Josh(PA)

Good morning everyone. I wanted to introduce myself and get started on my Mercedes adventure. Last week I picked up a very nicely equipped 2019 E450 wagon (S213) with just under 15k miles on it. Its Lunar over Designo Black with PAF, P01, P62, 219, 322, 445, 996, 997 Packages + Air Balance, Multi-Countour, HUD and more. I posted a few pictures in the sticky pic thread, but its a blue wagon with RTK rims, just like all the others. So far we've been really happy with it. This will be our first Mercedes. I've owned strictly BMWs since 1997, including some good ones like an e39 M5 a couple of m3s and 2x 5er wagons. We're wagon people. When the 5 series wagons left the U.S. we tried an x5 for a couple of years but never warmed up to it, so this car seemed like a great replacement. I still have a manual 2011 135 convertible, but I think that will be the last BMW we own. We also have a 2017 Porsche 991.2 cab manual that shares the garage w/ the wagon.

I have been working my way through the 560+ page manual, and am trying to learn as much as I can. I'm a mechanical engineer at heart (I lead an NPD and Marketing team now), so I actually do read manuals and like to understand how things work. I do some of my own work on my cars, but know my limits as well.

Some questions I've come up with so far:
1. Has anyone hard wired a radar detector into the overhead console using a 'mirror tap' cable? I've searched the forum and saw some installs from W212s, but nothing here other than running a wire from the trunk or footwell fuse box to through the headliner to the windshield. On all my previous cars, I've had great luck w/ a mirror tap on a switched connection in the sunroof control. If no one has done it, does anyone know of a DIY to dissasemble the console and / or have a wiring diagram so I can find a switched hot lead to tap into? I've read that only truly switched power is in the trunk, but what about the circuits that shut down after x time from car off?

1b. Does the thermal layer in the front windshield minimize the effectiveness of a radar/laser detector that is mounted on the windshield? I am guessing I should stick it in the box on the passenger side of the mirror that has the opening for an EZ-Pass?
- further searching suggests the radar detector needs to be mounted in the hole in the thermal layer for good performance

2. How is there not a track forward/back button anywhere in the controls? Am I missing an easy shortcut to switch tracks/stations that doesn't require multiple clicks? I've found the track button on the touchpad and the center display on the digital dash, but even those take multiple pushes to switch a song.

3. My air freshener fragance canister in the glove box never stays in its little holster. Is there something I am doing wrong? I slide it in and within a few miles, it is rolling around in the glovebox.

4. Are there any good / easy to use coding tools for this car? Coming from BMW we had mycarly and Bimmercode that would allow you to program settings and unlock some Euro specific features with an app and a wireless ODB2 dongle. It was great for things like putting your convertible top down w/ the keys, eliminating the legal warnings on the screen, setting the auto start / stop to default off, remembering last settings on things, etc. It would be nice to disable auto start/stop and remember last dynamic select settings.

4b. On the topic of remembering last settings, does Mercedes have key memory ie: will the key that unlocks the car default the car to a specific user and set the seat to that user, etc? My wife and I share our cars regularly and its really nice to have the car default to each of us by the key. If not, what exactly does the 'personalization' settings remember? I've been struggling to figure out how to have the car link my lumbar, dynamic bolster and some of the other secondary settings of the seat to default to each driver preference.

5. Is there any way to customize what is shown on the digital display screen / add additional gauge cluster options? I've tried the 3 defaults, but they all show the same info. I'd like to be able to have range to empty and a few other things displayed without having to be on the eco/consumption screen.

6. I'll be searching for a set of OEM rims to add some Nokian snows for winter. Is there a fitment guide for which rims fit our car? IE: will other Mercedes model (like S Class, or C Class) and other generation (like w212) rims fit our hubs? Do the 4 matic cars have different offsets or bolt patterns compared to RWD cars?

7. Hitches - I downloaded the parts list for the OEM hitch from here ( https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...on-towing.html) via search and also found the stealth hitch link (https://stealthhitches.com/products/...9~ly_e450-s213). The OEM one seems not available in the U.S. - has anyone found a source / will a dealer install it? Will the stealth hitch deactivate the rear sensors when in use? Is this a DIY project?

I'm excited to be here, and will do my best to add value to the community as I get up to speed on the car and learn more about it myself.

