Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: Doctor Gollum on 13 April 2025, 08:15:55
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I acquired The Proper Car, a SWB W221 S500 back in July 2006 and bought it based on condition and mileage for the price rather than spec. Although I did get lucky with the colour... Flint Grey metallic with a grey over black interior... anything that might get grubby is black and helps break up what would otherwise be a sea of grey.
On the subject of spec, the car is reasonably well optioned from new:
Cornering Bi xenon's.
Upgraded leather.
Heated/ventilated Dynamic front seats.
Harmon Kardon sound system.
Telephone/Bluetooth installation.
Black headliner/A/B/C pillars.
All in all a very nice place to be but missing a few options I would have liked to have... We'll come back to that...
Some background:
I don't think I have owned a single car that I haven't done something to, generally sticking to factory (ish) upgrades, whether it's adding a Ghia X interior to my first car, a 1985 2.3 Granada LX, or replacing the plod interior on my '54 plate Omega estate for a full Elite interior with customised door cards and Irmscher kit/wheels and then subsequently reverting it back to full police spec, lights and siren included >:D
The key to a successful upgrade project is the availability of information, parts and wiring. Nowadays, information is reasonably freely available. For parts and wiring there's a sweet spot of availability around 10-20 years old, (depending on the car), where there are enough around for a choice of used parts and availability of anything else from the manufacturer. So the Granadas were an easy car to work with in the late 90s, and likewise the Omegas until about 5 years ago with a decent inventory of cars being scrapped and dedicated breakers.
My first S Class, aka The Barge, (a '99 W220 S280) whilst not my first Mercedes, was a forced introduction to Canbus systems and fixing some previous bodgery opened up some creative retrofit possibilities. The ABS didn't work because the car thought it had Distronic, (Radar Cruise) fitted... it didn't, and this had to be programmed out of the car. If something can be programmed out, then why can't it be programmed in? That base S280 ended up with cornering Bi xenons, parking sensors front and rear, a different steering wheel and W221 wheels, but the bodywork left alot to be desired so there wasn't much point taking it further.
It's replacement, a '10 R350L, aka The Alabama Mumsybus, didn't escape the upgrade itch. It left the factory with prewiring for rear entertainment. It left me with rear entertainment fitted along with some US only rear stowage bits.
Mercedes retrofits are well documented in their maintenance system WIS, and with a bit of time and effort trawling through the EPC it's pretty straightforward identifying all the parts required for any given retrofit, even if it's not actually an official retrofit item. It doesn't hurt that they have pretty decent long term parts support so getting anything from a nut to a wiring harness for a near 20 year old car is still feasible, and their service item availablity is excellent.
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So, back to The Proper Car. :D
For each item added, I will go through the work involved in each case, but the beauty of Canbus, running wiring essentially means connecting to the correct can hub, power, ground and components. On the W221, there a Canbus hubs under both front seats and the fuses are either end of the dash or part of the front and rear SAMs. The cable runs are fully ducted so running wiring almost always involves removing one or both front seats and lifting the appropriate carpet. The grounds are generally local to the component or it's ECU.
Knowing the layout of the car and being able to read wiring diagrams is essential so that you can run the various harnesses without issue. Mercedes have colour bands on their harnesses so the placement/routing of additional harnesses is pretty foolproof. Everything else is nuts, bolts clips and time. Oh and some programming.
Almost all the wiring is brand new from Mercedes and is reasonably priced, the various components are second hand but correct to the age of the vehicle/chassis range and the hardware again new from Mercedes. Budget is obviously important, but equally the installation has to be up to standard.
My retrofit wishlist started out with the following:
Reversing Camera.
Night Vision.
Towbar.
Distronic.
Different wheels.
This escalated quickly ;D
Next up:
Heated steering wheel.
Glovebox Aux input.
Remote bootlid power opening/closing (not just popping it).
Then the subject of rear side window blinds came up... Not a fan of extra tinted windows and the car already has heat reflective glass all round so blinds are a reasonable privacy addition without trashing the glass. This also escalated :D
Rear door blinds.
Heated/vented dynamic individual rear seats with memory.
Ski hatch/through loading and rear fridge.
Roof bars.
Alot of these involve extra parts beyond the desired option. It goes without saying that there won't be a return on the retrofits, but it will be an exceptional spec when it's done. The only items not on the list of available options are rear seat entertainment, TV tuner and DAB... Arguably internet and tablets provide much better options than 20 year old tech and the glovebox aux input adds everything I need from the factory system
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Whilst no one can criticise your desire to improve the equipment level in each of the vehicles you have owned, surely it would have been easier and cheaper to buy a higher spec vehicle or at least one with the equipment you wanted in the first place?
Which brings me back to the subject of buying an Omega CD and then retro fitting Elite trim, when it would make sense to buy an Elite initially?
You must have a lot of spare time on your hands too... :)
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2006??? :o
That's some list. I'm surprised you could get all of the 'stuff' that was required without totally busting the bank.
@ johnnydog: I'm guessing Al knows what you are saying, and that would be the practical way to go. I'm also guessing that Al knows he'll never get the money back he's spending on it. But if it's your hobby (passion), then I'm sure we've all spent time/money on things we love to do. I'll bet we've all wished we hadn't at times too. But if it's a challenge you want.....then why not?
