Well, I got the A/C to work. I placed fob in ignition and turned it to II position. I pushed Auto (driver side) + A/C simultaneously for 5 seconds, and that did it. All controls are working as designated.

 

Here are the pictures.

Notes to picture 1:
Use a small flat head screw driver and pry the trim out at the spot indicated by my arrow.

Make sure you open the passenger side door when you slide the trim out or you will damage it from when the trim hits your door panel. It can easily crack!

Notes to picture 2:
Use 2 small flat head screw drivers and go inside the opening indicated by the arrows I drew and press down the latches. Then remove the center speaker grill.

Once that is done, remove the 2 screws holding the center speaker in place. Then remove the 2 screws holding the entire air vent/center speaker console in place which were hidden underneath the trim that you removed in step one.

Now the whole assembly can come out, remove the connectors, take all miniature hex screws out and remove the AC unit. Assembling in reverse order.

Happy modding!!!

 

Great info guys! I have my digital controller coming in soon and I'll be adding any additional photos and insight that will help others with the mod.

 

I'm wondering if it possible to do rear vents with a digital unit. I'm wondering if MY '07-'09 are digital units. I found a unit with separate controls & hot/cold for each side, which means in a dual zone like mine, this will not work. I'm wondering what unit would show on the LCD? Has anyone tried this?

 

Won't work without replacing the entire AC unit and that's work and money not worth it (you can get a uses small car for the cost).

 

Just wondering if I'm missing a step here. I finished swapping my old MY06 unit out with what I believe is a MY07&08 control part # 211 830 2490 and I'm having the AC / Max Cool symptoms you previously had. AC light won't stay on just blinks 5 times when pressed and then stays off. Max Cool light blinks twice then stays off. I tried turning the fob to the II position then holding down (driver side) AUTO + AC buttons for 5 seconds heck even 10 seconds and still no luck. Here are a few pics of the units.

 

My vin# WDBUF56J36A816361

 

Well Plutoe, the part # I installed in mine is the same as Drag...'s which is 2118302490. Mine worked after actuating the system. I'm not sure why resetting Drag....'s system is not responding. You may want to disconnect all the cables and reattach. I would also try resetting by pushing AUTO by itself for 5-10 seconds. I also read somewhere recently that pushing AUTO + Recirculate could be done, but this was on other units.

Hey Mackhack, any suggestions!

 

I'll def. try the AUTO button alone, then try reseating the buttons and see if the reset method works then. Appreciate the suggestions.

 

Stop by and I'll check your car with Star Diagnosis.

What is his AC option code in his data card? I'm away right now and have no access to EPC.

 

580 is the general AC system vs. 581 ClimaTronic. 955 is elegance package, 494 is USA spec vehicle and 805 is MY04. I would say the differently wired system is indeed the problem. You might wanna try a ClimaTronic unit from an early E500/E55 as I have said it last week already.

 

Looks like it

 

Thanks for the info on my VIN and such guys! Appreciate the time taken!

Alright as promised, here is a pictoral DIY of how to remove the HVAC controls on a 2006 and up dash. These are the ones with a mesh center panel. If you have the fin type, there are special tabs you need to access through the fins to unlock the center panel. Anywho lets get started. First off you want to open your passenger door to the point it won't close on itself (esp. on a windy day or incline).



Next use plastic panel removing tools to pry the far left side of the wood trim just above the ignition.





You should hear it pop (possibly more than once) and this is why. Take a look at the threaded end and the black clip it slides into. It is held in place rather well, but easily pulled out with the right tools and angle of lift.



Next while you pull on this end slighty away from the dash, you want to pull the whole trim towards the passenger side. The remaining clips are designed to slide lock into place. Pulling them towards the passenger door unlocks them and allows for removal.





This is how far it should have been pulled out.



Here's a close up of one of the slide locking clips.



Here they are as a whole.











Now store the wood trim somewhere safe where it won't get damaged. Next using a T25 screw driver remove the two torx screws on the front end of the assembly.





Next using a pry tool, you want to pry from the back right corners of the rounded mesh panel. Absolutely do not pry from the front end where it meets the vent. From the pictures you will see that the mesh panel actually slips underneath that mating line prior to snapping down into place.









