W169 A class opinions?

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Full NCB. The issue is the address and being single doesn't help either :(
 
Cool :cool:

The electrochromic (auto-dimming) RVM was my first retrofit on this car QUOTE]
Can these be retrofitted the the W168 without dismantling the entire vehicle ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: GLK
Full NCB. The issue is the address and being single doesn't help either :(

Blimey that’s mad. I drove a W169 while learning to drive and on and off when I used to come back from home from university. When we did a full comp main driver quote for me on it it came back similar as your E class quote.

To put into perspective, I ended up in Audi A5 (only 1.4 mind but with 150 PS) and I’m paying far less than that now.

The A class might not be as cheap to insure as you think...
 
Can these be retrofitted the the W168 without dismantling the entire vehicle ;)
Pretty sure it can be - it's only a power supply to it from OCP, the sensor and signal processing is done "in house", if I'm not mistaken.
If you get the wiring harness (about £8 from MB, if I remember correctly), it'll have the correct plug, so simplifies the fitting.

There should be a thread on it - I posted some info and pics, back in 2015. The pics might have been on photobucket, so gone now ... let me check.

EDIT: Correction - there's a third wire going into the mirror, so not a simple power supply only ... Not sure if it can be retrofitted (not easily, anyway).

Wiring harness:

45008089725_e2f008de30_o.jpg


Mirror (and the light/rain sensor) mount, with mirror removed:

32049336688_4b8926caff_o.jpg


New mirror fitted, OCP out, cable fed through:

44104567900_6c11d36fdb_o.jpg


Plugged in:

32049339058_beb9388742_o.jpg


Job done:

45008092275_e3d71ab7a8_o.jpg


32049341238_40ac5a3f05_o.jpg
 
Last edited:
... Can you come up here and fit one to my car. As soon as I see them wirey bits I go into meltdown!! ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: GLK
He he ... I'd love to (my wife is very keen on the Holiday in Scotland idea too) :)

I can look at wiring diagrams on WIS, to see what exactly these grey-yellow and pink wires are for, if it's only something like 58d (ambient light) or similar, for the second wire (one of them is obviously just 12V power), then it can be wired correctly. I suppose to make it look perfect, the whole assembly can be fitted. You can then utilise the unused sensor 'eye' for a dashcam or GPS tracker;)
 
He he ... I'd love to (my wife is very keen on the Holiday in Scotland idea too) :)

I can look at wiring diagrams on WIS, to see what exactly these grey-yellow and pink wires are for, if it's only something like 58d (ambient light) or similar, for the second wire (one of them is obviously just 12V power), then it can be wired correctly. I suppose to make it look perfect, the whole assembly can be fitted. You can then utilise the unused sensor 'eye' for a dashcam or GPS tracker;)
Board and lodging thrown in if you can fit one! ;)
 
  • Like
Reactions: GLK
It was cheaper to buy the mirror and cable from the parts department than pay for the option at the time I bought mine !

One more thing to watch, stick your hand down the carpet join between front and rear (roughly under passenger seat) and check it is not wet. Water gets in there (I think when driven through massive puddles) and takes out the phone system (if you have it) on pre-facelift cars. Also I suspect damp carpets will turn to causing rust over time

Cheers
Richard
 
  • Like
Reactions: GLK
Well I got one: 2005 05 MERCEDES A150 CLASSIC SE 3 DOOR PETROL MANUAL*80000 MILES*FSH* | eBay

genuine bloke and looks like a genuine car. There're a few things to fix, but then again I paid 850 not what he was asking. Driver's door window needs attention (works but goes wonky, so something iffy on the connection from the lift mech to the glass), passenger door mirror not adjusting properly, MFD goes dim after it's been on for a while (which seems to be a common thing across several models, from a quick google - and may be fixable by taking it apart and cleaning contacts) Also noted reverse lights aren't working. no malfunctions showing on the dash though (when it's not too dim to read!).

Also it didn't really get up to temp, so might need a thermostat, or maybe temp sender.

Drove it back from Leicester and it went nice, engine's quiet and smooth, and allegedly got up to about 105mph at one point. Well, gotta test it...

showed about 39 mpg average, but then again, I wasn't exactly driving economically, mostly (and if it isn't getting up to proper operating temp that might affect it). Handles well, as much as I wanted to push it in the dark in an unfamiliar car.
 
That mirror conversion looks tempting mind... :) I'll fix the faults first though
 
  • Like
Reactions: GLK
Congrats on a definite bargain! And a coupé at that :) Great.

I have taken the door cards off recently, to fit a couple of door handle lights, so have WIS pages and pics.

