I am planning on buying a 2002 Mercedes c230 coupe this summer and wanted to hear peoples opinions on the sound system. I have heard several times the bose sound system didn't live up to peoples expectations, I was assuming that since it was bose and a mercedes that I wouldnt have to worry about it. Seeing as i am a teen there are times when I like to turn up the music and hear the bass. Anyone disapointed with the bose system? thanks for the opinions.

 

I have a 2002 c230 wit the bose sound system. It is pretty good as far as stock system goes. If u wanna hear the based just enter the audio controlls and turn the base up and it sounds good. However, I have my ipod hooked up through my tape deck. The tape deck is sometimes overloaded and it is is scratchy. However, the speakers itself are nice. Also, after you save up some money you could put in like some subs or something relatively cheap to enchance the already pretty good system.

 

I don't know if you can just plug in a sub in addition to the old speakers, though. You would at least need an additional amp, which runs >$200. My C230K came with stock non-Bose speakers. I almost didn't buy the car because they sounded bad, but went ahead and purchased it and then replaced them later with a decently high end system. When I did that I remember that there was some work they had to do wiring-wise, it wasn't just a swap of the speakers and plug in the sub.

Personally, I have never liked Bose speakers. They have decent midrange, but they have poor lows and highs. I have Alpine Type R's and a Rockford Fosgate sub - I like the combo very much. Good quality sound, they get loud (well, loud enough that my family can hear my car coming from 4 blocks away ), but the setup was more expensive than most - $1,900 when said and done.

 

I am the proud owner of a 2002 c230 coupe that has the factory Bose set up with factory Bose subwoofer. The factory Bose speakers consist of 2 in the dash,2 in the front doors, and 2 more located in the rear, and one sub in the hatch. The facory power is good and loud, with clear highs and mids, however the factroy sub stinks. You would even know you have one. I am thinking of adding an additional self powered 8" bazooka tube in the hatch. I am not looking to skake windows and wake up the neighbors. Just to enjoy my music the way it was intended to be heard. The sub in not a selling point of the bose factory stereo. I would have expected more from Bose and MB.

 

just to let ya know BOSE stands for Better Off with Something Else...most systems in cars nowadays are ok but with bose its usally all highs no lows it must be BOSE. in most cases i have seen ( i m a m.e.c.p. installer) most people just add a sub woofer to factory or a new head unit with aamp and most people are happy with that.....in fact my 1999c230 has all factory speakers except the fiberglass enclosure and amp to a premier 12 inch and alpine 9855 deck...mine isnt the bose but it has the comp in front rear door speakers and the rear subs on the rear deck...there pretty much acting like mid bass drivers since there really not a sub...

 

so has anyone in here been able to add an amp+sub to the stock head unit? i have a 2006 c230 sport and i would really like to add a sub into my car without changing the head unit. ive only installed car audio once and that was just for a civic.

a friend told me i can connectthe sub to the rear speakers to get the audio going to the sub.and i would only have to connect the remote wire from the amp to the head unit. is this correct? (pleasedont criticize im a newbie)

can anybody help me out with this? i would like to install this on my own and if anyone can help me through this i would be greatly appreciated.

 

yes you can pretty much add any amp to any factory deck most amps have high2 low convertor on them.as far as remote turn on leads most newer car including mercedes uses some kind of bus type system in it so finding a turn on lead from the factory amp might not be there.all you need to do is take your car to a professional install place and have it done...pay the money and get it done right unless your a installer like me. If not you must locate your ignition harness and locate your ignition wire or accessory which ever you prefer and t-tap it there using a inline fuse holder...fuse holder is always a good thing when tapping into 12 volt wiring. never use a test light when testing wires, always a multimeter.dont need air bags deploying etc etc or unless you have access to directechs that give you info about wiring. most signal can be located at the amp , if the car has a factory sub then that would be the speaker wires you can t-tap into for signal, although i have seen some issues with cars like mercedes that sence road noise and the turn up automatically..well adding a bigger sound may cause the factory deck to turn up really loud thinking its loud road noise. hope this has helped DES

 

deslogic, can you be more specific? I've been trying to help a friend get a system in for 2 days.
I've tapped the bass drivers on the back deck facing into the trunk, then run that to the hi-level in to the amp. No workie. If you unplug the hi-ins the back speakers start to work, then you can plug the hi-in plug in and all is well until you turn the stereo off.
I've tried using the same taps to a PAC LOC, worse results. I couldn't ever 'free up' the stock speakers so they start playing.
I've tried wiring the speaker level jack as typical; green, green-black, grey, grey-black and common; grey, green and black to chassis.

i'm at a loss, any help would be great.