2021 Sprinter novice build.

[Chaski]

Tinkering to make a Sprinter sound decent.  Nothing ground pounding, just something more accurate.  A lot of trial and error.

 

The stock audio in them is worse than any OEM car audio system I have listened to in the last 10 years.  A Ford Fiesta will put a Sprinter to shame.
 

The MBUX Mercedes entertainment system is integrated into everything, so a different head unit wasn’t something I wanted to deal with. 

 

The high level outputs from the MBUX system were intercepted in the dash and go to a JL Audio FIX 86 LOC/ wimpy DSP also under dash).  The amps are under the drivers and passenger seats.  I bent up some aluminum trays for the amps.
 

Four channel Alpine X-A70F amp has the front two channels connected to one pair of Alpine R-S65C.2 2 way component speakers and SPR-10TW tweeters mounted in stock locations in the front doors / dash with the tweeters aimed at the center rear view mirror with the tweeter crossovers set at -4db.  (Used silicone mold putty to aim the tweeters, I know it is a bit cheesy) Rear two channels are connected to two pair of Alpine R-S65.2 coax speakers in the stock locations (sliding door, adjacent wall, and at the back row of seats).  Front Channels are 120 watts each @ 4 ohm.  Rear are 175 @ 2 ohm.

 

Sub amp is an Alpine X-A90M connected to a pair of Alpine R2-W8D2 8” subs in .6 cubic foot ported boxes that fit under the first passenger row of seats.  (I built one spare box). Connected load is 2 ohms which should be seeing 900 watts.  Subs are small, but I wanted to keep them limited to the first passenger row.  That way I can pull the remaining seats and haul full sheets of plywood / Sheetrock.

 

All the OEM rear speakers were riveted to the paper door panels with no actual support.  That all went into the trash and I fabricated aluminum panels to properly mount the speakers.   They are all secured with copious amounts of rivets and seam sealer.  A light amount of deadener was used on the van (not pictured).  The OEM door panels went on top for a stock look.  There was a fair amount of rattle chasing.  The cables that operate the rear and sliding doors rattled, along with the trim for the center rear view mirror.

 

Gains were set with a DD1.  5db overlap.

 

limited EQ in the Fix 86 was set with a mic and pink noise.  Had to set the Crossovers on the front tweeters at -4db.

 

OEM center dash channel was disconnected.  It is a POS and as best as I can tell some sort of compensation for the beaming tweeters to help out the front image / stage.

 

Stock dash tweeter placement beams badly.  Aiming them at the center rear view mirror made things 1000% better (still using the stock location).

 

Would do it again.

 

 

[Chaski]

Dug up some more pics.  Realized after the fact that I didn’t take enough pics.  

 

Pulling the dash apart to get access to the MBUX with a 7 or 10” touchscreen requires pulling out the vents adjacent to it.  I’m sure there is some special tool but I bent up some 90 degree hooks in some O1 drill rod, and used them to pull the vents out using the holes (one shown with an red circle) The springs that retain them are strong, so some bent up coat hangers might not work out.  Once the vents are out the fasteners can be removed, then the entire front assembly pops off.

 

The interior of one of these vans is very Lego like.  Most things can be put together and taken apart easily and without damage.  
 

One thing worth mentioning is that you will throw a code if you pull the seats out without disconnecting the battery.  The airbag system seems to monitor 24/7 regardless of ignition on/off.  
 

Since I’m only 1500 watts it was easy to pick up power under the drivers seat at the distribution bus.  The battery is under the drivers feet above a foot away.  I didn’t get the second alternator / battery option with my van.   If so I probably would have been tempted to go bigger.