Beatbox Installation Guides (all versions)
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      Beatbox Blackbird Installation

      The complete guide for how to install the Beatbox Blackbird stereo.

      Sections

      Unpacking/Prep


      1. To make sure every customer has an amazing experience with their Beatbox, we kindly ask that EVERY INSTALLER fill out an installation checksheet for each Beatbox installed. All stereos come with a printed copy of this checksheet, or you can download it here.

      2. Remove the Beatbox from the box. Unpack from the “OPEN HERE” side and not the other side.

         

      3. Orientation of what’s in the box.

         

      4. Assemble speakers to speaker adapter rings
        1. How to orient speakers/rings so that the speaker connectors will be upright. Do not over tighten the screws and strip the adapter ring or bend the speaker.

           

        2. After assembling the speakers w/rings

           

      5. Harnesses
        1. What are the harnesses included for?

           

        2. How to connect the harnesses to the amp

           

        3. How to zip tie the harnesses to the bracket on the amp. The goal here is to make sure that none of the connectors on the amp or connectors on the end of the wires are being pulled if the harnesses get pulled. We want the connectors on the amp and wires to be strain relieved.



      Disassemble Van, Prep for Installation


          1. Things to check before starting
            1. Check if the power port is 12V all the time or not. If you have an auxiliary battery under the hood or under the pass seat, this is likely to be 12V all the time. If it is 12V all the time, you will have to use the key on (second key press) on EK1 to trigger the Beatbox to turn on.


            2. If you do not have factory OEM swivels with short seat bases, you will need to use spacers to keep the Beatbox secure. How to work with OEM tall seat bases with stock non swivel seats or aftermarket swivels.


          2. Disconnect chassis battery, aux battery, and confirm that you do not have 12V on anything in the Mercedes systems or you can set an airbag code when you remove the seats 


          3. Remove seats 


          4. Remove stock floor mats 


          5. Remove cover over fuse panel in passenger floor 


          6. Taking covers off wires and getting prepped
            1. The OEM chassis battery cover, black metal wire cover, lower portion of the center console stack, and white plastic wire cover will need to be removed. You will need to unbolt the driver’s seat base to remove the white plastic wire cover. 


            2. After removing parts, what came out


          7. Remove cup holders. This can take quite a bit of force to get them to “pop” out. Be careful using a pry tool (if you choose to use one) so that you do not damage any of the plastic pieces.


          8. Driver’s seat and prep
            1. Here’s an orientation video of everything under the driver’s seat


            2. With the driver’s seat disassembled, here’s the bus bar that we will be taking power from 


            3. Here’s the ground connections you can use under the driver’s seat 


          9. Remove door panels
            1. Use a variety of picks and torx bits to remove all the covers and screws on the door panels. The plastic “screws” on the bottom are not screws and you can use a pick to pull the center part out before removing the outer portion of the clip like shown in the video. 


            2. Disconnect wires and latch cable before removing the door panel. Make sure you do NOT break the white plastic door latch cable retainer when unclipping it from the door latch cable. 


            3. Remove any clips that stayed in the door and put them back on the door panel. Replace broken clips with new clips included in the Beatbox kit. 


            4. Remove the rubber boots between the doors and door frames. Use picks to manipulate the clips on the plastic rings to pop the rings out of the door and frame so they can be placed back in the rubber boot. 

               

          1. Install sub knob
            1. Prep the subwoofer adjuster knob included in the kit by removing the metal bracket from it 


            2. Drill a 9/32 or 5/16” hole below the cupholders, centered, and roughly 1-1.5” back from the front as shown in the video.


            3. Install the subwoofer adjuster knob and HAND TIGHTEN the nut. Do not over torque this. Make sure the connector for the wire on top is accessible from the top to connect the adjuster knob wire in a later step.



      Installation

          1. Cut/trim white wire cover
            1. Watch the following video for where to mark the plastic wire tray cover so that it can be cut and easier to install later without removing the driver’s seat base.


            2. Use an oscillating tool, air saw, sheet metal clips, and/or a knife to cut the wire cover. Clean up the edges of the cut with a file, sandpaper, or a deburring tool to make the cut edge clean. 


          2. Run speaker harnesses into doors and connect
            1. Run harnesses into door boots and into the doors. Be careful when pulling wires through the boot so that you do not pull the wires out of any of the connectors. 


            2. Connect the RoamRig harness to the factory Mercedes harness and secure everything with zip ties.


          3. Get the speakers installed and door panels back on
            1. Remove the factory speakers from the door panels. Save the screws! Cut the locator tab off as show in the video. Install the new speakers with the connector upwards. When tightening the speakers, tighten the screws evenly and do not overtighten anything and bend the speaker or strip the door panel.


