131mirafiori forum

So we don't take Kev's thread off the topic of his lovely 'new' super ;)

The W126 didn't come with stock speaker locations in the front doors. Whilst it's true that speaker upgrades were available as an option they were not standard.

I have personally owned five W126 Mercedes and as well as these have looked at countless cars here in the UK on ebay and other sites. I can't remember seeing any with these door mounted speakers.

So here in the UK at least it's unlikely you would buy a W126 with anything other than the standard speakers in the dash top.

If you have any pictures of this set up however, I would be interested to see the set up for future reference in case I reinstall HiFi in my W126.

I have seen some USA spec door panels where the speakers were mounted in the rear of the front door panels. The problem with this is that the location isn't great for sound quality.

Dave, just have a look at this (google images "W126 Soundsystem", first 2 rows of pics): http://www.google.de/search?q=w126+soundsystem&hl=de&client=firefox-a&hs=j3o&rls=org.mozilla:de:official&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=U98HUKekIImTswbj-6j4Ag&ved=0CD4Q_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=627

or look at this (text in German, unfortunately): http://w126-archiv.mercedesforen.de/index.php/Das_Soundsystem (Summary: the sound systems consists of 10 speakers; in addition to uprated speakers in the dashboard and the rear shelf, two woofers are installed in the front doors. The sound system is powered by two amps (one for each side) that are installed behind the rear seat. The entire system is made by Becker).

Most info is on the German W126 forum where I am a very active member  ;)

You are right, however, in observing that the front doors were never delivered with stock speaker locations in the front doors (as is told, the then head of design Bruno Sacco said this would have ruined the clear style of the door cards). The sound system (being heavily priced) was ordered in low numbers. However, three of my friends do own this Sonderausstattung (I don't, but have upgraded my system with a Becker satnav radio, new speakers, new lines and a Blaupunkt 400W amp for the rear speakers).

Thanks for the links Robert.

The second link shows what I've seen on the US cars, the speakers are in the back of the doors. What I really would want to do is have them in the front as far forward as possible. Luckily I do have a spare set of front door panels that I can use saving my nice ones.

The other alternative is in the front kick panels although it's tight for space down there on the drivers side.

This is all thoughts for the future at the moment as currently my W126 is laid up and I sold my headunit as I fancied an upgrade. I still have all my speakers and amps though.

My car is a 420 SEL. It had a high spec which is why I bought it. I've added heating to the seperate electric rear seats and an electric rear blind which it didn't have. The only common option it doesn't now have is the hydro suspension but I'm not bothered about that.

Dave, a W126 is almost never fully loaded as there were so many Sonderausstattungen available; trip computer ("Reiserechner") is a very sought-after gadget, for example. A friend of mine even has the rare fridge in the boot, another one the folding rear tables in walnut. There is a mini fridge available for the rear seat (in place of the middle arm rest), an option for moving the passenger seat electrically from the back seat (in order to get more legroom), cardanic reading lights in the rear... this list goes on and on, a (not even complete) SA list can be found here: http://www.w126-wiki.de/index.php/Sonderausstattungen (this Wiki being a project where I am largely involved).

You can be happy you do not have the HPF hydro suspension - it rides very well, but parts are getting very scarce for this specific SA. Owning a 420 myself, I dare say this is one of the most economical W126 models, since the smaller straight 6 engines are revving too high and the bigger 500/560 have a more complicated rear axle that is very expensive when it comes to repairs.