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My 500CLS was of 2005 or 2006 vintage.
Does it share the same engine as your car?
Only 306BHP from memory, but it was quicker than you might imagine because the 5.0V8 had plenty of torque.
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My 500CLS was of 2005 or 2006 vintage.
Does it share the same engine as your car?
Only 306BHP from memory, but it was quicker than you might imagine because the 5.0V8 had plenty of torque.
I doubt Al acquired it in 2006, though, it might have been a tiny bit expensive back then.
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In no particular order...
It's a 2006 '56 car that I purchased in July 2023. I only spotted that glitch after it was too late to edit it :D I must have started typing then gone back and added to it before skipping ahead again. As optioned, it was circa £78k new. Fast forward 17 years and 112k and it had deprecated to £6k. It was originally ordered by a small garage in Kent on behalf of a local businessman so was specced to his requirements and collected from the factory rather than the local dealer.
This has the M273 engine, a 32v 5.5 litre with a very torquey 388bhp. Optis' CLS had the earlier M113. A pretty decent engine in it's own right but a 5.0 24v lump... The only thing wrong with it is that it has twice as many spark plugs as it needs which makes servicing more expensive but serves no other purpose.
In short, I bought it on condition and price not spec although I lucked out with the trim and body colour. There were similar mileage and age cars on offer with some of the wishlist options but these were significantly more expensive and were either ABC equipped, black on black, silver, diesel and long wheel base...
ABC is fantastic but horrendously expensive to fix... Basically when it starts to fail you HAVE to rebuild the entire system.
The all black interior looks almost as bland as all grey... With no contrast it's pretty boring.
Similarly there are very few S Class sold in the UK that aren't black or silver. Whilst both have a place, they aren't exactly individual.
It had to be ULEZ compliant. So diesel would have needed to be EU6 with adblue and dpf. 95% of all W221s ordered in the UK are diesel LWB in black or silver. So whilst that would have opened up significantly more choice, it wasn't what I wanted. The smaller 350 petrol M272 has much more of an issue with crank sprocket/balance shaft failure requiring the engine to be removed/rebuilt to fix... On the other hand the M273, whilst not immune to the same failure doesn't require the engine to be removed to fix it... instead it's a timing chain and sprocket replacement which (because it's not an Audi) can be done in situ. In short, it was the S500 or nowt, and SWB because it gets the job done without requiring two spaces to park it. So condition was much more important than spec and spending more money didn't actually guarantee either... Basically this car was in the right place at the right time and I jumped on it.
Doing it this way I get the exact spec I want without compromise. I would wager that no one in the UK ordered memory rear seats and a tow bar on the same car, let alone as a petrol V8. Will I get my money back? No, but it will make the car stand out in the market should I sell it. Is it expensive compared to buying a similarly equipped one? Probably, but as you can't buy one in that spec on the second hand market, is that cost actually relevant ie can you put a price on it?
As I go through each stage, I will give the factory option cost and an approximate breakdown of the parts cost as fitted. The only additional 'cost' is time identifying, sourcing and fitting each retrofit item. It will be relatively expensive compared to an Omega, but I think at the end of the day I will be significantly ahead of the factory cost.
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Where did you get the rear seats from. How were they delivered and how much did they cost?
I can't imagine there's a lot of them knocking around.
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Where did you get the rear seats from. How were they delivered and how much did they cost?
I can't imagine there's a lot of them knocking around.
I am still collecting the parts for the rear seat install... Another couple of months probably, however, what I will say, is that I stumbled across the seats in the correct spec and colour leather with the multi contour heated vented option for a sensible price. Plus the fuel to collect them... This chance discovery was one of the reasons that the rear seats were added to the list as matching the trim is one of the hardest things to do.
Actually the individual rear seats are pretty common as most LWB cars were optioned with them... The upgraded leather along with heated/vented is rarer, but this is also true of the fronts...
Also, for clarity, mine left the factory as a 5 seat car, and will remain so... I could switch it to a four seat car, but four seat S Class are pretty rare, so trim parts are hard to find and alot of unnecessary stuff is different such as the parcel shelf. Both options share the same outer seats, so the only variation is the centre seat base/storage box and their respective fittings. Both variations were factory available options on the SWB when mine was built so all the hardware mounting points are present.
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Sensible price is not good enough for me.....or Opti ;D
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Sensible price is not good enough for me.....or Opti ;D
Just the seats, £119 each. But you'll have to wait for the installation installment >:D
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Sensible price is not good enough for me.....or Opti ;D
Just the seats, £119 each. But you'll have to wait for the installation installment >:D
That's cheaper than I thought
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I'll do these in order of fitting and a separate post for each item.
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1. Bluetooth unit. Plugs into the cradle mount in the arm rest. Took.about 30 seconds to fit.
Dealer option. Was around £250, no longer available, NOS/refurbished are £240-275.
Bought used for £63.
Saving: £177.
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2. Reversing Camera. Mounts to the boot lid above the rear number plate.
Took an easy day to fit. Passenger seat, rear seat base, rear seat side trim and centre console out. Passenger side and rear carpet out. Boot floor, side and rear panel out along with boot lid interior trim. Bracket simply bolts/nuts to the inner rear quarter and the wiring simply clips into place with all the clips assembled into the loom from the factory, remembering to align the coloured bands. Retrofit guide and wiring diagrams confirmed the correct pin spaces in the head unit.
