Becker Trade-Ins

[George Des]

I have a Becker Grand Prix Stereo set up for the 230SL that needs to be refurbished or exchanged--this is the unit with the separate amp. Anyone have an idea what the model number of this is and if Becker is accepting trade-ins on this? What a refurbished unit would cost with the trade if accepted? Looked at their site and could not determine what I've got based on the numbers alone. On the side there is a Gerat number J 166173 Grand Prix Stereo MU--not sure if that is a model number or serial number though. Thanks guys.

George Des

[113gray]

George, I can't answer your questions, but I bet Becker can @ 888-423-3537. Ask for Ed Ebel who is head of the service dept. & always seems willing to help.      -JP-

[enochbell]

George,

Don't know what you are looking to fix, but these radios are very straightforward to replace tubes and clean/tighten up the tuning cable, completion of which got my original Europa (the small one with chrome levers) working and sounding like "new".  The tubes are available on the net, I replaced all of mine for about $75.  I know ZERO about electronics, I won't even touch an outlet box in my home, but this was easy.

Best of luck,

Greg

'64 230sl, fully sorted out...ooops, spoke too soon

[enochbell]

Oops, I meant "Grand Prix", not Europa,

g

'64 230sl, fully sorted out...ooops, spoke too soon

[TA250SL]

I was recently quoted a "normal" refurbishing price of $175 for the stereo Grand Prix by Becker of North America, and was told the result will sound as new.

Tom
1967 250SL
Los Angeles

[JamesL]

Anyone know if Becker can take a mono unit and convert it to a stereo one?

[mdsalemi]

quote:Originally posted by Tosh

Anyone know if Becker can take a mono unit and convert it to a stereo one?

Direct conversion?  Not a chance.  But they will sell you an appropriate vintage radio of your choice, factory refurbished, and then you can put yours on eBay.

Michael Salemi
1969 280SL
Signal Red w/Black Leather
Restored

[Douglas]

I'll bet they would accept a trade-in too. I know you can trade a broken unit for a refurbished unit plus cash, so I assume they'd also do that for your situation. Call them and talk to Ed Ebel.

Douglas Kim
New York, NY
280 SL #016220

[Chad]

Did you have any luck with a trade-in?


-CD-
1967 230SL, 113.042 10
1983 300TDT, WDBAB 93A7DN

[JamesL]

This was the reply I got from Mr Ebel

"We can modify almost anything !"

So I would take that as "If I throw enough money at the problem, I can get my mono coverted"!

I have gone back and asked the best (ie most cost effective) way forwards - trade in with him, get it coverted or just buy a stereo unit and sell the mono here/ebay or similar

fingers crossed!

[JamesL]

A few logistical issues aside (like the Atlantic Ocean, terror alerts and customs both ways) I have heard back from Becker

My refurbed mono GP + $300 = a refurbed stereo Europa for my 113. They are adivsing that the Europa is a better (more reliable) unit than the GP as the tuning bars were built with soft material and it's those that mostly go wrong. Other than that, the Europa is the same beast

That price sounds steep, but my alternative looks like ebay or a stereo Grand Prix from Germany at €450 ($550)and the luck of the draw on ebay

So my Father-in-law may well be carrying my GP to Dallas with him on Sunday morning!

[George Des]

My Grand Prix was sent in to Becker early last week and I spoke to Tom Mitchell yesterday. Its' done. I expect to get it back sometime next week. Mine had all the push buttons and cabling replaced as well as the scales and knobs. The AM and FM stereo sound functions are now working correctly. Tom said the repair of the self seek functions on the Grand Prix and the Mexicos are an iffy proposition because Becker used some soft metals on the mechanisms and attempts to repair can sometimes result in broken parts that can not be replaced. In my case, the self seek function has been repaired to the point where it will work most of the time. Becker is also able to supply the correct speaker plugs and the correct power amp bracket. My refurbishment price was around $210.00 less shipping. Tom mentioned the new scale was approximately $40.00 and that drove the price above what someone else on these posts had mentioned.

George Des

[rwmastel]

quote:Originally posted by George Des

My Grand Prix was sent in to Becker early last week and I spoke to Tom Mitchell yesterday. Its' done. I expect to get it back sometime next week.

George,
How's the refurbished GP?

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[George Des]

Rodd,

Got it back about two weeks ago and now have it in the dash. Cosmetically, it looks fantastic. I need to play around though with the speaker system. I have the center dash speaker and the two original side speakers for mounting in the kick panels. I've hooked up all three as per the diagram that Joe Alexander posted. The controls all function properly although the sef-seek function is a little tentative--Tom Mitchell had advised me of this beforehand saying that the parts for this are no longer available and Becker is very reluctant to play around with that part of the radio for fear of breaking the irreplaceable components that make it up--bottom line is it does work but probabaly not as good as it did when new. I may need to get the instruction booklet on how to use this and the push buttons. The sound is somewhat tinny and I attribute that to the 60's generation speakers I've got. I may take a look around at some similar sized modern speakers and attempt to mount them into the original housings like some others here have suggested. Will let you know. Now I have to get back to re-installing the under-dash A/C unit--it had to come out to put the radio and kick panel speakers in.

George Des

[Chad]

Tom told me he can rig a cable on it that can work with satellite radio receiver.  Has anyone gone this route?  Does it work well?  George or Joe, which speakers did you put into the kickpanels??

