Bagged myself a doner...Finally

[BillyW124]

..Its going to be fun

After a little while searching ive finally found a 124 coupe doner vehicle to do my electric heated seat conversion. Ok paid a premium but im not talking life or death monies here.

I'll feel guilty when i strip it actually.

Any way forget that.

The bonus is that it has driver side memory and the interior leather is soft and supple without cracks, rips or scuffs. Quizzed the owner of the 140k w124 if its been treated or retrimmed. Not at all was the answer. Glad i dont need to re trim them . It also has the fire extinguisher mounted on the driver seat.

As my car is only going to be stripped out once im going to and Dynamat the enitre floor pan, then use dynaliner on top of the dynamat.

i'll also be carrying out the IR lock set conversion at the same time.

Now, the doner comes with headlamp W/W. I know its a crap system but if i physically have a car with it on why not. It will be a straight swap of all components and wiring, same principle as the heated elec seats.

My word bank of "$£*% words is ready to me unleashed when i undertake this all.

Now heres the my million dollar question:

I want to rip out the cruise control complete. The doner is an N reg E320. I have been advised that i cannot use this on a E220.

I really hope i can do this. Please can we shed some light on this?

...i'm still sane, im NOT touching the AC from the doner. Unless someone can come up with a bright spark idea on how to go about it with minimal heartache which i highly doubt.

The Coupe summary once complete then:

• Heated and electric with driver side memory seats.
• Headlamp W/W
• Fire extinguisher
• illuminated sunvisors (previously done)
• dipping RVM (previously done)
• IR Lock set (sourced)
• Rear electric blind (perviously done)
• Rear roller top cubby hole (sourced)
• Cruise control
• AC!
• Reach adjust steering column -I can get hold of the bits for it but not really too bothered about that if im honest. As im going all out why not. (does the reach work with memory)?
• a sound dead quality ride.

Somthing really interesting:

I have been speaking to a chap that has mentioned the EPC codes can be amended if an original OEM retrofit has been carried out. Will need to quiz more about this but he has said this has been done many a time as his workshop carries out mods like this.

When the next EPC update is due, the vehicle data card will be updated with the factory codes for options. I assume there is a fee for this service. But how cool is that?

Let the games commence.

 

[jaymanek]

Excellent work.

The A/C will be crazy work, forget it. The rest is doable and the adjustable steering does work with memory. If you are stripping it all down, makes sense to swap it.

 

[BillyW124]

Excellent work.

The A/C will be crazy work, forget it. The rest is doable and the adjustable steering does work with memory. If you are stripping it all down, makes sense to swap it.

Another thing why the AC doesnt bother me: I have a coupe with four sexy windows to be put down in summer, it would be a shame not to use them

 

[moonloops]

Damn, was expecting a thread about kebabs

 

[BillyW124]

Damn, was expecting a thread about kebabs

Sh*t! how do i edit title!

cheers for that!

i was thinking of what to have for lunch when writing this!

 

[Howard]

Ha Ha !! No chilli sauce on mine please , just shredded lettuce and lemon juice.

 

[d w124]

Billy:Wait for more feedback but as I already told you,doubt you'll be able to fit the cruise

 

[BillyW124]

yea guys need some advice on cruise..

 

[bolide]

Dont wimp out - do the aircon as well!

A new aftermarket condensor, evaporator and r/d won't cost more than £300 and would mean you're replacing most of the parts that commonly fail

If you have the dash for the evaporator out you could modify the speaker mounts to take decent front speakers at the same time

Nick Froome
the independent Mercedes Estate specialists

 

[grober]

Cruise control would normally operate via the throttle body [ I THINK? ] The 6 cylinder inlet manifold design is vastly different from the 4 cylinder so unlikely. Honestly don't bother with UGLY HEADLAMP w/w If its not already busted in the donor vehicle I would predict fairly rapid failure once transplanted. I would go for the high pressure jet system from the later cars if you really need that facility

 

[BillyW124]

Dont wimp out - do the aircon as well!

A new aftermarket condensor, evaporator and r/d won't cost more than £300 and would mean you're replacing most of the parts that commonly fail

If you have the dash for the evaporator out you could modify the speaker mounts to take decent front speakers at the same time

Nick Froome
the independent Mercedes Estate specialists

Ill need to see what is really involved when i have the cars side by side however i think its going to be far too complicated. The idea of ripping out the dash seems to painful. I can just about deal with ripping everything else off! The rest actually seems a walk in the park.

Cruise control would normally operate via the throttle body [ I THINK? ] The 6 cylinder inlet manifold design is vastly different from the 4 cylinder so unlikely. Honestly don't bother with UGLY HEADLAMP w/w If its not already busted in the donor vehicle I would predict fairly rapid failure once transplanted. I would go for the high pressure jet system from the later cars if you really need that facility

How about an after market cruise control kit, but use the existing cruise combo stalk? That way it will look completely original. Im prety sure it can be done with some wire fettling.

As far as im aware the headlamp W/W is in working order, I too wouldnt have bothered if it didnt work. However once off the DONOR i guess i can clean up the motors or 'service' them perhaps before fitting them on to my car.

 

[Benzmanc]

Try these for cruise control help

Conrad Anderson UK | Vehicle Electronics

Daz

 

[BillyW124]

Try these for cruise control help

Conrad Anderson UK | Vehicle Electronics

Daz

Thanks Daz

So guys, I have had an email back from these guys and said they can fit the below cruise control system to the existing Merc stalk. :bannana:

AP550 - Electric Actuator | Cruise Control

Would this be the way forward? This really will solve my problem wth regards to ECU's and actuators as the system comes with these components.

The price for the system is more than adequate.

just need some panel advice on this..

 

[Niks]

Good job Billy, your going all the way! Take some pictures as well if your doing the electric seat refit with the door cards too. That would be very helpful to know.

Personally I wouldnt bother with the cruise control at all. I had thought about it myself at one point but judging by how long you can actually stay at a desired speed before having to slow down again, its just not worth the hassle. You'd spend more time engaging it and disengaging it more than actually enjoying it! Unless if you do long motorway journeys.

Air con on a coupe...no mate, its all about having those sexy windows down! I rarely use the AC on mine, I'd rather have the sunroof down and windows down so I can hear my AMG backbox burble!

When using Dynamat, dont over do it. Alot of people stuff Dynamat in their cars lke theres no tomorrow thinking the more is better, well actually its makes it completely worse. First of all, your car will start to get really warm inside the cabin and second it will kill the acoustics in the car. The 124 has amazing acoustics to take advantage of, if you now how to utilise it. So, use Dynamat moderately only on panels which have potential to resonate or vibrate and leave it at that.

Hope that helps.

 

[BillyW124]

Good job Billy, your going all the way! Take some pictures as well if your doing the electric seat refit with the door cards too. That would be very helpful to know.

Personally I wouldnt bother with the cruise control at all. I had thought about it myself at one point but judging by how long you can actually stay at a desired speed before having to slow down again, its just not worth the hassle. You'd spend more time engaging it and disengaging it more than actually enjoying it! Unless if you do long motorway journeys.

Air con on a coupe...no mate, its all about having those sexy windows down! I rarely use the AC on mine, I'd rather have the sunroof down and windows down so I can hear my AMG backbox burble!

When using Dynamat, dont over do it. Alot of people stuff Dynamat in their cars lke theres no tomorrow thinking the more is better, well actually its makes it completely worse. First of all, your car will start to get really warm inside the cabin and second it will kill the acoustics in the car. The 124 has amazing acoustics to take advantage of, if you now how to utilise it. So, use Dynamat moderately only on panels which have potential to resonate or vibrate and leave it at that.

Hope that helps.

I know the Cruise control isnt a mandatory thing but as im going interior toy mad why not?

Of course cruise is pointless around town, but on a long trip i would use it. Not all the time but would be nice to have the option if ever i did want to just take it easy.

Yep Aircon - thats way out of my depth, not going to touch it.

Now, with the Dynamat - Im not doing it for acoustic reasons by-the-way of speaker sound.

Only for the prupose of minimising road noise. Any benefits it will have with enhancements to speaker sound quality and panel distortion will be a bonus.

As im not going all out for a killer sound system panel distortion is out of the question any how.

Ok so, a 124 isnt lound in the cabin as standard, but all this will help the cause as it will enhance and further better the drive in my 124.

As mentioned in the starting thread i said ill use Dynerliner on top of the Dynamat.

That infact is a mistake of mines and its actually called Dynapad. Dynaliner is somthing different.

Dynapad kills road noise and is used for this purpose. Its quite a thick pad slightly heavier in material too.

Ok it will add a bit of weight to the car but not in the way IMO the weight a Subwoofer and enclosure would weigh or perhaps the weight of a child.

 

[Niks]

Ahh ok that makes sense now, I thought you were going for a full on system upgrade.

Let me know how the dynapad works out for you. I have the speakers, amps and cables all sitting in my room waiting to be fitted, just need the bloody time! Come to think of it, I still have 4 weeks holiday left to take

 

[aka$h]

Retrofitting Cruise is not going to be possible. There is a control unit for it in the passenger footwell. The harness for this is part of the onboard wiring harness, it then talks to the ecu which is also different for a cruise/non cruise car not to mention the different engine size. The throttle body is also different in the same way.

So unless you want to do a e320 conversion......

 

[Niks]

^ Absolutely agree, its going to be one hell of a job if you really want to do it. To be honest, if you really want "toys" in the cabin, do what Talbir did to his silver E500 to make it look like Nasa's space shuttle

 

[BillyW124]

Retrofitting Cruise is not going to be possible. There is a control unit for it in the passenger footwell. The harness for this is part of the onboard wiring harness, it then talks to the ecu which is also different for a cruise/non cruise car not to mention the different engine size. The throttle body is also different in the same way.

So unless you want to do a e320 conversion......

Getcha, thats not going to work based on that then! Ive been speaking to Conrad Anderson this morning again, and they are certain that the system will fit on the existing stalk.

i believe the system is a Laserline. I could be wrong though. I dont mind having an aftermarket one. It will do the job nicely. what i cant stand though is the aftermarket stalks! No way.

E320 conversion...yea i would consider but millage for me is a little on the high side for me currently.

@ 140k, thats 7 years more motoring when compared to my current millage i have.

^ Absolutely agree, its going to be one hell of a job if you really want to do it. To be honest, if you really want "toys" in the cabin, do what Talbir did to his silver E500 to make it look like Nasa's space shuttle

LOL, Ive seen talbir's 500 in one of his threads, that beast is proper nice.

To be honest all this seems a lot but i dont think its going to be as bad a job as it is on paper. Logically it makes sense to have a complete donor, I will know exactly where everything goes. Basically carbon copy it.

It'l be fun really. At the end of it all its the satisfaction that will be most rewarding and just enjoying the car more than i already do!

 

[lordlee]

Taking the engine out of the doner should be the priority surely?