            2. Put the door panels back on the van, connect all the wires. When connecting the speaker wires to the speaker, if they do not slip on easily, support the terminals on the speaker with your finger so that you do not damage the speaker. If you don’t remember to put the latch cable back in place, the door latch will not work from the inside.


          4. Install tweeters
            1. Remove old tweeters by popping the covers off them and using a pick to lift them out of place before disconnecting the wires on the back of them.


            2. The included fish tool can be used as a guide while you push the new wires from below. The fish tool will go out of the back of the tweeter pocket where the original wire is.


            3. Run Beatbox harnesses into tweeter pockets using the fish tool as a guide and pushing from below as you guide the wire connector into place. Do NOT pull the wire with the fish tool.


            4. Connect the new tweeter to the RoamRig harness. Push most of the wire back down below but leave the tweeter connector in the pocket so that the wires are not pulled off the tweeter by accident. Push the tweeter into place in the original tweeter pocket using friction from the clips that held the original tweeter to hold the new tweeter into place. Do not push on the center of the tweeter! 


            5. The tweeter should be pressed evenly into the pocket. Not too far where it is loose below the clips, and not so far above the clips that it might pop out. It should not be pointing forward or sideways. It should be similar to the stock tweeter position/aim. 


          5. Use the included zip tie mounts to secure the wires in the passenger seat base. If you do not do this, they WILL rattle and cause issues.


          6. Place the Beatbox into the seat base. You may have to remove items screwed onto the back of the seat so that the Beatbox can be placed in the seat. Fire extinguisher mounts typically need shorter screws to clear the Beatbox. 


          7. The passenger/driver harnesses can be connected now, the subwoofer adjuster can be connected, and the power/ground/trigger wires can be routed into the driver’s seat base.


          8. Here is how everything looks when it is connected and organized and zip tied cleanly along with an example of how power/ground can be hooked up on a 6cyl van. 4 cyl vans MAY need the included power bus expansion pack to be installed, see below.


            1. 4cyl bus (if needed)
              1. Here’s where the 4cyl bus goes and how to take the wires off the distribution box before taking the distribution box apart to install the bys bar. 


              2. Here is how you install the fuse and the bus bar into the distribution box.



              3. Once installed and the distribution box is closed up, you can connect the power wire to the new fuse that was added.


          9. Connect the trigger wire to the power port on the side of the seat base if you have confirmed that the power port is only live on the first key press in step 2.1.1. If the power port is live all the time, you can use the key on the EK1 upfitter accessory block under the driver’s seat to turn the Beatbox on at the second key press.



      Testing/Configuring


          1. Make sure your BB is tightly held down by the passenger seat and is not loose. For vans with OEM swivels and low seat bases, this shouldn’t be an issue. If you have tall seat bases with no swivel seats or aftermarket swivels, you will have had to use spacers to ensure the Beatbox is held snugly.
          2. Make sure the seats are installed and connected BEFORE reconnecting the chassis battery or else you will get an SRS code
          3. Reconnect the chassis battery.
          4. Turn the system on, connect a GOOD audio source (phone via a good app). Play music. You need to disconnect the AUDIO (not SOS) channel of the center speaker which is best done while the speaker is playing music so you can ensure you disconnect the right wire. You also need to make sure the EQ is set to zero and that left/right balance works correctly. Make sure the subwoofer knob works to increase and decrease bass in a song that has strong bass. Follow this video for disconnecting the center channel, making sure the EQ is set to zero, and checking balance.



      Orientation/Use


        1. Use GOOD audio sources. Anything compressed or poor quality will sound bad. SiriusXM is horrendous. Apple music via Carplay is great. Podcasts can be processed poorly and sound bad.
        2. Listening from the driver’s seat will sound best as it is tuned for the driver. The passenger may notice that the Beatbox sounds a little louder in their right ear, and this is because the Beatbox is tuned to center the audio image at the driver.
        3. Having windows open, doors open, or a windshield cover in place will make it sound worse than no cover, doors closed, windows up. 
        4. The sub knob is under the cupholder, make sure you show the customer where this is.
        5. LEAVE THE EQ FLAT unless you’ve got a really good reason to change it. Make sure to tell the customer about this!
        6. Send a scanned copy of the completed installation checksheet and photos post-installation to info@roamrig.com. For DIY sales, inform us of the Beatbox serial sold (it is on the outside of the box) and the buyer's details. 

       

      Questions? We're here to help! Email support@roamrig.com with as much detail as possible about your question/problem (along with any relevant photos) and we'll happily assist.