E Class sounds system upgrade retro fit questions

[Stormbitch]

Hey

I have a 2011 E350 saloon..

Lovely massive areas for component replacement.

Do you have any advice? Just for instance component replacement, amp, etc

BMW for instance have an ALPINE Upgrade which is a kit... it includes some tweeter upgrades and proper panels, replacement door fronts and under seat subs.

Surely there is a nice retro fit kit, harmon or apline or something

Rather than the whole 50 inch sub in boot and £80,000 show car upgrades...

Just want some nice clean improvements. Spend 1k max.

Alpine kit for BMW is £500 plus fitting, includes 2 6s 2 tweeters and nicely crossover ed amp.

Can you help?

 

[Niks]

Im not sure if any retro fit speaker upgrade kits are available as yet for the W212 since its just recently been released (unless if someone knows otherwise?).

Whats your existing sound system in the car, do you have the standard system or the harmon kardon one? If the latter, you'd have to throw in more than £1k to better it.

Also just to let you know, as far as the acoustics go in these merc cars, you really need to give your car to someone who really knows their stuff in terms of imaging, sound stage and acoustics. You can end up spending £5k in component parts, subs, amps and installation, but if its not tuned right to that specific interior of the car then the whole thing will sound horrible.

Do you have any experience in sound system installs or choice of components?

 

[Stormbitch]

Thanks -

A little. I know that the cars sound deadening is amazing. And that the places in the doors will easily fit a 6 inch driver.

So I could start with 2 x 6 inch drivers in the door 2 x tweeters leave the rear doors on the existing head unit amp, and run the new fronts and possibly two parcel thin subs in the parcel area powered by a nice amp.

Its more about if this car can be done from a loom perspective.. If they can do a 2009 BMW with I Drive they must have a fiber optic "out" from the command, or the amp to run a new small amp.

Its not offensively bad - in fact an amp alone and front components might just add some co lour and warmth -

I am surprised people aren't on this... I did see a thread with a man who did have a full re install, but I don't think that is necessary for the odd ballad late at night.

Surely if the Harmon is doable, this must be an amp addition - the theory with BMW is that the spaces are the same for whichever upgrades, HI FI, Business, Logic 7 - the only difference is amp, components. With the exception of M3 and M5.

 

[Alfie]

Hey

I have a 2011 E350 saloon..

Lovely massive areas for component replacement.

Do you have any advice? Just for instance component replacement, amp, etc

BMW for instance have an ALPINE Upgrade which is a kit... it includes some tweeter upgrades and proper panels, replacement door fronts and under seat subs.

Surely there is a nice retro fit kit, harmon or apline or something

Rather than the whole 50 inch sub in boot and £80,000 show car upgrades...

Just want some nice clean improvements. Spend 1k max.

Alpine kit for BMW is £500 plus fitting, includes 2 6s 2 tweeters and nicely crossover ed amp.

Can you help?

You can probably improve the sound a whole lot for about £30. Just fit some dynamat in the doors behind and around the speakers. You would be amazed at the difference it makes.

 

[bolide]

You can probably improve the sound a whole lot for about £30. Just fit some dynamat in the doors behind and around the speakers. You would be amazed at the difference it makes.

That's true

On my BMW the speakers are in little plastic pods. Taking the pods out and loading the outside of them with Dynamat made a huge difference

Nick Froome
the independent Mercedes Estate specialists

 

[Stormbitch]

Thats a very very interesting theory?

What about adding an amp first such as a Helix... with settings.

And adding the dynamat..

I have to pay labour for fitting so I might aswell.?

The BMW was mainly amp so maybe its amp first and see what happens.?

I love that dynamat idea...

 

[bolide]

Adding sound deadening is incredibly labour-intensive so the time will cost more than the materials

You can do it yourself if you don't mind kneeling for about eight hours whilst removing all the skin from your knuckles & forearms

Improving the sound can be done in lots of different ways. Fitting better speakers is probably the easiest as most factory-fit speakers are cheap units with paper cones. Reinforcing the mounting points of the speakers and making sure there is an airtight seal round the speaker & the panel it is mounted to will make a huge difference whatever the speaker

Most systems have far too little power to have any headroom so more powerful amps will help. Like a more powerful engine, the point is not to use it all the time, it's to have it when you need it

Nick Froome
the independent Mercedes Estate specialists

 

[Xenon]

I certainly have sympathy for your plight to upgrade your stereo. This proves a very important lesson for EVERYONE thinking of buying a W212. If nothing else, you MUST add Harmon Kardon to your list of options. Otherwise the standard sound system is just plain ordinary. With Harmon Kardon added the sound is excellent. The extra cost which isn't a lot relatively is worth it. Hope you find a reasonable and less expensive solution in the end. Do let us know.

