I have a new E320 that came with the Bose system. I sounds worse than what's in my Honda Accord so I started investigating what's in it.

There are 8 speakers by the way MBNA counts speakers and 6 when counted by us mortals. There are 2 mids in the rear and 2 more in the rear doors. There are 2 coaxial speakers in the front doors that MBNA counts as 4 speakers. That's it. There are speaker enclosures in the front door pillars and in the dash but these are not used in North American models, except the dash speakers may be used with the optinal phone system.

MBNA did not know but I assume that the other enclosures have some function in european models. Since the optional CD changer was $1000, and no aftermarket one will work with the Bose system, I decided to spend the $1000 on replacing the whole system and getting something that sounds better to boot.

In the front I put 6' speakers in the doors and tweeters in the door pillar enclosures already there, together with a crossover in the door. I put the same speaker system in the rear deck using the original cutouts. Since there are two 6" cutouts on each side, I put the 6" in one and the tweeter, on a plate, in the other, all under the stock grills. An Alpine 4-channel amp is in the back of the trunk mounted on a board to support. The head unit is an Alpine CD player that was liberated from by previous car. It fits perfectly in the dash opening.

OK, so it cost $1100 with tax and installation, interconnects, remote turn on, and speaker cables. (The car was rewired as if it had no original sound system. Replacing the Bose system is very easy.) The sound quality compared to the Bose is amazing. The Bose speakers that were removed were real junk, cheap paper cones and a snap on plastic tweeter (similar can be bought for about $10 a piece), and even in the process of rewiring the car for the new system and installing the amp, the installer never found the "200 watt" Bose amp.

The stock head unit, by the way, is a Becker, not Alpine as the MB dealer claimed. It's actually decent with some nice features and a large readable display. I would have liked to salvage it but it doesn't play CDs and the only way to add that capability is with the overpriced MB changer. My only other nit with the Becker unit is that the LCD screen is polarized 90 degrees from my sunglasses so when I put them on, the screen goes blank and I can only read it by tilting my head sideways:-)

MB really ought to do better for premium sound systems. Maybe use the Nakimichi like Lexus or give lots of options like they do in Europe. It is the weakest part of the car. Bose has superb marketing and has gotten those who are less experienced with sound system to believe a sows ear is a silk purse.