Project W210 - Bonnet Release Handle

[ INTERIOR : Bonnet Release Handle ]
PRICE - BND $27.00

Another part purchased from Mercedes-Benz JATI Transport.  This part only cost me BND$27.00 and luckily it was in stock!   The original one already broke in a few pieces and I have to use a plier to pull the level to open the bonnet but with this new part that will be in the past! 

Project W210 : Mercedes Benz Door LED Projector

**Good morning Readers!  My apologies for the long hiatus.  I recently just moved to my new house and waited 3.5months for phone and internet connection.  Two days ago I finally got my internet and I cannot tell you guys how happy I am!  I will be continuing my usual car posts from now on. Hope all my readers are still around. LOL

[ INTERIOR : Door LED Projector ]

PRICE - BND$15.00

You guys probably have seen these in  newer cars.  When you opened up your door, there is an LED that project their car logo on the ground.  There are two types, the one I have here which is a straight swap and only take 1mins to do for both doors.  The other type is those car that doesn't come with door lamp and will require drilling to fit the LED lamp and wiring to connect the power.  Thank god my W210 isn't the later one.

I bought these online and cost only $13.00 with shipping only costing $2.00.  I only have the front LED replaced as for the rear I will be leaving it standard.  What do you guys think?  I really love it!

Here are the old one that were replaced

Project : W210 - Lower Dashboard Panel Carpet

Hello readers!  Today post will be the continuation of my Project:W210.  As you can see from the upper picture, my lower dashboard panel was removed due to the carpet not sticking on the panel.

As you can see from the picture below, the glue is no longer doing its job.  It was quite annoying every time I drive the car as it gets in the way and I was afraid I will make more damages to the carpet.  So I took a few tools and removed the panel in less then 10mins!

The grey bit is made of natural coconut tree material

I went to a hardware store nearby my house and bought this "STICK IT" from Carplan.  I am familiar with using interior glue so this one was a quick and easy fix.  It cost only $11.20 and all you need to do is sprayed the area that you want to glue.  The glue will set in a few minutes!

Here is the final result!  I was planning to have this done professionally by a interior upholstery dealer but they wanted to charge me BND$50.00!!!.  Guess who didn't earn my money~

Project : W210 - Removing the Instrument Cluster Pt.3

OK here is the "newly" replaced instrumental cluster. Everything is working just like it should except for a few errors on the central LCD.  One thing I am a bit confused was the "Hydraulic Oil Level" error.  I am surprised to see this error because it wasn't on my original instrumental cluster error.  So I did some digging online and found out the the hydraulic system was only fitted in a wagon W210.  The hydraulic help to maintain the ride height in the even of heavy load on the rear boot.

I checked my eBay purchases regarding about this instrumental cluster and found out it was taken out from a wagon W210.  So now I learned that old error from old car will be memorized in the instrumental cluster. 

There is no way I will be able to delete the error.  We will see how it goes in the future.  I might just put back my old instrumental cluster and replaced only the moldy plastic covers.

Here are two more errors that has been popping out for a few years. There are the ASR and ABS.  There are many reasons for these two errors so a proper diagnosis will be in order after I fixed the engine shaking problem.  Thanks for reading!

Project : W210 - Removing the Instrument Cluster Pt.2

Here is the instrument clusters comparison. The top part of the picture as you can see with faded plastic with mold is from my original W210. The bottom half is the used cluster I bought from UK eBay.  Big differences isn't it.

When I bought this instrument cluster, the initial plan was to just replace the plastic bit that was faded with mold and uses back all the original parts.  Then I realized the used instrument cluster actually will work on my car even though the speedometer and rev meter is not correct. As you can see the picture above my W210 is in "km/h" whereas the used instrumental cluster is in "mph".  Thank goodness this cluster has another set of reading in "km/h" only smaller in font size printed below the "mph"

See the rev counter from the picture above ? They are also different.  The one on the left picture is my original cluster that rev peaks at 6000rpm whereas the other peaks at 5000rpm. Not really a big deal because I rarely rev this car over 4000rpm!

The above pic is another comparison of the cluster.  There are several differences as some of the bulbs are missing from the used cluster.

The best part of replacing the cluster is finally my center LCD display is now in full working order! The original cluster has been faulty for about 7 years.  This is very common on the late 90s and early 2000s Mercedes Benz.  

Normally the ribbon connecting the LCD and cluster will require replacement which will set me back around BND$50.00~BND$80.00 and require a proper electrician to weld the ribbon.

Luckily this used cluster LCD is in perfect order so I don't have to replace them.  The only things is now my mileage has drop from 220,xxxkm to 179xxxkm.  This is because this mileage is recorded from the previous car where the cluster is from!

  So far so good on replacing all the parts bought UK!!!

