Hello Everyone,

Thank you in advance for any help here! This is my first post so please forgive me in advance if I make any faux pas rookie mistakes.

I have a 2015 S63 Coupe I am going to ship over to Europe. I have a few questions regarding the technology and potential updates.

GPS/SATNAV/MBUX - Can this be updated with software to mimic EU spec models, updated maps, sign recognition etc?

HEADLIGHTS - is there a EU setting? I drove a recent 750i I drove into the UK from France and it asked me if I wanted to update the headlight setting to be locally compliant. Since lights are adjustable and move was hoping this was also possible option.

FUEL - EU gasoline is minimum 95 octane, usually 98 is available. Will pumping higher octane fuel pose any issues for a US spec car?

LICENSE PLATE - I will use the car with a Florida tag while it is in EU, and we only use one tag in Florida on the rear. To remain compliant with regulation I will need to display the registration on the front bumper. I plan on putting a simple white with black lettering vinyl sticker, in the smallest size legal. Anyone have any experience with this and the effects on the paint?

Greg

 

There are other threads on here that have discussed some aspects of this, so do a search. But a few quick answers to your questions.

GPS etc. - Yes it can technically but not sure what it takes. Mercedes and other German brands used to have a program called European Delivery that allowed one to pick up their new US spec car at the factories in Germany and drive it around for a while. I did that with an Audi back in 2013 and most recently with my current 2019 C63S coupe. While in Europe, Mercedes loaded the EU maps and everything was working including traffic sign recognition. Didn't have live traffic, though, because the online services couldn't be activated while in Europe. I believe your 2015 uses SiriusXM for traffic, which is not available in Europe. Speaking of SiriusXM, satellite radio also doesn't work in Europe. Europe has DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) similar to HD Radio in the USA, but requires it's own receiver.

HEADLIGHTS-- No there isn't. US spec headlights are not legal in Europe. You will have to actually replace them with EU headlights. As for the travel setting you refer to in order to adjust the headlights between LHD and RHD that is also not available in US spec cars. Older EU models had a tourist mode setting to manually adjust it, while more recent models do it automatically via GPS as you experienced in the 750i. While I was in Europe with my C63 I was considering driving to the UK and inquired with MB about the headlight setting for driving in the UK, but they basically couldn't clearly tell me if the setting was there while the EU maps were loaded. There are stickers that you can buy to adjust the light beam and avoid blinding everybody, but I ended up dropping off the car in Germany and flew to the UK for the last week of my trip.

As for the legality of the US headlights, just to give you an idea, I got flashed constantly. For the short duration I was driving my US spec car the headlights didn't have to be changed, but they were clearly bothering oncoming traffic. Modern EU lights now darken the areas of oncoming traffic uses an LED matrix. My car technically has the same hardware, but it's programmed differently to mimic traditional high beams.

BTW, the other thing you have to change are the tail lights. The indicators in Europe have to be amber. The US red indicators are not legal.

FUEL - Europe uses a different octane rating system called RON. The USA uses AKI. 95 RON in Europe is equivalent to 91 AKI in the USA. 98 RON is about 93 AKI. Having said that, because 91 AKI is the most common premium fuel in the USA, the US spec engines are tuned to make the rated power at 91 AKI/95 RON, whereas in Europe the same engines require 98 RON. In my case with my C63S, MB/AMG actually retuned the engine for EU octane fuel and then when the car arrived in the USA, the VPC (vehicle processing center) retuned it for US grade fuel.

LICENSE PLATE - So I'm not quite following here, which may also be related to the headlight comment above. Are you saying you are gonna be driving around with Florida plates in Europe? For how long? Sooner or later you gonna have to register the car in Europe, which is when headlight requirements etc. come into play. As long as you are essentially a tourist and the car is not registered in Europe, you can drive it around as-is, but there is a limit for how long you can do that until you must register the car. Also vinyl stickers for the front license plate may not be legal in the country you are going to. I know it's legal in the UK, but I don't think it's legal in continental Europe unless you are a UK tourist visiting.

 

Hi !

we can do all that by remote