| Over the last 12 months or so, I have been focused on getting period correct Becker radios installed in my Classic Mercedes cars. I had never experienced these radios until I purchased my one owner 560SEL back in 2020. It was owning this car that made me realize how well they work in the car. I’ve started to view them as part of the overall experience of owning these cars rather than just a way of getting sound. Last year I started to source the right radios for the cars I owned. I originally planned to start with my 450SLC, […] The Becker Mexico Cassette is the radio most often associated with Mercedes-Benz cars of the 1970s. At least in Australia, it would progressively become standard in the various Mercedes-Benz models until the end of 1978. There were a few different varieties of this radio over the years, the instructions below are from an 370 M series radio, originally fitted to my 1977 450SLC. For 1978 in Australia, the Mexico Cassette moved to the 485 model for that year only. The Mexico Cassette was always standard on the 450 models, but optional on other cars in the early 70s. At least […] Yesterday, I started installing a Becker 1402 in my 1990 300TE. This was the radio it was sold with, and the same radio I have in my 1987 560SEC. I had removed the old Sony and inspected the wires, plus fixed my broken Hazard light switch. This morning I looked up the wiring colours for the Sony online. The wiring in the car has been ‘modified’ by various radio installers over the years, so starting with the Sony wires was a good place to start. As outlined the operation instructions, the Becker 1402 wiring harness has four wires going into […] I purchased my 1990 Mercedes 300TE with a modern Sony Xplod CD player. It was a fairly low end model that sounded pretty bad and looks really out of place in the W124 dash. The passengers front speaker was not working, adding to the poor sound. The S124 has very silly speakers in the rear, one of the few design flaws in the vehicle. Losing one of the front speakers is a major blow to sound in the car. My car was first sold with a Becker Grand Prix 1402. The operating instructions is still in the owner manual kit. […] 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 for such an expensive car is the sunroof and rear headrests. Both could be optioned. This car has the colour matched hubcaps that I prefer to the wheels. I was able to drive this car at […] 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 really happy with the system, except for the following: USB charging ports were no longer working Distortion in music with strong midrange at medium to high volume The radio worked at position 1 of the ignition switch, but […] 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 of the way. The Alpine amplifier I am using is small enough I could tuck it in with some other control modules in the passengers foot well. I mounted the amp with the back face up […] 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 the X30 power block, so it kept it neater if I used two. The main purpose of the first one was to connect my USB ports. I also used one of the ground wires for the […] 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 repair these radios are getting harder to find, I wanted a primary radio and a backup unit. I am installing the 1402 and will get the 1480 repaired and keep it as the backup. I have […] 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 plugs and their own wiring harnesses. The number already connected will depend on options installed on the car. Other than the direct power for the amplifier, I plan on using the X30 power block for the […] | |
