8899

I run the Yokohama Geolander A/Ts and like them. Very quiet and capable in snow and also off-raod, but probably not as good as KO2's for off-road. Also, I had 285/60R18s but just thought that the sidewall height (60% of 285mm) was a bit too much. I now run 275/60s. While I wish the 275s were a bit wider, I just don't want my tires looking so "tall".

almostordinary

Doing a lot of recent highway driving, I will say the KO2s are pretty noisy. Even with the sound deadening I put in the truck. For offroad use they are amazing, and for around the town cruising they are fine.

If I see myself doing any long freeway hauls (which I don't) I may look at an alternative.

Actually looking at a GL or ML for the wife right now, and a winter car for us since I'm tired of racking up miles on the G55 and Don't plan on driving the E63 this autumn/winter since I have essentially slicks for DD it in LA vs Seattle.

Interesting to hear about needing to drill out the mounting holes. Looking forward to seeing your writeup .

Great stuff!

shiann

Here's a summary of my experience installing the Fox 2.0 Performance Adjustable Kit from Eurowise (purchased through JackwagonOverlanding) and replacing my G55 springs with G63 springs.

For background, I have done all my own work on my cars over the past 15 or so years including timing belt/water pump services, complete suspension refreshes, coilover, sway bars, PCV services, Starters, Alternators, Downpipes, Exhausts, Intakes, etc. This is on top of designing and building a single-seat race car from scratch including rebuilding the engine (GSX-R600) in college. I have a good amount of tools for getting almost any automotive related job done so am generally not afraid of major upgrades/maintenance.

I purchased used G63 springs from a ClubWagen forum member. These springs were apparently removed off of a brand new G63 that went in for armor treatment in Canada. Then they sat on a shelf for several years. The guy I purchased them from purchased them from the original owner/shop but never ended up using them. When I got them, you could see they were basically brand new, without a single scratch anywhere. Super happy with the score and the price was very fair.

As of when I purchased my Fox 2.0 kit about a month ago, Fox had stopped making the kit for the W463 platform with no planned date to resume production. I've heard a few different reasons for this, but either way, it was not available from any of the vendors, so I reached out to Jack @ JackWagonOverlanding and he told me about the kit Eurowise put together using shocks from different applications, but having the correct lengths and a front lower eye plate adapter. They state on their website that cutting the metal fender liner backer will be necessary.

Here's a link to the kit:
Eurowise Fox 2.0 W463 Kit

First Jacking up the G high enough to allow the suspension to reach full droop without the wheels on takes some getting used to if you're not used to working on something this large/heavy.
I ended up using my super old Harbor Freight 3 ton jack stands and they worked fine (not the recall ones). I also purchased the 4 ton Daytona hydraulic jack from HF.


All the parts laid out ready for install (or so I thought)


First was removing the lower bolt of the OE shocks. This was tough as mine were pretty rusted. I ended up using a 1/2" pneumatic impact (HF Earthquake XT) paired to a 15 gallon air compressor at 100psi (just barely large enough to run the gun). This was a life saver as there was no way I would have gotten these off by hand.

Second were the top bolts. These were a little bit difficult to reach, but using short and long 24mm sockets with extensions, 1/2" ratchet, 24mm reversible ratcheting combo wrench, and 1/2" breaker bar, both sides came out pretty easily (After removing the AC Line and Steering shaft on the driver's side)

Third, Getting the spring out of the front was pretty straight forward. I used HD spring compressors and really only had to be careful of the locker and brake lines being stretched too much. If you're replacing all the locker and brake lines, this step will be super simple as the springs will almost drop out. I lowered the axle as much as I could and articulated the opposite side and used the bottle jack to extend the near side, and using the spring compressors, was able to get the springs out with little issue.

