One of my friends in the Mercedes Club recently bought a nice original Mercedes-Benz 450SE. Is a 1979 model in Silver-Green metallic with date leather. It is equipped with a sunroof, which is surprisingly rare on an Australian delivered 450SE. The cars came well equipped with standard leather seats, self-leveling rear suspension, AC, power windows etc. The two features that they surprisingly didn’t have...
Previously, I had installed a Becker Mexico 1402 Cassette in my 1987 560SEC. This is a very similar model to what it left the factory with. My setup looked factory, but was running a hidden Bluetooth FM injector, amplifier and USB charging ports. After driving around for a few weeks, I realised I needed to make a few changes. Overall, I was...
I am currently in the process of installing a period correct Becker Radio in my 560SEC. In part 2, I had the system up and running. The final task was to tidy up the installation and re-install all the trim. The first step was to properly organize and tidy up the wiring. I wanted a neat install, and to hide all the wires out...
In part 1 of this series, I had begun installing a Becker Mexico 1402 in my 560SEC. I had planned out my install and done the core wiring for the Becker itself. Today, my goal was to complete the wiring of the ancillary components and test the system. I decided to use two X30 harneses for the install. I had four available plugs on...
My 1987 UK Market 560SEC was originally sold with Becker Mexico Cassette player (option 251). I’ve been planning for a while to re-install a period Becker radio, with a few of my own upgrades. My first task was to research the radios and purchase a suitable unit. I ended up purchasing two radios, Becker 1402 and Becker 1480. As the skills and parts to...
I’m currently planning to re-install the Becker Radio in my 1987 560SEC. At the same time I will be installing a small amplifier, a bluetooth FM Injector and a couple of unobtrusive USB charging ports. The second generation W126 wiring harness provides a factory way of adding additional accessories. This is the X30 power block. Up to 8 accessories can be connected using factory...
The Becker 374 Mexico Cassette Vollstereo Reverse was the standard radio installed in the S-Class from 1979-1981 models in Australia. It was seen on the last of the W116s and I believe the early W126 too. This radio replaced the 485, the last of the pinstripe models in the W116s. It was the last of the older style radios with knobs to be found...
In Australia, the 560 models were standard with a Becker 868 or later 874 Mexico CD Player. This doesn’t sound like much of a deal in 2022, but back in the mid 80s this was a huge deal. Should you have wanted to upgrade your 300SE or 420SEL from the standard Becker Cassette player to the CD, you would have paid more than $2,000...
I am currently installing a Becker 1402 Grand Prix electronic in my 560SEC. I don’t have the original owners manual packet for the car, so I didn’t have an instruction guide. In any case, since my 560SEC is a UK version, it would have originally had a slightly different Becker that looks visually the same. There were a couple of buttons I wasn’t able...
I’m currently planning to install period correct Becker radios into my 450SLC and 560SEC. I previously outlined the radios I plan to use, and tested them. I was able to confirm that the Becker 1402 destined for my 560SEC was working correctly. Rather than using the internal 2x25W amplifier in the Becker, I planned to connect it to an external amp. While I...
I installed the Classic Auto Sound Becker tribute radio in my 250SE a couple of years ago. The W111 series are supposed to have a slimline radio instead of a DIN size. Unfortunately, a previous owner cut my dashboard to DIN size. This meant putting the correct radio for the year was now practically impossible. Instead of putting a 70s Becker instead, I went...
In the two years of owning my 560SEL, one of the things I have appreciated is the original Becker CD player. I’ve owned many classic Mercedes-Benz models over the years, but until the 560SEL none of them had their original Becker intact. The Becker radios just look and feel right in the dash of the car. I had never really understood that before. That...
I’ve been doing quite a bit of work to my 450SLC lately. One of my more recent jobs has been to fix the A/C condensate leak. While I was there, I noticed that rats nest of wiring for old amplifiers, car alarms and car phones. I removed most of this, but the result was that the radio in the car was no longer working. ...
A couple of weeks ago I installed the Classic Auto Sound Becker Tribute Radio in my 250SE. I’m really happy with it, it worked really well on my recent drive down to Canberra. One of the only things I thought could have been improved on the radio was the buttons were unlabeled. The real radios had LMKUU buttons. Classic Auto Sound, who build these...
The Retrosound Model 2 radio in my Citroen DS has been playing up. It would randomly adjust the volume on its own, mostly down. The practical effect of this was not being able to listen to the radio. A while back I removed the face of the radio to take a look and the wire from the volume knob to the radio looked chafed. ...
Today I completed the install of the Classic Auto Sound Becker Tribute. In the first part, I removed the old Clarion, and installed the the Retrosound wiring harness. I also tested the radio and it was working fine. The new radio looks great and is a huge improvement over the Clarion CD player. Installation Step 4: Convert the Becker Tribute radio to DIN At...
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