Thanks in advance for any help.
- Josh

Klimfilt

Hi Josh, and welcome to MB family.
I can't answer to all your questions, but only a few which i've testet my own and know for sure the result.
For 1b) yes, you have to put the radar only in the small square box printed on the windshield. Here in Bulgaria anti-radars are still not illegal and one of my first trips i've mounted it in the upper section and it doesn't worked well (solid fine for high speed ). My 220d also have PAF package.
About 4b) you can configure it with Mercedes me App, and when you select which one will drive the car, it will be configured according to profile spec. I've read something about key's memory but i'm not 100% sure that it can happen for W213. My friend tried it on his W164 550's and it worked, but he uses Xentry for this.
And for 5) No, you can't add new gauges or different views, only the 3 default views which are installed by Daimler ( pity )

Cao Black

Item 2. Doesn't the 2019 still have COMAND wheel? If yes, the pushing (not rotating) rearward should go to next track, push forward to previous track, rotating counter clockwise to replay beginning of song.
Item 3. Never had a issue with Air Balance. Should be covered by warranty?
Item 4b. Not that I know of, and it would be a very worthwhile feature. Use the memory seat setting 1,2.&3 to save your preferred positions.
And Welcome, btw.

CarFan1

Welcome to the forum. I wish you many happy miles!

Janster

Hi Josh.

1/ I was not able to figure out a way to get "switched power" from the mirror area. But my car has a cigarette lighter plug under the glove box in the passenger footwell, which is switched power. You can drop the panel under the glovebox and tap into the back of the cigarette lighter. More room to put a connection there with a fuse than would be in the overhead console. Then you simply run the wire and tuck it between the dash, windshield x A-pillar, front of headliner x windshield, and finally squeeze it under the camera/sensor housing.
1b/ I have my V1G2 mounted on the LH side of the rearview mirror. So far so good. I also have my passive toll tag sticker applied in front of the mirror, right under the camera housing. Also have not had any issues. But I have no comparison for you to the area to the right of the rearview mirror, where MB says to put it.
2/ Simply slide your thumb up/down on the RH steering wheel touch pad. This will go to previous/next track if you are in Media, or previous/next station if you are in Radio. When in Radio and you push this touchpad, it will bring up your favorites list and you can select from it as well.
6/ Here are some resources I have used to look at wheel and tire fitment
https://www.wheel-size.com/calc
https://www.alloywheelsdirect.net/in.../mercedes-benz
https://www.wheel-size.com/size/mercedes/e-class/
7/ I bought and installed the Stealth Hitch on my S213. It was an all Saturday project I did with my son (you need 2 pairs of arms). The outcome is great, getting there was at times frustrating because of the installation and tools required (really just one special tool I could not find so I had to make myself by modifying another tool). Good project to practice your cursing on. If I had all the tools ready and knew the tricks about disassembling the rear it could have been a <3h job. With the Stealth Hitch everything still works (parking sensors, foot sensor, camera,...). When you are not using the hitch, you will not know the car has one unless you lay directly underneath it.
I am not sure about 3rd party installers, but I can tell you I WOULD NOT let a shop without any W/S-213 experience do this.

2012 merc amg

With regards to the perfume jar sliding out the magnet in the bottom of the jar should keep it in place to the metal cradle. Maybe you should try another jar. I get mine on Amazon around 100 dollars. 2019 is a good year. I have one and it’s one of the best cars I’ve owned. To change tracks I normally use the center jog wheel either forward or backward. Simple just rotate it. With the radar detector I just plug my rede so in the cigarette plug to the right of the center console in the footwell area and stick it on the dash in the center. There is a pass through on the lower part of the glass.

Josh(PA)

Thanks everyone for the welcome wishes and feedback.
@ 2012 merc amg - I didn't know there was (supposed to be) a magnet on the bottom of the bottle. I checked the glovebox after your post and found a magnet happily stuck to the back of the storage area and a not-sticky piece of two sided tape on the bottle itself. Quick and easy fix, thanks for the info.

@ Janster - thanks for the wheel / tire fitment info. I'll dig into it. RE: the stealth hitch, when you are using it to tow something, do the rear sensors 'know' a trailer is attached and not alarm like crazy the whole time you're reversing? The cars the OEM units have a 'trailer setting' when the trailer is in use that changes the behavior of the sensors.I'm curious if this is triggered by plugging a trailer harness connection in or via some coding to the car that may need to be active. I'll dig further into the hardwire from the mirror thing when my mirror tap arrives. If I can find a solution, I'll start a thread w/ pics.

RE: changing the tracks. Am I right to believe the solutions presented (the command wheel, RH/LH steering touch pad, etc) only work when the main/nav screen are already switched to media or radio? If not, its at least a 2 step process, correct? Where you have to hit the track button on the touchpad to pull up the media sub screen then use the wheel to move to the next track? Same for the steering wheel, if the center part of the digital display isn't on media, the thumb pad doesn't do anything media related?

ua549

First, welcome to the forum and your first MB.
I typically share the COMAND screen with navigation in the left 1/3 and media in the right 2/3. That way I can easily see where I am on the map and still use either the right side steering wheel touch pad or the console wheel to scroll the media. I typically play music or watch videos (when stopped) from an SD card in the console. The system can handle 50,000 files.

