2003 Mercedes Benz E500 after market head unit installation

FRANCISDERENGE

MEMBER
2003 MERCEDES BENZ E500
5.0L
V8
2WD
AUTOMATIC
180,000 MILES

Hello there

I hope I found you well.
I got a problem here I want to ask

I bought an after market stereo but it came without a correct harness that will fit directly to my car, so I spliced the B+, B-, four speakers and is working well except of the following

1) fm reception is bad, some say its the antenna need to be powered and the question is how?
2)there are two wires from the Can Bus, where can I splice them on the original loom from the car?

3 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,709 POSTS

Hi:

First, like you, I never heard of powering an antenna, but they do make signal boosters. My concern is if the radio is new, could there be another problem like a bad connection damaged antenna wire, corrosion... FM frequencies follow roughly a 6 foot wave. If the antenna on your vehicle is less than 3 feet, that will also have an affect on reception

I looked up a signal booster so you can see what they are. Take a look.

http://www.carid.com/american-international/fm-antenna-signal-booster-mpn-ab150.html?gclid=CO_z1LK6ysYCFUcXHwodXrYM5Q

They aren't too expensive and are really easy to install.

Now, the two wires you referred to. Without a schematic to see, I'm not sure what they are. I can tell you, most stereos come with a power supply for an electric or automatic extending antenna. Is that what you see? On the schematic that came with the radio, what are the two wire designated for?

Let me know.
Joe

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Tuesday, July 7th, 2015 AT 7:16 PM

FRANCISDERENGE

MEMBER
2 POSTS

Thanks so much for that reply, I really appreciate.

On those two wires am sorry I was too brief, see what, on my steering wheel buttons I would change track, volume etc of the old original stereo.
So this new after market stereo came with a Can Bus Decoder which communicates with the vehicle for the steering wheel buttons to operate the stereo. The harness which came with the stereo was not directly fitting to the adapter cables of the vehicle, so I splice the B+, B- and the speakers cables to the harness and worked correctly except for steering wheel buttons because I did not connect the two wires from the can bus since I don't know where to do so.

Thanks once again

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Wednesday, July 8th, 2015 AT 8:27 AM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,709 POSTS

First, I am so sorry I didn't get back with you sooner. For some reason, I never saw your reply.

I have spent the past 30 minutes reading through wiring schematics with no luck. I have attached a pic for you to see. Let me know if it is what you are working with.

Image (Click to make bigger)