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Complete replacement of the wiring and control modules
Hello! I have two 2005 CLK500s. One has 138k miles and thousands of issues, so I bought another one that was wrecked but has only 23k miles and is in museum condition. I want to swap everything from it into the first one.
The problem is, my donor car has more features — front and rear parking sensors, keyless start with a start button on the shifter, a better radio, and seat ventilation.
If anyone has done this kind of job before, please share a link or any information. I’m worried I might need to replace all the wiring in the car, and it seems like a huge amount of work.
I don't think you will have any issues. The extra features simply won't work unless they are programed in SDS. I recently replaced my HVAC control with a newer unit that had extra features. All the features that I had before work fine and the button for the feature I didn't have doesn't do anything. If you want to activate the extra features it might require some wiring and will certainly require programming. I have heard that the stereo is often just a plug in replacement.
I don't think you will have any issues. The extra features simply won't work unless they are programed in SDS. I recently replaced my HVAC control with a newer unit that had extra features. All the features that I had before work fine and the button for the feature I didn't have doesn't do anything. If you want to activate the extra features it might require some wiring and will certainly require programming. I have heard that the stereo is often just a plug in replacement.
Thanks, I'll try.
It seems like I will be investigating all this by myself like I did whith the roof. Almost ready to start. But my donor car is so perfect - it's literally like new, can't start disassembling it when I'm looking at it...
I will post here the progress, mb it might be useful for somebody in the future.
The new donor is wrecked but in museum condition? So is it not wrecked? Why are you disassembling a "perfect condition car" to put in a car you said has tons of problems? What are we missing in this conversation? Why are you not just fixing up or just driving the "perfect one"? have any more pictures or insight? If you switch everything over, you have to include the wiring harness, and if you switch everything to include engine, ecu, all modules, harness, off course its a lot of work but its should not need programming. Star allows the ability to choose which modules are or are not installed and those model years are not locked up like newer vehicles.
The new donor is wrecked but in museum condition? So is it not wrecked? Why are you disassembling a "perfect condition car" to put in a car you said has tons of problems? What are we missing in this conversation? Why are you not just fixing up or just driving the "perfect one"? have any more pictures or insight? If you switch everything over, you have to include the wiring harness, and if you switch everything to include engine, ecu, all modules, harness, off course its a lot of work but its should not need programming. Star allows the ability to choose which modules are or are not installed and those model years are not locked up like newer vehicles.
The donor is wrecked, but only the steering wheel airbag was deployed, and it has frame rail damage, which is why it has a salvage title. Other than that, it has 23k miles with a history of dealer maintenance. The car doesn’t have a single scratch on the body or interior. I was told that it is hard to pass inspection in NYS with a salvage title, and I’m also new to the country and don’t know a good professional to pull the frame and do the body work. I bought this donor at Copart for $375 and wasn’t expecting it to be so nice with such low mileage.
IF you can do the parts swapping yourself from the non crashed vehicle to the new purchase, it sounds like you will just need some frame work and some paint. The damage being strait on might just mean the frame "horns" are damaged. Depending, this might not be too expensive and much less work than swapping from the wreck to the other higher mileage car. Put your actual location indoor profile so people know where you are and could offer insight into the local repair facilities.
If there is some legal way to get the red one fixed and running and only having 23k miles on it. I would go that route instead. Look into it. Maybe talk to the DMV?
The donor is wrecked, but only the steering wheel airbag was deployed, and it has frame rail damage, which is why it has a salvage title. Other than that, it has 23k miles with a history of dealer maintenance. The car doesn’t have a single scratch on the body or interior. I was told that it is hard to pass inspection in NYS with a salvage title, and I’m also new to the country and don’t know a good professional to pull the frame and do the body work. I bought this donor at Copart for $375 and wasn’t expecting it to be so nice with such low mileage.
So the idea is to make one car out of two.
Hi! I'm just curious if you would be interested in selling those front seats?
IF you can do the parts swapping yourself from the non crashed vehicle to the new purchase, it sounds like you will just need some frame work and some paint. The damage being strait on might just mean the frame "horns" are damaged. Depending, this might not be too expensive and much less work than swapping from the wreck to the other higher mileage car. Put your actual location indoor profile so people know where you are and could offer insight into the local repair facilities.
Thank you for the advice — I’ve updated my location.
And yes, I can do the work myself, except for the frame and paint.
Let me attach a few more close-up pictures of the damage. I’d appreciate your opinion. The right rail needs to be replaced, and the left one is fine — it just needs to be pulled slightly.
If there is some legal way to get the red one fixed and running and only having 23k miles on it. I would go that route instead. Look into it. Maybe talk to the DMV?
Originally Posted by MacVidMB-V8
Yeah, I’d look in to what your state requires in terms of title. What will it take to get plates again?
If there is any way to get that red one plated again, move parts from high mileage car over. Assuming you can get frame straightened.
My 2005 CLK500 has 54K on it. Crazy reliable. My biggest fear is a flat tire.
I will be at the DMV on friday, to transfer titles, and will try to ask.
Hi! I'm just curious if you would be interested in selling those front seats?
I’m sorry — the interior is the reason I bought the red car. You can’t find seats in this condition anywhere. But if I’m not able to get the car running, I’ll part out both (I really hope not).
Just an update on my story. Only one shop in my area told me that they can fix the damage on the red car, and it will cost too much. And again, it will take a lot more effort to make it legal in NYS. So the decision was made — use the red car as a donor for the silver one. It took me a month of everyday work so far, 4–7 hours a day (except on weekends).
What is done — all wiring harnesses and electronic modules are transferred from one car to another. And I can say for sure that if your car didn’t have a Keyless Go option, it would be easier to buy another car. Antennas and modules are everywhere, even the wiring in the trunk cover is different, because with Keyless Go you have a button on this cover to unlock the car.
The whole roof assembly was replaced with all hydraulics (without disconnecting any line or pump).
Of course, all the interior.
Today I tested the car without starting the engine — everything works, only two major issues: fault for fuel level sensor — circuit issue, will investigate later. And SRS service required, and this is bothering me because I used all components of this system from the silver car, which wasn’t in an accident. And it is sad that the scanner I have doesn’t show me the fault for airbags. I don’t know what to do with it, but will see.
The next step will be the engine and transmission swap. And after that, I need to find front and rear bumper covers with parking sensors, and this is difficult — I've monitored ebay for over a month already, and there are no available bumpers with sensors. Everything from this car goes to another I used a blanket to carry all this wiring - it is quite heavy for one man in the middle of the process. The tricky part is - not to cut wires, do everything like from the factory Without the convertible top
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