One tip for using spring compressors, get a reversible ratcheting combo wrench the size of your spring compressor drive nut. This will speed up the process of compressing and uncompressing the springs significantly. The first side took about an hour with an open ended wrench. The second side took about 15 minutes after I went to purchase a 19mm at the local hardware store (the size of my HD spring compressors)

For reference, below is the Front G63 spring compared to the Front G55 spring. The thickness of the coils looks exactly the same, except the G63 spring is 1" longer. I wasn't able to find this information anywhere when I was researching so hope it helps someone else. The issue with the Fox 2.0 or any upgraded shock kit is the G55 front springs are too short, causing travel issues for shocks like the Fox 2.0's. I tried to find information regarding using spring spacers on the OE G55 springs but could not find anything. After comparing it looks like going with a 30mm spring spacer would be adequate with an OE G55 spring when upgrading to shocks like the Fox 2.0's, Kings, or Ohlins. This is ONLY A GUESS based on my simple measurements. I did not take compressed and uncompressed measurements when installed, which would be the best way to determine the proper solution. I didn't want to be a Guinea pig so I just opted to get G63 springs.


First problem: The top eye bushing on the front shocks was too small. It was small enough that I could not hammer or press through the OE top shock bolt. I measured everything and found the ID of the rubber bushing was ~0.5mm too small at the center (tapered). The OE top shock bolt was 16mm and the closest drill bit I could find at the local hardware store was 5/8". I drilled it out and a good amount of material came out. After drilling and greasing up the bolt, it fit snug. I had to do this with both sides.


On the driver's side, I had to orient the adjustable reservoir output at the top of the shock inwards, towards the engine, as shown below. When facing outwards (towards the fender), the fitting would hit the inner metal fender shield. I did try cutting material away and quickly found you basically have to remove the entire area around the shock, so I decided to leave that for another day. Fitting direction shown below in blue.

I circled the bolt in red to show that this was the OE bolt direction. Reinstalling in this direction WILL NOT WORK. Because the top shock eye is not as thick as the OE shock top mount, the threaded part extends further after tightening everything down (more on this later). The bolt becomes extended long enough that it INTERFERES with the steering shaft coupler bolt. I found this out after everything was buttoned back up and I was about to go for a test drive, only to find the steering locked in both left and right directions.


The issue is solved by reversing the bolt as shown below.


And this leads me to my first complaint about the Eurowise kit. I have no idea if this is how the normal W463 kit is from Fox. The top bushing is a hard rubber, but there is no metal center post in the eye of the shock. Without a metal sleeve in the bushing, when you go to torque down the bolt, all you end up doing is compressing the bushing flanges, and they squeeze out like gummy bears. I added some 16mm ID x 19mm OD Flat washers that you can see in the above pictures. I added them on both sides of the shock, as well as the far side of the chassis mount. This did help a little bit, but I could only torque these bolts to 35 ft-lbs before the rubber completely was spilling over the washers. NOT A GOOD DESIGN. In the future, I will have a flanged sleeve machined out of stainless and reinstall the shocks properly.

Below is the driver's side finally installed. The reservoir placement is super tricky as the lines are too short. When I get some time later in the year or next spring I'll redo the reservoir mounting. In the below image, you can also see the Eurowise eye bolt to chassis plate adapter piece. This part worked ok overall, but still does need some delrin or aluminum sleeves to distribute the load. I'll have these machined and anodized as well at the same time.


For the passanger side, you CANNOT install the shock with the fitting facing inwards (towards the engine). As shown below, there is a heat shield in this location to protect the spark plug wires from the exhaust manifold. There is no way to remove this heat shield without removing the larger lower heat shield, and there isn't any space to push on the spark plug wires anyway as they are all pretty tight already. Only option is to face the fitting outwards (towards the fender). Below you can also see the blue arrows, where I used flat washers.


Below you can see how the front top bushing squeezes out when any real torque is applied. I tightened these down in stages, 20lb-ft, 25lb-ft, 30lb-ft, then stopped at 35lb-ft as I didn't want to further damage the bushing. I've checked both top bushings after driving for a few hundred miles and everything is still fine with no weird squeaks or vibrations, but I will solve this correctly after things settle down in normal life.


With the fitting facing outwards on the passenger side, there is still 10mm clearance between the fitting and the inner metal fender wall, so no idea why the 2 sides are so different. For the adjustable shock reservoir, you have to rotate it as far clockwise as possible as shown by the arrow direction or else it will hit the metal inner fender.


For the passenger side, you will have to trim the inner fender heat shield block off plate for the shock reservoir to fit. If you're remote mounting this isn't an issue.


The fronts, due to all the issue I ran into, took about 12 hours to install. I was definitely not expecting the install to be so difficult, nor was I expecting to run into so many issues.

For the rear install, this was much more straight forward and quick. I found that the Rear G63 springs and Rear G55 springs are EXACTLY the same, single green stripe. Same length, same coil spacing, same thickness, same thickness transitions, etc. I changed them out anyway since the springs I purchased were basically new and the original ones were showing a little bit of rust.


My only complaint about the rear shock install is the top mounting bushings and plates. The shoulder on the bushings is not sized correctly for the mounting hole, thus you basically have to guess where is centered while you tighten down the top nut. Not he biggest deal, but a correctly sized bushing shoulder is something that should not be incorrect. The lower shock bolts gave me a lot of trouble when removing, but a properly working impact with a correctly sized air tank would have probably worked better. I ended up using a breaker bar and was able to get enough leverage to remove them.


Almost immediately after completing the rear install, I took a 500 mile trip fully loaded up with the family. I set the shocks 2 clicks in the front and 3 in the rear. The setting worked well and the family wife + kid + parents enjoyed the new ride comfort of the Fox 2.0's. Significantly better than the OE G55 suspension and the G had plenty of room in the back for all of our stuff for a week long vacation.

Final thoughts:

1. If you've never tackled suspension, I would advise finding a shop or a friend help you.
2. You'll need proper tools. Impact drivers are nice, but all sizes of hand tools are necessary. I used 1/2" for everything and it worked fine.
3. The Eurowise kit requires modification to install correctly. Be ready to cut of inner fender liners and drill out bushings, as well as purchasing additional hardware.
4. Even after installing as per their instructions (very limited), the design of the kit isn't the best. It will probably work just fine, but far from a "bolt-on" affair.
5. I would recommend getting the braided/extended locker and brake lines and install at the same time. You're already doing 75% of the work.
6. Fox 2.0 Adjustables on the W463 are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. I'm sure the King's and Ohlins will perform just as well or better, but these are night and day compared to the OE suspension.

I'm still testing out what the best settings would be for daily driving with a basically empty truck. I think paired with the G63 springs, 1-2 clicks off full soft in the front and 2-3 clicks off full soft in the rear is the best comfortable setting. Any harder and you get some weird wiggling/wobbling over larger bumps and any softer, you get a unnerving swaying. Overall the wife loves the ride comfort and is ok with the money spent. I'll continue my project of servo motors on each corner to adjust from inside the cabin over the winter. I still think this will be the best application, being able to adjust with a knob when going over varying terrain and not having to find the knob behind the tire or reach through the engine compartment.

For those that installed the W463 specific Fox 2.0 kit, did you run into any of these same issues?

Any questions or comments, please feel free to share!

On tomorrow's agenda is installing the new Polk MM6502 front component speaker set and an oil change.

shiann

Hey 8899. Thanks for your input. I've read and heard lots of good things about the Yokohama A/T's so they may be a contender as I don't plan to do too much offroading in the next few years.

Thanks for the input Ian. I was expecting that to be the case with the KO2's. The road noise doesn't really bother me all that much (even without any sound deadening and some definite leaking door seal gaps, but a quieter tire overall may be important.

So trying to decide between:

BFG KO2
Yokohama Geolander A/T G015
Yokohama Geolander X-AT
General Grabber AT-X
Bridgestone Dueler A/T Revo 3

And looking at the following sizes:
285/60R18
275/65R18

Any other input would be appreciated!

Limey Hooligan

I really like my KO2's and they've held up great for the past couple of years on and off-road. Once they're worn out I'll probably go a little more to the off-road side and try out the BFG KM3s.
But, if you're looking for a slightly quieter tire and won't be off-roading much at all, I think from what I've heard the best alternative would be the Yokohama Geolander. I believe those are/were the OEM tires for the G as well and have a great reputation.

almostordinary

When I did mine I couldn't agree more with the #1 statement. Holy hell is the G a big, heavy truck. My Land Rovers from back in the day were tin cans in comparison.

Great work! Great write up

shiann

Today I finally got the chance to do an oil change on the G. I should have done this much sooner, and I even ordered the oil change kit way back in April, but just never had the time.

Everything should have been straight forward, but step 1 I saw this:



Apparently, someone in my truck's past life had rounded off the oil pan drain plug internal hex. The solution was to weld a 9/16" nut onto the top of it, and grind away the excess. I tried to get one from my local MB dealership but they didn't have any in stock and the next closest 2 dealerships were already closed. Begrudgingly, I reinstalled the janky bolt for now and ordered 2 new ones from FCPEuro, as well as a lot of other maintenance items. (Fuel filter, air filters, cabin air filter).

Also found an oil leak in the area that I traced back up to the dip stick tube rubber seal. It looks like it wasn't pressed in all the way the last time the dip stick tube was removed (very curious why this would ever have to be removed). You can see it below sticking up on the right side. Fixing this should be super simple correct? Just unbolt the dip stick tube, remove it from the plug seal, reseat the plug seal correctly, and reinsert the dip stick tube right?



I cleaned the whole area with degreaser and will see how much oil actually leaks over the next many miles. I didn't have an E-Torx socket set to remove the dip stick, so ordered a set as well. I'll fix that next oil change in 5k miles, along with going through all the Liquid Moly Additives to clean up any gunk in the engine.

Tomorrow I will start to tackle my front speaker install. I'll have to remove all 3 AC vent covers to remove the tweeters and center speaker, create a template for the front door speaker adapters, then adapters for the tweeters to fit in the OE location. Then last step will be to reconfigure the custom amplifier/DSP setup to send more power to the Polk MM6502's and rebalance the sound.

Lawrence1

Hopefully it isn't the oil dip stick tube grommet that's leaking since removing the oil dipstick tube requires removal of the upper oil pan ... that is a massive pain in the ***. Many times however, the leak originates from the oil level sensor on these M113 motors. I had to fix it on mine just recently. If your issue is the same as mine was, it'll only require removal of the lower oil pan, which is much less complicated, although still quite idiotic since this part could've easily been designed for easier removal. The sensor is not expensive and the lower oil pan uses a RTV type gasket so you'll want to let it drain overnight and clean the surface really well before installing. I had a shop do mine since I've been swamped at work for the past couple of months. I haven't even had the chance to tackle the glovebox handle with the parts you sent but i'll get to it eventually. Thanks for the update on the Fox shocks. Sounds like a worthwhile upgrade.

shiann

Hey Laurence. Thanks for the info. Would it be that difficult to just pull out the dip stick tube grommet and reseat it correctly? I tried pushing it in but couldn't get enough leverage with just my fingers. I'll inspect soon to see how much oil is actually leaking (if that's the actual source) and try to reseat it again soon. I did some digging and seems like it's not possible to remove the dip stick tube without cutting it in half and removing the lower and upper oil pans, which I definitely don't want to do.

I've been playing with the shock settings on the Fox 2.0's recently to find the best daily driving setup paired with the G63 springs at stock height. I'm currently on the softest settings F+R only because I'm getting a really bad steering vibration/pull when going over rough surfaces. It's bad enough that it ends up shaking the whole truck and is quite uncomfortable. I'm thinking my steering damper isn't up to the task but looking for more input on what could be causing this. I believe wheel balance and alignment is still good since on smooth stretches of highway, there is no vibration or anything out of the ordinary up to 85mph. When I adjust the suspension stiffer, the vibration/pulling gets worse.

I'm in the middle of several projects with the truck, which is why there have been few updates:

I'm almost finished installing the front component speakers and reconfiguring the amplifiers and will make a post about that when it is complete.

I also finally got time to start installing the leather steering wheel cover that I purchased back in April when I first got the truck. The process is long and tedious, and the fit isn't perfect, but it's a ton better than the OE wood grain that was cracking in several locations, as well as the leather hand rests that were very worn. The leather seems like pretty good quality and is quite soft to the touch. My suggestion, if you have never completed a stitching project like this, set aside a lot of time and be patient. Also don't expect to get perfect results. It would probably also be easier to remove the steering wheel and do this while not cramped in the driver's seat, but I ended up doing it while in the truck. Here are some pictures of the process:

Test fitting the leather over the wheel and positioning it correctly. Applying double sided tape under the leather to prevent it from slipping or twisting.


Most of the wheel stitching complete. Only the left small side not complete yet. The close up picture shows how well and tight the leather fits, but other areas it is a little bit loose. I will try to cut some excess material off to make it fit tight everywhere, but that is a project for another day. Also the quality of the perforated leather seems pretty good considering the cost of the cover.


Link to the leather steering wheel cover that I purchased:

Took a short drive yesterday to a local reservoir boat launch that I used to go fishing at when I was a kid. It's great to see that this area is still here and open to the public even after all these years (20+ since I last came here). Will definitely be coming back here more in the future for hiking and fishing. Plus, any excuse to drive the G on dirt or rocks is always welcome.

shiann

I've been trying to diagnose a steering vibration issue I've been having with my truck that has developed within the past 2 weeks. What happens is over rough roads or even smooth highways with lots of slight changes, the truck would start to vibrate pretty violently. The vibrations were felt through the steering wheel, but were severe enough to forcibly pull the steering wheel, and then that vibration would transmit into the chassis, shaking the chassis. The rougher the road surface, the worse the vibration. This was quite uncomfortable especially on the highway while taking longer sweeping turns and feeling like the truck had a mind of its own. It was so bad I was forced to adjust my Fox 2.0's all the way to full soft in the front and rear to make it drivable.

My first thought was the OE steering damper finally kicked the bucket after the Fox 2.0 shock install. My logic was due to the softer Fox shocks, significantly more motion was now being transmitted to the steering (since initial bounce is miles softer than the OE G55 shocks) This forced the steering damper to work overtime, and the softer I adjusted the Fox's, the harder the job was for the steering shock. With the truck now at ~93k miles, it was probably time to change it anyways. My second thought would be alignment or wheel balance, but those were both last ditch guesses.

I ordered the Fox 2.0 Steering Stabilizer from Jack @JackWagonOverlanding @JACWAGN that was the Eurowise non-ATS kit. It arrived today and I was able to install it tonight.

Here is the Fox 2.0 Steering Stabilizer compared to the OE G55 Steering Stabilizer. New one is significantly larger than the OE one. For some reason, the hardware attaching the OE steering stabilizer was a mix of 2x 5/8" bolts, 1x 5/8" nut, and 1x 17mm nut. Whoever did this job previous reinstalled with random hardware, which is total BS.


On My 2005 G55, the OE bolt holes and hardware size was 10mm. I believe this was updated in later W463 models as Mercedes did up-size the hardware. In my case, the hardware that came in the Eurowise kit was 12mm, so I drilled out both mounting tabs with a 1/2" drill bit (what I had that was close to 12mm). There is still plenty of material left on both tabs to take the loads from the steering system. In the worst case if the tabs break, both are bolt on, so can easily be replaced. Drilling was as usual, a little uncomfortable, but such is the nature of these trucks.


The bolt assembly on the right side with new shock and hardware. Everything clears without an issue.


On the left side, things are a little bit close. The top of the bolt comes close to the frame member (blue arrow), but after installation and going full lock to lock, the steering linkage naturally twists towards the rear of the truck and leaves a much larger gap. The gap between the ball mount and the steering linkage tab is much closer (red arrow), but if there is any interference, it should "work itself out" over time.


The last note is the shock body, being significantly larger than the OE steering stabilizer, comes very close to the steering linkage. With the wheels pointed straight forward, this is the configuration that the shock body is closest to the steering linkage. I turned the steering wheel lock to lock and made sure there was clearance between the shock body and the steering linkage at several different points. This shouldn't be an issue but it is a little bit close for comfort.


And the Fox 2.0 Steering Stabilizer installed.
The nuts are nylon locking, so a specific torque value isn't that necessary, but I tightened in 3 stages to test out how torqueing the bolts felt. Started at 25ft-lbs, then 30ft-lbs, and stopped at 35 ft-lbs. I do this for most bolts that require a torque spec and usually I've been pretty close to the published values.


Difficulty of install: 3/10 (only because of the drilling - if you have to do it, and me doing the install at 10PM at night. Otherwise it would be a 1/10)
Tools needed: Truck ramps, 19mm socket+wrench, 12mm Drill bit (or 1/2"), cutting oil, shop vacuum, safety goggles, drill, 17mm socket+wrench (I believe this is the correct size for the OE hardware)
Total install time with drilling was about 45 minutes but I could definitely bring that down to under 30 minutes if I had to do it again.

The new steering stabilizer completely fixed all of my steering vibration issues. Not only that, but now the wheel centers much more easily, and you don't have to put in as much force to bring the wheel back to center after making a sharp turn. I was also able to adjust my shocks to 2 clicks from soft up front and 3 clicks from soft in the rear. Now cornering and turns are significantly more in control, along with not skipping over bumps.

I'm pretty sure a new OE steering stabilizer, or any other brand would have worked just as well (and been less expensive), but the illogical side of me is happy that now all 5 shocks on the truck are Fox 2.0's and should last for a very long time.

As always, any comments or questions, please let me know.

almostordinary

Awesome write up.

Even with replacing all of my steering components and the shocks I sometimes have that steering wheel jump at high speed.

Definitely will be reaching out to Jack in a few to grab one for myself!

Keep us posted as you put more miles on the truck!

Sergey84

Man, I just finished reading your thread!! It's truly amazing you already did so much work by yourself including designing some replacement parts!!!



I'm only looking to get my first ever G and I want to get a later model G55 preferably 2010-2011. I think it will take me a while to get one since there are not many decent offers on the market right now plus I don't want to sell a kidney in order to get a low a truck with low miles. But I already started with getting a proper G63 wheels and researching valved exhaust options!

BTW I'm in Delaware which is not far from Brooklyn. I hope one day to pass by you to see your upgraded G in person. Maybe next year idk.

PS: Do you want to keep your single din radio unit or update it to a double din one? I'd like to have a bigger screen in my future G while making it look OEM with less shiny parts and less LED lights. When you move differential locks into a glove box you'll have more room on your front console.

shiann

Hey Ian, hope all is going well settling down in the PNW! I got some more driving after the steering stabilizer install on some pretty bad roads in and around NYC and the steering still does jump from side to side when hitting some pretty gnarly roads. It's not that bad, but still noticeable. I'm not sure whether this will get better or worse with larger A/T tires, and it may be slightly different given your taller + softer Thor springs. Best way to check would be to compress your steering stabilizer and see how it returns. Mine was completely dead and the fluid that was once inside was dry and crusted on the outside.

Hey Sergey. Thanks for the compliments! Best of luck on your G55 search. They definitely aren't that common, and the later years are difficult to find for a reasonable price, but keep searching!

I actually love my Single DIN with the storage compartment under. I use the compartment all the time and find it very useful. I didn't want a Double DIN since they all end up going obsolete in a few years and the position of the screen isn't ideal to look at while driving. I run all the nav + music through my phone/bluetooth anyway and have my phone mounted up near the differential buttons/AC vents, so no need for a redundant screen IMO. I'm still up in the air on moving the differential buttons. I'm working on a few different options for mounting my phone in this location and also including a wireless charger so it looks integrated and OE with the phone attached and unattached.

Also the costs of a mid-range Double DIN was significantly more than a mid-range Single DIN and I decided to spend that $ elsewhere. I'll eventually replace my Single DIN with a less flashy LED light unit but that is well down the priority list as it's working well overall.

Sergey84

Assuming there is not much storage available that storage compartment makes sense. At this moment I'd like to wait till 2021 and see what Kenwood and others bring us next year. I don't like their current models because of low res screens and relatively slow hardware compared to phones. I need it to provide me a fast touch response like my 2-3 old phones do.