Items required:
Loom from head unit to the camera ECU via the Body Canbus hub. This also takes its power from the rear SAM. New £89.
Loom from ECU to camera. New £40.
Camera with part loom. Used £131.
Boot lid trim. Used £27.
Camera ECU. Used £38.
ECU bracket. Used £36.
Mounting hardware £3.
Factory option cost: £660.
Total cost: £364.
Saving: £296.
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2. Reversing Camera. Mounts to the boot lid above the rear number plate.
Took an easy day to fit. Passenger seat, rear seat base, rear seat side trim and centre console out. Passenger side and rear carpet out. Boot floor, side and rear panel out along with boot lid interior trim. Bracket simply bolts/nuts to the inner rear quarter and the wiring simply clips into place with all the clips assembled into the loom from the factory, remembering to align the coloured bands. Retrofit guide and wiring diagrams confirmed the correct pin spaces in the head unit.
Items required:
Loom from head unit to the camera ECU via the Body Canbus hub. This also takes its power from the rear SAM. New £89.
Loom from ECU to camera. New £40.
Camera with part loom. Used £131.
Boot lid trim. Used £27.
Camera ECU. Used £38.
ECU bracket. Used £36.
Mounting hardware £3.
Factory option cost: £660.
Total cost: £364.
Saving: £296.
Easy day.....yeah ;D
If I did that, I wouldn't be able to move for a week.
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3. Night View Assist. Infrared camera next to the interior mirror.
The ECU mounts on the right A pillar, and power runs from the front SAM with the Canbus connection under the driver's seat and a cable upto the instrument cluster.Also required are a new light switch, different headlights, different windscreen and trim to cover the camera.
Installation, not including the screen, requires removal of the kick panel, A pillar trim, sun visor, instrument cluster trim and cluster. Again, not including the screen, it's an easy days work. Also, as much of the work is the same, I fitted the Distronic harness at the same time.
Items required:
Pair of Night Vision Headlights with Bixenon, active cornering. Used £450. Originals exchanged as part of a bundle. Net cost £150.
Night Vision camera with ECU and video harness to camera/cluster. Used £109.
Power harness. New £28.
Light switch. Used £39.
Camera cover. Used £30.
ECU mounting hardware. New £3.
Windscreen. New Genuine MB £870.
Factory option cost: £1,200.
Total cost £1,229 including windscreen, £359 without the windscreen cost. Car will need a new screen at some point so worst case is that it will cost me £870 for the screen, best case £175 windscreen excess. So £534...
Saving: Worst case -£29. Best case £666 >:D.
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4. Distronic. Radar cruise control.
Unit bolts to the radiator support panel. The grill needs to be changed to allow the signal to pass through it. Steering column module has to be replaced, so steering wheel needs to come off.
Wiring harness runs from the unit, via the front SAM to the Canbus hub under the driver's seat. This was installed at the same time as the Night Vision harness so no additional work required there. The new SCM was installed afterwards along with the next item...
Items required:
Distronic unit. Used £254.
Harness. New £40.
Hardware. New £18.
Switch/SCM. Used £60.
Grill. New £280.
Factory option cost: £1,200 (from W211 pricelist for option code 219). UK cars had Distronic Plus (233) as an £1,840 option. Distronic was a W221 option elsewhere.
Total cost: £652.
Total savings: £548.
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5. Heated leather and walnut steering wheel.
Remove the wheel, replace the SCM with the heated wheel switch and the clock spring for the correct one with the heater contacts, refit wheel, and replace the front SAM with one coded for the heated wheel. Added about an hour onto the previous two items.
Items required:
Switch. Used FOC (part of the Distronic SCM).
Front SAM. Used £210.
Wheel. Used £350.
Leather airbag. Used £90.
Clock spring. Used £80.
Factory option cost: Heated wheel £205, wood and leather steering wheel £710. Total £915.
Total cost: £710.
Saving: £205.
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6. Glovebox aux input.
Remove and replace glovebox with one with 3 RCA inputs. Run harness to appropriate empty pins on head unit as per retrofit guide. Took about an hour including swapping the wrong colour glovebox door with my original one.
Items required:
Glovebox. Used £35.
Harness. New £25.
Factory option cost: Not listed for this MY.
Total cost: £60.
Saving: -£60.
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7. Remote boot closing.
Hydraulic pump and ECU go under the right boot trim. Remove boot lining, boot lid lining and boot rear panel. Run wiring from boot lid switch to rear SAM and forward to the Canbus hub under the driver's seat and refit panels. Hydraulic arm connects to pivot balls on inner quarter and hinge. Clip ECU into bracket in boot. Replace switch in driver's door for correct one.
Three hours all told.
Items required:
Switch. Used £115.
ECU. Used £45.
Bootlid trim and switch. Used £40.
Hydraulic unit. Used £76.
Harness. New £70.
Factory option cost: £410.
Total cost: £346.
Saving: £64.
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8. Towbar, manual folding.
Strip boot trim and remove rear bumper and crash bar. Bolt in towbar assembly and support beams. Run wiring from ECU to rear SAM and Canbus hub under the driver's seat. Connect wiring from release handle and tow ball to ECU and fit release handle and bracket. Refit trim and rear bumper. Took an easy day to do.
