E-Class (W211) 2003-2009

paddle shifters on a 2002 W211

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Old Dec 4, 2008 | 06:24 PM
  #1  
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From: global traveller
some slow@$$diesels
paddle shifters on a 2002 W211

apparently there are still a lot of people out there wondering what the deal is with the paddle shifter steering wheels...so here is some clarification:

In all MB models from MY2005 and up with automatic transmission one can easily upgrade to a WORKING paddle shifter steering wheel - this DOES involve some version coding (of which some dealerships might not know how to do that).

In the MB models before MY2005 it is "a bit" more work to make the paddle shifters work BUT it IS doable...I have attached some pictures of my own 2002 W211 E220CDI (one of the very first 7000 W211s that were build) to prove that it CAN be done and that it DOES work...instead of the W/S setting for the auto transmission, the car now has a C/S/M setting and that M stands for MANUAL.

greetingz,
Attached Thumbnails paddle shifters on a 2002 W211-dsc03086.jpg   paddle shifters on a 2002 W211-dsc03087.jpg   paddle shifters on a 2002 W211-dsc03088.jpg   paddle shifters on a 2002 W211-dsc03089.jpg   paddle shifters on a 2002 W211-dsc03096.jpg  

paddle shifters on a 2002 W211-dsc03099.jpg  
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Old Dec 5, 2008 | 12:17 AM
  #2  
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W221 S600, W220 S55 AMG Kompressor, W124 300E, W140 S320, W210 E3204M W164 ML320 Bluetec
Why did you block out VIN? I was going to run a datacard and see exactly how stripped that car was when you bought it!

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Old Dec 5, 2008 | 03:40 AM
  #3  
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From: global traveller
some slow@$$diesels
Originally Posted by Polar Bear
Why did you block out VIN? I was going to run a datacard and see exactly how stripped that car was when you bought it!

I can tell you how stripped it was...as the datacard of the car has been modified as well
- elegance
- audio 20 headunit
- nokia phonekit
- gray cloth interior with manual seats
- sunroof
- auto transmission
- alarm and IMS
- heated seats
- and that was ALL

greetingz,

Last edited by MBenzNL; Dec 5, 2008 at 07:08 AM.
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Old Dec 5, 2008 | 11:27 AM
  #4  
155's Avatar
155
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From: 2 star town
R350
I need to have this!
For the install I can use either the E55 or E63 steering wheel? Also, is it cost prohibitive to upgrade to the newer gauge cluster (like yours)?

I would like to do this, rear sun shade, and power folding mirrors when you're in Vancouver next
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Old Dec 9, 2008 | 02:48 AM
  #5  
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Nothing MB related (sorry)
Originally Posted by 155
I need to have this!
For the install I can use either the E55 or E63 steering wheel? Also, is it cost prohibitive to upgrade to the newer gauge cluster (like yours)?

I would like to do this, rear sun shade, and power folding mirrors when you're in Vancouver next
We still have a couple of CLS63 instrument clusters left in stock. The install requires some modification AND programming with stardiagnose, of course.

When retrofitting the st.wheel with paddles, please be aware that you will also need to swap (quite) some parts in order to make the MF airbag and paddle shifters work! It's not an easy, nor a cheap upgrade...

greetingz,

BigSis
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Old Dec 28, 2008 | 11:24 AM
  #6  
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CLS500 M113
Originally Posted by MBenzNL
apparently there are still a lot of people out there wondering what the deal is with the paddle shifter steering wheels...so here is some clarification:

In all MB models from MY2005 and up with automatic transmission one can easily upgrade to a WORKING paddle shifter steering wheel - this DOES involve some version coding (of which some dealerships might not know how to do that).

In the MB models before MY2005 it is "a bit" more work to make the paddle shifters work BUT it IS doable...I have attached some pictures of my own 2002 W211 E220CDI (one of the very first 7000 W211s that were build) to prove that it CAN be done and that it DOES work...instead of the W/S setting for the auto transmission, the car now has a C/S/M setting and that M stands for MANUAL.

greetingz,
Hi Steve,
I just bought the E55 steering from Piranajoe, it has the +/- buttons on it
1) How would these work..or what is required to get them working?
2) Can they be upgraded to paddles?
Regards
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Old Jan 4, 2009 | 06:55 AM
  #7  
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sl350 r230
Any updates?
I have a 2003 sl350 and I have just installed a steering wheel with paddles.
How can I make paddles work? I am from Greece.
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Old Jun 5, 2009 | 06:33 PM
  #8  
iddoc's Avatar
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W211
Any updates? I would like to know if anyone has installed an E55 DTM style steering wheel on a 2006 E350 that did not come with the paddle shift.
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Old Mar 23, 2010 | 11:26 AM
  #9  
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2005 BLK/BLK E-Double Nickel.
so all that is needed is the steering and some version coding????
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Old Aug 27, 2010 | 04:49 PM
  #10  
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E200K Avantgarde Facelift (May2007),Auto,Sunroof,Heated Seats,Xenon,Telephone,Parktronic,COMAND,
Originally Posted by MBenzNL
apparently there are still a lot of people out there wondering what the deal is with the paddle shifter steering wheels...so here is some clarification:

