW has sold so many cars with respect to Mercedes Benz is that they have always made a manual transmission available in their entire product line. With Damlier, only the entry level model was available with a manual. I'm sure they have lost a lot of sales by not having a stick available in the U.S. market.

Thanks again.

I love becker... I upgraded to a Becker Monza MP3 7882 unit for my 95 c280 w/9 speeker BOSE... it's great plays mp3's and looks more stock than the original radio... I love the black simple teutonic finish of becker and blaupunkt radios... plus they readily intergrade into the BOSE factory systems without problem....

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95 M3 (US)
94 318is (EURO)
87 190E 2.6

Oh yes, the new Beckers are terrific. I think *most* of us exchange our old Beckers because we want something that plays CD's and has RCA outputs for amplifiers.

vas2vas,

Very nice. Looks good. What are all those letters and numbers along the bottom of the LCD display?

those are the abrieviated names of the radio stations, you can either display 1-2-3 etc or the station name.... has 12 presets in each mode....

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95 M3 (US)
94 318is (EURO)
87 190E 2.6

I have three eary 90's MB's... a 500e and 300te and a 500sl. The first two have Beckers, the 500sl has a new Alpine. My 13 year old son loves the 500sl and the alpine but thinks the other two cars and radios are "lame" - especially the wagon. My beefs with the Beckers:
1) the codes - they should have designed a way to disable the code requirement - I use a battery shut off when the cars sit for a few weeks.
2) The liquid crystal displays lose "pixels" (or whatever the technical term is.
3) The Becker Silverstone CD player is a POS - I upgraded to a used 6 cd player from a 94 e500 which is much better and more reliable. I paid $500 for the complete set-up from a e500. I already saved $$$ by using the cd and the tuner components when mine quit.
4) reception of fm stations is poor.

Yet these radios are elegant in their simplicity and functionality, and they certainly do look "right."

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1992 Black 500e
1991 Black 300te 4m
1992 Black Renntech 620sl
1979 Porsche 911sc targa

The chief problem with Becker radios is that most people in today's world don't understand the philosophy with which they have been designed and built.

Today's society prefers a "throwaway" mentality -- meaning you spend $200-400-1,000-whatever on a sound system and use it until you like it, get rid of the car, it gets stolen, breaks, or is obsolescent.

Then you get a new one with more modern features, video-game screen technology, MP3 capability, etc.

Becker radios are designed, like old-school Benzes, to last forever. They can be rebuilt, repaired, and most if not all parts are replaceable and parts are carried for decades-old radios. Moreover they are supported by the factory by knowledgeable people.

Becker radios are not cutting-edge. They don't offer the latest gimmicks. Rather they offer solidity and quality. Owners of the cars that contain them, are expected to have them repaired when they break. Just part of the ownership experience.

Many people want the latest gizmos and gimmicks, and want a flashing blue and red videogame display in their dash. These are also the kind of people who want bass that can be felt 3 blocks away, and want to connect 2,000+ watts of amps and multiple crossovers in their cars in that quest for IASCA-competition-level sound. Great. I'm totally down with that. Upgrade, and throw away the "junk" Becker. You can get money for it on eBay and it goes to a happy owner.

Unfortunately these are also the same people who are most down on Beckers. Well, Becker radios were never designed for that kind of use. Rather they have been designed for versatility and accurate reproduction of all sorts of music, whether it comes from a radio, cassette, CD, MP3, etc.

Despite what people think there is a hefty market for Beckers -- the older the more valuable. The "pinstripe" beckers from the 1960s through early 1980s are especially valuable, and all parts are available. Early Mexico Cassette units are going for >$500 refurbished.

So, a thorough understanding of the design philosophy and purpose for which Beckers have been traditionally crafted, helps one to understand why they are like they are.

When I have to put up with people cutting down Becker radios, I always ask, "How many Kenwood/Sony/Aiwa/Nakamichi/whatever" radio/CD/cassette/MP3/PlayStation units are in operation 10 years after they are bought? Not to mention 35 years, or even 50 years!

And secondly, "Do you expect that (insert name of favored manufacturer here) will be supporting, refurbishing, and supplying parts for this radio in 10 years? In 25 years? In 50 years?" We all know the answer to that one.

So, feel free to cap on Beckers, but just understand that they have redeeming qualities to some of us who care for those qualities. And yes I buy new equipment for appropriate applications too.

Lastly, Becker (here in North America) is run by some pretty great people too. Folks like Horst Becker, Ronn Goodman and Ed Ebel work their tails off to support MB enthusiasts and their products. Hats off to them.

Cheers,
Gerry

well said..... :-)

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95 M3 (US)
94 318is (EURO)
87 190E 2.6

I also love the look of the Beckers and the feel of the buttons and controls.......very solid and not cheap like aftermarket ones.


I have a freind thats "addicted to bass" and in his 94 C220 he left the stock unit and just added an amp and subwoofer to the back. It is now an amazing system and glad he didnt remove the head unit which I beleive is a Becker.

As for my 83 380......sortive regret removing the head unit but it was very old already and just had to upgrade. I looked also for newer Beckers such as early 90's late 80's but they werent in good shape.

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99 C43
98 S420
99 C230K
01 C240

Great post Gerry!

Remember to those who like their factory becker and alpine radios, our repair shop will do a direct auxiallary input (not fm modulated) to any factory mb radio including command systems from 1981 to 2003. This keeps your stock radio and allows you to input an ipod /mp3 or sat radio or both.... Check in with Cleeve at www.lajollaaudiorepair.com and they will take care of you!

Scott

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The Mercedes Specialists Since 1986