Here is the underside of the mesh panel so you can understand how it's held into place via 4 press lock pins and a series of tabs that slip underneath the vent panel.



And now we see the dreaded center speaker that always makes listening to music annoying...









Dried and falling apart...



Sorry, didn't have a scale so I used a $5 bill to show you the size of the speaker incase you wanted to find a replacement...



Going back to the original shot, you want to remove the 4 T25 screws on the top. Two holding the speaker down and the other two that probably have cracked ends...









Alright now you can pull the center assembly out.



Mine had two plugs leading into the dash. Remove those before yanking the thing outta there!



ENHANCE..........!!!!





Here's one of them



Theres the other adjacent to it.



Both plugs removed, now my stock part rest on my lap for one last photo op.





The guts...



TBC...

 

Heres my new unit ready for transplant.









Comparison shot...



BE SURE TO TEST OUT THE UNIT BEFORE PUTTING THE REST BACK IN PLACE!!!

Now reverse the steps to reinstall the new unit.

















Carefully line up all of the slide lock clips.



When sliding the wood trim back towards the driverside be sure that the threaded end on the far left doesn't get hung up on the mating clip attached to the dash. Once the slide lock clips are snug press down on the far left to lock the threaded end in place.



When reinstalling the mesh panel slide the vent side tabs in place first.



Then press down on the places where the lock pins were.



All done!

 

As always, very detailed write up! This will help a lot when i do mine as soon as i receive the one i ordered. I hope i dont run into the same A/C problem as you did though.

 

Yeah totally blows (hot air), pun intended. I can honestly say it is a 10 min job now that I've taken it apart like 4 times. Again HIGHLY recommend a plastic pry tool to be used. You don't wanna keep staring at a hairline crack or speck of chipped paint while doing 50 on the expressway. Please list the part number you end up with when it arrives. Thanks.

 

No worries mate, will do!

 

i used this unit the first time i retrofitted and mine worked, just not as pretty as the other units so i bought the newer one.

 

So that's 2 confirmed e320s that this part # works on. One is a 2005 and not sure what year you have Crafty? Question is, was there a significant wiring change when they crossed to 2006 (mine)? But then again Plutoe and MackHack confirmed based on my VIN my car is MY04.

Took a few photos of the main wiring harness, total 16 pin slots with 4 slots unused (6, 9, 11 & 12)





And the mini harness, 3 pin slots all used.

 

The question remains: why not using a ThermoTronic unit and knowing everything will work? Sure it has more buttons and some won't do anything but who really cares?

 

Well if you're asking me specifically, I don't just want an LCD to replace the 1950s LED display. I also want to retain the knob style temperature controls because I personally dislike using buttons for that function. Agree to disagree?

 

Neither! Just trying to help. If it's not needed, let me know and I'll focus on more important **** in my life. You have to understand that certain things just can't get accomplished on these cars as much as we'd like to though. I'm playing around for more than a year to build a can bus module to do something for me that MB never intended to be on board but would be a neat feature for these cars. So far no luck, but not bc I' unable to build the herd and software but rather bc MB messed up when they developed the W211. Same thing with what we're doing here. Some MY just seem like they don't like a certain AC control unit with LCD which some of you like to have, and at the same time another one would work plug and palsy but doesn't have dial knobs for temp control.

 

I do. The later version looooooks way better for sure but id rather have buttons and knobs that actually do something when i push/turn it. But, its just me.

 

First off, never did I brush off the facts you and Plutoe kindly laid out for me. I truly appreciated knowing that information. But additionally I was trying to narrow down to that same conclusion via member experience. Hence showing the wiring harness, which was confirmed to "look" identical on a 2005 e320.

 

The updating has worked on more than one car using facelift units. For Kushp.. it was plug and play, for me it was resetting system, and for Crafty, he wrote it worked for him too. What is mysterious here, is that Kushp..'s car is an '06, same as Drag...'s, but one was plug and play and the other has yet to actuate.

One big drawback to the LCD unit, is that in direct sunlight, the screen gets drained and you can't see much. This does not happen with analog stock unit.