For those of us who brought our W203's without paddle shift the mod has now been cracked by Comand UK Ltd. MB dealer told me this mod would cost in excess of £3,000.00 and even then could not guarantee it would work. After changing my steering wheel, adding paddles and enabling my car to be used as the test, Richard of Comand UK Ltd finally cracked the coding the guy is a genius with a star machine.

I now have full control off paddles in all modes and adds a different element to driving. Full credit to Richard of Comand UK Ltd for all his hard work and research into cracking this mod.

 

congrats on the accomplishment

 

Interesting stuff!! I'd love to give that a bash.

 

what yr model is ur w203? ... can u show us how? thanks

 

the model year would help tremendously. from what I know you do need the newer front SAM for this mod. 01-04 SAM will not work.

 

Car is a 2005 (Sept) and no i don't know how to do it. The guy who did it is a master with a star machine.

 

without pics. Video would be nice too!

 

Pics, part numbers, and detailed instructions. Otherwise we don't wanna know!!!

 

Here is a pic of the wheel with paddleshift controls. Will be easy for those with the triangular airbag and facelift model. As to detailed instructions - the fitting of the wheel and paddles was straightforward but you will need someone who has a STAR machine with access to MB. I gather SteveBenzNL works with the guys at Comand UK Ltd, so those interested should be able to get this mod done when he comes over your side shortly. You will be pleasantly surprised at the cost.

 

I just move around that little stick thing near the ashtray and the engine makes all sorts of different sounds!

Just kidding - Glad you were able to work out this mod - I am sure it is amazing - and good luck to all of you that duplicate it!

Jake

 

I applaud you and your efforts! That's an awesome OEM mod. I don't know if I'd every do it, considering I don't have the updated interior, but very good option to have for 2005+ owners, if they want to shell out the $6K US that it would cost!...

Again, great job, great pics. I'm going to add this thread to the AFTERMARKET/OEM MODS sticky.

 

Thanks. Mine was the test car for the project so we know that it works.

 

Thanks for adding as sticky.

 

Congrats on your accomplishment! Great mod... unfortunately, some of us will have to wait until our next purchase to consider it. Enjoy it!

 

Thats what he said his stealer wanted to charge. His was a test car so who knows how much the shop would charge.

 

Very slick. Wheel on the right makes my brain hurt, though......

 

Awesome man! Can you give us a ball park on how much this cost you? (Or PM me). Also, does the guy who did it talk on these forums? Thanks!

 

You can contact Richard or Mark at www.comand.co.uk although as posted earlier SteveBenzNL shares info with them and i gather he is coming to Cali shortly so make contact via him. The cost in the UK for this mod if you buy wheel, paddleshifts etc is £150 plus fitting, thats if you have same wheel plus airbag as i have (pics above) Extra cost if you have different wheel as may need contact spiral and lead to gear control box. However most of the work is Star programming.

 

I know that richard figured out a way to reprogram the TCM without flashing it online BUT for those with online access to MB flash"ware" this is a pretty easy modification (on all 2005 models (not just the 203s) and up)...

what would really be cool is getting that same thing to work in a 2002 C or E (or pretty much any pre 2005 model) without having to swap several expensive components (such as TCM and SCM).

greetingz,

 

Any ballpark figures for prices for this mod?

Cintoman

 

can you just get the paddle shifters without the wiring. i just like the look of the paddle shifters. dont really care if it works or not

 

i'd spend that much of mod mula on something else...

 

 

Tudu,

So the £150 price is just for the labor? I'm not sure I follow you. I currently have the newer 3-spoke wheel that comes on the US-spec C230, which is similar to the one on the C55, but it doesn't have the shifting buttons on the back. So, I'm thinking I would have to buy a new C55 wheel, the paddles, but still be able to use my existing airbag. Is the £150 cost just for the removal, installation and programming?

Based on current currency levels, £150 = about $245 US Dollars.

Steve...is this a mod you can perform while in the US? If so, then perhaps the next time you're in the NYC/Boston area, this might be something I'd like to have done.

Cintoman

 

Yep, that would be really really cool