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mwhite308
Regular
Date registered: Aug 2015
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Vehicle(s): Landrover LR3, 1984 Ferrari 308, 2003 MercedesG500
Posts: 65
| new audio for a 2003 g500
Ok. Here are some facts to consider if you are doing this yourself. I used to install car stereos when I was in high school and am fairly capable with tackling such a project.
Some things to know: There is absolutely, positively no way to fit a 10" sub in the factory under seat location. Maybe 8" but that would still need some special work I believe. The problem is that the rear of the factory well that is used for the enclosure is slanted so that it takes a lot of room out of an already tight space. If you want a 10" sub but don't want to give up much space, I would put it vertically mounted where the CD changer is located in the rear driver's side. It will be too tall but you can easily make a custom fiberglass enclosure that only raises the height of the fender well about 3". I plan on extending it the length of the fender well towards the front and just making that extra bit into a storage enclosure and will try to match it on the other side so it continues the factory look and just making that side all storage. I will document this when I do it in about 2 weeks.
Now, the speakers. The wire gauge is pretty good but the way they were factory wired is not how I need to power new ones since I am not going to have passive crossovers. I think it best to just run new wires. Should be really easy since everything comes out such as the carpet and seats. I will take plenty of photos and document what I do. I have already replaced all the speakers and that was fairly easy.
By the way, if you plan it right and have two people, you can put the back seats back in without a special tool. You can have one person ready to push the pin through the hole of the mounting bracket while the other person lays in the back, puts a block or a book or the like around their hips, and use that powerful leverage to press a 1x2 piece of wood into the base of the shock. So it would be like a 3 foot long piece of wood with one end digging into the book that is around your hips or top of your knee and the other end pushing the end of the shock. Have your feet leveraged against the hinge of the rear door. Place another book or a prybar, etc. so you can get the hole to line up as you compress the shock. Your partner can then push or knock in the pin in when it lines up and there you go. My partner was my girlfriend so I think if you do this right, anyone can do it. I advise that the person that is going to push the pin in doesn't also try to look closely at it to see if the hole lines up. Not safe in case something slips.
I will update soon.
Matt |
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Mr-Z
New user
Date registered: Aug 2015
Location:
Vehicle(s):
Posts: 4
| Re: new audio for a 2003 g500
Nice, I cant' wait to see your work. |
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WEBIII
Extreme Veteran
Date registered: Oct 2010
Location: Inlet Beach, FL
Vehicle(s): 461.318, 463.241
Posts: 315
| RE: new audio for a 2003 g500
You might be interested in the setup that the PO of my g500 had made. It is a cabinet with 3 subs (8"?) that was custom made to sit on top of the rear drivers wheelwell. On the other rear wheelwell is a cabinet with an amp for the subs and an amp for the other speakers. I've ditched the subs and their amp. It might fit your MBUSA truck and I'll cut you a great deal on it. 
Also, if you've got some experience with stereo installation, I could sure use some help tracking down some alternator whine.
Winston |
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mwhite308
Regular
Date registered: Aug 2015
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Vehicle(s): Landrover LR3, 1984 Ferrari 308, 2003 MercedesG500
Posts: 65
| RE: new audio for a 2003 g500
alternator whine is due to a few things. First, check your grounds. Second, if you ran new stuff, make sure your RCA cables are not run next to your power wires. Sometimes, cheap RCA cables themselves can cause this as well since their shielding is cheap. As a quick fix you can sometimes run a piece of speaker wire that is pinched between the outer ring of your RCA and the female outer ring of the new head unit. Then attach the other end of that piece of wire to the metal case of that new head unit. Sometimes just a good ground of that RCA will knock out the whine. Just do it by touching them first to see if it works.
Thanks for the offer for the 8"s. Really want the depth of a 10" and the challenge of making this as small of an impact as I can muster.
Matt |
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