Damn, your threads are always a great read. Loving the velcro idea, might have to copy that!

 

Spent several hours (actually, quite a few more than anticipated!) installing the COMAND unit, an iTronics iPod/Bluetooth unit, and also hardwired my Valentine 1. Took a lot longer because I had to remove the old Dension and all of its wiring, including Bluetooth, and then do a bunch of trial and error figuring out of the fibre optic cables. Unfortunately, the iTronics unit didn't go in like the YouTube install video said it would, I think because the CD changer had already been removed from my car, so the install was atypical. No matter, all working now, although I haven't driven the car to test the nav yet. But the 2012 nav disc I bought did update perfectly.

I'm hoping for better things from the radar detector suction mount though - it's already fallen off a couple times already! Boo. But to be fair, it's only been mounted to the cold windshield, no heat in the car.

First impression of the nav (my first experience with COMAND) is that it is quite clumsy to use. The system in our Land Rover, which is about the same vintage, has touchscreen capability. Oh well though, honestly I didn't buy the COMAND to use it much, I bought it to have a nicer looking interior! And the iTronics iPod integration is much nicer than with just Audio 20.

Only one pic, nothing exciting otherwise, just wires and such, lol.

 

looking good!

 

LOL, spent like 15 minutes this morning trying to figure out why pressing 'OK' didn't select the folder to allow individual track selection within the folder. Eventually gave up and just drove to work. Googled and found that I have to press and hold SEEK for a couple of seconds. Counter intuitive!

A pic of the V1 install:

 

Man, I really need a V1 too...looks good!

 

Next: gonna see if this 3-5-7 trick works (to change the Mercedes logo on start up to AMG) - anyone know for sure?

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...ld-owners.html

Having British accented nav instructions would be nice too.

New Michelin Pilot Super Sports should be here tomorrow, hopefully will get my mechanic buddy to mount them onto the OZs over the weekend.

 

Heh, my V1 is like 10 years old. Frankly, there are probably better products out there, but I haven't gotten around to checking them all out.

 

no not really,V1 kicks *** I feel naked without mine.... Nice flowers by the way

 

Well, I think the V1 has been surpassed in user interface by other products. Those feature smartphone integration (with GPS and memory functions I think), colour displays and the one I like best - ability to turn off annoying X-band alerts, or at least memorize those that can be ignored. But...my current V1 is 'free' and now hardwired, so I don't think I'll be looking at any others soon. I do like its directional capabilities, and the 'bogey count' function, but damn, the design is still the same as it was 15-20 years ago!

Flowers - plumeria freshener - reminds me of Hawaii!

 

Some weirdness I've noticed now that I've driven the car around a bit.

If I stop and come back to the car after, say, an hour - the iPod doesn't remember the last track, and 'starts over again', playing the very first track in alphabetical order - and doesn't resume from the middle of the last track played before shutting down the car.

The only thing I can think of is that the power source I tapped for the Itronics unit is not constant power (as required), but switched. What I did was just basically cut the power wires that the Dension was installed with, and didn't bother check to see if it was switched or not. Any ideas? Duncan, where did you take power from when you had it installed?

 

I've never used the iPod feature, only the Bluetooth for music and that was simply my iPhone remembering where I left off when the connection gets broken. I don't think you want constant power on the itronics, won't that drain your battery?

I hooked it up to my cig lighter.

 

Hmm...the iTronics video says to power it up with constant power, I think it's just for memory functions. Actually, I think all head units have constant power to them for that same purpose - but the accessory power lead actually turns the rest of it on.

I'm gonna buy an 'add-a-fuse' circuit thingy tonight, and wire it up to constant power. I understand that the fuse box on the driver's side is all constant power.

My Dension had the Bluetooth music streaming capability, but I didn't like it - it seemed to have static all the time, but never with a hard connection to an iPod, so I'm just sticking with that.

 

Ahh ok makes sense, I guess I never had it hooked up right. Sounds like you got it figured out though.

 

Holy, talk about first world problems...spent a couple hours last night trying to figure out why the tracks wouldn't resume after restarting the car. Each time it would default to the very beginning of the iPod. I've listened to the first few bars of Bob Marley's 'A.D.D.' like a dozen times. As much as I like the guy's music...it gets annoying! Also checked the wiring and the iTronic was properly connected to constant power.

Anyway, on a whim I tried digging out my old iPhone 3GS - and works as expected! Tracks resume after restarting the car.

So I figure my iPod Nano that I was using is 'too new' for the iTronic to fully control it. Anyway, first world problem solved!!

 

ya I remember on my iphone 4 it wouldn't reset songs but now that I got a new iPod it resets back to the top of my song list every time too. I thought I was crazy in thinking it didn't used to do that!

And the bluetooth audio is excellent on this product so dont be shy in using it! You will also get used to the idiosyncrosies of the system. It takes some time but you'll get a hang of it!

Also you V1 has a mobil app you can download to create custom profiles and turn every band off if you want. You can even add a band (the Xu band) to be detected. Have no idea what it is or what uses it but I've detected it a couple times. The app doesn't do GPS memory etc but that doesnt really matter if you turn it on intelligent mode or whatever and turn x-band off. Mine doesn't pick up those stupid cameras anymore which annoyed the crap out of me and it doesn't go off form stores after i turned it off. I also set it to not go off by the traffic sensors on the california highways which are annoying as hell too! Although I have noticed the only times I've gotten pulled over in california since getting the V1 is by Motorcycle Cops. IDK what they use or where they come from but I've never been pulled over by a car cop since have the V1!

 

I'd better look more into the V1 app. I saw it briefly when I surfed over to the V1 website. I see it needs a Bluetooth dongle. Cost benefit analysis time again - worth it to spend money on upgrading the old V1, or just put that towards a brand new Passport or other brand? Dunno...time to fire up the spreadsheet, lol...

But first things first...the UPS guy just dropped off my new Michelins at the office, so I hastily stuffed them into the car. In this regard, I miss my old Volvo V70 - no need to fold seats, just toss them in the back. I can't even do that in my Audi, and it's a wagon too! I still have a soft spot for the previous generation V70R, I just don't think it handles as well as the Audi, nor do I think its AWD system is as good. That said, I've lately been drawn to the Range Rover Evoque, I think once they get cheap cheap, I'll grab one as a winter beater.

 

You try that secret menu thing. I can't get it to come up. Everytime I press 5 it brings up the itronic and the cd changer.

 

from what I've read and tried it doesnt work for C-class...only slk, e, and s i believe.

 

Yeah, I forgot to post about that. I did a bit more forum searching, and it won't work for the C. There's a post from MBenzNL (THE guy for OE installs, and thus knows his stuff) and he said that the C-Class (and I think CLK) COMAND units are by Alpine, but the other cars use Becker made units. So no go for the AMG logo. Oh well. The Mercedes star is nice enough. It would be nice to have all of those other functions though, but what can you do?

I should be mounting the Michelins on the OZs a couple Saturdays from now, my buddy can't get at it this weekend. A bit of a wait and free = better than paying! While the snow is starting to melt, the air temperature is still a bit cool, not totally suitable for more performance oriented rubber. I'll probably be on the winters until then anyway.

 

At long last, I finally got the tires mounted onto the OZs! Michelin Pilot Super Sports, price was actually a lot better than I thought. I did end up spending a touch more than I initially planned, but it is supposed to be the class leader at the moment. My buddy also just picked up a set for his CTS-V.

Anyway, my other mechanic friend mounted them up this morning, and then after I was done cleaning up my garage from a winter's worth of detritus and debris, I found time to mount them onto the car. But before I did that, I coated them with this wheel protectant product called Gtechniq C5. See it here:

http://gtechniqna.com/wheels/c5-wheel-armour/

The stuff's not cheap, but it's supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread. And since these OZs are the nicest wheels I've ever owned (three piece forged, and basically fresh from a rebuild from the previous owner) I want to keep them looking sharp. Plus, with all those spokes, each wheel will likely be quite a pain to clean up, so anything to help with that will be great.

Check out this video of the product's abilities:


Anyway, to the pictures!

Without really thinking about it, now both of my (remaining! - sold the S2000 last week) cars run OZ Superleggeras. The set for the Audi was purchased a couple summers back shortly after I picked that car up for use as a winter beater. The seller of those wheels was surprised that I was going to run them for winter use...LOL. But of course the set on the Audi is one piece cast, the set on the Benz is forged.
















Right rear looks higher than the left rear, but these shots were immediately after I put the wheels on, so the suspension hadn't fully settled down again.

There's a lot more positive offset than stock:




A low speed first drive around the block revealed some rub, unfortunately. However, it's only when moving over curbs, and so far, only at the rear. As my VW buddy says, 'if you're not rubbin', you're not dubbin'!, LOL:





I think I have isolated the contact area to a small part of the bumper tab/lip (the beige/white part that's been rubbed that colour). Strangely, I only heard it from the left rear, but this shot is from the right rear:



Going to head over to the 203 forum for more insight, but I think I can just trim away a bit of the offending bumper lip area. My fender roller is lent out to a friend at the moment, so I have to grab it back. I think I will do some pre-emptive rolling at the front and rear, just in case. The car is stock, suspension wise, and I think I will keep it that way, no need to go lower for my purposes. The alternative is to remove the spacer at the rear, but that will necessitate acquiring shorter lug bolts and also centering rings. The current spacers are hub and wheel centric, which is the best as can be, so I will have to weigh the pros and cons.

When I ordered the spacers last fall, I was worried that the rear wheel/tire combo would be too close to the suspension on the inside - that's hardly the case, there is plenty of room. The same can't be said at the front, where the inner clearance has been reduced substantially.

Finally, bonus shot of my next project - after selling my S2000 (a necessary step in my next goal, a Porsche 911) I am now left with a bunch of spare parts, including an F22C engine block (the 2.2L version). I had bought a complete engine years ago in case I ever wanted to build up a motor, but never got to doing that. I was going to sell the block, along with a pile of other extra parts, but now my plan is to make the block into a coffee table. My wife actually won't let me have it in the house, so it'll go into my office, where undoubtedly it will serve as a resting place for many client files, LOL. After the block gets cleaned, I will just need to find a piece of glass for it.

 

Just came back from the garage, after attacking the bumper tabs and the bumper itself with hammer, rotary tool and angle grinder. Hopefully that'll be it, but I have to keep an eye (and ear!) on it.

 

Man I love those OZ wheels, looks good

I have the rubbing on the left rear too. What I've found can be an issue is that the rear subframe can be not quite on center so one side may rub on the outer edge. It's the same as your issue: only over curbs or if I'm taking a right turn as hard as I can. Difference with mine though is it was in an accident so it may have shifted from the wreck, I dunno

In any case, not too worried about the running over bumps and I feel that if I get the larger rear sway bar it will limit body roll enough that I can take the right turns without rubbing.

 

mine rubs toward the middle to inside of the rear left! and tahts with my rear sway!

 

Some more and better photos, after a quick wash this morning:











I'm loving the dish on the rears. At the same time, I'm hoping that GTechniq coating really helps with maintenance, because theses wheels are going to be a pain to keep clean!

 

I wanna get some flat black vinyl wrap and cover up all of the chrome on the car, and go back to the stock grille (but wrap the chrome up on that too) for a semi stealth look. But I'm gonna keep the CLK grille so I can swap it as my mood takes me, LOL.