Are you talking about the Infinity Kappa 42.9i? Crutchfield says it doesn't fit my 83 300D?

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85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold
83 300D Manganese Brown 109K
97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold
98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold
95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold
93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold
95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold
94 E320 White 127K, sold
85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold
84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold
99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease)
00 Honda S2000 Red (lease)
86 Mercedes 300E (sold)
84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold)

Crutchfields guide seems to indicate whether component will drop right in with no modifications. All the stiff I've put in mine were items Crutchfield said would not fit my cars. Sometimes it means you have to make slight modifications to make them work. Sometimes they really won't work at all.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I must say I'm with MBeige on the buttons vs. knobs topic. I've been holding off, waiting for a nice, understated HU to come to market with a plain black or black/gunmetal face... Even a wood finish like the Becker Mexico 2340 had as an option.... but all I see are racks of bright green buttons (alpine) or various whizz-bang looking chrome strips and bright, multicolor displays... The one that catches my eye these days is the Blaupunkt New Orleans MP58, since it's decently plain to look at, and supposedly offers a bluetooth option. My idea of the very best would be twin knobs, like in the old days, or even on new VWs, where the left knob controls the volume and menu settings liek EQ, and the right knob is a tuner/track shuttle control.... In other news, I cut a set of Blaupunkt GTx 675's into the rear parcel shelf on the 300D, and I love the sound, but I really don't care for the supplied grills very much. I went to my local plastic fabricator and asked about replicating the original grills (with the concentric rings on top) in the new size. Price for 4 (to do my car and my brother's) would have been nearly $90 each, because they'd have to be machined... Alas. My thought is that if there is enough interest in an oversized factory-look grill, it would be worthwhile to have a mold cut, and have a bunch of them injection-molded (like the originals) out of the original acetyl or just plain durable ABS plastic, because a quantity production of molded parts would bring the price down quite a bit. Good idea? Bad idea?

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1981 300SD - Sunburn Gold, 200ish k.
1984 300D Turbo "The Green Lantern" - Mango Green (DD) - 183k with no more fingers to count on
1979 300SD "The Whale" - Black (Back-up mega-sled, soon to be for sale!) - 160k and no longer keeping track...
Confucius say: Man who run behind car get exhausted, man who run in front of car get tired.

Since my last post here, I sold my second 240D and acquired a much-nicer nearly rust-free navy-blue 240D. It came with it's original black-face Becker Europa cassette-radio and 4 original speakers. The cassette player's speed was erratic and audio-power was weak. So I found a vintage Japanese Blaupunkt BMW cassette-radio at the Pick-N-Pull for $10. The Blaupunkt has the round on-off-volume and tuning knobs, though the tuning isn't mechanical like what the Becker had. Cassette performance is fine and, while not cutting-edge, the added power has much improved the sound quality, even with the original speakers. If this radio doesn't last, I saved the Blaupunkt Singapore, from the 240D I sold, as a backup.

Something I have found, when working with the relatively small W123 factory speakers, is that replacement 2 or 3 way speakers tend to have the bass drowned out by the mid and high-range drivers. This was the case with the 2-way 5-inch Pioneers I installeed in the rear shelf of my first 240D.
So a good, simple full-range speaker may actually sound a bit better in this case, than the multi-way units.

As for a tastefully styled modern radio, I believe Kenwood used to sell a unit with a flip out control panel, that flipped closed when shut down to display a clean, unmarked black rectangle. Don't know if those are still availble, or even desireable now.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

I eventually went with a Blaupunkt New Orleans MP58.

Tigerlxxv, here are some photos for you




Turns out I just had a bad connection for power. The old HU I had is now in the 190E.

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http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg

I've lloked at this thread more than a few times. I also put in different speakers. I went JL Audio in the front and rear. The rear, I machined some plastic speaker boosters rings. I bought some off of E-Bay, then I machined them at an angle. There were some on E-Bay that already had the angle on them though. They look good, but are not stock.
I am battling the front speakers. The JL Audio 4 inchers stuck up to high and the magnet went against the AC ducts. I fit one in the passenger side kick panel. I used a 3/4 spacer to keep the magnet off the body metal. I am still working on the dirver side. The kick panel is recessed in over 1/2 to make clearance for the parking/emergency brake. I still have to work that one out.
I still haven't given up on the speakers in the dash. I bought some Alpine 4 inch speakers. They are lower profile than the JL Audios, Rockford that I looked at. They still sit about an 1/8 to high. The guy at the Audio store recomended installing them from below the dash. They include a plastic spacer for some reason. Also, the JL Audios had them to. I might use them to make a support for the speaker, and use the others to space it down if needed.
My head unit is an older Pioner CD. I hooked up the speakers directly to it. It has its own Fader. I also used new speaker wire.
From what I have hooked up, the two rears and one front. I felt I needed the two other speakers in the front. I couldn't blance out the Fader front to back and then the volume was a bit high. I did like the JL AUdio speakers. I am hearing more definition and detail in a lot of songs. There are certian aspects in music that you need to hear for certian types of dance. Its hard to hear them with a crappy sound system.
I did use B-Quiet (like Dynamat) on the interior of my car. I still need/want to do the doors, trunk, hood and roof. That will take some time.

Tom

Boston speakers fit perfectly in the dash. I ended up installing an Alpine iDA-X100 head unit an a Bazooka tube sub behind the driver's seat. System sounds great. The Alpine allows me to source mp3 music on a thumb drive in the glove.

__________________
85 300CD Signal Red/Tan sold
83 300D Manganese Brown 109K
97 E420 Midnight Blue 197K sold
98 BMW 328i Vert White 100K, sold
95 BMW 525i White 125K, sold
93 BMW 525iT Red 193K, sold
95 E320 Green Wagon 125K, sold
94 E320 White 127K, sold
85 300SD 156K Grey (Annie), sold
84 300D Lapis Blue 170K (Judy), sold
99 ML 320 Black (lease), 1998 C230 White (lease)
00 Honda S2000 Red (lease)
86 Mercedes 300E (sold)
84 Porsche 911 Red (sold), 1965 Porsche 911 White (sold)

'I just installed a new system in my car. I used a JVC KD-HDR1 head unit with an iPod adapter. It looks good in a 123 IMO. If you can find MB Quart 4" speakers, they will fit under the speaker covers in the dash. I've also read that Rainbow offers direct replacement speakers with the same connectors that are in the MBs but they are pricey. I used 4" Boston Acoustic coaxial speakers and I needed to modify the speaker covers to allow room for the tweeters.'

From post #3, also see post #35.

I didn't want to cut the factory covers on the dash.

Tom

I did put in the Alpine speakers over the weekend. I tired from the bottom. I couldn't get the speaker centered. So, the rubber of the cones were touching the dash. I don't know if that would have effected sound quality or not.
Then I went back to installing them from the top. I clipped a few of the metal prongs in half. I did this on both drivers and passengers side. I only used two screws on each side to hold them in. The passenger side stuck up roughly 1/8 of an inch. The factory plastic cover did go over it though. I might take off the fabric screen and take a bit off the plastic off from the back. There are some ribs that look to be 1/16 of an inch. I didn't have any noticable problem with the drivers side.
I rebalanced the Fade and the Lft/Rght balance. For some reason the front drivers side didn't work. I think there is a short in the head unit.
Tom

What happens if I put in a modern radio and do not rewire around the fader? I only care about having sound in the front two speakers. My original Becker is kaput and really just want something with an FM radio. I can buy a new unit for a fraction of the price of getting a replacement 612 off of eBay.

The Pioneir units I installed both had faders already in them. I just took the fader in the car out of the wiring system. I just ran speaker wires directly from the speakers to the head unit. I gues you could just use the front two speakers.
Tom

Thanks. I just want to make sure that I wouldn't be putting any unnecessary load on the electrical system. I suppose I could always return the unit if it does not work.

Can anyone tell me how the Hirschmann antenna gets it's power in a 123? I'm trying to install a new head unit in my 240D and the old radio, "Europa" has what appears to be a power cord going from it up to the Antenna switch at the top of the center console. Is that the source of the antennas power? from the radio itself rather directly from the vehicle?

- Peter.

__________________
2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

I second Peter's question. How do I get the antenna to work with a Sony or a Dual replacement radio?

Richard

I can answer that question myself. I discovered that the Hirschman does in fact get power from the original radio itself, not directly from the car. So the Old Becker had a power feed up to the Antenna switch and from there it went back to the antenna. With the replacement radio you should have a power wire that you can connect up to the one going to the Antenna switch on the console. That is how I wired in my replacement Kenwood.

- Peter.

__________________
2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S