In all MB models from MY2005 and up with automatic transmission one can easily upgrade to a WORKING paddle shifter steering wheel - this DOES involve some version coding (of which some dealerships might not know how to do that).

In the MB models before MY2005 it is "a bit" more work to make the paddle shifters work BUT it IS doable...I have attached some pictures of my own 2002 W211 E220CDI (one of the very first 7000 W211s that were build) to prove that it CAN be done and that it DOES work...instead of the W/S setting for the auto transmission, the car now has a C/S/M setting and that M stands for MANUAL.

greetingz,

Hi Steve
I have w211/ E200K/facelift/my2007/(5 speed Automatic--button only c/s)
I guess wheel exchange is straigt forward.
What are the parameters to change on the version coding to activate the shifters ???
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Old Aug 27, 2010 | 05:02 PM
  #11  
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From: SWFL
E55, E320 CDI , CLA250, Jag XJ Supersport
I'd like to have the answer to this also. I put an E55 wheel with paddles on my 2006 E500 and would like to activate the paddles.
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Old Aug 29, 2010 | 10:57 PM
  #12  
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From: Jacksonville Florida
209/W210 Estate /W211 modded by MBENZNL
Originally Posted by Bag302
I'd like to have the answer to this also. I put an E55 wheel with paddles on my 2006 E500 and would like to activate the paddles.

Contact MBENZNL.com as Steve has done several Paddle shift steering wheels
He installed a Paddleshift steering wheel in my 209 ... works great!

Also take a look at his recent post on his W211 He added paddle shift to his W211 DIESEL
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Old Dec 20, 2010 | 02:22 AM
  #13  
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e350
Originally Posted by MBenzNL
apparently there are still a lot of people out there wondering what the deal is with the paddle shifter steering wheels...so here is some clarification:

In all MB models from MY2005 and up with automatic transmission one can easily upgrade to a WORKING paddle shifter steering wheel - this DOES involve some version coding (of which some dealerships might not know how to do that).

In the MB models before MY2005 it is "a bit" more work to make the paddle shifters work BUT it IS doable...I have attached some pictures of my own 2002 W211 E220CDI (one of the very first 7000 W211s that were build) to prove that it CAN be done and that it DOES work...instead of the W/S setting for the auto transmission, the car now has a C/S/M setting and that M stands for MANUAL.

greetingz,

Hello,

I am interested to install the paddle shift on my MY2005 w211. could you please describe how to do it and what parts needed to make it doable.

thanks
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Old Jan 6, 2011 | 07:36 PM
  #14  
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From: global traveller
some slow@$$diesels
1) getting paddle shifters to work in a car that didn't come with it requires online SCN coding (so it is NOT a basic DIY modification)
2) getting paddle shifters to work in a pre 2005 W211 requires additional hardware changes
3) pre 2005 AMG steering wheels with shifter buttons only work in pre 2005 AMGs and not in any other model E-class nor in 2005 or newer AMG's

greetingz,
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Old Jan 7, 2011 | 11:51 AM
  #15  
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From: SWFL
E55, E320 CDI , CLA250, Jag XJ Supersport
Where can I get the SCN coding done? Should I ask my dealer?
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Old Jan 8, 2011 | 04:40 AM
  #16  
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e350
Originally Posted by MBenzNL
1) getting paddle shifters to work in a car that didn't come with it requires online SCN coding (so it is NOT a basic DIY modification)
2) getting paddle shifters to work in a pre 2005 W211 requires additional hardware changes
3) pre 2005 AMG steering wheels with shifter buttons only work in pre 2005 AMGs and not in any other model E-class nor in 2005 or newer AMG's

greetingz,
hello steve,
I owned w211 E350 MY2005, and would like to retrofit a paddleshift steering on it. Could you please lists the hardware changes needed with the part number. If so after installing the new hardwares/parts, it is still needed online SCN coding?
thanks.
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Old Jan 10, 2011 | 04:31 PM
  #17  
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From: global traveller
some slow@$$diesels
Originally Posted by abdalim
it is still needed online SCN coding?
SCN coding is ALWAYS needed for this option
Originally Posted by Bag302
Should I ask my dealer?
they should be able to do that

greetingz,
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Old Jan 10, 2011 | 04:48 PM
  #18  
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Originally Posted by MBenzNL
SCN coding is ALWAYS needed for this option

they should be able to do that

greetingz,

Let me add to Steve's comment

I have had my 2007 w211/facelift retrofited with an AMG wheel
I have added the relevant code to VeDOK and then SCN coded (in my local MB dealer) my car (according to Steve's suggestion) and everything works fine.