If both reverse lights are not working, and there's no error / bulb warning, then it might be SAM - first thing to check is water drains each side of the windscreen, and most importantly, the centre one, under the cabin filter.

Mirror retrofit is easy, if you have rain-sensing wipers (essentially a socket in OCP to plug that wiring harness in).

If you decide to retrofit a front armrest, I have a perfect condition top rear console going cheap - I bought a brand new one, and had it carbon fibre treated, so my original one is a surplus.
 
well the reversing lights were an easy fix: just needed bulbs. I'd have thought they would show up as a fail on the MFD but maybe not. no sign of water in the spare wheel well either while I was looking there.

I have a bootleg WIS on this computer somewhere but if you have the pages handy to send, would save me hunting. How much of a job was it?

Not sure about the wipers, it didn't rain yesterday so no occasion to use them :) However being the "Classic" model it lacks some of the toys including cruise control which I will miss for motorways [aside: on the LR Discovery 2, the wiring loom and all parts were on all cars for cruise control, so to add cruise to a non-cruise car all you had to do was fit the master switch to the dash and the buttons on the steering wheel].

The MFD is fine again this morning so I reckon the people saying it's temperature related are on the mark. Might look into that later - it's not mission critical but it's handy to have the info it provides sometimes. I'll also have a look at those drains.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GLK
Thermostats look cheap enough... but do you need the engine out to change it :)
 
Interesting about reversing bulbs - mine are definitely monitored: had a warning, after replacing them with COB LEDs, but interestingly, only about NS one - my reversing cam is hooked up to the OS light, so that's obviously enough of an extra load, to keep the SAM happy.

I'll gather the files and pics on door cards, and post them here for you.

The easiest way to check if you have that socket for the RVM, is to open the overhead control panel and have a look - it's the one on the right, is viewed from the passenger seat (see pic above).

No idea about thermostat replacement procedure (or most of mechanical matters), I'm afraid.

Never noticed the LCD in the instrument cluster getting dimmer, when cold, but I'm planning to replace the orange LEDs behind it with white ones, so am playing with a test IC at the moment - could be useful to you too.
 
no it works cold, gets dimmer the longer it's on for. Others have reported that it goes dim when the sun's been shining on the dash

be interested to know how you get on with the LEDs - you doing the whole dash panel?
 
  • Like
Reactions: GLK
Thermostats look cheap enough... but do you need the engine out to change it :)
I’ve reserched a bit while I was still looking for W168/W169 and found that lower engine running temperature on A150 is usually caused by temperature sensor which is located in the fan housing making a fan to run at higher speeds at all times but worth trying first with thermostat as a cheeper option. It is doable without taking the engine out.
 
no it works cold, gets dimmer the longer it's on for. Others have reported that it goes dim when the sun's been shining on the dash
Never noticed that on mine.

be interested to know how you get on with the LEDs - you doing the whole dash panel?
Not the whole dash - just the 21 orange LEDs behind the central display* in the instrument cluster, and maybe the dial LEDs (5 each for mph and rpm and 3 each for fuel and oil temp) - mine are 'warm white' - I want pure white.

* Strictly speaking the top 12 LEDs are bicolour Red-Yellow, and the bottom 9 are just Yellow.
 
I have a bootleg WIS on this computer somewhere but if you have the pages handy to send, would save me hunting. How much of a job was it?
Wasn't too complicated, but given the age of the car, I'd stock up on some replacement retaining clips: I needed three new ones, which is not too bad, I suppose.

Door and card:

42113299130_a1f022a73d_o.jpg


43017141905_12a292f926_o.jpg


The window / glass motor (ignore the plug in the centre - that's what I fitted for my new door handle lights):

43204035904_264cb0fe6b_o.jpg
 

Attachments

  • W169 WIS Remove_install complete outside mirror.pdf
    191.1 KB · Views: 3
  • W169 WIS Remove_install door pocket on front door lining.pdf
    433.1 KB · Views: 2
  • W169 WIS Remove_install exterior door handle on front door.pdf
    68.7 KB · Views: 2
  • W169 WIS Remove_install front door control unit.pdf
    123 KB · Views: 3
  • W169 WIS Remove_install front door lining 3-door.pdf
    353.1 KB · Views: 3
  • W169 WIS Remove_install front door power window switch group.pdf
    135.4 KB · Views: 3
  • W169 WIS Remove_install inside door opener on front door.pdf
    101 KB · Views: 3
. . He's coming up here to do my mirror conversion first. Make an orderly queue behind me please. :D
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom