Retrofitting cruise control

[kwakdonut]

Hi Mr BlackC55, was gonna PM you this, but couldn't see how....


Some details:

• My VIN:WBD 168 031 2J 542 914
• My ECU is a N3/5, A166-150-01-79, labelled MSM1.3, WM03.99
• My Engine is a 166-940-....

I think it needs coding via Hand Held Tester (i.e. NOT SCN coding) due to 'age' (i.e MSM1.3, 03.99 NOT MSM2) ... i think the Star machine has a HHT built into it - HHTWin...

Cheers

Best you delete this once Olly has the details! You are in good hands there too btw...

 

[rubbergrape]

W168 Cruise Retrofit story part #5 - coding Try #1

I have spent the last two months trying to get this thing coded up. This is what happened….

Try #1
I went to my local Merc garage explained what i was up to and asked them to code the ECM and instrument cluster to enable CC and the speed limiter, I got the “not done that before but lets give it a go” answer...

After an hour, they told me "it’s not a standard retrofit, we don’t know how to do it". The guy showed me the DAS screen with some magic number on it that he needed to change but couldn't, and they didn’t charge me.

 

[rubbergrape]

W168 Cruise Retrofit story part #5 - coding - it must be possible

… I knew from WIS that air conditioning is a standard retrofit, and it involves coding the ECM so it must be possible to recode… so I spent some time browsing EPC and WIS, and I found the following snippet useful:



Variant coding, Star and HHT

My ECM is labelled “03/99” and “MSM 1.3” and therefore needs to be variant coded with a Hand Held Tester (HHT).

I think the W168 had its face lift in 2000/2001. I think at that time the ECM (monolith, mounted on the engine) was changed to an ECU (mounted in the control unit box) and I think they also moved to “MSM 2.0”. I think that’s when they switched from variant coding via the HHT to SCN coding via Star Diagnosis.

Star machines, in addition to the DAS software, have HHTWin installed, and when Star interrogates the car, and finds it (old and) needs variant coding, it launches HHTWin, and that was the weird thing I saw in Try #1 above.

How to do Variant coding

I found this in WIS:




And this in EPC:




So my current variant code should be 059 032 129 002 and it needs to be changed to 059 034 129 010 and it needs to be done with HHTWin.

Armed with this new info I went back to the Merc garage ... more later.

 

[rubbergrape]

W168 Cruise Retrofit story part #6 - Fobbed off by MB

Try#2

I went back to my local MB dealer, showed him the above stuff, and basically was fobbed off With don’t know anything about that … gonna need a training course, gonna need the car for 3 days – will cost you dear. I took the hint and left.

Try #3
I went to the big Merc dealer in Bristol and was booked in for a 1 hour waiting slot. They have modern facilities and a master technician. I asked to talk to the tech, but nothing. Four hours later, I could see 3 guys on the job, I left and came back at 5. Bottom line was they could not do it. In fact they nearly lost the car!! He said they got a new code from Merc Germany butthe car wouldn’t accept it, and they couldn’t put the old one back. They got the car back by disconnecting the battery.

Scary and weird. Also this story didn’t stack up. Why did they get a code from Germany? The variant codes are in EPC?

Why is this so hard?

 

[rubbergrape]

W168 Cruise Retrofit story part #7- IT WORKS - Success - done – yippee !!!!!!!!!!!!

Try #4

I went to BG Griffiths – a merc independent in Bristol. They said the usual - not done it before, willing to try, but the difference was they listened to what I had to say and involved me in the process…

We stood in the sunshine playing with their star machine / HHTWin. It all took about 10 minutes. HHT provided 2 options for adapting the ECM (from memory something like):

(1) Read/perform variant coding
(2) Erase coding
​

We hit (1), read the code in the ECM and it matched the expected one - 059 032 129 002 – a good start!

