Some forum members lament not being able to set the Default Drive Mode to Sport. I normally drive in Comfort mode, but occasionally I change the drive mode. For example, on a road trip I may want to use the Eco drive option for several days. Or I may want to use the Sport suspension for some roads. I had RJ Automotive recode the Default Drive Mode to Individual. Now I can configure the default by tweaking the available Drive, Suspension, Steering, ESP, and Sound options.

 

I pm them two times but they dont reply. I actually have exact same question about this. thank you for your review

 

RJ Automotive probably does not monitor this forum that closely. I communicated with him through the "Contact Us" option on their website or via email and got timely responses. During the last week of December I noted that there were no coding session slots available so I did not bother sending any messages that week.

 

The process to arrange for the RJ Automotive remote coding session will vary depending upon the ports on your laptop and the available Internet connection. RJ Automotive advised that a 30Mbps download speed and a 15Mbps upload speed would be sufficient. According to its website a Windows or Intel-based MacBook laptop is required. I have an Intel-based MacBook Pro and my home Wifi does not work well where I park my car near a detached garage 150 feet from my Internet router.

Prior to the coding session I did the following:

1) Ordered the RJ Automotive Remote OBD Dongle. It arrived by mail within two weeks from the UK. The OBD Dongle plugs into the OBD port near the hood release and connects to the lap top via an Ethernet cable that is about 2 meters long.

2) Since my laptop does not have an Ethernet port, I ordered a Belkin Ethernet to USB C adapter.

3) I set up a separate non-admin user with limited privileges on my laptop specifically for the remote session.

4) I downloaded the AnyDesk free client for my MacBook Pro. You will have to enable some access permissions to allow the remote user to download files.

5) I installed the WhatsApp app on my iPhone. I also linked the WhatsApp for use on my laptop, but this is not necessary. Once RJ Automotive takes control of the session, it's not convenient to communicate using WhatsApp on the laptop. Using WhatsApp on the phone during the coding session works well since it does not interfere with the remote session on the laptop.

6) I set my laptop up to use the 5G Personal Hotspot connection on my iPhone with a USB C cable. With a signal strength of 3 bars I was able to get 100Mbps download and 15Mbps upload speeds.

7) I connected the Ethernet cable on the OBD Dongle to the Ethernet adapter on my laptop. I confirmed that the Ethernet adapter was recognized by the MacBook Pro and configured the network options in the laptop settings to give the iPhone Personal Hotspot a higher priority than the Belkin Ethernet port. That forces the laptop to use the iPhone to access the Internet when Wifi is disabled.

8) Once I was satisfied that I could get an Internet connection as well as a connection to the OBD Dongle, I made an appointment for an available 1-hour remote session slot during the following week.

On the day of the appointment I received a reminder 30 to 60 minutes prior to the agreed upon time slot. RJ Automotive opened a chat session in WhatsApp and asked for the AnyDesk ID number. Once connected changing the Default Drive Mode was accomplished relatively quickly. However, the change did not become effective immediately. After the session I drove the car about 5 miles. Once I restarted the car Individual was the default drive mode. I had some other coding work done as well, but will describe that in a separate thread.

 

I have also used RJ for the Digital Light (perhaps the most useful of the available non-coded options), and as Lazarus described - it is very easy if you have a PC that connects to the internet. A phone is useful (WhatsApp or simple TXT) to communicate with RJ. He uses something called Cascade Connection to set up a bridge between virtual hubs - one being your PC. All done from start to fish in < 15 minutes. Quite amazing what Digital Light can do with 1.2 individual steerable megapixels in each headlight! Just like the video describes. Very happy to have seen this in action!

 

@perlfather how long have you had the updated digital light package? Did RJ mention if this might be overwritten by a dealer update, and if so, would they recode it for free? I have been thinking of having this done on my EQE SUV, but I am concerned about it getting overwritten via an update.

 

@LAZARU5 thanks for sharing your experience with RJ. I'm curious to find out which other items you had coded. I will watch for your other thread.

 

Only had digital light recoded. I've had it for 1 month. On his website, it states that it is unlikely to be overwritten, and if that is the case, he will recode it. Just after RJ made the coding change, I asked what else is "good" in the TXT exchange. He said the redlight/stop sign warning is a good one, however, I did not ask for it.

 

I have heard that the redlight / stop sign camera feature is nice. Hopefully he provides discounts for coding multiple items .