Items required:
ECU. Used £25.
Harness. New £130.
Release lever and mounting bracket. Unobtainium, came attached to tow ball pivot. Used £190.
Hardware. New £60.
Complete tow bar assembly without release handle or hardware. From Mercedes official second hand parts store. Used £670.
Factory option cost: £910.
Total cost: £1,075.
Saving: -£165.
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Quick running totals for items 1-8.
Total factory option cost: £5,535.
Total cost: £3,629.
Total savings: £1,906.
So to Johnnydogs question... Could I find a similarly equipped/age/mileage SWB S500 for less than £9,629? No is the simple answer.
And even if you include the windscreen, and I haven't included it as I haven't replaced it yet, I am still over £1,000 ahead of the factory options. Not that that's really relevant.
The next phase that I am gathering bits for is another £4,600 or so in factory options. The hardware and trims alone are about left to purchase from MB are about £1,000, unless I track down any of the troms used and in the correct colours...
I might have about £800 into the used parts so far, with another £800 ish to track down. So the next phase should be well ahead too. The last piece of the puzzle will be the wheels, and I have my eye on a set I like the look of... But that's a later job.
I will probably split the next phase into two parts. One I have two harnesses and some hardware to acquire, about £400 worth. The rest is for the second part.
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I have the coupe version of this car, a 2009 CL500. Mercedes's flagship model at the time. Same engine. Cost me £6k 2 years back. From the Mercedes price list I totted up the few extras mine has, added that to the list price, adjusted for inflation, comes to £153K in today's money :o
I'm a bit confused, is this a list of things to do or of things already done? Amazing if you have done them already :y.
I had read in various places that Distronic Plus cannot be retro fitted which is a shame for you as it is the best optional extra to have - I use it mostly in traffic jams where the traffic is crawling - take your foot off and relax it just keeps the car in the queue. Even if you can fit it you get an ugly clear plastic rain shield on the S Class grill (on the CL it's just a nice domed merc star).
Night vision - quite a few people say it a gimmick, I don't know as I don't have it.
Noticed any oil seeping very slightly from the o/s rear top of the engine? An easy fix with a cheap Chinese copy oil centrifuge seal. Easier to fix in fact than clearing up the sludge caused.
Reversing camera is quite nice but I could live without it.
On the CL the rear fridge takes out a lot of boot space, might be better just to buy a 12V coolbox. Anyway the front armrest storage is air conditioned.
Many M273 engines pre 2009 were fitted with chocolate sprokets on the balance shaft. Resulted in a class action against Mercedes in the US. Cheap to buy a hardened steel one but major job to fit. You can look up whether an engine is affected using the engine number.
You need as a minimum a Foxwell NT510 elite code reader, set to Mercedes. Also the mercedes WIS manual on a dedicated laptop.
Bluetooth unit is useful.
Wish mine had the TV tuner.
Have you got a PCMCIA card socket for the Harmon Kardon? If so, get a cheap SD card to PCMCIA adapter, then you can play SD cards.
Does the clock keep the right timezone? if not you need the satellite rollover release 423. You can update the maps to the last 2019 edition at the same time.
ABC suspension is fantastic. Mine on second pump and replacement accumulators (3 of them) and working well touch wood.
7g-tronic gearbox? Worth upgrading the filter but quite a chore to level the car without a lift.
Alternator a pain to replace. Starter motor easy. If it has a sunroof, check the drains. Replace the middle and top pulley idlers along with aux belt.
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I have the coupe version of this car, a 2009 CL500. Mercedes's flagship model at the time. Same engine. Cost me £6k 2 years back. From the Mercedes price list I totted up the few extras mine has, added that to the list price, adjusted for inflation, comes to £153K in today's money :o
I'm a bit confused, is this a list of things to do or of things already done? Amazing if you have done them already :y.
I had read in various places that Distronic... ...aux belt.
List is what's done so far.
Engine is bone dry and it won't be getting Chinesium aftermarket parts as long as I am alive.
The V8 doesn't have a balance shaft. But it does have the chocolate crank sprocket. Parts to fix are about £400 last time I looked. It's basically a timing chain replacement.
Distronic Plus CAN be retrofitted... I chose not to, opting instead for basic Distronic. Anyone who tells you different doesn't understand the system and how it functions.
Basically you have to replace the bumpers if it has PDC (218) along with adding the ECU, 8 sensors (4 each end) and associated bracketry and the harness. Also the Distronic gubbins as above if it doesn't have 219 from the factory. Distronic plus is essentially advanced PDC with Distronic. 218+219 and a second ECU = 233. Plus does the slow speed proximity/blind spot stuff, Distronic does the distance work. There's a bit more to it than that but that's the nuts and bolts. ;)
I only went with basic Distronic because my car already has PDC, so to fit Plus would have been stupidly expensive for minimal extra functionality. Distronic slows the car to 20mph but has distance alert all the way down to the PDC distance. Had it been a facelift car then there's a whole load of extra assistance features such as steering assist, speed limit assist and together with Distronic Plus the car will basically drive itself. Retrofitting that lot into an earlier car is asking for trouble.
I have WIS and EPC on my desktop along with STAR/DAS/XENTRY on a Toughpad, albeit with a clone interface. It's been adequate for my programming requirements.