However, there was no option to change this code! HHT could transfer the code to a new ECM (i.e. read it; then ask you to fit a new ECM; and then write the code back to the new unit – we did this without changing the ECM with no problems)

We then hit (2) and erased coding in the ECM (slightly risky!). When we hit (1) the screen was different. From memory, HHT then said “no code” and kindly asked if we wanted to manually enter a code...

This is it this is what I’ve been looking for
​

So we entered the new cruise-control-enhanced-code 059 034 129 010. It appeared to work, so we hit (1) again, and HHT read back the new code – it was in there, at bl**dy last!!

We ran tests to make sure the CC switch was working, which it was.

We used HHT to program the instrument cluster. No magic numbers there, no special process, just changing the “speed limiter” option from “not present” to “present”.

A quick road test showed the
kick down switch,
speed limiter,
and cruise control

were all working just fine.

:bannana::bannana::bannana::bannana::bannana: :bannana::bannana::bannana::bannana::bannana: :bannana::bannana::bannana::bannana::bannana:

Conclusion

So it is possible, working out how to do it has been a right royal PITA, esp. finding the right garage to do programming.

All in cost was approx £85.

£30 for the switches (Dronsfield)
£15 for the wiring & odds n sods (Maplin)
£12 for MQS female pins & grommets (Mercedes)
£30 for programming & testing (BG Griffiths)
​

Timewise, it took ¾ of a day to fit the bits, and (eventaully) 30 mins to program and test.

Was it worth it?

£85 for OEM CC & speedlimt & OEM stalk & IC integration ...

Compared to ~£500 for a DunYoung AP800 aftermarket kit & sh*tty stalk & no IC integration?
​

Yes definately worth it - at least my right foot & my wallet think so.

Job Done



Please remember to hit the thanks button if you find my ramblings at all useful. Cheers Dave.

 

[pienard]

retrofitting cruise control (frenchy experience)

Dave,
congratulations you did a great job.

Few days ago I have also made a similar installation on my son car a A190 (gasoline) W168.032 from 2001. Fortunately I had found the cable assembly (A 168 540 8009) from Mercedes so I did not have to build one, and also purchased the steering panel (A 168 462 1623)(with tempomat opening). The cable routing was an hard task and the pins connection to the ECU was terrible has the receiving holes were partially obtructed so I had to open them with a sharp blade sort of tool I had to make specially for such purpose.
What is still frustrating a bit that only the Cruise control works not the Limiter.
I told after a 1st road test to the Guy who played with the Stardiag that the limiter was not working and that there was no indication on the instrument Cluster, so he made a change in for the second part but this don't change anything.
I think there is something not properly set but I don't know what, or there could be something wrong with the Limiter swith function on the ECU side (eg. incorrect wiring) my ECU is a N3/18 different plugging from Dave one which is probably a N3/5 so I'll have to look back.
Would be interesting to play again with setting also but, and Dave know that, it's not easy to find experts people and ready to help with Stardiag on Merc garages.
Dave, could you tell me what indication you get on the Instrument Cluster you get for active cruise control function, I have the yellow led lighted on the CC lever when in "Lim" mode (but without effect as explained) ?

Sorry if this not a pure and good english, I'm french.
Cheers Pierre

Try #4

I went to BG Griffiths – a merc independent in Bristol. They said the usual - not done it before, willing to try, but the difference was they listened to what I had to say and involved me in the process…

We stood in the sunshine playing with their star machine / HHTWin. It all took about 10 minutes. HHT provided 2 options for adapting the ECM (from memory something like):

(1) Read/perform variant coding
(2) Erase coding
​

We hit (1), read the code in the ECM and it matched the expected one - 059 032 129 002 – a good start!

However, there was no option to change this code! HHT could transfer the code to a new ECM (i.e. read it; then ask you to fit a new ECM; and then write the code back to the new unit – we did this without changing the ECM with no problems)

We then hit (2) and erased coding in the ECM (slightly risky!). When we hit (1) the screen was different. From memory, HHT then said “no code” and kindly asked if we wanted to manually enter a code...