Project : W210 - Removing the Instrument Cluster Pt.1

My next job is to replace the instrumental cluster that I bought used from UK.  I had watched lots of D.I.Y video on Youtube and decided also to tackle this job myself to save some bucks.

 To remove the instrument cluster firstly you need only one tool, a hook!  I cut a cloth hanger into half and bent each end to a hook shape just like the picture above.

Next is to put the hook on each end of instrument cluster so that I can to pull it out of the dash as shown from the arrow below.

Blue arrow show where the hook will be hooking

Once I pulled the cluster out the only thing left to remove are just two cables connected to the cluster.  Then it's all done!  Next post I will be showing the differences of my cluster and used cluster I bought from UK!

 

Project : W210 - MP3 Casstte Player

Now that my car Becker player is in working order I decided to go a bit old skool on the music.  The CD changer in the W210 is already busted and I also didn't want to go back to using CD.  So I went online and did some searching and found this.  A MP3 cassette player!

For you millennial, this was my mp3 player back in the 80s to late 90s!  This particular version I have here is a bit different as it do two things, a cassette tape and a MP3 player.  It can hold at least 64gig of music whereas the real cassette that we have back in the days can hold around 10-12songs only!!!!

This MP3 cassette player came with all the usual buttons and a memory card slot.  Its very simple to use, just pop in the memory card and put in the cassette tape into the player!  When you not using it as a MP3 cassette tape, you can use it as a normal MP3 player on the go!

A remote control is also included

To use this first we need to charge it

And yeah it works!

Project : W210 - Becker Radio Code Part.2

For you younger generation readers.  BECKER was a big supplier of car audio to big players like Mercedes Benz, BMW and Porsche.  Not sure what happened to them nowadays as many car player like Alpine, JBL, B&O are taking over the car industry.  

The player model in my car is called the GRAND PRIX.  As you can see the serial number is located on the side of the player.  Now that I have the serial number of my Becker player the next thing to do now is to go online at RADIOCODE and request the password.  The process is very easy but of course it ain't free!  They charge 8.99pound for my Becker player.  I received the code immediately on-screen and thru email once they received the payment. 

All I need to do is just key in all 4 digits and BOOM! The player is now officially unlocked!  Oh they can also retrieve password for your other branded players such as Alpine, Clarion or other car brands too!

Project : W210 - Becker Radio Code Part.1

Older cars like this W210 comes with Becker player that will system lock itself when you unhook or replace the car battery.  As you can see, a warning "CODE" will be shown asking for pass code.  The car actually come with a key card that consist of 4 digit pass code.  The problem is I couldn't find them in the car nor at my parent house.  So I did some research online and was told there are several website that can actually provide you the pass code!

 In order to get the pass code a serial number is needed from the car player. So I became handy and decided to tackle this job.  So first order of the day is to find the serial number that is needed to submit for pass code.  The problem is the serial number of the player is located behind or beside the player.  So removing the player is imminent.

 To remove the Becker player I recall it needed two keys opener and thank god these keys are still inside my W210 manual or else it will be a big task to remove the Becker player.

See the two tiny hole on each sides?  Plug-in the key opener into both holes

Once the key opener is lock and secure you can just pull the player out!  Simple and Easy!

Project : W210 - Boot Button Replaced

Good day readers!  Back to Project : W210 again.  It is going very smoothly so far and I am very happy about it.  Today we will look into installing the gear shift console.

I actually do not need the console or the window buttons.  The key button that I am in for is that "Boot" button as shown.  Project : W210 is 20 years old and that button had seen some pretty abuse when we cross border shopping to Miri. LOL.  So somewhere along the line one of my sibling broke and lost the button.  Mercedes Benz do not sell just the boot button.  It is a completed parts with the window buttons and  cost about BND$250~$300.00 brand new!  This one cost me just BND$37.00

So the first step is to just simply pull out the center console as shown above.  Then remove all the switches from the console as shown below.

Then you just unscrew and unclip the part and swap the new one in!  Simple as that.  Oh by the way the part I bought share the same part number as my car so I know it will fit perfectly.  Only problem is whether it will work or not.

And here we go.  The boot button is back in business!!!  And yes it works like a charm!!!!  One more problem eliminated!!!

Project : W210 - UK Parts #8 Window Regulator

[ Interior - Window Regulator]

Price - BND$37.00

Here is another window regulator I bought new from eBay UK.  The passenger rear window regulator that I replaced 8 years ago went busted again!  This one is half the price of the one I bought last time.  Thank goodness that parts are getting cheap when the car is getting older.

Project : W210 - UK Parts #5 - Gear Shift Console

[ Interior - Gear Shift Console ]

Price - BND$37.00

Another used part from eBay UK.  I bought this console for one particular part only which is the boot button as the one in my car is already missing and broken.