angelglo

hello all,

I wanted to know what items are included in the soft close feature for doors and trunk. I want to adapt it on a Camaro that I am building. does it just include the door/trunk actuator, pump and hoses?

TIA
Angel

AlexMercedes

I have no idea why you would want soft-close doors on a Camaro... but my guess is that you would need the whole Mercedes-Benz central locking system installed on the car including the hoses, PSE pump, actuators, etc. to get everything properly working. In other words, you would need to spend more than twice of what the Camaro itself costs to get soft-close doors.....

wallyp

Don't forget the computer that operates the system...

ibeforreal

I can't.

VMAX7

I have a vacuum pump for sale. You can put soft close doors on a Festiva for all I care, be a pioneer, yolo lol.

pm me, im asking $250 obo.

angelglo

Alex, the question would be, why not? I have 4 Camaros and just want to make one of them different and customize. and im sure it would not cost that much but price is relative. im not looking for new and there are plenty of used parts.

Wally,

Thanks for the response. I didn't realize a computer is involved in the operation. from what I understand, its just vacuum, actuators, and switches. please correct me if im wrong.

ibeforreal

It could get quite expensive in a very short time. There is the PSE Pump (vacuum pump), an actuator for each door and a actuator for the trunk/gas cap. You have to remember these actuators are designed to fit inside the door panel specifically for MB. You would have to either modify your car so that they would fit or you would have to design your own.

Then there are all the vacuum lines and wiring harness that would have to be routed to each actuator. This would basically mean ripping out the interior of each door and running the lines.

And after you do all of that there is this pesky little thing called a computer/memory chip that tells it what to do. I don't even want to get into the software aspect of the project. That is an entirely different level of programming.

Are you starting to get the picture?

AlexMercedes

You could do it if your heart really desires it, but I can guarantee that it would be extremely expensive to set it up and even maintain it. These soft-close systems are a huge problem even on the cars they came with. For example, my W220 has a huge PSE pump error as well as with all the vacuum lines going bad, resulting in the doors not working at all. I avoid repairing it since it's extremely expensive, and I can easily live without it. The moral of the story: It probably isn't a good idea doing this, but if you really want it, go for it. I would like to see how it turns out. I wish you a successful installation!

wallyp

The "vacuum pump" produces both vacuum and pressure upon demand. There is a computer-operated valve system that supplies vacuum or pressure to quite a few actuators on the car - not just four for the doors. There are quite a few sensors that tell the computer which actuator to send pressure or vacuum to. There are other sensors that tell the computer whether or not the actuator completed its function within the allotted time, or whether the actuator (or the line to it) has failed. If the actuator has failed, the computer will shut only that function (for example, locking the driver's door) off after a specified number of failures. If you repair the failure, you reset the computer, and it resumes normal operation. You can reset the computer without repairing the failure, and the computer will try the specified number of times, then shut that function off again.

Could you install the entire system, with actuators, sensors, pneumatic lines and wire harnesses running all over the car? Sure. Could you install only the parts of the system that you want, with actuators, sensors, pneumatic lines and wire harnesses running to the doors? Sure. Could you reprogram the computer so it only operated part of the functions without pitching a hissy fit? Perhaps, but life is too short for me to take on that project...

ibeforreal

Attached is a picture of one of the door lock actuators. I have attempted to take one of these apart just to see how they are made but it is almost impossible.

angelglo

Thanks for the info guys. I will try to get all items need so I can get it together.

ibeforreal

Good luck. I would definitely like to see a video of your work when it is completed.

cybertronicify

It would indeed be an interesting video! Best of luck with the project. Keep us updated with the progress.