Mercedes-Benz W204 Coupe - AMG Sport Plus...Diesel

[CornedBeef]

Interested how you get along with that, I've got a similar age E350 coupe and I'm tempted to upgrade the dash screen.

Its funny looking at how similar our interiors are, but then again the E Class coupe is actually a C Class underneath! So I think I've just got slightly larger body panels strapped to the same body.

[joropug]

CornedBeef said:

Interested how you get along with that, I've got a similar age E350 coupe and I'm tempted to upgrade the dash screen.

Its funny looking at how similar our interiors are, but then again the E Class coupe is actually a C Class underneath! So I think I've just got slightly larger body panels strapped to the same body.

That's right, the Saloons are different I believe but the Coupes share the same chassis etc.

Lunch time was fun. I have managed to route the AUX cable to the media slot in the armrest, almost finished with that side and re -routing my dash cam too at the same time as that wasn't as neat as it now can be (to the USB in the arm rest)

Ideally though, I will be routing it to one of the USB ports of the new unit, reason being it is a lot closer to the dash cam and the USB socket it currently runs off cycles on and off for about half an hour when the car is turned off meaning loads of tiny video clips. Need to test that the new unit's USB's are switched and not permanently on, think it comes with 2 so can still have a USB stick plugged in.

Also removed all of the original screen and accompanying panel and routed the wires up ready to plug into the screen.

It's important to remember that this is just a screen, with 3.5mm audio output - there is no amplifier which I think I prefer, as the original stereo is excellent and all can be retained.

It comes with a microphone and speaker for calls but I won't be installing either, I'll use the existing Mercedes system for that and think it has an inbuilt mic anyway.

[joropug]

Not good news…

Initially I had issues with screen flickering, they resolved eventually.

The main issue, auxiliary to MMI is a no go on my car. I have no aux port only MMI so kit comes with adapter, the device has a script to activate AUX on my radio but I cannot get sound through it. That includes from another 3.5mm device.

Really Peed off as I’ve spent hours , now have to deal with the ball ache of returning it to china

[mercedeslimos]

What was your initial problem? Maybe there's some other underlying issue regarding the MMI. A stupid invention, have an Audi with it and it never seemed to have the functionality and adaptability they claimed.

[joropug]

mercedeslimos said:

What was your initial problem? Maybe there's some other underlying issue regarding the MMI. A stupid invention, have an Audi with it and it never seemed to have the functionality and adaptability they claimed.

Visuals:
This stemmed from switching to the NTG, set to the wrong default resolution. Stayed like this for an hour or so until I left the car and came back.



I was also getting flickering , which dulled down a bit later.

The main issue is…Audio:
The unit has no amplifier so sound is routed down a 3.5mm line and the intention is to plug the same into the car. You then set the AUX setting on your old radio.

Easier said than done though. My car has an MMI port in lieu of 3.5mm which I have never used before. The kit comes with an adapter.

My car also has no aux selection in the audio menu (just Media interface). The unit however has a script that runs on your head unit to activate Aux option, clever.

Unfortunately I could not get a glimmer of sound out of the MMi port, tried with other devices too. The unit was pushing out sound as I tested with headphones.

So the unit itself works, but simply is not compatible with my car…. Which when you’re buying a car specific unit you would expect.

Bluetooth audio was my next thought - it worked, however:
-Have to choose between the unit emulating being a car stereo or an audio out device.
-That means you can’t have car play for instance , at the same time as audio out (device needs to reboot between selections of Bluetooth emulation)
-When a song ended it automatically switched the car back to Radio…

I googled Mercedes’ MMI problems and unfortunately it seems incredibly unreliable and inconsistent. I was kicking myself for not testing it first however in hindsight it wouldn’t have been possible due to the lack AUX option that the unit enabled.

In short, gutted, but car is back together again at least.

I now have to deal with Ali Express returns - luckily this item has returns for any reason so should be ok, paid by credit card also.

[andyvvc]

Picked the Merc up at the weekend. Impressed so far. Really cant tell that its a diesel until i try to manually rev it beyond 4k rpm lol!

Far too much 'driver assist' nonsense activated for my liking though. I need to turn the lane depart, speed limit pop up and some other stuff off. They are distracting rather then useful.

Other than those easy fixes, it's great! It even has P Zero tyres with decent tread remaining.

[joropug]

Looks lovely ! One thing that really looks like it’s missing is the lip spoiler, I’d definitely get one.

Yours sounds high spec mine doesn’t have either of those options.

When driving spiritedly it is much better in manual mode avoiding kick down (which sadly is very easy to do accidentally).

I also find the paddles useful in drive. Click it up to upshift earlier and ride the torque (doesn’t work if you’re full throttle though) .

If you downshift once in drive so it displays for example, D4 , it will only use gears 1-4 which is quite useful around town as I find mine wants to go into 5th at 31mph but back into 4th with the slightest throttle

[MattY8]

Hi just put down a deposit for this beauty picking her up Friday a 2012 C220cdi with 62k on the clock

[MattY8]

[MattY8]

[joropug]

Nice! Looks like similar mods to mine + a few more, how does that exhaust sound?

[joropug]

With the price of cars sky high and fuel going north too, it makes fiscal sense to continue on with the Merc. As much as I’d love an upgrade It’s a great car and costs peanuts to run so will keep hold for another year I imagine.

The recent service and MOT went without a hitch, but it’s due a couple of tyres (rears only managed 13000 miles!?) and I think the battery will need replacement soon.