Let me take the oportunity to thank him once again for his valuable advice.

Regards from sunny Athens
G.
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Old Jan 11, 2011 | 04:32 PM
  #19  
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03 MBZ E55 AMG
I have a 03 e55 with the paddle "buttons" can i just switch those out to real paddles?
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Old Apr 27, 2015 | 03:06 PM
  #20  
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Mercedes w211 2003
Sorry to bring this old thread to live.

I just bought an old w211 from 2003 and the car have retrofitted a steering wheel from the e63 Amg. All my buttons work but the paddle shifter does not. And it's making an SRS airbag error.

I have been reading a lot of threads but I can't seems to find anything about what is needed to get the paddles to work and how.

Best regards
Kent
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Old Apr 27, 2015 | 03:33 PM
  #21  
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E200K Avantgarde Facelift (May2007),Auto,Sunroof,Heated Seats,Xenon,Telephone,Parktronic,COMAND,
Originally Posted by Motore
Sorry to bring this old thread to live.

I just bought an old w211 from 2003 and the car have retrofitted a steering wheel from the e63 Amg. All my buttons work but the paddle shifter does not. And it's making an SRS airbag error.

I have been reading a lot of threads but I can't seems to find anything about what is needed to get the paddles to work and how.

Best regards
Kent
Is the car coded to have shifters ??
If not you might only have to code it in local MB dealer .
With regards to airbag error you might want toi check if theres is one connected and functioning with star.
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Old Apr 27, 2015 | 03:54 PM
  #22  
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Mercedes w211 2003
I can see on my Vedoc that the car does not have the paddleshift as code enabled. I will get the dealership to do that first.

I have just been reading a lot and I can see that it's not that easy when the car is not the facelifted w211.
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Old Mar 23, 2020 | 02:05 AM
  #23  
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From: Victoria, BC
W211, X166
Bringing the old thread to live.

I was trying to make paddle shifters work on my E500 2003 for a long time. Steve, aka MBenzNL, told me, "it is not possible to get the proper code string for the transmission control unit" on E500. All other places where I was looking for help, had nothing to offer either. Then I asked Peter, aka pmercury, to help me, and he said, "nothing is impossible." And today, I had a pleasure to drive my car with fully working paddle shifters for the first time!!! Thank you, Peter, for all your help and time you spent to solve the mystery!!!

For those who'd like to do this retrofit for the pre-facelift cars, it's doable if your ETC module is EGS52. I can't speak of other modules. Here is what we have done:
1. I bought and installed a facelift steering wheel column and a steering wheel with paddle shifters. I also had to buy a new airbag;
2. Then I added the code 428 to vehicle's VeDoc;
3. We have done an online coding for the ETC module, but the new firmware didn't activate the paddle shifters. So, I can't say if Steps #2 and #3 are mandatory, or this could have been done without it.
4. We then used K-Tag and reprogramed the existing ETC module with a custom firmware;
5. After completing some programming with Xentry, paddle shifters were finally activated! They work in M mode and in C/S modes if gears are changed with a gear knob.


M-mode E500 2003

M-mode E500 2003
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Old Mar 24, 2020 | 12:08 PM
  #24  
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From: NOVA/DC
20' RCF, 18' NX, 09' E350, 07' Solara, 05' STi, 01' Ranger
It's always fun to retro fit stuff! Great work.

It's funny out 09' w211 has the paddle shifter and I think I've used them 3 times in the 4 years I've had the car. Normally I just leave it in S and auto..lol

-Nigel
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Old Mar 25, 2020 | 01:16 AM
  #25  
mockba's Avatar
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From: Victoria, BC
W211, X166
Originally Posted by NewShockerGuy
It's always fun to retro fit stuff! Great work.

It's funny out 09' w211 has the paddle shifter and I think I've used them 3 times in the 4 years I've had the car. Normally I just leave it in S and auto..lol

-Nigel
The original steering wheel was ugly, and I had never liked it. I switched to the E63 steering wheel that comes with shifters from the factory. Since then I was trying to activate them, just because I don't like when something doesn't work
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