Hi all:

I've been thinking that my 98 e320 might have an oem amp separate from the oem BE1692 head unit. Can anyone confirm my suspicions? I have recently installed a sony cdx-7705x cd/mp3 unit, and the only way i could get sound was by connecting sony's amp wire (blue) to the antenna lead wire in the factory stereo harness.

The sony unit plays fine music, but there's a steady volume of underlying hissing sound whenever the unit's volume is turned on. If I completely turn off the volume, then the hissing goes away.

The noise is at the same db level from the lowest volume setting to the hightest. Which led me to think that grounding isn't the issue.

Anyway, if there is indeed a factory amp present, i might want to research a way of bypassing it and connecting my sony hu directly to each of the factory speakers.

Does anyone know if the 98 e320 has regular 4phm speakers? Or are they irregular in ohm readings and self-powered??

Much Obliged!