xsever

I see. Thanks a lot for all the detailed info. I bought the paddles and will be tackling this soon, but the shop where I had wanted to do this was saying we have to drill through the aluminum despite showing him your DIY guide. Now I know how to respond.

xEryx

Yes, you misunderstood. I used a soldering iron to make the hole through the material after removing the material where the paddles would sit. There is already a hole in the frame of the steering wheel as I didn't have to drill through any aluminum.

xsever

Thank you so much for posting all these detailed pictures. I now understand 100% what needs to be done.

xEryx

Np, have not had a single issue with the install and it has been 2 years.

xsever

I finally got to doing this mod and installing the paddle shifters. I had bought them off of eBay for $40. They came off a 2012 ML350.

A friend of mine who's into modding and I tackled this mod on a weekday afternoon and it was a cool enjoyable project rather than paying $100 for a shop to do it.

There's no need for me to post a lot of pictures because you guys did an amazing jobs with all the detailed pictures you posted so a BIG THANK YOU for that. The only comment I have is that I didn't have to go through the aluminum to get a flush fit. I just made the hole for the screw deeper and that allowed the paddle to sink in deeper and fit nicely.

Pictures attached

TheRulesLawyer

Looks nice. What did it cost to do all of this?

xsever

$40 for the paddles
$0.5 for 2 screws and 4 washers
Free labour because my friend and I did it
Free tools because we have our own

wlonggy

Got inspired by this thread and ordered a set as well.
can I know whats the size of the screw as I couldnt find any that fits perfectly.

xsever

Awesome! Sorry I don't remember. I took the paddle to the hardware store and picked the screw there.

I cannot tell you enough to be careful of not overscrewing the screw and breaking the paddle's circuit board.

Good luck!

m1l3n

Going to attempt to do this DIY this weekend. I only have one question, what size bolts did you use to mount the paddles to the wheel? My paddles came without bolts (ordered the C63 ones)

xsever

i can't remember. Take the paddles to the hardware store and fit the bolts there and buy them. Make sure they're not too long otherwise you'll break the circuit board when you tighten them. Good luck.

W204Motorsports

Do you guys have Manual mode programmed in ? I had to activate and do coding on my transmission to make them work and I put Manual mode at the same time. I find the shifts are much quicker then just using the normal D1.D2.D3..etc

m1l3n

Thanks xsever, ill do that. Do you know approximately what length (mm or inches)? I want to buy them before i take the wheel off as i wont have a method of transportation while its off.

xsever

No since the specialist I deal with told me it can be done but it will take a couple of hours and it will require coding the TCM and I didn't want to delve into that. I am perfectly satisfied wit hthe D1 D2 D3 etc... How much time did it take you to active it and do the coding? How complicated is it?

No sorry as I can't remember. The bolts I had bought were longer and I cut them as much as needed as I was fitting them.

W204Motorsports

The coding took maybe 5min tops and most of that time was spent looking for the correct variation of coding. It's pretty simple, every transmission has a coding string on Vediamo and you just change the transmission variation, my guess the one I got was from a c63 with Manual mode since I no longer have Comfort mode available when i press it on my shifter. Maybe your D1-D2-D3 is better but mine does not shift instantly when using it, theres a significant delay in upshifts. In manual mode the shifts are almost instant.

If you want to do it, you will need a Xentry C4 (I use a Chinese knock off that does the job for 500$) and check out https://*******.com/. You will find a lot of good information there. I have someone that helps me from Norway using screen share and he is very knowledgable.

xsever

Thank you for all the details. I can't lose the Comfort mode but it shouldn't be like that. Didn't W204 C63s come with Comfort, Sport, and Manual? So you only have Sport and Manual now? I remember that the technician I deal with also told me that he can code the C63 software into the TCM so that the cluster displays the transmission fluid's temperature just like AMG cars.
]My D1-2-3 are not instant for sure, but they serve my purpose. I'd love to have manual mode, but I don't want to lose any other features such as Comfort mode.

Tom in Austin

Question about shift mode ... I put an almost-identical E class steering wheel in my car (changing out to a wood/leather style) that came with paddles. As it happened, I was able to sell my OEM all-leather wheel for nearly what I paid for the new one. Only unexpected challenge was having to switch the electronic board inside the wheel from one to the other. Then everything worked fine again.

Anyway, on my car shifting with a paddle puts the car into manual mode ... shift up or down once and the transmission will hold that gear forever. I expected it to make the paddle-initiated shift and then revert to automatic shifting. Is this how it works for you too, or is that what you mean when you say needing to program the shift mode?

xsever

It will not revert to automatic shifting until you hold the + for a bit and then D will be displayed again. This means you are back in automatic shift mode.That's how MB transmissions are programmed to work.

Tom in Austin

Thanks for confirming that's how it's designed to work

Baxusi

hello
https://m.aliexpress.ru/item/1005001...yAdapt=glo2rus
does this paddle shifters fit W204 C250

xsever

Yes. These look exactly like the ones I installed.

Just204

I’m trying to figure if I would like to do this, I have the sport/sport plus options. I think I have the manual shifting feature but not completely sure as if the rpm’s get close to red line the car will automatically shift. I have an Autel 906ts which has coding abilities( removed auto start/stop) and wondering what I will have to look to change if I can( it has a lot of coding options). Thanks!!