This is it this is what I’ve been looking for
​

So we entered the new cruise-control-enhanced-code 059 034 129 010. It appeared to work, so we hit (1) again, and HHT read back the new code – it was in there, at bl**dy last!!

We ran tests to make sure the CC switch was working, which it was.

We used HHT to program the instrument cluster. No magic numbers there, no special process, just changing the “speed limiter” option from “not present” to “present”.

A quick road test showed the
kick down switch,
speed limiter,
and cruise control

were all working just fine.

:bannana::bannana::bannana::bannana::bannana: :bannana::bannana::bannana::bannana::bannana: :bannana::bannana::bannana::bannana::bannana:

Conclusion

So it is possible, working out how to do it has been a right royal PITA, esp. finding the right garage to do programming.

All in cost was approx £85.

£30 for the switches (Dronsfield)
£15 for the wiring & odds n sods (Maplin)
£12 for MQS female pins & grommets (Mercedes)
£30 for programming & testing (BG Griffiths)
​

Timewise, it took ¾ of a day to fit the bits, and (eventaully) 30 mins to program and test.

Was it worth it?

£85 for OEM CC & speedlimt & OEM stalk & IC integration ...

Compared to ~£500 for a DunYoung AP800 aftermarket kit & sh*tty stalk & no IC integration?
​

Yes definately worth it - at least my right foot & my wallet think so.

Job Done



Please remember to hit the thanks button if you find my ramblings at all useful. Cheers Dave.

 

[rubbergrape]

Problems with the limter? See the console.

Hey Pinard, great to hear you've had some success!

and sorry for the late response :-S

About the LIM function. WHen its enabled I get LIM shown in yellow, top dead centre on the consol.

suggestions:

1. when i got the programming done, i got the tech to run tests using star diag. we could see every switch movement showed a result on the star diag read-out. do this and you KNOW your wiring is good.

2. The Limiter function is in the CONSOLE. using star diag the tech needs to browse to the console and enable the speed limit function. if you dont do that the limiter will not work.

having said all that, dont worry too much - personally i could live without the limiter i never use it - it just feels wrong.

Good luck!!

 

[Stratman]

Great job and write up. You certainly won't take no for an answer.

The speed limiter is useful in motorway road works with average speed cameras. I find the traffic is too close and its speed varies too much for CC to be a comfortable option.

 

[rubbergrape]

I've been playing with the limiter and yes ... usefull on motorways and in town. My satnav tells me my speedo reads about 5% low though, so i always get people catching me up with the limiter set to say 50mph, which is a tad anoying.
Cheers, Dave.

 

[Diesel Benz]

I've been playing with the limiter and yes ... usefull on motorways and in town. My satnav tells me my speedo reads about 5% low though, so i always get people catching me up with the limiter set to say 50mph, which is a tad anoying.
Cheers, Dave.

Off topic but why don't you set the speed limiter to 55 mph (or so)? I bet you would have pretty much the same queue behind your car but now it should not be annoying (or it could be but for a completely different reason, those behind you making it annoying instead of you making it annoying for everyone).

A pity the CC does not increase the set speed by 10 km/h (is it 5 mph) steps, would make it simpler to adapt to speed limit changes (this concerns cars that have two different increments for CC adjustments).

 

[Smatt]

Well done on this retrofit.
I would say that it is easier to get the looms ready made from MB for just a few punds more as it is worth it for the time involved

 

[Merco]

Incidentally - cruise control not standard on all new mercs. I have a new one and CC was an option although admittedly, mine is a manual.

 

[rubbergrape]

Off topic but why don't you set the speed limiter to 55 mph (or so)? I bet you would have pretty much the same queue behind your car but now it should not be annoying (or it could be but for a completely different reason, those behind you making it annoying instead of you making it annoying for everyone).

A pity the CC does not increase the set speed by 10 km/h (is it 5 mph) steps, would make it simpler to adapt to speed limit changes (this concerns cars that have two different increments for CC adjustments).

That gave me a good laugh . driving on the M42 is ALWAYS anoying!!

