The time to put in my system is coming up pretty soon. As I plan to be able to turn everything back to stock, I was planning to have the dealer (if necessary) take the whole system out and have an aftermarket specialist put in the new system.

Just so I know what "taking the whole system out" entails, other than removing the head unit, dash speakers, door speakers, rear speakers and cd changer in the trunk, does the system have any other "hidden" components which would require the dealer to take it out (such as amps, crossovers, etc.)? Otherwise, I guess I, or my local installer, can pull out the system without the dealer's assistance...

This is for the 500E by the way.

Many thanks...

Ricky,

If you were thinking about upgrading the complete system, I would start with taking the complete interior out. The aftermarket specialist will start like that as well (at least if they run wires in a proper way) and therefore I would have them taking out the OEM system as well (otherwise you have to pay two companies for partly the same labor).

The best way is to upgrade the system yourself :D ! It is always fun to take apart a complete car (or am I just a car-nut?).

greetingz,

There is a plastic panel that is in the forwardmost part of the right front passenger footwell. Behind it are several components relating to the audio system.

As far as taking out all the OE pieces, you should be able to get all the components out but desert the wiring to be used later. Simply run all new wiring for the new stuff-it'd likely be of higher quality anyway. The only problem might be where to fit all the new wiring. The suggestion of tearing out the entire interior is not a bad one, I assure you. I just gutted my D (which is exactly the same as my 500 excepting the rear center console) to install a cell phone, and I'm glad I went that route. By removing the seats & carpeting, I was able to run wiring within the OE channels that the stock wiring is in.

Good luck!

Good luck!

Thought some more about this:

Consider a system that has minimal cabling going from front to rear in the car...space is at a premium. In my 500 I have an Alpine Head Unit that requires only that one relatively thin DIN cable connect the head unit to a sound processor in the trunk; all the signal splitting etc. is taken care of by that unit, so RCA cables run only from the processor in the trunk to the amps in the trunk. And since the battery's already back there, all that needs to run forward (wiring-wise) is speaker cabling.