My 2008 C300 Luxury Makeover
 

Work Done:

• Paint Job Same Main Color with Black Accents
• Front & Back Sport Bumpers & Rockers (Swap and Play)
• 2014 Facelift Dashboard (Minor Mods to duct for Full Automatic Climate Control Sensors)
• Tan to Full Black Interior (Roof Liner, Door Panels, Deck Panels, Sun Roof Cover)
• 2012 E350 Climate Control (No Programming or Coding Needed)
• 2015 CLA Steering Wheel & Airbag and W212 SCCM & Electric Adjustable Steering Column (No Programming, Coding Needed & Wiring Needed for Adjustable Column)
• 2014 FL Cluster with AMG Mod (Programming & Coding NEEDED)
• 2014 NTG 4.7 Radio with UCI (Anti Theft Code and Rewiring Needed, Screen and 4 Pin HSD ORIGINAL Cable Needed)
• Backup Camera added using CLS550 Camera Module in Trunk (Wiring Needed)
• Sports Gas Pedal Plug & Play, Covers for other pedals (Swap and Play)
• 2014 Tail Lights with LED Reverse Bulbs (Coding of Rear Sam Needed)
• New Style HeadLights DRL Mode (No Programming or Coding Needed, Heavy Wiring Needed and Custom Fading Module) No Dash Fault Codes
• FOG (Delete) to LED Bumper Lights (No Programming or Coding, Wiring Needed) No Dash Fault Codes
• Facelift Mirrors Carbon Fiber with Entry Logo & Dynamic lights (Programming & New Door Module Needed) with this no wires to roof like other threads
• Driver Seat I went with Memory Seat Swap this is needed for Electric Steering Column Adjustment (Wiring and Coding Needed)
• Rear Windshield Shade Installation (Wiring and Coding Needed)
• Next Step is to Upgrade to FL Front SAM, and ABS Module since FL Dashboard don't have ESP Button but its in the Cluster and I want to enable Hold Feature

I did all the work myself including painting the car lol...
all parts minus rims and paint materials was under $2600 + my time lol,
I don't count paint and rims because that's something you do to your cars regardless...

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...62140c7507.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...a5311fe8ba.jpg

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...c5834f8691.jpg


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...577ab0a291.jpg


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...885bab1d57.jpg


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...438ddc8260.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...7334744a7d.jpg




BEFORE PHOTOS WHEN I BOUGHT IT


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...af6d4dc58f.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...913cf6377d.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...269f096c42.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...10921474df.jpg

What a difference and improvement!
Good to see you saved a nice car.

That's a lot of work, was it financially worth it?

not really alot of work, did everything myself including painting the car lol...

parts was relatively cheap i'd say... i didn't rush it took two months of free time between work, and gave time to get parts at good price,
some parts new from the dealership but i have a commercial account there so get discounts
all parts minus rims and paint materials was under $2600 + my time lol, that includes complete tan to black interior FL swap, both bumpers and side rockers, and all exterior lights...z

I also changes steering column from manual to electric lol and installed memory seats

I dont count paint and rims because that's something you do to your cars regardless...

Looks great!

Q1. As for the New Style HeadLights DRL Mode, are these Spec-D?

Q2. How did you do the fading module?

A1: I dont know if its Spec D, I know its China D :rolf:
A2: Fading is done with pwm module i built but you need to open the headlights. not for the fainted heart...

Here is a Video during initial test of the Fade In and Out.... Watch to the End.
I going to mod it a lil more to do the turn signal wink with fading.. soon as i get free time off work...

Yeah definitely China! 🤣

That fading is a nice touch. Looks Factory....

Taking apart the headlight is not too tough.

It depends on what they sealed it with. I presume you used a heat gun?

Pretty sure your headlight projectors are halogen but probably not bad quality.

I have 09 C350 with Bi-Xenon. Going from HID to halogen is not very appealing.

There is a converter harness to go from Xenon to Halogen BTW. It's $120.

Getting past all of that, I wonder if the retrofit source has options.

If I could upgrade the new projector headlights from Halogen to LED, that would be worth while...

yep Fading is nice, did the same on my W221 last year also....

sealing the light is ok, I mean I work in a Shop so its something we do all the time.... Windshield glue is your friend but dont ever plan to open the lights again lol...

the lighting is ok, better that the stock Halogen I can you that much, I use LED 6 side bulbs in both High and Low Beams... I never use halogen bulbs lol....

if you have BiXenon, and swap to non BiXenon, you will need to code the car to prevent lights and errors on the dash....

you dont need a convertor harness lol, just get some NON Xenon pig tails and attach the necessary wires to the harness so it has 2 heads lol.... :nix:

or you can wait until china make the Bi-Xenon Models for my W221 they did provide the Bi-Xenon models with AFS (HEAVY PRICE) but works with no faults or mods and my afs still works...

I don't know much when it comes to electrical retrofits. I had no idea you could use LED bulbs in this.:eek:

Coding the car sounds expensive. That's why I mentioned the converter. I have no idea how to wire this beatch. You make it sound easy but to a lay person it sound time consuming and tricky.

I want to put in a rear camera and upgrade head unit to 4.7 NTG. I don't want to buy another car for a while...

As for Chinese, why would they make a xenon version after all this time? That does not seem likely...

you can put LED in anything just have to get the right fit type...

Coding is NOT expensive lol, I did it myself lol... the wire splicing is easy BiXenon AFS has more pins and different plug pattern,
but the standard Low/High Beams, Turn Signal and Parking light signal wires are there, just no AFS motor and canbus those wires you ignore

what year is your car?? To Go NTG 4.7 you need the comand, Screen, and ORIGINAL HSD Cable and some wire mod on the Radio Harness
as you know my car is 2008 so I had the preFL dash I was going to keep that but then changed to the FL Dashboard...

For PreFL Dash you can use a w212 NTG4.7 and CLS Screen.... I have those from my original plan....

but if you have FL W204 just need ntg 4.7 and bigger screen and the bezel over the screen because the non comand FL use a smaller screen

About the Chinese, I dunno lol they sometimes spontaneous, who knows.... in that case then conversion....

I have a 2009 C350. I definitely want to implement all the changes you did except the dash.

I don't have Vendiamo or Xentry. So sure it's not expensive if you have the hardware.

There are a few independent placed that could do it. They will probably want $200-ish...

As for NTG 4.7, there is an adapter to make the current screen work from what I understand. Later I'll go touchscreen once funds are avail.

I can probably handle all of this if I have a writeup.

so now you have the comand 4.0 with the motorized pop up screen, the you need a w212 Comand and unlock code and the 8 pin lvds to HSD adapter...
they're not hard to get actually get... then just to rewire the harness

Full Light Demo

I'm gettin info that it's 10 pin. When you say rewire do you mean new harness or rewire pin? Where did you get the headlights from?

Too bad you're not local. Reminds me of Morimoto RGB remote kit.

lol its really just a voltage detection system, when it sees 13.5V and up it turn on the led, then it sees voltage on the left/right it turns off the DRL on that side, when it see voltage on the parking lights when car is below 13.5 v and above 11 v it turns on the DRL..... if voltage is below 11 any time the DRL doesn't turn on.. still have some tweaking to do though, when I find time, not really as perfect as the original but liveable...

my next thing is to do a full service on the motor..... oil, plugs, filters, antifreeze etc....

about the harness 10 pin is BiXenon.... Non-BiXenon is 7 pin, High, Low, Turn, Parking 1, PArking 2 and 2 Grounds

so get a non BiXenon Plug from Salvage yard and connect those wires.. ignore the rest....

Sure man piece of cake!:rolf:You mean re-pin the plugs and then tape off the others?

no the actual plug is different, you need the whole pigtail plug set fo non hid...

It's not clear.

1.) If it's a matter of cutting off old plug and then splicing halogen plug, ok.

If this is correct, you would need a wiring diagram.

One could risk damaging the SAM — the wiring is totally different.

2.) If (1) above is not correct and one has to pull out the entire bi-xenon harness and put in a halogen one including grounds—that sounds like a lot of work.

That's why I considered the converter.

I appreciate the info but this is anything but elementary to a lay person.

it's a 123 ABC Job, No damage to SAM, you saw what I did to my PreFL W204

you need a pair of this
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TJG4LPL

then connect the wire inline the the stock, in the end you will have two plugs on each side one Bixenon and on Non Bixenon, 5 min Job

resulting that you can use either headlight varient

I saw the outcome. I did not see the process. No disputing your ability or that it can be done. Still...no telling what I might encounter.

So far, finding used Halogen pigtails is pretty tough. I contacted findpigtails.com and it's $84.98 shipped.

I'm going to buy the converter. No coding needed, Save myself a lot of time chasing down these parts and potential headaches.

Fading Module
 

Would this work?
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...e070d76bdd.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...207f242eee.png

Almost no upgrade or work we do to our cars are ever 'financially worth it' unless its essential to the basic operation of the vehicle (get from point A to point B).
Our vehicles (especially OUR vehicles) can not be considered an investment.
The best we can do is slow the precipitous depreciation with regular maintenance.

Upgrades, hacks and retrofits are done strictly for the driver's enjoyment and/or benefit for the most part.
@Antiguangenius took a car I personally wouldn't even look twice at and made it into a beautifully restored head-turner.
He basically saved it from the scrap yard as it would have likely been sold on a seedy buy here / pay here car lot and neglected by the new owner until it became beyond their means to repair it.

The interior swap is what REALLY impressed me too.
Hat tip to you Sir.

It depends on the overall of the car's condition, personal finances, and long term plans. He should of got a hell of a deal in theory. Maybe he showed up with a briefcase with cash all in 20s? Who knows? It obviously was worth to him.

My car is fully paid off. It has 149K miles on it. It has a suspension issue (minor) and brakes are soft (likely air). I use to pay $400 a month at 1.99%. I had a kid shotgun out of an alley, cross a double yellow line and t-bone me. $12,000 to fix it. His insurance paid but it took 6 weeks. I doubt if I try to trade in it will be worth anything? I doubt it. Nowadays these sharks come around with the paint thickness gun and run the VIN. I've never dealt with CarMax but maybe they do blind trades?

My goal is 300K miles. I'll just worry about maintenance and do some mods. I bought new wheels and tires and put in a new windshield. I think with another $1,500 in mods I could be pretty happy for a long time. I don't drive 10k a year.

NEW CAR

I try to avoid looking at new cars. It's like being in a strip club. You try to leave...but have you seen this? 😆

The W205 C300 has come down in price but the pandemic has driven prices up. You can just buy one with less options and mod it. It's much less expensive than buying with options. They charge a premium for add ons.

Hopefully when I'm ready for my next car, I can have low monthly and own rather quickly. I've definitely learned a lot.

I guess I'm on my own. I'd pay someone to do it but having trouble finding someone reputable..