My '99 ML320 has a standard radio (Panasonic) and the reception on the AM band is poor.
On a very strong station it is fine but on a moderate or week station the sound is very full of static and hissing.
Is there any objective way of measuring the reception and noise elimination ability of the radio and is there some kind of standard.
The dealer simply tunes in a local station and says the reception is fine.
This seems to me to be a rather subjective approach.
One other indicator of the poor performance is that in comparison to my 1990 Jeep's really cheap radio, the AM reception is better.
Any advice would be appreciated.

The antenna is in the left qtr. glass & that is the reception problem.

Which is the left qtr. glass and can this be fixed?
Do I need to add a standard antana?
Tks
Joe

The Antenna is in the glass in one of the rear side widows. Looking closely, you should see a thin wire running inside the glass. This type of antenna is good for aestetics, and aerodynamics, but generally will reduce reception. Fine if you live in a large metropolitan area, bad otherwise. Find yourself a good local autosound shop. You will want one that has experience with custom work. Get references, pictures, etc. Expect to pay a fair sum for labor, but remember "if you can't afford to do it right the first time, how will you afford to do it twice?

The AM antenna is actually built into the grid that is on the rear window. The grid also contains the FM antenna.