Apart from having to replace the gearbox, mine has been pretty dependable although it's going to need a radiator hose or two at some point along with a full engine service.
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Why the need for a towbar, Al? Don't think I'd be wanting to stress my car after all that time, effort and money.
What a fantastic thread, glad I asked now. Are you posting this on the MB forums, bet there'd be a few on there would love this.
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Towbar is more of a handy to have, especially as it is a saloon. And is unlikely to be used for anything more than the occasional tip run/camping trailer or towing a small rib. :y
As to the Merc forums, yes, but not in the same detail... Alot of you can't do that/why bother or xyz is rubbish anyways types. There are a few who are a bit more involved than just servicing. I heard a few heads explode when I pointed out that programming options was little more than box ticking >:D Much of the criticism stemmed from not wanting to sign up to a subscription service so some unknown entity could remotely programme the car, so sticking two fingers up at that mindset was quite satisfying. Although it's good to encourage those that want to do similar things but don't quite have the confidence to try, even if it's silly things like the aux in or changing the trims for the AMG ones. ;)
I suspect that S Class owners fall into the same camps as Jag XJ owners...
There are a couple of other options which could be fitted such as keyless go, but I am quite happy with the concept of pressing a button to open the car and putting the key in and turning it if it makes the car more secure ::)
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Chocolate sprocket issue on the M273 is up to engine serial number 2739 ..30088611
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Chocolate sprocket issue on the M273 is up to engine serial number 2739 ..30088611
Ta. It's on my radar, but no sign of it yet 👍
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Really interesting thread, thank you :y
On a more mundane note,.what do you get fuel economy wise from the old girl?
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Really interesting thread, thank you :y
On a more mundane note,.what do you get fuel economy wise from the old girl?
23ish as an rough average. 80 litre tank starts complaining it's thirsty around the 380/390 mark. But have had 450 out of a tank. It's an easy cruiser, about 1,800 rpm at 75mph so is never really trying unless you get on it... Then it will change into third at 80. Which is a pretty efficient way of dispatching the eeejits >:D
All in all it's not significantly different from a 3.2 Omega Auto in fuel terms.
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That really isn't too bad at all!
Not sure I could make it work for my 25-30,000 miles p.a. but what a thing!
On a separate note I 100% get the point of the tow bar. I had one on (I think) every saloon I ever had. I fount that and a rood rack made them really practical as an only car and meant if I had cr@p to take to the tip it didn't dirty up the inside of the car like it used to when I had estates.
If you do ever use it for the Rib, please post photos as that's probably just about the coolest towing combination I could think of 8)
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Wots a Rib ? ???
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rigid inflatable boat.
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Very popular with Houthi terrorists and illegal channel crossers.
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Very popular with Houthi terrorists and illegal channel crossers.
It's for towing them back >:D
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I suspect that S Class owners fall into the same camps as Jag XJ owners...
I've had a head start on you, by a few years, so slowly bringing them around.
That said, for my model (X351), they all came pretty well equipped, so not that much factory type upgrades available.
Trouble with the "box ticking" reprogramming in JLR land is the poor descriptions of said boxes, and the interrelationships between them, and this is where the info on forums becomes priceless. Often its a case of several boxes to enable one thing, and reconfiguring seemingly unrelated bits.
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Wots a Rib ? ???
Holds ya chest together. ;)
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;D :y
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I suspect that S Class owners fall into the same camps as Jag XJ owners...
I've had a head start on you, by a few years, so slowly bringing them around.
That said, for my model (X351), they all came pretty well equipped, so not that much factory type upgrades available.
Trouble with the "box ticking" reprogramming in JLR land is the poor descriptions of said boxes, and the interrelationships between them, and this is where the info on forums becomes priceless. Often its a case of several boxes to enable one thing, and reconfiguring seemingly unrelated bits.
The American and European owners seem to be a bit more hands on generally speaking.
Most of the programming on the car seems to be fitting everything and telling the Central Gate Way what the car has fitted. Then when a button is pressed on say, the rear passenger door, the Canbus passes the message to the component/relevant ECU to do xyz.
Having a bit of an issue with the Boot Closing functionality but suspect that it's partly a fluid issue and also that for some reason the module is VIN coded so registers a fault as a result. May just have to bite the bullet and buy a new module for that...
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JLR products have a Car Configuration File (CCF) that is uploaded to the CJB (one of the ECUs), everything else is CAN, though sometimes other ECU firmwares are required to be updated to understand the function. The issue is the CCF isn't documented publicly, and info is hard to find beyond feature ABC needs abc, edf, xyz blah blah flags setting...
Soe sites have a fair amount for XF's, particularly older models like X250, but limited info for the last XJ or even the XE/X760. I'm sure slowly the info will become more available.
Not that I need much on mine, as said, the X351 Portfolios came pretty fully stacked. I think the only options mine is missing is Rear Seat Entertainment (only an option on LWB, but retrofittable if I had any interest in doing so) and Adaptive Cruise (Distronic is Mercs daft naming) which the info is well known how to edit the CCF :y, only it doesn't interest me, though its easy enough to fit, and the parts should be doable for around £100 from scrappers.
A feature I would REALLY like on the Jag - both of 'em - is a clock that can adjust itself. Every other bloody car has been able to since the 1980s. No idea what JLR were smoking when they suffered CBA to implement something so simple.
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A feature I would REALLY like on the Jag - both of 'em - is a clock that can adjust itself. Every other bloody car has been able to since the 1980s. No idea what JLR were smoking when they suffered CBA to implement something so simple.
.. a clock that kept decent time and didn't lose a few minutes every month or so would be a start.
.. and one that updated on the display when you're early for a meeting and parked up outside the chip shop with the radio on instead of just freezing until you're late... >:D
Still, the XE will be nice when the firmware's finished. ::)
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A feature I would REALLY like on the Jag - both of 'em - is a clock that can adjust itself. Every other bloody car has been able to since the 1980s. No idea what JLR were smoking when they suffered CBA to implement something so simple.
Volvo V70 is the same. Unbelievable.
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Aston Martin is probably the same. ;D
The S Class doesn't like it when you change the date, but it will keep whatever time you set it to.
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I suspect that S Class owners fall into the same camps as Jag XJ owners...
I've had a head start on you, by a few years, so slowly bringing them around.
That said, for my model (X351), they all came pretty well equipped, so not that much factory type upgrades available.
Trouble with the "box ticking" reprogramming in JLR land is the poor descriptions of said boxes, and the interrelationships between them, and this is where the info on forums becomes priceless. Often its a case of several boxes to enable one thing, and reconfiguring seemingly unrelated bits.
I might have some CCF info that may be useful if needed
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A feature I would REALLY like on the Jag - both of 'em - is a clock that can adjust itself. Every other bloody car has been able to since the 1980s. No idea what JLR were smoking when they suffered CBA to implement something so simple.
.. a clock that kept decent time and didn't lose a few minutes every month or so would be a start.
.. and one that updated on the display when you're early for a meeting and parked up outside the chip shop with the radio on instead of just freezing until you're late... >:D
Still, the XE will be nice when the firmware's finished. ::)
You must still have the ancient BCM software, I wonder if I have any more SDD cables lying around
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Really interesting thread, thank you :y
On a more mundane note,.what do you get fuel economy wise from the old girl?
https://youtube.com/shorts/lX1tW4gokqg?si=uCUuObHISHpE5GcN
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Oi! Jag drivers. Get off this thread ;D
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A feature I would REALLY like on the Jag - both of 'em - is a clock that can adjust itself. Every other bloody car has been able to since the 1980s. No idea what JLR were smoking when they suffered CBA to implement something so simple.
.. a clock that kept decent time and didn't lose a few minutes every month or so would be a start.
.. and one that updated on the display when you're early for a meeting and parked up outside the chip shop with the radio on instead of just freezing until you're late... >:D
Still, the XE will be nice when the firmware's finished. ::)
You must still have the ancient BCM software, I wonder if I have any more SDD cables lying around
I'm guessing hers is even older, being a very, very early model.
Although, everything on ours works as it should, so best leave it be with my record on updating JLR firmwares!
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A feature I would REALLY like on the Jag - both of 'em - is a clock that can adjust itself. Every other bloody car has been able to since the 1980s. No idea what JLR were smoking when they suffered CBA to implement something so simple.
.. a clock that kept decent time and didn't lose a few minutes every month or so would be a start.
.. and one that updated on the display when you're early for a meeting and parked up outside the chip shop with the radio on instead of just freezing until you're late... >:D
Still, the XE will be nice when the firmware's finished. ::)
You must still have the ancient BCM software, I wonder if I have any more SDD cables lying around
I'm guessing hers is even older, being a very, very early model.
Although, everything on ours works as it should, so best leave it be with my record on updating JLR firmwares!
Oi! Jag drivers..... ;D
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Quick update on the parts collection process...
I have been able to source the loom for the boot fridge but it's looking like the other looks are going to have to come from a suitably equipped donor and DIY.
The DIY option, whilst not ideal, isn't too horrendous as the pins/contacts and plugs are all available from MB so is feasible. It also means not having to buy them.
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The S Class doesn't like it when you change the date, but it will keep whatever time you set it to.
Satellite rollover release 423 fixes this
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The S Class doesn't like it when you change the date, but it will keep whatever time you set it to.
Satellite rollover release 423 fixes this
Ta,.I will look into that :y
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Then your clock will automatically adjust for BST/GMT. IIRC it also automatically picks up European time zones.
Here is the discussion:
https://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/index.php?threads/setting-the-date-and-time-w221-c216.180909/ (https://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/index.php?threads/setting-the-date-and-time-w221-c216.180909/)
Also https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w221/872277-help-clock-problem-turn-alone.html
(https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w221/872277-help-clock-problem-turn-alone.html) and https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w221/728177-can-t-set-date-time-comand.html (https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w221/728177-can-t-set-date-time-comand.html) are in my bookmark list for this.
Maybe Jags have the same issue if they get their time from satellites.
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It amazed me the first time the clocks changed after I got my ML & the clock didn't change ???. Turned out there is a tick box that needed ticking to tell the car to change its clock ..... it's subsequently changed each BST/GMT
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My Omega is the same. Box is ticked but the damn thing never changes, so I have to either do it myself or wait 6 months for the time to be right again. ::) ;D
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My Omega is the same. Box is ticked but the damn thing never changes, so I have to either do it myself or wait 6 months for the time to be right again. ::) ;D
IIRC the Omega had to be told NOT to use RDS to auto change the time .... :-\
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My Omega is the same. Box is ticked but the damn thing never changes, so I have to either do it myself or wait 6 months for the time to be right again. ::) ;D
IIRC the Omega had to be told NOT to use RDS to auto change the time .... :-\
My omega, a 2.5CDX, changed the time automatically. As does/did every Vauxhall I've ever owned.
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My Omega is the same. Box is ticked but the damn thing never changes, so I have to either do it myself or wait 6 months for the time to be right again. ::) ;D
IIRC the Omega had to be told NOT to use RDS to auto change the time .... :-\
But only worked reliably if tuned to a BBC station, which is far to close to frenchy socialism for Uncle Albs....
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My Omega is the same. Box is ticked but the damn thing never changes, so I have to either do it myself or wait 6 months for the time to be right again. ::) ;D
IIRC the Omega had to be told NOT to use RDS to auto change the time .... :-\
My omega, a 2.5CDX, changed the time automatically. As does/did every Vauxhall I've ever owned.
I think the PFL might have lacked the option, but certainly was there on all MFL and FL Omegas.
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My Omega is the same. Box is ticked but the damn thing never changes, so I have to either do it myself or wait 6 months for the time to be right again. ::) ;D
IIRC the Omega had to be told NOT to use RDS to auto change the time .... :-\
My omega, a 2.5CDX, changed the time automatically. As does/did every Vauxhall I've ever owned.
I think the PFL might have lacked the option, but certainly was there on all MFL and FL Omegas.
But not on either of our JLR products from the 2010 and 2016!
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9. Electric rear outer seats. With memory, heated, ventilated multi contour with comfort head rests and Isofix.
Strip boot, remove rear seats and front passenger seat along with rear carpet and remove front passenger carpet. Remove rear headrests, parcel shelf and rear seat side trims. Trim rear seat sound deadening to clearance the individual rear seat frames. Remove and replace the centre rear seat belt and all three belt anchors and receivers... This is necessary as the outer belt anchors have the fixed rear seat outer mounts bolted to them and the receivers for the outer seats are on runners to move with the seat base. The centre belt base is also different for the same reason.
Remove the pneumatic rear head rest brackets, these lower the headrests at the push of a button. Rearrange the airline for the centre headrest and refit the centre headrest bracket.
Run the wiring harness for the rear seat control ECU. This starts in the right hand rear boot and runs to the rear SAM, ground, into the cabin and across the rear bulkhead and forward to the Body Can hub under the driver's seat.
Run the wiring harnesses for the multi contour seats. One connects the rear armrest control panel to the front left fuse box and the telematics Canbus hub in the front passenger footwell. Tother connects the multi contour ECUs to the Body Canbus under the front passenger seat along with the front left fuse box. A third loom connects the ECUs to the rear seat backs. Fit the bracket for.the rear seat ECU along with the ECU and the two multi contour ECUs.
Connect the airlines for the rear seats to the existing factory connection on the passenger rear door frame.
Refit the carpets and front seat. Install the headrest motors and guide channels for the rear headrest Bowden cables along with the Isofix top anchors, (the lower anchors are welded in at the factory regardless of options. Fit the new parcel shelf with the Isofix covers and headrests.
Bolt in the seat base frames and connect the motor wiring. Then bolt in the rear seat backs and connect the motor/heated/ventilated and multi contour plugs along with the airlines then fit the seat bases.
Fit the rear armrest and frame and plug in the rear armrest. Fit the centre seat base brackets and seat base along with the upper seat back filler piece. Then refit the rear seat side trims.
Remove the rear door cards and remove the door handle trim plate. Fit the trim plate and switch panels for electric memory/heated/vented seat controls along with the additional wiring harness to connect the seat switch panel to the door ECU. Refit the door cards.
Plug in the laptop and clear all the codes out of the ECUs and programme the car for options added.
All in all, about 25 hours work.
Items required:
Wiring harnesses; £340. (A complete body harness from a donor and a new old stock harness plus some DIY but all to factory routing/colours/sizes.
Rear seat ECU; £60.
Multi contour ECUs (2); £50.
Individual heated/ventilated/multi contour rear seats, (including seat frames, armrest, centre base, leather side trims and filler plates) in upgraded leather from an S600 and correct colour. Also included the leather centre console from the same S600;
£237 plus two steering wheels a grille and various random Mercedes spares.
Rear door wiring; £50.
Rear door switches and trims; £85.
Rear headrests, comfort and matching leather, from different source; £170
Rear parcel shelf for Isofix in correct colour; £72.
Centre seatbelt in correct colour; £50.
Rear seatbelt receiver's in correct colour; £50.
Hardware; £181.
Factory Option Cost: £3,140*
Install cost: £1,345.
Saving: £1,795.
* Includes the following options:
Isofix £80.
Comfort Ventilated Rear Seats (incl Heated seats) £820.
Rear Seats, electrically adjustable outer seats £1,120.
Memories for rear seats £240.
Multi contour rear seats £880.
Doesn't include the upgraded leather cost as the car had that from new, itself a £900 option on the S500. That said, I may yet source the front seats from an S600 so the leather matches exactly, although you'd struggle to tell the difference... This would add the massage function to the front seats as well, itself a £380 upgrade to the original options.