 

No concerns about somehow voiding a warranty?

 

The red light camera feature is clever technology. Whether one likes it or not is a separate matter.
If you find yourself driving in areas with "tightly placed" traffic lights and/or stop lines (NYC??) - then it can be really great to have.
For me, the traffic and intersection designs where I travel most are such that I have no difficulty seeing the red light no matter where I stop. As such, I personally have come to find it really annoying to have the camera pop up at every single stop light, blocking the navigation screen. I frequently want to look at the navigation screen while waiting at a light. I ended up turning this feature off.

 

Not really concerned. My warranty will expire in 10 months anyway. I have made several modifications to my SUV and the dealer has not denied any warranty repairs. In fact, several employees at the dealership compliment the changes I have made.

I got a quote of $6400 for a one year extended warranty up to 100K miles. Discounts were offered after I did not order. I think it makes more sense to trade for a CPO with less mileage. That would probably lower the warranty cost per mile.

 

Has anyone had service with a software patch/upgrade after the initial coding? If so, do these added features remain? My concern is that if these modifications are removed after service, MB engineers might make it very challenging for third parties like RJ to implement this type of modifications on future software.

 

most the time coding doesn't void warranty. tuning will.

 

Thanks for the detailed information. I’d love to read the full list of things you have coded.

Also is it fair to assume that this whole 5G thing was only necessary because you do not have solid WiFi in your home garage or the place you park your car?

 

How would your warranty expire in 10 months? The EQS SUV has only been out for maybe 15 months, and it has a 4 year warranty in the USA. Do you have really high mileage?

 

The iPhone 5G connection was used since I can’t park my car close enough to my home WiFi.

 

Average mileage is 2K per month. Hitting 30K next weekend.

 

I have also done coding with RJ Automative and to add to Lazarus' post, I chose to get the cable from Amazon, they are 20-30$ and you don't have to wait for it. The hardest part is finding a laptop that you can install Anydesk since you really need a personal laptop since PCs managed by work would likely not let you do it, and it is not a good idea anyway. I had to setup a fairly old laptop that I had in storage which also worked out nice since there was nothing on it. Technically speaking you don't need Anydesk part of it, since he doesn't really do anything on your laptop other than setting up the VPN software to let him access to network for the dongle. It is a good idea to delete that software afterwards btw.

My coding took about 15 minutes. I did enable the stop sign/red light detection and I actually quite like it. It does warn when you get close to stop signs and crossings with people on them and not slowing down properly. I haven't been able to trigger the red light warning yet but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't work properly in US since lights in US will be across the crossing unlike Europe where lights are on the side you stop.

 

I do not know how many lines of code there are in the EQS, however, there are ~ 150 million in a FORD F150 lightning vs. over 6 million in a Boeing 787 (there are excellent reasons for this discrepancy) Thankfully all of it is probably Matlab generated.
I assume the change RJ made was to enable a subroutine that existed in the car. This is enabled by MB in some countries, so why would this void the warranty? Now, the NHTSA is a different matter.

 

I had done similar in my Audi and they haven't mentioned anything during scheduled services. Digital lights are a more gray area though, however they drastically improve safety and visibility imo. It is a huge difference. Wish NHTSA did their job and approve them already.

Funny thing is for all the worry NHTSA has about headlights, they somehow approved Teslas horrible headlights where they are always aimed incorrectly and are actually blinding. Anytime I see an oncoming car that I think has their high beams on, it is always a Tesla.

 

Staggering - the comparison of code lines between a Boeing 787 and an F150, despite what are probably the good reasons behind the discrepancy.
My concern is just that it seems that MB (and manufacturers of just about anything, as well as insurance companies) would look for any reason possible to avoid repairing something under warranty. The customer "fiddling" with something that's not supposed to be fiddled with "externally" would seem like a good excuse to no honor any possibly-related warranty repairs.

 

I had digital light (or the older equilvalent) on my CLS and it was a great addition. Though not 100% sure, I believe this is a configuration change, not a code change, to set the location of the headlights to a region which allows the digital light. Getting mine updated this week.

-Matt

 

That's correct, none of the coding stuff is changing the firmware or actual code. That would be quite difficult to achieve actually. It does change configuration to make the headlight unit think it is in European mode.

You are able to turn it off from car settings btw but you lose the ability to do auto high beams in the old fashion which wasn't that useful anyway.