Hi, I am new to this board. Bought many old and classic cars. The only Mercedes I owned was a 79 SL 450. Nice car. Anyway, I am looking to buy a 04 or 05 CLK320. I done some home work, and it appears these are good reliable cars. Very nice design.

I stumbled on a nice 05, but I am told it has some radio problems where the sounds sometimes works.

I dug in a bit and learned that by pulling a few fuses with the ignition in the ON position may fix it. Or it could be the wiring, but I was surprised to learn that (correct me if I am wrong) the wiring of the radio unit is Fiber Optics? Also, that it has a Power AMP in the trunk. Sometimes they say the wiring needs to be replace because it can bend or crack. I never worked with Fiber Optics and I don't know if this is hard to do, were to get them, and wondering if anyone has done this and how difficult that maybe.

This would greatly influence whether I would buy the car. I do not want to take to Mercedes dealer and spent $$$ on the fix. I am pretty handy though electronics is not my strong suit.

I am guessing just dropping in a NON FACTORY unit wouldn't help since it appears that the most likely culprit is the Fiber Optics coming from and leading to the speakers and AMP in the trunk.

Any advice would help, even if it's walk away from buying this particular CLK320. It's low mileage (57K) and CARFAX is clean.

Thanks Jack