1972 350sl correct period radio - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

afmcorp · #1 12-15-2003, 03:40 PM

hello

i got a question re the correct era radio for my 350sl.

i have just purchased a "BECKER EUROPA II STEREO" MODEL NO. 467. IT HAS 2 AM CHANNELS AND 4 FM CHANNEL BUTTONS.

would this radio be considered style and era correct?

tks
craig

cbdo · #2 12-15-2003, 09:05 PM

The Europa II should be period-correct, as far as I can tell. See this link for discussion of the MB radios just before the manufacture of your car:

http://members.tripod.com/~breastroker/MB_M100radio.html

afmcorp · #3 12-16-2003, 01:36 AM

thanks craig for the link. i'm guessing the europa II is a mid 70's but as the article stated it appears that a europa II look a like was available for maybe the 71 sedans. but i did gather that maybe i can look at the id tag and perhaps figure out what was delivered with the car.

here is a picture of what i intend on installing. i'm taking out the blapunkt.

i am open to any discussion on this cause the radio is not installed yet.

thanks for the help
craig

cbdo · #4 12-16-2003, 10:11 PM

You can attack it on either of two levels. The look will certainly be in keeping with the original appearance, even if the date is a year or two off. For the exact original fitment, MB can provide a lot of info from their records, and I would hazard a guess that they could tell you what radio the car had from the factory.

afmcorp · #5 12-17-2003, 12:47 AM

hi craig

i just picked this up on ebay a few minutes ago. read down thru it. it has all the original delivery papers and booklets for a 72 350sl. it even has all the becker stuff.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2448026450#ShippingPayment

i've only been on the benz thing now 2 years so i'm not very versed with options and histories of the cars. so i'm thinking you are right i'll just keep the europa II for now until i come up with the exact radio. i may have to go to becker direct to get this.

the help from mb... how to i contact them or who do i contact?

thanks much for your help
craig

Mark DiSilvestro · #6 12-17-2003, 11:06 AM

My '72 250 Coupe has a Blaupunkt Frankfurt Stereo radio,with 2 speakers, one in the dash and a matching one in the rear shelf. My '72 250 sedan came with the factory, 4-speaker, Becker Europa Stereo radio, with the separate amplifier box mounted under the dash. They're decent radios, often let down by poor speakers. The twin speakers in my Coupe sound much better than the original 4 did in my sedan.

Many years ago, a lady in my neigborhood had a rusty derelict '70 250 in her driveway, with the Becker Mexico Cassette radio. I tried to buy the radio but she said the car was "too valuable" and wanted too high a price for the whole car.

I recently got a Becker Mexico Cassette radio, off Ebay, for my Coupe.

Note that the speaker sockets on German radios differ between early '70s and late '70s radios. Early types use twin-pin speaker plugs (O O). Later units use the smaller, polarised DIN speaker plugs (I o).
After the original Europa died in my 250, I replaced it with a black-face Europa Cassette radio from a '79 240D. It fit perfectly but I made adaptors to connect it to the factory wiring in case I ever reinstall an original chrome Becker.

Happy Motoring, Mark

Djenka · #7 01-11-2004, 10:56 AM

Original radio that came with your car was Mexico Cassette electronic 617 (for full house version) or Mexico Stereo Cassette KU

First one had 10 presets, 6FM and 4AM electronic tone control, timer, autoreverse cass, automatic search and frequency display.

Second had two big round dials, one for volume, other for tuning, under them tone control and senitivity (City-Country), had shifting scale for tuning display with Stereo indication inside, autotune knob (and that was quite advanced for the time), two switches FM and SW...