jbondox

So first step is the new lights
Second is coded SAM Module
Third is the new wiring
Forth is the praying

Too much invested to give up now! Aftermarket HID system will not work, 8 kits later. I think I could of built a circuit cheaper than this, but, I like the new lights so... I will let you know by the end of next week... going on vacation

GregW / Oregon

Can inspect the cornering light closely (inside corner of light unit)? Is it LED? Also, take a close up picture of the whol rear od the unit?

YYZ-E55

Great work... but why didn't you go with the euro lights (no amber)?

xxGenericSNxx

This.

Anyways, curious how easy/ difficult the process will be.

katiesdad7

Step 5 is trading in for one with it from the factory.

jtorrebl

Agree 100%. And no amber in the strip that lights up as the parking light.

jbondox

the amber looks great, breaks up the look. And for step 5... Hell yeah! there is a lot more to it than I thought, but I am close... self leveling is a step now

jbondox

by the way, I needed the 2 self leveling modules and the control module for it. it is working, now i have to finish up the wiring and assy of the vehicle

katiesdad7

I'm wondering what the final cost will be for the parts. Labor is another story. :-)

jbondox

OK,

It is done 100% complete and functional. The vehicle had the halogen in it now it has the lighting package. Could I be the first in the world to retro this? I am claiming that I am the dummy that did this first unless someone else has done it.

Cost, I will have to work on the price, I am sure it is 3-4x the price of the option from the factory. But, if you really want it, and don't want to play with the aftermarket unreliable option that doesn't work 100% reliably regardless of the amount of band-aids tossed at it. I looked at it many times, tried 6 different aftermarket kits with cancelers and inline caps, designed 2 circuits, and powered it off it's own source. I even changed it in developer software to go from the PWM voltage to constant power, which only caused issues with the turn signals...

Further I want to say that even with caps and cancelers on the aftermarket kit, the right will flicker or go out when in reverse with the brake pedal depressed. The PWM is a 10ms pulse and when any of the other lighting such as parking lights, the PWM on this car was 2-5 ms pulsed power.

Trust me, I lost my mind on this. The closest I got was building a circuit that worked with the PWM and the resistance of the bulb, until brake or reverse... or the fact that when in auto lights, it would be an issue.

So next came the factory headlights, the power supply, reprogram SAM, rewire SAM, then we had turn signal issues again. same as when I turned it on via developer. digging through schematics I missed a part, the light control module. Next came that module and turn signals worked perfectly. what would happen is that the turn signals would flash 2x fast on cluster, but work normally with no issues, also a fault would show up on the cluster.

The light control module fixed everything, works off the CAN system and sends 2 LIN signals out to the lights, 1 left and 1 right.

After wired up, I tested and everything worked pretty good, but I had a nagging feeling I should of just hooked up the leveling sensors to the light control module. when I turned on I noticed the self adjustment took twice as long and wasn't really adjusted.

so I added the rear right and front right, wired it up, and ....

jbondox

... everything was perfect.

lights, running lights, DRL, turn signals, high beams, self leveling, and active curve illumination... works flawlessly. both in auto and with switching of the switch to on. Also the delayed lighting to light up your drive or walk when you turn the key off.

So in a nut shell, buy the vehicle with the damn lights, if you don't it might be cheaper to trade into another vehicle... or park it in a flood zone and let it float away...either would be cheaper than adding the factory kit to the ML.

Factory lighting package

•Bi-Xenon headlamps with Active Curve Illumination
•Adaptive Highbeam Assist
•Headlamp washing system
$1,290


This was about $4k and did not include the headlight washing system.

But it is possible. I will post more pics later but it looks like I am losing power as the lights were flickering... hell just like the aftermarket system I posted the other post early so I wouldn't lose it. not for the drama

GregW / Oregon

Wow! Quite a saga. The steering function works?

jbondox

active curve? yes. it works off the CAN system and translates it into LIN communications to the headlights.

or, are you talking about the cluster menus? they work also

jtorrebl

How about auto leveling?

jbondox

yes, auto leveling... just like if it came from factory

dgiturbo

Wonder if MB ran into these same issues when they were designing this why there was such a delay with the llighting package?
What an ordeal. Glad it worked out in the end.

jbondox

I just think it was demand out weighed supply

MLee

Talk about "a dog with a bone".

iankayem

Or was it supply underweighed demand?

jbondox

Regardless, I know for the amount of work I went through... and have the help of a SDS with developer software, that there is no way that MB would ever offer it as a conversion from their accys dept. It was beyond the comprehension of most of their techs. Not insulting their techs, but the ones that I talk to still can't grasp the various CAN systems, let alone MOST optical.

Also, it is no fun taking out the headlights, the bumper has to come off and for ease, the fenders loosened. I am still twitching after this nightmare.

tchracing

Hi, well done job.

I do agree with you that most Mercedes dealers will never offer this conversion, becouse its high costs.
But i am a Mercedes Diagnostic technician in Norway, and i did infact this ILS conversion a month ago for a customer on a ML, so i do not agree with you completely that the Merc techs isnt able to do the job....

Ofcourse it was a job who included alot of thinking and study, and in the end it worked perfectly.

The car i did the ILS conversion was a European car, but i believe it isnt much different from the US cars?

But again, this is very expencive conversion for the most owners, and i doubt i will do it many times becouse the costs.

Still i am very impressed with you who have done it on your car, more easy for me since i have all kind of wiring diagrams and Star Diagnostic system available.

TomC
Norway

27T

I agree on the amber. For me, it makes it more visually interesting. However, we are in the minority.

jbondox

Tom, I said "most" as not to insult the few that are technologically capable, such as yourself Congrats! you are now 1 of 2 in a world of almost 7,000,000,000