Thanks

-CD-
1967 230SL, 113.042 10
1983 300TDT, 123.193

[Chad]

Or, rather, which modern speakers are you planning to put into the kickpanels, George??
Is it worth keeping the center dash speaker wired up with modern kick panel speakers installed?

-CD-
1967 230SL, 113.042 10
1983 300TDT, 123.193

[TR]

quote:Originally posted by Chad

Tom told me he can rig a cable on it that can work with satellite radio receiver.  Has anyone gone this route?  Does it work well?  George or Joe, which speakers did you put into the kickpanels??

Chad -- Yes, I've had a satellite receiver connected so that it runs thru the Becker.  It works perfectly.  Go to the photo section if you'd like to see where the satellite antenna and receiver unit are mounted on my car.

Tom in Boise
'71 280SL 4-spd, signal red w/lt. tan interior, restored/enhanced

[Chad]

Tom, so does your Sat radio FM modulate to the Becker or did you go the hardwire route?

-CD-
1967 230SL, 113.042 10
1983 300TDT, 123.193

[Chad]

Tom, I can;t even see the antenna.  The car is totally nice!

-CD-
1967 230SL, 113.042 10
1983 300TDT, 123.193

[TR]

Chad -- My friends, who did the restoration/enhancement work, report that the XM satellite receiver is hardwired to the Becker.  Sorry I don't have further details.  But I can tell you there are massive numbers of additional wires now hidden behind those new "cabinet covers" inside the trunk, through the various body cavity areas, under the seats & carpet, etc.

One of the guys can now work under the dash blind-folded.  Okay, that's a slight exaggeration, but the team here really is getting to know the W113 well.

Tom in Boise
'71 280SL 4-spd, signal red w/lt. tan interior, restored/enhanced

[DavidAPease]

Chad,

I hooked up an XM radio to my Becker Mexico TR for my trip to Blacklick.  I simply got the adpater that plugs into the connector on the back of the radio (originally intended for a tape player, I believe) from Becker America; Since my radio is monophonic, I got the version that combines the two channels.  I plugged a standard cable from the output of the XM into this adapter.  I put the antenna on the black surface of my wind deflector, and no one ever sees it.  (Folks at Blacklick asked me where it was.)  I drilled a small hole in my ashtray, and ran all the XM wiring under the carpet and up through the ashtray, so that when I take the radio out I can stuff the wiring into it and everything looks completely original.  There is a photo of the radios in this thread:

http://www.sl113.com/forums/index.php?topic=3788

-David Pease
'66 French 230SL

[66andBlue]

Hi David,
in the thread that you linked you also mentioned the Multivex mirror that you installed. Do you still like them?
I don't want to hijack this thread though, perhaps you can reply in the  other one. Thanks,
Alfred

quote:Originally posted by DavidAPease

Chad,

I hooked up an XM radio to my Becker Mexico TR for my trip to Blacklick.  I simply got the adpater that plugs into the connector on the back of the radio (originally intended for a tape player, I believe) from Becker America; Since my radio is monophonic, I got the version that combines the two channels.  I plugged a standard cable from the output of the XM into this adapter.  I put the antenna on the black surface of my wind deflector, and no one ever sees it.  (Folks at Blacklick asked me where it was.)  I drilled a small hole in my ashtray, and ran all the XM wiring under the carpet and up through the ashtray, so that when I take the radio out I can stuff the wiring into it and everything looks completely original.  There is a photo of the radios in this thread:

http://www.sl113.com/forums/index.php?topic=3788

-David Pease
'66 French 230SL

Alfred
1966 blue 230SL automatic

[TR]

David -- You bring up a good point about being able to easily remove the XM radio.  I do the same thing.  I have an antenna and plug-in receiver unit for each of the various cars, as well as for the house.  Then it's simple to move the XM receiver to where ever one wishes to use it.  I guess I'm just too chintzy to pay for multiple subscriptions for multiple XM radio receivers.  (what, approx. $12-14/month/receiver? ... or something like that).

BTW, I really like the photos of your car!

Tom in Boise
'71 280SL 4-spd, signal red w/lt. tan interior, restored/enhanced

[DavidAPease]

Chad,

Two things I forgot to say in my previous post:
1.  The XM setup works great, and I loved having it while driving across the country
2.  I power the XM from the power antenna take-off of the radio, which is simply a switched power ouput.  Thus, when I turn my radio off and on, the XM goes off and on (if it is in use) at the same time.

Tom,

Thanks!  And I, too, have XM setups in multiple vehicles (including my Honda Goldwing!), and move the receiver around.  After all, you can only listen in one place at a time.

Alfred,

I'll start or revive another thread and respond about the mirrors.

-David Pease
'66 French 230SL

[George Des]

Fiddled around with the speakers for the refurbished Grand Prix this weekend. Ended up getting a set of modern coax 4" speakers and used the original enclosures to mount these into the kick panels and wired them up in a way that the center speaker is also used. The sound is a vast improvement over the original speakers. Gone is the tinny sound and it now sounds like a surround sound--I think this is the way is was meant to be. Now the underdash air conditioning unit will have to go back in, but not until I do some work on the plastic housing and chrome vents--mainly cleaning, sound-proof replacing and reinforcing the points where it attaches under the dash. With the weather here now in D.C. I think this will end up being a winter project--do not want to miss driving around town with the top dwon now! Tom-- exactly how did Gernold direct the air flow from the eavporator towards the driver in his mod of your unit?