LemonSqueezy

Just got into this e550 about a month ago. Thought I'd say hi to this side of the forums. Farewell to my w211 e550 I truly miss that car. I gotta say though, the material quality is nice but feels like a step down from the w211.

My few mods to date:
Eurocharged Ecu tune - this car pulls like crazy for a non-amg
E63 style quad exhaust tips
E63 style trunk spoiler
E63 mufflers
Front and rear dash camera
Window tints
LED interior lights

Some photos:







Went to the drag strip for the first time ever, pulled a 12.96 with a tune. Terrible reaction time I think. 91 octane, 80-85degrees, 3/4 tank, stock tires, trunk and backseat full of junkwith AC and radio on haha.




Obligatory exhaust clip just for you guys:

b6tbfmp

Wow great sound from the mufflers and a perfect rear E63 rear valence. Glad you took the mufflers.....they were just collecting dust in my garage. That tune sure makes your car a nice sleeper!

cetialpha5

Yeah, I like driving my W211 a little bit more than the W212. I think it's the steering wheel, I like the W211 a little better, it's thinner and easier to grip. The W212 is just bigger. I like the button layout on the W211 better too although there's more stuff to do on the W212.

Anyway, your pics don't work. You've got quite the gem, the last year the E550 was made. I don't think anything really comes close, maybe the E43 or the E63, but those are quite a step up.

cocobeex

Congrats !!!! E550 is such a beast!! with lots of potential.

and
Pics dont work.

And which tune are you using ?

Peachy

Noticed you're from the Bay Area, there's a euro meet on Treasure Island this Sunday (8/6) at 10am. Parking Lot on 9th and Avenue B.

I might go :B

LemonSqueezy

I've tried to update pics, looks to be working now.

@coco It's just a eurocharged stage 1 tune, everything else is just about stock right now. I've been eyeing for ride for a while too, looks amazing!

@Peachy that sounds awesome but Saturdays don't work for me.

LemonSqueezy

I feel a lot of touch points are a little bit harder, dash is more plastic-y, and everything else is a bit too angular at times. The seats are a bit stiffer and I feel like there's not enough thigh support sometimes. Definitely still a nice car but initially just a little shocked. But I'm just being nit-picky about a fantastic car.

thefisch

Congrats, nice ride. 2014 E550 is the last unicorn.

belarus27

screenshotted your message. Im in Bay Area this weekend... might pull up too.. thanks

samkimg

Which brand/model of dash cams did you install, how do you like them, and why?

raja777m

I believe it is blackvue.
Please see types/models of this type, and pick the ones, that is best for you.
Hope that channels helps you.

LemonSqueezy

I swapped it out from my last 550, I've had it for a few years now. I believe it's called a dr550gw-2ch. I don't live in an area with intense heat so I never ran across any overheating issues others have claimed.

I don't think any dash cam on the market right now has true HD recording, but this one's quality is pretty decent. The software is pretty easy to understand and use. It has GPS and wifi to connect to your phone. The newer models have cloud services so you can do a live view from home at any time.

I chose this one for it's design. If you look at the photo of the front shot of my vehicle, you'll hardly notice the dash cam i have installed. It's also black which hides itself very well.

I had it hardwired on my last E, it would record for about 2 days straight before detecting low voltage from battery and cutting off power. It's currently not hardwired to this vehicle, will have to find some time to do that one day.

raja777m

Hello,
if you get a chance, please do a write up with pics, on how to hardwire the camera.

Thanks.

sleeperZ96BT

Welcome - you already did the best mod, E63 mufflers

Consider the aftermarket 3 inch catted (or not if that is your preference) downpipes as well - they will wake up that tune.

tresean1

I see you got the LED lighting package, which is a plus. Nice info on the dash cams. What did you do for the rear cam? And what do you mean by LED interior lighting?
I, too, would like that.

LemonSqueezy

Definitely something in my mind but at least won't be in the near future

By read cams do you mean rear cam? If that's the case then my setup is a 2 channel setup. power comes from the front camera. All wires are tucked inside the car, just peel back the door weatherstrips and poke it through.



And by LED interior lights I mean swapping out the yellow-ish light bulbs in the dome-light and foot-well area to a pure white LED bulb.

raja777m

I don't remember the colors, but, they are 5-colored ones. I believe there is a polar white too.

LemonSqueezy

What you're talking about is the ambient lighting built into the car. We only have 3 color choices and they aren't that great. The bulbs I'm talking about are the one's where you look up to your headliner and see light coming out when you open a door.

raja777m

I'm referring to the foot-well lights, they are multi-color.
The overhead lights are yellow, I understand.

tresean1

Awesome; yes I mean rear. This sounds pretty cool, and I admire your setup. Would you mind sharing the model numbers of your front/rear cams? And perhaps pics/instructions of how you installed them? Do you have any video clips or still images that show the quality?

LemonSqueezy

The foot well lights that I swapped out are the normal filament type bulb. They are not multi color

Camera is an old model from Blackvue called dr550gw-2ch. Install if it's not a hard wire is not difficult. It pretty much tucks into the headliner, goes behind the A pillar, runs down both right doors, then up the C-pillar, tucked into headliner, and into rear camera. I don't have any videos or photos right now, there's plenty available on youtube if you're curious. I can only imagine the newer model the dr650 to only be better than my current model. Quality is pretty decent/fairly good for what it is and how compact it is.

gunnerz101

i had a quick question, was the e63 mufflers a straight swap? was any modification needed ? I also have a 14 e550 and have been contemplating buying the e63 mufflers to get a little more sound out of the exhaust.

jonUF02

Wow, I ran my 2012 at the strip, bone stock with the A/C and everything running, I hit 12.8, I would expect to shave off about a full second with a $2000 ECU tune adding 100 or more HP.

I'm going to the local Eurocharged event on Saturday, was going to discuss a tune. How is it in normal everyday driving, Eco mode? $2k seems like such a fat wad of cash for some software download, especially if it got you nothing better than stock 1/4 mile. How is it that these cost so much, but an older MB tune is a few hundred, and they do my friend's Maserati which was a more expensive car for only $1000? I don't get it.

LemonSqueezy

It's a direct swap, fitment is tight but it does fit without any modification.

LemonSqueezy

Haha you have to give me some slack though, it was my first time at the strip and I only did 1 run. I'm sure I could have done better if I had time for a few more go, maybe 12.5 12.6 at least. But shaving off a full second is not going to happen with simple tune. Another member Cocobeex has the larger m157 turbo with downpipes installed on his 550 and I think his sig states 11.7.

Normal driving in E mode is very pleasant, it does not jolt or feel uncomfortable. It can even be pleasant in S mode as long as you learn to control the pedal.

$2k is sure quite expensive. I did not pay anywhere close to that, I emailed them as a returning customer and they gave me a deal I could not refuse. But I did have to mail them my ECU and have my car inoperable for a couple days.