Janster

I am using the Stealth Hitch for a bike rack. I did not include the harness install. The car is actually pretty clever. When the parking sensors do not see a change in distance to the rack while the car is moving, the car stops beeping and reverses quietly (unless the side or front proximity sensors pick something up - like a curb). You will see the rear color proximity indicator bars on the screen flashing but you can reverse without the audio warning. Another interesting finding, if I do not put the closest bike perfectly in the center, I may get the blind spot beep warning every time I indicate to the "overhanging" side.

Re: changing tracks - you are correct, the RH touch pad will only work if you are either in the Radio/Media screen, or you run the split screen so you can have the navigation in the center panel. So there is another workaround to this, if you want to have navigation in running in full, and still be able to control tracks, open Radio/Media in the instrument cluster, and then you can use the LH touch pad to do Up/Down.
Not as ideal as with cars that have a dedicated button for << - >>, but not as bad either.

JakeW213

Regarding #2
i find the easiest way to change this(when not having the media tab up)

is to press one time on the centercontrol tab of the mouse, this will bring up a small media window no matter what is on the main screen - when this small media window is up, the rotary button will work in that small window.

the main window runs behind, and the small window will close in about 5 seconds, that 5 seconds is prolonged if you change tracks, meaning you can rotate to change, listen/see what it is, change again... once you have stopped fiddeling with it, it will close the window in 5 sec.

it will work with all current media you are playing, radio, sd card media, apple carplay media.

Egonvdv

that's a pretty special taste in music you have there :-)
Tahiti is next on our holiday list
already cancelled last year and this year. let's hope 2022 will be better!

ua549

We like to cruise on the Paul Gauguin every couple of years.

Josh(PA)

Thanks again, everyone for the replies and thanks UA549 for pointing me to konigstiger and his posts / files of service bulletins, etc.

For my coding question, I've connected with vladimir.cdi and am getting a quote for an ODB tuner that will enable the following:
1. AMG Instrument Cluster
2. Eco Start Stop - Default Off
3. Seat Belt Warning Off ( i always 100% wear my belt, but I often put it on when I'm out of the garage, grabbed the mail and am heading out of my neighborhood)
4. Dynamic Select 4 hr memory
5. IHC + Multibeam LED unlock
It looks like his products work well and have been highly reviewed by members that used them. If anyone has feedback before I pull the trigger, please share.

This should address a few of my intial frustrations with the cluster data, lack of remembering my previous settings, etc.

I received my OEM rubber mats for the front and rear today, they are nice quality and the diamond foot pattern kind of matches the designo leather quilting. I'm looking at getting a weathertech rear compartment mat, as we transport our dog in the back quite a lot. The 2x times a year I'll use the jumper seats, I'll just toss it in the garage. Is the weathertech the best option, or does someone have a better suggestion. I didn't see an OEM solution, but I did search hear and didn't like the look of the canvastech or whatever it was called that covered the floor and sides that another member installed .
https://www.weathertech.com/mercedes...d-surround/no/

Josh(PA)

Just FYI for anyone that might be interested, I've listed my wagon for sale in the marketplace section:

I never did go forward with a hitch or coding. I did hardwire my radar detector through a fused connection to the passenger cig lighter power

https://mbworld.org/forums/market/830465

Elvisfan0108

Selling after 8 months? What didn’t you like about it?

Josh(PA)

Yes, Happy Wife/ Happy Life request. It turns out while my wife is very much a wagon person, she's even more of a BMW fan than a wagon fan.

We've been a BMW family for 25+ years and currently have 2 other BMWs and a 991.2. She never got used to the Mercedes U/I and found the car frustrating every time she would use it. Once everything was set up, she loved it, but everything from no key memory (both the Porsche and the BMW set your seat and other personal items to your key) to the shifter being where the wipers are on our other cars drove her crazy. Some of those topics were detailed in my initial intro above and unfortunately for my wife they never got more intuitive.

We figured while the market is strong, we might as well sell this with a low cost of ownership and get her back into an x5 or something she's more familiar with in the spring. While we've only had it 8 months, we have put a decent amount of miles on it. The car is the best highway eater we've ever owned. We have a cottage in the finger lakes about 4 hours from our primary home and we can do that trip non-stop in the wagon and feel completely unscathed when we get there. The car is really awesome, it's just isn't a perfect match for my wife.

Elvisfan0108

I came from a BMW myself. The U/I doesn’t bother me. I have gotten used to the gear shift lever. The MB has a much larger center console. I liked the 10 buttons on the BMW. My wife doesn’t drive my car, so that’s not an issue. Good luck.