 

[Dazzler]

Does an upgrade exist for the w211 estate then?
Sorry for thread jack

 

[Stormbitch]

The Harmon cannot be added as a retro fit, and to be fair the new w212 is really nice sound - I also today found eq settings on my IPOD which helps.

The amp is plenty powerful... Maybe try some upgraded speaker components 6.5 that can handle more range of frequency is one option.. the other is just to add some form of EQ device.. There is something called a CLEAN SWEEP

JL Audio CleanSweep - OEM Interface Car Audio

This takes the signal - re processes and sends back out... its about £350 I think..

Seriously there is nothing wrong with the standard system but you know... everything can be improved a little. The idea here is not to go mad cause it really only needs a little improvement. 4 x 6.5 should deliver plenty of base without a sub too.

 

[Stormbitch]

Oops the Clean Sweep from JL audio has to work with an additional amp only...dammit.. I thought I had solved it.

 

[Niks]

ooo becareful with EQ's, get it wrong and it wont sound nice.

I personally think the dynamat theory is different with every car. What works with one car wont always work on another. Like I said, you need to assess the acoustics in the car first and take it from there as it will be specific for your car. Too little dynamat and it wont make any difference, too much dynamat and it'll feel like your heads being compressed and kill the sound. Get it right, it'll sound fantastic. Question is, do you know how much to put in?

Honestly, how much better is heavily compressed MP3 music on an ipod going to sound with a bigger better system? not much at all.

 

[richard]

The Harmon cannot be added as a retro fit

It can - its just expensive as its extensive deconstruction to put everything in as per factory ...

Richard

 

[bolide]

Honestly, how much better is heavily compressed MP3 music on an ipod going to sound with a bigger better system? not much at all.

The simple answer there would be not to encode your music as heavily compressed MP3s. Apple LossLess is pretty darned good

You could even play CDs...

Nick Froome

 

[Niks]

CDs would sound much better. A head unit with Burr Brown DACs like the Pioneer P88RS would be a good start

 

[Charles Morgan]

I did a road test using my Stax headphones. Apple Lossless and CDs (the former on an Ipod, the latter on a Sony CD Walkman) and both were extremely decent given the humble nature of the front end. Carting CDs around is just not an option on long journeys.

 

[Niks]

Oh trust me I know how it is carting stacks of CDs with you on long journeys, its a nightmare! One thing trying to find the CD you want as your driving, the second is actually changing the disc.

I record all my best CDs as WAV files and then shift them over to my ipod. It takes up more space, but it sounds like the original. I just love listening to George Michael - Careless Whisper and Zucchero -Senza Una Donna...excellent dynamics.

 

[timskemp]

Which system is in it already? If it's similar to the W204 systems (quite likely) and you don't have a seperate amp then there's a Blaupunkt PnP amp that'll fit.

Speakers are interesting but I've fitted Focals to mine, and a rockford sub with an alpine amp, all easily done so far! Main amp is the next thing.

 

[Stormbitch]

1. Yes most mp3 are 320 - but 320 can be broadcast quality - agree its not perfect. But 320 through better speakers or amp is better than standard. Case in point the Alpine BMW kit - fools the ears into thinking you are getting good sound, which is good enough for me.

2. I will try a CD or two.. those are the circular things that you buy with money right?

3. The OP also discusses Speakers or amp options, are you saying Timskemp you already changed speakers or just both ... Sometimes it is good to do seperate so you can see what the option is.. Ideally someone with my car MUST have done something

 

[timskemp]

Stormbitch - surprisingly the whole aftermarket ICE thing hasn't hit the W204 C class or the W212 E class yet, but I'm happy to help out where I can. I have a good installer near me who will get creative too.

What system do you have in there now? Basic audio 20? If so then there may be a hidden EQ menu (mine has it) which will help. Replacing the speakers if you don't have HK would be my first port of call, and adding highpass filters (electronically or digitally) and a sub will clean up the sound a lot.

Where are you based???