Can replace the radio from a W126 with one from a W140?
 

I just bought a very nice 1990 560SEL that still has the original Becker 1480. Unfortunately the radio is toast but I have an extra original Becker from my 1997 S500.

Would the Becker from the W140 be plug 'n play for the W126?

BTW: Before replacing the original radio in your W140 because of a wonky volume control, try pulling off the volume control knob and spraying the pot with contact cleaner. The replacement I bought didn't work much better the original until I cleaned them. Now both work great!

It won't be plug and play, but a radio from a 1994 on car could be made to work without too much effort.

-J

Might be tough, because I remember my W140 had a "2 piece" radio.

It was a 1992 500SEL.

The head unit was simply a display with a bunch of buttons and some minor circuitry. Apparently the rest of the radio (including the tuner itself) was in a box in the trunk.

You might get this thing powered up properly only to find it doesn't work properly.

I had an aftermarket radio in my W126 and it was great. MP3, etc. Now they have bluetooth included also.

Most of the radios look pretty generic now (flat black screen) so they blend in reasonably well.

I've been researching all afternoon and I think I may have a better solution. To my eye the original radio always looks best, so . . . I'm buying a refurbished original Becker 1480 and a bluetooth device that inserts into the cassette slot and allows me to connect to it with my iPhone. It's a Radio Shack product, RadioShack Bluetooth Cassette Adapter : iPod accessories | RadioShack.comRadioShack Bluetooth Cassette Adapter : iPod accessories | RadioShack.com. At $49.99 it's worth a shot. I'll report back when I have it up and running. Sure would be slick if it works!

You need to splice the harness and get the harness from the W140. The 94/95 radio is a nice upgrade from the early 90s silver unit.

It is very simple, and shouldn't have any issues. If you get a W140 head unit get an iPod cable soldered in also. Plays MP3, phones, iPod etc and it's reasonable to have it done.

1997 W140 radio has it's own amp which is not used.. You will need the code to the radio, and a mating harness from the junk yard. The Code the mercedes parts dealer can give it to you.

All the best,

Martin

W140's used a secondary Bose amp setup. The Becker was only used to drive the Bose amp.

The Becker internal amp should work in your W126. You can buy conversion harnesses on the great auction site.
W126's have that fore/aft volume balancing wheel in the center on the lower console. More modern units have 4 or more independent speaker leads and the balancing is done inside the head unit.
You can either rewire the speakers in your W126 or just work out the simple 2 speaker output from the more modern unit and use the balancing wheel.

If you use a modern contemporary head unit you generally need to rewire the speakers.