apbright

W212 gang,

We will be moving a W212 that was purchased in the USA to Northern Europe. It thus of course has miles per hour indicated in the speedometer gauge, while in Europe (where we will live on the continent) we will be more interested in kph.

Has anyone in the forum ever heard of whether it is possible to change out this part of the instrument panel from mph to kph?

Thanks!

petee1997

Your car should have metric in your settings. I convert my car to US settings when in the US and metric at home in Canada.
Your digital speedometer will convert to KPH and your temp will be be metric. Your navigation system will automatically become metric also. Keep in mind your car was born in Europe and will function very well over there. Your navigation system will require European maps and that should be a simple download in the flash memory.

apbright

Yes, but can the number read-out for the analog-dial speedometer be changed to km/h?

petee1997

Yes!

ImInPA

If you are referring to the dial itself, the answer is no. It is a physical dial. The dial itself would have to be changed.

Arrie

Well,

Many rental cars that I have driven have both mph and kph display. The display itself is the same with numbers around the needle. Pressin a button the niidle shows mph or kph, i.e. the selection changes how far the needle moves in the number scale around the speedo.

I would be very surprised if MB cound not change a setting in the car so that the needle shows kph instead of mph. It just is that mph is permanently printed in the display...

ImInPA

I too have had such rental cars. I believe the original poster was asking about his MB. I have also had vehicles that have both MPH and KPH printed on the dials. Alas, this is not the case, so, the answer to the OP is: "NO, the numbers on the dial cannot be changed without replacing the dial."

Arrie

I really believe the electronics behind the speedo is the same for mph and kph. Until a MB service tells me this cannnot be changd between the two I believe it can. Of course they want money for it but I'm pretty sure it is just a calibration code change to get numbers to mean kph instead of mph.

hannes

I'm just guessing, but I highly doubt that it can be changed electronically. If you compare Euro and US speedometers you will see that the position of the needle at a certain speed is the same but the markings are different. So while the US speedometer says 80 mph at the 12 o'clock position that point indicates 130 kph on the Euro version which is the same speed. If it is engineered for the needle to always be in a certain spot regardless of whether it is a US or Euro spec car there is no need to allow for electronic changes in the needle position at certain speeds.

Compare here: Europe and US.

Arrie

You may be right with this. It just is that even though the dials are made as the pictures show (for looks) it does not mean that it cannot be changed to show correct speed. Basically it is changing tire diameter in the system to make speed show correct value.

Going from U.S. to europe would not work though as the max speed would be only 160 kph. Coming from Europe to U.S. would be no problem.

Would hate to have to change the instument cluster. It is a $6500 part.

until the end

hi all i want to Share my Experience
i have w204 US **** and i change the digital and analog gage from mile to KM the analog is simple to change i by one from the ebay and i change it it takes abut 15 min cost me 100 the item 15 shipping

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/W212-...spagenameZWDVW

this is the item and he have for w212

Gailababsbro

I have gone through this with going temporarily to Canada. You can call a MB dealership and give them the VIN number for your vehicle and they will tell you what needs to be done and the cost. For me, on a 2008 E350, changing the instrument cluster so that it reads kph cost $2800. It will cost the same to change it back.