Seriously thou the thing that gets me is the speedo reading low. UK cars seem to do that by design - I say that 'coz the same sat nav shows my USA cars read exactly the same speed as the satnav ... grrr.

What i really need is Speed Tronic so i can anoy the guy in front LOL. I meant to ask the Tech at BG Grifiths if that was an option in the console programming on my model ... but forgot ... so will do without.

(p.s. the limit works in 5mph increments).

- thanks dude

 

[rubbergrape]

Thanks for the thanks and CC retrofit looms from MB??

Well done on this retrofit.
I would say that it is easier to get the looms ready made from MB for just a few punds more as it is worth it for the time involved

Smatt - a "Well done" is always appreciated - thanks.

I fully agree much better to buy than make the loom ... but i was convinced its wasnt avaialble ... the wiring looms pictures in EPC don't show a CC loom (they show CC connectors are built into the main loom as an option)

But then yeah ... that ready made loom thing pinard reported ... weird ... Merc say "it's not a retrofit - go away" but MB they sell a loom to fit CC ??? I'd love to chase down that part number !! oh well - its as much what you know as who you know i guess !!

 

[adamsblade]

I have just bought the harness from my local dealer for £32 inc vat , part number is 168 540 80 09 98 . Will hopefully have it installed this afternoon and will report back.

 

[rigel]

rubbergrape, a big well done fella.

Your tenacity and endeavour are indeed a credit to you.

This is something I would love to retro fit on my W124, (could then dispose of the house brick from the foot well) but wouldn’t know where to start.

Regards, and thanks for the thread.

 

[gabriele_ct]

hiya. firstly, thank you for the detailed information. I would not be able to go as far as you did, as I am not as qualified. But I would love trying my luck and see if all the wiring is already done.. what would you recommend I check to see if thats the case?
thank you

 

[EngineerJeff]

Hello,can any one help me,av got an A160 manual transmission whoes variant code got erased. I tried using the chat posted to see if i could get the right version code,buh all the car does is roll engine and no start,i dont know if the version code on an A160 would differ from that of an A160 even though they have the same features,please i need help urgently

 

[guydewdney]

I added cruise to an auto sprinter 312d, commercial merc in wokingham were very helpful, and did thevrecode for free.....

 

[Patrik sweden]

Dave,
congratulations you did a great job.

Few days ago I have also made a similar installation on my son car a A190 (gasoline) W168.032 from 2001. Fortunately I had found the cable assembly (A 168 540 8009) from Mercedes so I did not have to build one, and also purchased the steering panel (A 168 462 1623)(with tempomat opening). The cable routing was an hard task and the pins connection to the ECU was terrible has the receiving holes were partially obtructed so I had to open them with a sharp blade sort of tool I had to make specially for such purpose.
What is still frustrating a bit that only the Cruise control works not the Limiter.
I told after a 1st road test to the Guy who played with the Stardiag that the limiter was not working and that there was no indication on the instrument Cluster, so he made a change in for the second part but this don't change anything.
I think there is something not properly set but I don't know what, or there could be something wrong with the Limiter swith function on the ECU side (eg. incorrect wiring) my ECU is a N3/18 different plugging from Dave one which is probably a N3/5 so I'll have to look back.
Would be interesting to play again with setting also but, and Dave know that, it's not easy to find experts people and ready to help with Stardiag on Merc garages.
Dave, could you tell me what indication you get on the Instrument Cluster you get for active cruise control function, I have the yellow led lighted on the CC lever when in "Lim" mode (but without effect as explained) ?

Sorry if this not a pure and good english, I'm french.
Cheers Pierre

IT is a very small and affordable kit. A plastic cover and stalk for the steering column.

Coding is done to the instrument cluster and engine controller.

Hello and please have understanding for my bad english and beeing a "newbe" on this, but I hava a question. I have a A 170 CDI manual gearbox (W168 109 1J 730763) without tempomat and the variantcoding of the ecu is 213 003 011. I should really need the variantcoding for the tempomat for this vehichle, so please, if someone knows post me.

/ Patrik