Some info on 2020 MBUX Speaker Upgrades

Bjorgens

Active member
I installed it under the passenger seat. I may move it though when I put a diesel heater in. I purchased one of the panel insert boxes from DIYVAN that I plan to put the amp and my 12volt circuit breaker panel. The sub is mounted in a similar product from DIYVAN.
One more dumb question . What is the auxiliary input unit you refer to?
 

owenfi

2020 Sprinter 2500 170 4x4
Is getting the Delphi connector out just a matter of snipping that ziptie and sliding it out or is there something more to it? About to embark on the rear speaker addition.

88B3A278-7263-4EFF-8B3D-FE6D14DCD720.jpeg
 

sanomechanic

Well-known member
Is getting the Delphi connector out just a matter of snipping that ziptie and sliding it out or is there something more to it? About to embark on the rear speaker addition.

View attachment 160094
Snip zip tie. Remove pin holder, slide pin removal tool down side of pin to release. If you are only adding pins. Just slide into empty hole and the pin will snap in place
 
That was my first hope....dashed! in my case, I confirmed that the 4 (6 if we find the center channel) pins on the connector described above coming out of the MBUX was missing pins. Pins missing, cable lighter and cheaper. Incredible the cost saving manufacturing control Mercedes has.

I'm hoping EP7 turns on the equalizer. Once I inserted pins I was able to detect audio on the pins.
I’m also trying to get sound out of the MBUX head unit to an amp for rear speakers. Did you just insert pins/wires into the connector and get a rear channel signal? I understand that the dealership can reprogram the MBUX system to have fader control but it would be nice to know that it’s not totally necessary.
 

Jackm

Member
Yes, there was audio present. The fader just showed the front two speakers. The signal on the back speaker wires did not fade.
 
Yes, there was audio present. The fader just showed the front two speakers. The signal on the back speaker wires did not fade.
Thank you. The dealer reprogrammed the HU today so I’ve got fader controls now. It wasn’t all that complicated; they put a request in to MB in Germany to add the EP7 option. It took a few hours from drop off to pickup but it’s all gravy now. DFE765A0-4B8D-491A-9106-FDA8CA793D24.jpeg
 

Park City Mike

Active member
I just spent the weekend upgrading my speaker setup, and I wanted to provide info to others on the forum. I installed the following:
- Fix 86 DSP
- Alpine R-A60F Amplifier
- Focal ES 165KX2 Speakers

The pieces that I thought might be relevant for some folks are a) the speakers are 3" deep, b) speaker wiring for 2020 MBUX.

Regarding the speaker depth, I did several things:
- Shaved down the factory speaker ring (used a pocket knife, but a dremel would've been better)
- CNCed a speaker ring which mounts to the surface of the door rather than the existing ring
- Mounted CNCed ring using Sikaflex
- Heat formed speaker grill to get more space for cone (in retrospect, not sure this was necessary)

Regarding the 2020 MBUX wiring:
- To remove the MBUX Screen, you must first pop out the vents. Could use a coat hanger, or a tool like this: Mercedes Trim Tool. Just grab onto the crossbars inside the vent (preferably in two places at once) and pull.
- There are two large Aptiv/Delphi connectors on the back of the MBUX unit (note, this is the piece _behind_ the screen). The one with the speaker connections is the larger of the two (26 pin). Pins 2,3, 11, and 12 are FR+, FR-, FL-, FR+, respectively. Note that I do have a little bit of uncertainty about the FR+/- pins - I haven't done a phase test yet, but I'm 80% confident that's the right phase (backed up by the color of the wire). I do not have the rear connections, but I believe (and will be testing soon) that the pinouts for the rear speakers are 15,16, 24, and 25 for RR+, RR-, RL-, and RL+, respectively. If you do not have those connections already, you'll need to purchase terminals to fit in the connector. I currently have several connectors on order from mouser.com and will report back when I determine one that fits.

I've attached some photos to aid my descriptions. Happy to help folks so that they don't have to go through the struggles that I did figuring this all out.

You are correct about the rear speaker slots in the wire harness. Here are 2 examples of the correct connectors that fit into those speaker slots. My cargo van stereo now has rear speakers with MBUX fader function.

I used this one: Mouser.com part # 571-7-1452656-1-CT. It's the top one in the first photo below.
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetai...WzFwbk%2BgRHLBUxO/E1UajM4G4IZ4dSoDb9kAbf03PPq

I also bought this one from ballernger motor sports: part number CONN-100713
It actually looks even closer to the one used for the front speakers and it would probably work, but I received the other ones first and so I used those.

IMG_2317.jpeg
IMG_2315.jpeg


IMG_2316.jpeg
 

sanomechanic

Well-known member
You are correct about the rear speaker slots in the wire harness. Here are 2 examples of the correct connectors that fit into those speaker slots. My cargo van stereo now has rear speakers with MBUX fader function.

I used this one: Mouser.com part # 571-7-1452656-1-CT. It's the top one in the first photo below.
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/TE-Connectivity-AMP/7-1452656-1-Cut-Strip?qs=/ha2pyFadujIdv7bNGbqwWzFwbk%2BgRHLBUxO/E1UajM4G4IZ4dSoDb9kAbf03PPq

I also bought this one from ballernger motor sports: part number CONN-100713
It actually looks even closer to the one used for the front speakers and it would probably work, but I received the other ones first and so I used those.

View attachment 163760
View attachment 163761


View attachment 163762
Will you sell a set to me?

Did you determine which pins are left-right and positive and negative? Have a photo?
 
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owenfi

2020 Sprinter 2500 170 4x4
Did you have to buy 100 pins?
I bought 25 from digikey, and that ended up being not terribly many extra...

The non-crimper (I tried a couple standard crimpers I had on hand and the final product was always too bulky) method that eventually worked for me to get them in was clipping off the little shark-fin parts and soldering on wires, making sure the solder was fairly "in bounds", then they slid in far enough that they seemed to make a fairly positive click. I haven't tested my rear channel yet, but am 90% sure the connections are good.
 

tcalderone

New member
I ended up adding rear speakers to my cargo while swapping out the fronts & adding an amp as well.

The connector into the back of the headunit was slightly different than the pictures on this thread but the wiring was similar. While running new wire for the door speakers I found a connector at the door hinge that used the same pins that were used at the headunit; got lucky here and didn’t need to crawl the web for the correct pins although the ballenger links about look about right.

A few notes I took during the project in case they’re of use to others: wires with the black stripe are ground (e.g. white w/ black stripe) and the opposite are positive (white w/ pink stripe), bottom most cable (white pair) was left front, second from bottom (gray pair) was right front so I ended up using 3rd as left rear and 4th as right rear.

Up next, going to get the fader functionality added to the headunit.
 

Attachments

sanomechanic

Well-known member
I ended up adding rear speakers to my cargo while swapping out the fronts & adding an amp as well.

The connector into the back of the headunit was slightly different than the pictures on this thread but the wiring was similar. While running new wire for the door speakers I found a connector at the door hinge that used the same pins that were used at the headunit; got lucky here and didn’t need to crawl the web for the correct pins although the ballenger links about look about right.

A few notes I took during the project in case they’re of use to others: wires with the black stripe are ground (e.g. white w/ black stripe) and the opposite are positive (white w/ pink stripe), bottom most cable (white pair) was left front, second from bottom (gray pair) was right front so I ended up using 3rd as left rear and 4th as right rear.

Up next, going to get the fader functionality added to the headunit.
What year van? Which audio system do you have standard, 6 inch, 10 inch
 

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