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When you insure it.........you know that box that says 'Any modifications?' ;D
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When you insure it.........you know that box that says 'Any modifications?' ;D
;D
There's something to be said for only fitting factory options ;)
I had that argument with the council when I put the Irmscher bits onto my ex plod between inspections. The Licensing bigwig had nothing to say when I pointed out that the car was on its third interior. Same when it got written off the first time... The rear quarter was brand new VX and fitted to spec and the car presented for inspection with a clear VIC check and fresh, clean MoT as he tried to claim that it was unroadworthy because it was a Cat C. Even he had to concede that he couldn't see the repair. ::)
It is funny though, that if you stick chunks of plastic all over the car they count as performance modifications, but if you replace your glovebox with a nicer one, no one cares.
When the wheels get ticked off the list, they'll be declared as they'll be from a W222 but I doubt that will be an issue as they're factory wheels in a size available on the W221 albeit a different style.
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10. Additional convenience hook in the boot.
Post 2007 the W221 had two hooks under the parcel shelf for shopping bags, early cars only had one although the holes for the mountings are there.
Remove two push clips, insert the securing clips, hold up the hook assembly and fit the two screws. Took longer to type this.
Items required:
Hook assembly, £19.
Hardware, £3.
Factory option cost: £0.
Item cost: £22.
Saving: -£22.
Although it's a loss item, the practical benefit is obvious.
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When you insure it.........you know that box that says 'Any modifications?' ;D
;D
There's something to be said for only fitting factory options ;)
I had that argument with the council when I put the Irmscher bits onto my ex plod between inspections. The Licensing bigwig had nothing to say when I pointed out that the car was on its third interior. Same when it got written off the first time... The rear quarter was brand new VX and fitted to spec and the car presented for inspection with a clear VIC check and fresh, clean MoT as he tried to claim that it was unroadworthy because it was a Cat C. Even he had to concede that he couldn't see the repair. ::)
It is funny though, that if you stick chunks of plastic all over the car they count as performance modifications, but if you replace your glovebox with a nicer one, no one cares.
When the wheels get ticked off the list, they'll be declared as they'll be from a W222 but I doubt that will be an issue as they're factory wheels in a size available on the W221 albeit a different style.
You need to be careful, as in the case of an accident, some insurance companies will try to wiggle out.
In my case, they were claiming my insurance was invalid as I didn't state it had alloy wheels, and it was down to me to prove that that particular model came with them as standard. Fortunately I still had the brochure, added to which by the time that was sent off, the other party had admitted full liability so my insurance no longer cared ;D
Even options ticked at purchase are supposed to be declared now, which could be an issue on your Mercs, as they come pretty poverty and have to be specced up at purchase.
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Had a similar conversation with a previous insurance approved windscreen provider regarding a rain sensing heat reflective windscreen on the Omega. Long story short, they provided the screen.
The conversation at renewal goes something along the lines of: "Any modifications to the vehicle?"
-"Nothing that wasn't available from the factory."
"Er, oh ok."
Of course now it's all online, the question gets asked very generically, if at all. If the insurance companies can negate their liability by failing to collect the correct information then they are complicit if that information is complete.
It's a largely moot point though as you can pretty much guarantee that they will use any excuse they can not to pay out regardless of what you tell them.
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They certainly won't pay out on what you've spent on it. But you knew that already :)
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They certainly won't pay out on what you've spent on it. But you knew that already :)
Indeed, but sods law it gets hit by an uninsured motorbicyclist the day after a major service and MoT with a full tank of fuel, because that's just how life goes.
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When the wheels get ticked off the list, they'll be declared as they'll be from a W222 but I doubt that will be an issue as they're factory wheels in a size available on the W221 albeit a different style.
What wheels have you got? I have a set of 19" 9 spoke CL500 wheels that I don't like - too large and design is difficult to clean. I wouldn't mind swapping them for 17" or 18". As standard the rears are wider than the fronts. This is the design:
(https://www.pxwheels.com/images/image.php?uid=330)
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https://images.app.goo.gl/bhDXi (https://images.app.goo.gl/bhDXi)
Theses in 18".
8.5J all round.
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I should add that they've been refurbished at some point previously but are showing some signs of wear and tear.
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11. Massage front seats.
Basically deletes the original memory heated/ventilated multicontour dynamic front seats and adds it all back with massage function. The massage gubbins includes another ECU, wiring , air lines and extra air bladders so swapping the seats is much easier from a retro fit perspective.
Five bolts, two plugs and an air line per seat. And the dig through the various modules to make the controls accessible.
Total time: An 'easy' hour... I say 'easy' because the seat weigh about the same as a Fiesta.
Items required:
Pair of suitably equipped seats. £150.
Factory option cost: £340.
Item cost: £150.
Savings: £190.
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I assume you have STAR to programme all this stuff in ?
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I assume you have STAR to programme all this stuff in ?
Indeed, not quite full access, but it's a Toughpad with 2023 DAS/Xentry and a third party pass through box. I might upgrade the pass through to a genuine C5 unit along with newer software at some point, but it gets most things done :y
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I assume you have STAR to programme all this stuff in ?
Indeed, not quite full access, but it's a Toughpad with 2023 DAS/Xentry and a third party pass through box. I might upgrade the pass through to a genuine C5 unit along with newer software at some point, but it gets most things done :y
What you have is probably nearly as good as it gets on that age car anyway :y