I think I'd like to have a wide screen on the top of the front console though Idk what is the purpose of the some grille/net there. Here is my vision of such wide screen below. I guess it's quite possible to fabricate a decent looking frame which should hold the screen:



The only question I still have is how aftermarket single din or double din head unit affects all other components like speakers, sub, amplifier etc?

shiann

Hey Sergey, I've thought about this design but wanted to keep the upper AC vent simpler as I feel a large screen doesn't fit the era/design of the interior. Sometimes I do wish for a large screen in this area while driving and wanting to interact with touch screens, but I want to try a few things before committing to it. Here is something that may interest you: DMP Car Design for W463 (older interior) A few people on the forum have installed these and are happy with them overall.

For what is under the screen, there is a foam screen and then the center speaker. Other than that, it is just the dash.

For how installing a Single or Double DIN affects the rest of the sound system, it should work fine. The OE W463 amplifier isn't that great of an amp , nor are the speakers. That's why I ended up replacing everything to improve the overall sound quality of the system. I'm still tinkering with the system to fine tune it as well as contemplating switching out components, but that probably won't happen for a while.

Sergey84

I couldn't open your link. Here is what I found on their website:

https://www.dmpcardes********/androi...een-tesla-size

I see it looks nice on other cars: https://mbworld.org/forums/g-class-w...13-2018-a.html

I guess it doesn't replace the original unit but adds some fresh apps etc. I think it's ok.

Though personally I'd like it to have LESS bezel and LESS rounded corners. I see there are few other options besides DMP. I guess they all come from China anyway...

Update: Idk why but this forum trims/modifies links... Anyway here is that DMP website. There is only one option available for older Gs: www.dmpcardesign . com

shiann

Yes. I'm not a fan of the larger bezels or the rounded corners either, but others have reported that it works well overall. It would match the newer W463 interior much better since its design is close to the OE screen, but with the older interiors, I think it does look a little out of place. I still do think it makes more sense to have a screen in this location than down by where the head unit normally lives.

Sergey84

I like design of the display in LX570. It's wide and no rounded corners.

Also if I'm correct then DMP head unit is only connected to a factory stereo system via aux and that's it. Everything else like apps etc is not connected to a car. Which is good. It means you can have all your COMAND functions.

Honestly I don't think we need 2 screens. Idk what you may loose in terms of functionality if we remove the factory head unit. Here is another draft of design below. I did the following visual modifications:

1) Removed factory head unit.
2) Moved button group down (I guess we'll have to fabricate a new housing)
3) Installed a bigger screen which has a slim bezel. I assume it's not just a screen, but a new head unit with large screen. Of course a lot of modifications are required to accomplish this task.

At least the screen is larger and located higher then original one and it doesn't block the view:

almostordinary

I feel the last thing I want to do to my truck to make the inside more livable is upgrading the head unit with bluetooth audio.

My '07 E63 has the newer interior and aux availability. My Bluetooth AUX receiver is amazing.

In my '08 G55 it has the older head unit and interior and I have to do bluetooth over FM and now that im in Seattle there are no stations that come in like I had in LA.

With winter approaching, and doing more driving in the G I think this is the next thing on my list to tackle. Although I will definitely be going to a shop. I hate doing audio.

I'm torn between the screen at top and the Android units I've seen below.

I like the ease of view the top screen offers, especially since I am using Google Maps a lot more now, and currently use an iPhone suction holder which keeps my phone inline with my line of site.

But agree that with the older interior the newer units uptop look way out of place.

Also my truck doesn't have AUX and the DMP Design unit explicitly requires it. Also the unit they have looks a bit bulky compared to the other newer setups.

@Sergey84 Agreed for the screen to make sense it should be further up, as the current placement is such a departure to the natural eye line.

What if I went with an android in the stock spot for music / etc and then the screen up top just for navigation. Hmmmm

shiann

Hey Ian, ​​​​@almostordinary So I went through very much the same struggle as you trying to figure out how to make the whole setup work. I use my phone for everything (navigation and bluetooth music streaming) so knew that I would end up using my phone (or a tablet) as the main interaction point. I'm still playing with how my phone will be mounted to be in an ideal position, but also am taking into account how my phone mounts to my other car as I drive both and don't want to have 2 different setups. I wanted to include a wireless charger into the picture but it looks like the size of all of the available car ones just makes it to bulky. I want something that looks minimal and integrated with or without my phone attached.