So a small investment, I’ve decided to try another avenue for the CarPlay -

There were two solutions available to upgrade to CarPlay

1) New Android screen (scuppered due to lack of aux / MMI)

2) CarPlay unit that plugs into previous screen (same issue - audio output is required

But on a random Google search I have found a third option, I have not seen these before so not sure if they are new.

Option 3) CarPlay unit designed to replace the Becker Harman nav . My car has a removable plug in box in the glove box , pressing nav basically loads the equivalent of a Tom Tom . The new box replaces this and feeds in the CarPlay instead. Audio wise, this is sorted via Bluetooth.

Phone —> Wireless CarPlay to the unit —> Unit links audio via Bluetooth to the Car stereo.

Best part is 100% plug and play and no wires at all (ones provided are optional) .

I’ve paid £217 from Amazon and it should arrive tomorrow so fingers crossed all is good - if not returns will be somewhat easier than AliExpress!

https://youtu.be/1_zg5dHtrw4

[joropug]

Fitted the CarPlay unit today - what an absolute result this was !!

Installation took all of 3 minutes. How it works:

- Hit Nav button on the radio to switch to the device
- Open CarPlay app - loads your phone
- Set audio device input on car to Bluetooth

The device has two Bluetooth modules I believe , one to receive car play and the other to act as audio output. This was the backup plan for the big android unit I bought previously but it could only be configured as a CarPlay device OR an audio out device.

Only had a minor issue so far where CarPlay wouldn’t load caused by me leaving ignition on too long before starting the engine - it interrupted it loading , turned the car on and off and it resolved it . I’ve opted to avoid it auto starting CarPlay to stop this.

All controlled by the original knob and buttons like the original sat nav. Audio quality is perfect.

It has a USB input for music and videos if you don’t want to use CarPlay too which might come in handy if I’m waiting in the car.

In terms of image quality the screen is hardly award winning but text is legible and the colours are great.

[ZX10R NIN]

That looks pretty decent.

[joropug]

ZX10R NIN said:

That looks pretty decent.

Cannot fault it - For whatever reason they have never come up in searches before, would have bought one ages ago!

[joropug]

Had been experiencing a musty smell when first getting into the car for a while - wasn't quite sure what it was, but decided to check the pollen filter and order some AC bombs.

Was quite disappointed to find what looked like mould on the pollen filter. Now I bought the car in Aug 2019 and fitted a new one straight away (MANN), I then got it serviced in December 2019 and Mercedes put another one in (Mercedes OEM). I have since had it serviced Dec 2020 and 2021 at a local garage and it looks like they haven't bothered replacing it since as the Mercedes filter is still in place. I think it's an annual part?

I have had no issue with their servicing other than that - Checking the records, 2020 says "Full service" and 2021 doesn't specify it. So not sure what is going on there, guess they haven't included it in their schedule.

Anyway, few quid later a fresh one is installed and AC system cleaned and we are good as new.

[joropug]

I spent a little while trying to find out what the transmission fluid change frequency is on this car to no avail - there appears to be no clear answer online. Mine had been done at 50k, but as it hit 92k this month I felt it was worth doing again.

I'm very pleased with the results, there's a very noticeable improvement in shift smoothness particularly on downshifts. There is now no lurch as was sometimes the case when it dropped from a high rpm to a low rpm too (i..e you put your foot down and back off). Very pleased with the results.

Went out for a lovely pint however in the evening and some utter POS hit the back bumper with their car and drove off. There is CCTV but not pointing at the car, the pub is going to let me know if there is anything on there but I'm not going to pursue anything even if there is as luckily, I have managed to get 99% of the damage out - phew. Touch up stick should sort a couple of tiny marks left behind.

I have no idea how they did it, the damage is either left to right, or right to left - there's tons of room behind the camera. Probably drunk.

[nismo48]

joropug said:

I spent a little while trying to find out what the transmission fluid change frequency is on this car to no avail - there appears to be no clear answer online. Mine had been done at 50k, but as it hit 92k this month I felt it was worth doing again.

I'm very pleased with the results, there's a very noticeable improvement in shift smoothness particularly on downshifts. There is now no lurch as was sometimes the case when it dropped from a high rpm to a low rpm too (i..e you put your foot down and back off). Very pleased with the results.

Went out for a lovely pint however in the evening and some utter POS hit the back bumper with their car and drove off. There is CCTV but not pointing at the car, the pub is going to let me know if there is anything on there but I'm not going to pursue anything even if there is as luckily, I have managed to get 99% of the damage out - phew. Touch up stick should sort a couple of tiny marks left behind.

I have no idea how they did it, the damage is either left to right, or right to left - there's tons of room behind the camera. Probably drunk.

If its any consolation, in Spain it's almost a daily/weekly occurance in the tight city car parks

[joropug]

I''ve now had the car 3 whole years which is 6 months longer than I have ever owned a car before!

In that time I've done about 23,000 miles - it continues to be a fantastic car that is very difficult to justify changing, despite my efforts.

something that has annoyed me from day 1 is the callipers /hubs looked rusty and the paint was of poor quality, flaking off. I bought, about a year ago, a calliper paint kit but only just had the inclination to give it ago. I picked the hottest lunch hour to attempt it, managed to complete the rear OS.

Annoyingly, the pads are highly visible and look rubbish - is it a thing, to paint the back of the pad whilst I'm there?

Anywhere, not bad for a first go at anything like this - I haven't removed a wheel myself in about 10 years!

[joropug]

Finished all 4 - very pleased with the results, I might re-do the first one as I feel like I did a better job on the other 3.

Fronts look great: