| 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 […] 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 on the S-Class before the digital display radios were introduced. The most significant difference between the Becker 374 and the similar looking Europa was the auto tune feature. This is commonly known as the ‘Wunderbar’. This […] 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 extra in 1990. This is almost $4,500 in todays money. In most countries, the CD Player was an optional extra even on the 560 models, but Mercedes-Benz Australia priced them so high they needed justification for […] 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 to to identify, so I borrowed the instruction manual from a friend with a 1989 420SEL. The Becker 1402 was standard on the W126 from 1988 in Australia (other than the 560) and at least some […] 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 could have used speaker level inputs, I was hoping to leverage the Becker Line out module to connect to the amp using normal RCA inputs. The Becker Line out module was part of the Premium sound […] 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 got me thinking about putting some of my other cars back to stock. The first car in line is my 1977 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC. When I purchased the car in 2003, it had a 90’s era cassette […] My one owner 560SEL still has its original Becker CD player. Australian delivered 560SELs and SECs came standard with the CD player, which also has a control box in the boot. Mine is still working well. My goal was to find a good W126 handsfree solution with the original Becker. While a modern radio and speakers would probably sound better, the Becker is a part of the original character of the car and worth keeping. This era of Becker do not have an aux input like the 60s models do. Therefore, the only solution is to have the unit modified […] 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 radios have recently improved them with stickers for the LMKUU buttons. They were good enough to send me a set of the stickers for my radio. What great customer service! The LMKUU stickers really make a […] 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 some point in its life, somebody cut the dashboard of my 250SE for DIN. To fit the new radio, I also needed to order a DIN kit. The radio was supposed to be already set […] | |
