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Discovered remote start system in my W212 (need help)
Hey,
Recently bought a used 2010 E350 4matic (W212). While installed a new auxiliary batter I removed the underside trim in the left/driver’s foot well area, under the dash/steering column.
I immediately noticed two aftermarket modules double-sided taped to each other swing down, along with their associated wiring.
The larger module is a ‘MID CITY ENGINEERING SMARTKEY STARTER’ and the smaller module is a ‘Directed Smart Start DSM200’.
Unfortunately I was not given any remotes or fobs, or even told about these systems — and the previous owner I bought it from also was unaware of them, they must have been installed by the original owner before them.
I have absolutely no knowledge on these systems, or any remote start systems in general, however I would really like to be able to use them. From what I gathered after searching Google, Mid City Engineering makes starters exclusively for Mercedes which is great. However the Directed Smart Start module was originally for iPhone functionality, and seems to be pretty outdated now.
Apparently they both perform separate functions, and are both required to work in conjunction.
In the photos you can clearly see that there is a small burgundy-brownish connector coming from one of the modules that is not connected to anything, as well as some red wires that seem to be cut and sitting there loose with no connections. Also on the left side, zip-tied to the OBD2 harness, there is a larger red wire that also seems to be cut and not connected to anything.
The car starts, runs, and drives completely normal with no issues, error lights, or electrical problems at all.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Last edited by Rocco Russo; Sep 17, 2023 at 09:15 PM.
Hi Rocco,
This is one of our legacy systems that is in your vehicle. The Directed unit may be outdated due to operation on a 3G data network, but the Smartkey Starter unit may still work. To test it, you want to first look for a circular rocker switch with a white dot on one side of the switch (the valet switch that disables the remote starter in the event of vehicle service). Once you locate that, you want to make sure that the side with the white dot is pressed in. After this is located / pressed in on the correct side, you want to press the panic button on your factory key fob. Don't press and hold it like you would to set off the panic alarm. Just a short tap press of the button should suffice, like the way you'd press the lock or unlock button on the key. This should initiate the remote start, so long as you're within range of the vehicle (it works with the existing range of the factory key -- generally between 200-300 feet of distance, whatever range you have to lock and unlock your vehicle doors).
This Smartkey Starter unit of ours, being one of our older builds, is not designed to work with later model smartphone control units. The Directed Smartstart DSM200 is an outdated smartphone control unit that is obsolete at this point. This being said, this unit (if it still works) will only work with your factory key command.
If you'd like to have a current coverage of this product, with a working smartphone control unit, please contact us to purchase one, or visit our webshop to purchase directly from there (where you can purchase a new smartkey starter with a 4 year warranty along with a new Drone mobile smartphone control unit)
Link for product: https://www.midcityengineering.com/p...er-sksng204d3/
Hi Rocco,
This is one of our legacy systems that is in your vehicle. The Directed unit may be outdated due to operation on a 3G data network, but the Smartkey Starter unit may still work. To test it, you want to first look for a circular rocker switch with a white dot on one side of the switch (the valet switch that disables the remote starter in the event of vehicle service). Once you locate that, you want to make sure that the side with the white dot is pressed in. After this is located / pressed in on the correct side, you want to press the panic button on your factory key fob. Don't press and hold it like you would to set off the panic alarm. Just a short tap press of the button should suffice, like the way you'd press the lock or unlock button on the key. This should initiate the remote start, so long as you're within range of the vehicle (it works with the existing range of the factory key -- generally between 200-300 feet of distance, whatever range you have to lock and unlock your vehicle doors).
I figured the Directed DSM200 was obsolete now, which is fine because I’d rather use my Carl’s key fob for the start feature anyway.
Unfortunately I can’t seem to find a rocker switch of any kind. However there is a cut-out in the trim panel and some cut wires that probably hooked up to one in that location.
I’ve attached some more photos of the said “cut” wires.
As you can see there is an empty white spade connector, and 2 “cut” red wires that appear to be coming from the larger connect coming out of the Mid City Engineering module. Also there’s a burgundy-brownish female connector with 3 green/black/blue wires that’s not plugged into anything.
And lastly there’s a larger red wire that’s seemingly also “cut” on the left side, zip tied to my ODB2 harness. Not sure if this is related, maybe this was connected to the rocker switch?
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