I have just purchased an '82 300 SD, and I am replacing the stereo. I need to access the fader control to bypass it and allow my new Blaupunkt Boston CD unit to control the speakers independently from the stock fader unit. Question: How do I remove the access panel without damage to the wood? Also, does anyone know what the flat square modular (two connector female) MB connector that I found in the stereo compartment is actually for? It seems to have full time battery power and a ground in a squeeze lock connector. It isn't connected to anything, but should it be, or can I just go ahead and use it to power the clock?

If it is like my 85 W126, once you take out the ashtray, the little change well think just lifts up, and then that wood panel slides forward. If you are serious about your stereo, it is not that hard to just rewire the speakers from scratch. Sure would be easier than figuring out which wires went to which speakers from the rotary knob.

Thanks for the reply from the "Q" continuum. Damn, I love this forum, it was worth every penny I paid for it!!! Seriously though, in mine, you have to lift up the ashtray (after you slide it open, of course) and then remove two little screws to actually remove the whole ashtray. Otherwise, Thank You, you are a genius, the process that you suggest worked just fine. As for the suggestion of wiring the speakers from scratch, I think that is a lot harder than just using splice connectors to tap in to the wires that Mercedes already put in. Then, to figure out what is what, I will just "pop" the speakers one at a time using a 9 Volt battery. Also, because someone who was in Der Kriegsmarine wired these guys, as far as speaker wires are concerned, red is port (left), and green is starboard (right). Only thing to figure out is which set is front, and which is rear. This process is possibly simplified further by the fact that the speaker wires are tagged with a part number that might tell me something. But, I think this will be fairly easy for me, and will only require about 2 or 3 feet of speaker wire per speaker. I figure 12 feet of 10ga speaker wire should do the job. If you see flawed logic here, or any inaccuracies, please respond.

[Edited by longston on 12-21-2000 at 09:56 PM]

I don't think Mercedes used a floating ground for their speakers. If you find you don't have one positive and one negative wire for each speaker, you WILL have to run new ones. I doubt it though. By the way, I figured that you knew how to take the ashtray out already since you were talking about replacing the radio.

Be careful putting the radio in, I found the wires in the back were getting a little pinched since the clearance was so small once in place. Of course, I have 3 sets of RCAs and a DC-DC converter hanging off mine.

Hey, Thanks again! I wasn't originally going to mess with the fader, but a local car stereo shop told me I would have to bypass it, and once I got to the pruning and preening of the old wires, cold logic told me that 4 channels into 2 divided again by the fader wasn't a good idea. I am figuring that there will be one pair per speaker, as that is how the wires come to the radio from the fader (two pair).

As for the ashtray, it took me a little while to figure out how to take it out, so I mentioned the screws partly as a point of humor, and partly as a "courtesy" reference for anyone reading the post in the future who hadn't taken one out before. But, does anyone have a clue about the two conductor wire with the MB molded click-lock connector on the end? I am planning on tapping in to the 12v side of it for the "yellow" wire to the stereo.

On the subject of rear clearance, I am wondering, can I just install the radio/CD player without the little rubber bumper that goes on the back end, or will I still need some additional support. I guess trial and error will be the best way of determining that.

Since mine is so tight with the additional wires, it doesn't move at all. Try it out and see if you get any movement or skipping. I doubt you will, but if you do, then add something to the back. You know, if you actually use that metal back-strap and someone tries to steal your radio, they probably won't get away with it. Of course, it is such a pain to install in the first place, that 99.98% of people never install it anyway.