When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
My former W211 is now owned by a friend of mine, and I'm trying to help him install a USB port where cigarette lighter now sits. There are 3 wires, red, green, and brown supplying power to that cigarette lighter. How does one identify the negative and the ground? I'm assuming red is positive, which could be verified by voltmeter. Also where do I attach the ground, dont see metal surface around to attach ground, assuming green or brown is ground wire.
alldata is telling me that brown is ground. An ohmmeter will confirm this, and it'll also tell you which wire (red or green) is which on ashtray illumination and heater element for the lighter. The light circuit will have a much higher resistance than the heating element.
Everything brown is ground in this car. I'd bet you a beer red is the CLA power you want. Share a picture when you are done.... this is on my list of things to do just haven't gotten around to it..... maybe it'll look nice and inspire me!
Everything brown is ground in this car. I'd bet you a beer red is the CLA power you want. Share a picture when you are done.... this is on my list of things to do just haven't gotten around to it..... maybe it'll look nice and inspire me!
Sure, I'll take some pictures and post them. If brown is ground, then green must be negative!
Hey guys, I just bought a 2006 e classe 280 and I want to put in a w211 e55 kompressor engine is it possible, also about the headunit and the dashboard can I put one from w212?
Well, today my buddy came over and I got that USB installed and it looked really nice. As to the wiring, I can confirm what rapidoxidation mentioned, red wire is positive, brown is negative, and green is the one you don't use, which I capped with a plastic wire nut. I'm attaching a short YouTube to show how to get to the cigarette lighter and remove ashtray.
Watch "Mercedes W211 Ash Tray Removal 12v not working | CarMAN" on YouTube
Once I lifted ashtray, I just cut the 3 wires supplying power to as that little harness attached to back of cigarette lighter is no longer needed. Once I cut the wires, I was able to take ashtray out of the vehicle. I was able to remove the cigarette lighter by breaking some of the tabs holding it in place, after that I pushed it up, which wasn't smooth, but it got done with some twisting and turning using nose pliers. Once that was out, I had a nice hole ready for USB port, but hole was slightly smaller in diameter, maybe like 1mm. So I got a round edge file and went around the openning filling away; took maybe like a couple of minutes and then USB port went in nice and snug. I then attached the red to the positive and brown to negative; USB port has positive and negative well marked on the back, so no problems there. I shortened the wires that came with USB and crimped the connector to secure the car's wires into the USB wires, as shown in one pic. I then tucked all wires behind and pushed down ashtray. I then started engine to test and wallah. It took maybe like half hour. I also like that you could see battery voltage displayed whenever key is turned.
Here is USB port link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PN5YZX3/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_jyHsEbR0Q98WN
Last edited by Stuttgarten; Feb 16, 2020 at 11:32 PM.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
