mbarcus

I just traded in my C300 for a 2011 E350 4Matic Sport (P1). Getting ready to do some mods and I have a question.

** In the C300 forum on here, they have a sticky thread that holds all kinds DIY instructions. In this forum, there isn't one....even though there are a variety of DIY instructions in here if I search. Can I create a folder that holds multiple DIY threads or does a mod have to do that? I'm willing to document my mods as well to add to the thread for the ones that don't exist yet.

Phase 1 Mods (Already ordered)
* Swap standing MB hood badge for flat badge/emblem
* Remove current grille and replace with Sport style grille.
* Install Morimoto 5000k HID kit
* Install LED's for exterior lights (5000k: city/parking, side markers, license; 6000k: Reverse/backup, side mirror puddle; Amber LED: Turn Signal)
* Change side marker lens to clear
* Add comfort box to trunk
* DIY Bumper Plugs for front bumper holes from license plate holder
* Interior Trunk/Cargo lights (2) to LED 6000k

Phase 2 Mods (Not yet ordered)
* Interior lights to LED (Vanity, 4 footwells, 4 lower door panels, 2 front dome, rear dome, 2 rear reading, trunk lid, glovebox)
* Remote starter
* Possibly swap OEM rear camera with Pioneer ND-BC4 CCD Cam

eNNCity

why swap out the rear camera?

mbarcus

The camera they used on the 2011's is not the greatest quality. The image is so-so, but the field of view is horrible. It is fine for using it to park close to something without hitting it, but is pretty worthless for using it to see anything when backing up. It has more of a "fisheye" view and it also points down to low (it shows more of my bumper than anything else). Looking at the camera itself, I don't see anyway of adjusting it to point it higher. I had bought a Pioneer CCD rear camera to put in my 2011 C300, but traded it in before I got around to installing it. So I just have that camera sitting in my garage. Reading through the threads on here, they changed the camera in 2012+ and it is much better.

lightfytr

Welcome! I did a lot of the mods you are doing. I swapped all the lights for leds. The hardest were the puddle lights but it still didnt take long. My latest mod was swapping the wheel caps for ones that have a black background instead of the blue background. I also put black vinyl over all the chrome trim on the windows and the trunk. Enjoy! I would love to see the difference between the stock camera and the pioneer.

BenzV12

I was not aware of image quality is higher improved for + '12 model year , since your car already came with a camera ,installation should not be revelation at all
Hopefully, you will be satisfied with the mods you are tackling
Keep us updated

phreeeeek

Please post before and after pictures of your lights, I would like to do the same.

mbarcus

I saw one of your posts that ran through your mods....nice! So you removed the chrome side strips. What did that entail? Looking at pics, I think I like the looks of the car better without them...just didn't realize they were removeable.

mbarcus

Will do. I will take pics through each step on the front lights for a good comparison (no mods; only city/parking swapped; then city/parking with the Morimoto's)....and will do before/after on the others as well. On my C300 that I traded in, I didn't go the HID route...just swapped the OEM headlight bulbs for Philips Diamond Vision 5000k's and the eyebrows with 5000k LED's). It looked great, but I did notice that the Philip bulbs didn't light up the road as well as the OEM halogen's did. Since the Philip's were like $57.00 just for the bulbs, I figured I would go ahead and spend the extra $100 and go with the Morimoto kit.

mbarcus

I wasn't aware either until I was searching through the forum about the field of vision being so poor. Then I saw others complaining that the 2010 E350 was fine and how different the 2011 was in comparison....then MB changed again in 2012+. Just my luck I guess. But I will take some pics of the dash monitor before/after...hopefully it will be worthwhile.

phreeeeek

Great... HID's are the way to go for headlights.. I will never have a car again that does not have HID headlights

lightfytr

Simple, used some good fishing line and then some goo gone. It really is easy, dont overthink it. Just put edge of string under edge of trim and pull to other edge and then clean off. Washed it down after and it was like it came that way. Maybe 30 minutes to an hour with scrubbing the stickie stuff off. Very simple.

I dont have anymore chrome on the outside of my car.

mbarcus

Finally got around to swapping my emblem for the flat badge and got the grille changed out as well. Still waiting for it to warm up a bit before working on the other mods. Happy with the new look grille though!

shashivr4

Looks great! Where did you buy your grill?

phreeeeek

How much for the old grille?

mbarcus

Got it on ebay, but the seller was 55tech. He has a website too....55tech.com. I got lucky and he had a sale at the beginning of the month because he was out and wouldn't be able to ship for a week. Super easy to install. There was a thread on here with instructions, as well as over at benzforums.com. PM if you want the links to them. Should take about 20 minutes to install. One side note if you get one from him....it comes with double-sided tape around the outside edge of the grille and a long piece of black foam to attach to it. It's supposed to fill the small gap between the grill and the car. I made the mistake of putting the foam on and when I installed the grille it looked crappy. The foam isn't near as black as my car and just looked bad regardless. So I took the grille back off and removed the foam and the tape....pain in the ***. So do yourself a favor and remove the tape from the get go...you don't need it or the foam. Looked much better without it!. Otherwise, happy with the grille. Similar quality to the OEM (both plastic/composite). OEM composite pieces seem to be a little stronger (like the tabs that snap onto the car)...but not a big deal.

Also, the grille I bought was for an E350 with Distronic. I don't have the Distronic option, but I like the solid black background behind the MB star versus the mesh-style on non-Distronic's he sells. Personal preference, but just FYI that they are interchangeable.

mbarcus

Good question...never thought about selling it. Just boxed it up with the OEM stand-up emblem and shelved it. PM me an offer if you want. I can pull it out and send you pics. I didn't look it over real closely, but I did notice a couple of dings in the chrome from where rocks must have hit it on the road.

623baller

how did the new camera go?

mbarcus

Haven't installed the camera yet. Heck, I still haven't installed the HID kit, LED's, side markers or bumper plugs. Been too cold to mess with until recently. Hoping to knock everything out over the next month. I will post pics of everything when I do it...including before/after pics of how the camera image shows up on the Nav screen.

mikeybenzo

I'm looking to do the HIDs as well and was wondering where you got them from and what bulb type we have? I have a 2011 e350 as well. Also, the side clear marker, where did you get that as well?

stale-bread

Nice mods. I'm going to install clear side markers as well. Where did you purchase yours? Are you happy with them?