I've had a lot less time to work and start projects with the truck these past few months since work has really picked up and we also just moved, so spare time has been limited.

Did you ever get a chance to try out the adapter cable from Becker Autosound?
MB W463 to Lightning
MB W463 to 3.5mm Audio Jack

Here's a link to their main website to discuss with them as I know there's a lot of wrong information floating around: Becker Autosound MB AUX Input Options: https://www.beckerautosound.com/aux-input-options

I think something around the size of an iPad mini or a Samsung Galaxy Tab mounted next to your phone would be ideal. This way, you could use the tablet for navigation and larger screen things, and use your phone for music and to see things like notifications/etc. I've been toying around with the idea of covering the Diff buttons and the center vents to achieve this but will need a good amount of time to figure this out. Something like this, and reroute the AC vents to blow around the phone/tablet. The question would be how this frame/mount would attach and how it would look without the electronics mounted. These are 2 of the many challenges with this project but I'll figure it out in good time.

almostordinary

Thanks man!

I do like the thought of a two setup system. Especially for loading off road maps.

And I feel ya, I hate changing things up from hopping into the E63 then back to the G55 so something that has at least one control would be nice.

I'd be interested in that AUX plug if I could get a female coupler to then hook up a bluetooth receiver like I currently have.

But the more I think about that, it seems more of a stop gap and not the permanent solution I'd like.

I do have an unused iPad Mini that I could try out, or I could go the route of getting a secondary screen installed just above the diff controlers by a shop and call it done.

At the moment I am stuck w two issues w my truck that I am tracing before I do anything else.

1.) My secondary air pump stopped working, getting a relay Friday which should fix it, if not time for a new pump
2.) Need to finally fix an SRS issue with my passenger seat, think that will be quite the undertaking from what I've been reading.

Kinda in the same boat though, new house, work, life, and a new bike build all the while enjoying the truck as is definitely makes it a bit harder to carve time to dive into these types of projects.

Sergey84

That would be nice! I guess it's possible to relocate vents and locks somewhere else. The new center console could be 3d printed and painted in the OEM grey/black color. But it sounds like a serious project.

shiann

I'll keep playing with the setup through the winter and see where I end up. Redesigning an entire middle AC vent does seem like it would be in the cards, but will be a lot of work and test fitting. I think I'm leaning towards that solution though, maybe a combination of hacking up my center AC vent and 3D printing some parts to modify it so I can keep the vents (but make them slimmer), as well as having a phone + tablet mount with wireless charging. I'm not super happy with my previous repair job on the middle vent and the side vents were so badly cracked that I'm really debating just buying new OE ones at $100/each.

There are plenty of HD bluetooth receivers that have a stereo out, so that may be your best bet, and hide everything behind the dash or in the glove box/arm rest. Most are powered by USB also to make things easier. What would be your ideal setup? In your case, if you replace the head unit, you'll have to replace the amp as well, so it complicates things. I totally get bringing it to a shop to do it all at once and be done.

Hoping next week to finally get some time to design speaker adapters for the front doors and print them out to complete my audio upgrade. I think it may make sense to offer kits if anyone wants to upgrade speakers with a bolt on solution, but I don't think there would actually be much interest given how specific everyone's music tastes are, and how different every speaker dimensions are.

Also adding to the project list going to be building out a 1.5 car garage shop this winter for tool storage, organization, workbench, etc for wood working and everything, so most likely all truck projects will have to take a back seat.

Yeah, I'm liking this setup but will have to figure out relocating the diff buttons, or setting them further back and adding arms/levers that can engage/disengage them when electronics are mounted. There really isn't much room behind the AC vents so I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

David75

Dear Shiann
First congrats with the job done so far, this is just amanzing.
regarding the headliner, you did not much talk about you proceed to update it? Would you mind to share more?
thanks!

Sergey84

I wonder if sagging headliner issue concerns any G55 including ones with Alcantara headliner?