E-Class (W212) 2010 - 2016: E 350, E 550
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Steering Wheel Upgrade

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Old Sep 17, 2018 | 08:12 PM
  #1  
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2011 e350 Wagon & 2004 e320
Steering Wheel Upgrade

i have searched endlessly and can not find a definitive answer. I am hoping someone can finally shed some light.

I cureently have a 2011 e350 wagon pre-facelift with the 4 “spoke”. I do have lane assist, distronic, and heat. I bought a steering wheel with airbag out of a 2014 c63 that has lane assist but no heat which is not a big deal. I took off the old wheel and installed the new and nothing worked.

I can do a chip swap and hopefully everything will work as normal. Instead hacking up my old wheel, can I just buy a new steering column from the facelift years, 2014-2016, put the new wheel on and all button should work??

Since i I have a wagon, I have to get one with rear wiper control and want to have the distronic as well. I found one on eBay from a facelift gl550. Looks exactly the same as mine but updated and signal lever on top be the bottom.

I’ve attaches the pic of the column and the wheel I bought to help. Thank you in advance. I want to try not buying all these parts and not working.


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Old Sep 17, 2018 | 10:26 PM
  #2  
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2007 mercedes e63, 2006 bmw 530 Xi with Mtech kit , 2005 ford expedition
I think I seen a video on a similar mod on YouTube and I believe it won't work as the configuration are different..
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Old Sep 17, 2018 | 11:14 PM
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2011 e350 Wagon & 2004 e320
Saw that that video as well and looked so simple.

But doens work all all the time?? Wonder if the correct column has to match the steering wheel..

Originally Posted by bigjule
I think I seen a video on a similar mod on YouTube and I believe it won't work as the configuration are different..
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Old Sep 17, 2018 | 11:42 PM
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I've been wanting to do a swap for a while now too. From the videos I've seen it looks very simple to swap over to the new parts without any fuss. That GL column has distronic with radar distance. If you have any questions I would contact Chris from CKM Car Design, he knows everything about these swaps and is a genius when it comes to facelifting/upgrading interior and exterior pieces.

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Old Sep 18, 2018 | 01:00 AM
  #5  
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Thanks S550e. I actually just sent an email to them thru their website. Waiting patiently for the answer lol.

Originally Posted by S550e
I've been wanting to do a swap for a while now too. From the videos I've seen it looks very simple to swap over to the new parts without any fuss. That GL column has distronic with radar distance. If you have any questions I would contact Chris from CKM Car Design, he knows everything about these swaps and is a genius when it comes to facelifting/upgrading interior and exterior pieces.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_wu1KkgoXE
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Old Sep 23, 2018 | 08:37 PM
  #6  
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2011 e350 Wagon & 2004 e320
I decide to bite the bullet today and swap out the chip/board and it worked!!!! It was easier than I expected!! Boards were the exact same size and literally remove and replace. Then plug all the wires back in and all good to go.

Only thing is that I have an airbag error message that I have to remove. But the hard work is done!!

Originally Posted by S550e
I've been wanting to do a swap for a while now too. From the videos I've seen it looks very simple to swap over to the new parts without any fuss. That GL column has distronic with radar distance. If you have any questions I would contact Chris from CKM Car Design, he knows everything about these swaps and is a genius when it comes to facelifting/upgrading interior and exterior pieces.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_wu1KkgoXE
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Old Sep 25, 2018 | 12:47 PM
  #7  
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E350 estate, Audi S4, BMW F800R
Nice work congrats! That new wheel alone probably makes you feel like you're driving a fresh, newer car
I've done two wheel swaps before in an older car (Audi) and it was scary - my issue was rewiring a single stage airbag into a dual-stage airbag - you never know if it will explode in your face when you plug it in, OR worse, if it will work at all when you need it in a crash!
And also worry if insurance will cover a claim if they find out you've made a swap... sorry don't want to rain on your parade - I never had an issue
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Old Sep 25, 2018 | 02:42 PM
  #8  
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Thanks and not at all.

Yes it does feel like a new car 😊! Just have be more careful now, don’t want to ruin the Alcantara in the sides.

No rewiring required, just swapped the chip and plugged everything back in. No issues with insurance what so ever!

Originally Posted by Gasmiser2000
Nice work congrats! That new wheel alone probably makes you feel like you're driving a fresh, newer car
I've done two wheel swaps before in an older car (Audi) and it was scary - my issue was rewiring a single stage airbag into a dual-stage airbag - you never know if it will explode in your face when you plug it in, OR worse, if it will work at all when you need it in a crash!
And also worry if insurance will cover a claim if they find out you've made a swap... sorry don't want to rain on your parade - I never had an issue
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Old Sep 25, 2018 | 06:35 PM
  #9  
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S550
I have a 2006 CLS500 and I hate the steering wheel...I would love to upgrade.
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Old Sep 25, 2018 | 11:43 PM
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Are you able to provide pics? I do not understand what you are referring to when you say you changed the chip. In the youtube video he just swaps the steering wheel right over. I wanna do the swap soon. Congrats on the sucessful swap, my wheel is getting ugly!
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Old Sep 26, 2018 | 02:01 PM
  #11  
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2011 e350 Wagon & 2004 e320
So sorry, I didn’t take any pics, I was so focused on the job and the end result. At the end, very easy and took me 10 mins. Most of that time was unscrewing and crewing back on the screws.

Link below will give you an idea how it’s done. But I did not do any striping and rewiring. Just swapped the actual chip.

http://www.flawlessfitment.com/2016/...p-diy.html?m=1

Originally Posted by S550e
Are you able to provide pics? I do not understand what you are referring to when you say you changed the chip. In the youtube video he just swaps the steering wheel right over. I wanna do the swap soon. Congrats on the sucessful swap, my wheel is getting ugly!
Reply

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