M-Class (W166) Produced 2012-2015

A question about interior lighting for 2014 ML350 US

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Old 12-10-2018, 12:36 PM
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Originally Posted by we47b1me
Not to beat a dead horse, but trying to avoid a 4th trip to the dealership in 4 months with the truck, but if I'm reading your post above correctly, the bottom red courtesy lights on the FRONT doors SHOULD illuminate without the ambient light (876 package) when the doors open (but not the rear). Correct? Mine fronts do not light up at the moment. I'm taking off the front doors to replace the speakers soon, so I'll be able to find out for sure when I see whether or not the bulb/wiring harness is there, but wanted to make sure I'm reading your post correctly too. Thanks Dr.

The front footwell lights are intermittent too. Sometimes they're one when I'm driving at night (albeit dim), and sometimes they're not on at all.
yes, that is correct if the front courtesy lights (Red/White) dont light up when you open the front door then you have to take it to the dealer because that is standard on all mercedes (either w or w/o 876). Now the front footwells should be dim when you drive at night and they turn off 5-10 seconds after you shut the engine down. see what the dealer says
Old 12-10-2018, 12:39 PM
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Originally Posted by drwolf
yes, that is correct if the front courtesy lights (Red/White) dont light up when you open the front door then you have to take it to the dealer because that is standard on all mercedes (either w or w/o 876). Now the front footwells should be dim when you drive at night and they turn off 5-10 seconds after you shut the engine down. see what the dealer says
That's what I assumed. So many electronic gremlins in this one compared to my old truck, and only much fewer knowledgeable users on the forums versus all of us who had taken apart, rebuilt, rejiggered, our W163's

The footwells are dim at times, and otherwise completely off. Will ask dealer as well. Will try and get her in before the holidays as I plan to retrofit the HK speakers I got at a pick and pull and eBay over the Christmas holiday too. That will be a fun project
Old 12-10-2018, 01:01 PM
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Originally Posted by we47b1me
That's what I assumed. So many electronic gremlins in this one compared to my old truck, and only much fewer knowledgeable users on the forums versus all of us who had taken apart, rebuilt, rejiggered, our W163's

The footwells are dim at times, and otherwise completely off. Will ask dealer as well. Will try and get her in before the holidays as I plan to retrofit the HK speakers I got at a pick and pull and eBay over the Christmas holiday too. That will be a fun project
why are you updating your speakers? if you dont mind my asking, the HK7 is a pretty bad-*** system, if you ask me, and im a huge audiophile
Old 12-10-2018, 01:08 PM
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Originally Posted by drwolf
why are you updating your speakers? if you dont mind my asking, the HK7 is a pretty bad-*** system, if you ask me, and im a huge audiophile
The HK7 is a great system, that's what I'm upgrading to. Basically swapping the 4 tweeters and woofers in the 4 doors with the HK speakers. I only have the crappy stock Audio20 paper thin speakers. I'm not doing the whole swap (meaning, I'm not messing with the speakers in the trunk pillars, the HK subwoofer, or the HK amp). The audio 20 head unit is still enough to power the swaped

out speakers, and then I'll re-evaluate from there whether or not I want to keep adding. I'm curious how the mid-range speakers in the front doors mount though -- I haven't picked those up yet (pn # 231-820-07-02). I see the hole in the speaker grille for it, but don't see how it would fit into the door panel.

See the picture below from a W166 with the HK system -- that's the HK woofer, but don't see where the mid-range speaker would fit. (Let alone the larger problem of the wiring not being there for the speaker since I don't have the HK wiring harness).
Old 12-10-2018, 01:11 PM
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Originally Posted by we47b1me
The HK7 is a great system, that's what I'm upgrading to. Basically swapping the 4 tweeters and woofers in the 4 doors with the HK speakers. I only have the crappy stock Audio20 paper thin speakers. I'm not doing the whole swap (meaning, I'm not messing with the speakers in the trunk pillars, the HK subwoofer, or the HK amp). The audio 20 head unit is still enough to power the swaped

out speakers, and then I'll re-evaluate from there whether or not I want to keep adding. I'm curious how the mid-range speakers in the front doors mount though -- I haven't picked those up yet (pn # 231-820-07-02). I see the hole in the speaker grille for it, but don't see how it would fit into the door panel.

See the picture below from a W166 with the HK system -- that's the HK woofer, but don't see where the mid-range speaker would fit. (Let alone the larger problem of the wiring not being there for the speaker since I don't have the HK wiring harness).
Big project ahead of you, good luck
Old 12-10-2018, 01:13 PM
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Originally Posted by drwolf
Big project ahead of you, good luck
Thank you!

Door removal seems straightforward based on some YT videos, so I imagine it will be plug and play as soon as I get them off. Just have to be careful and not break the clips. And thank god these speakers are Torx screws and not riveted in like the W204 HK system in.
Old 12-12-2018, 04:57 PM
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Originally Posted by drwolf
yes, that is correct if the front courtesy lights (Red/White) dont light up when you open the front door then you have to take it to the dealer because that is standard on all mercedes (either w or w/o 876). Now the front footwells should be dim when you drive at night and they turn off 5-10 seconds after you shut the engine down. see what the dealer says
Hey Dr. Wolf -- guess what? Before I took the truck in, curiosity got the best of me and I popped the red reflector on the front driver door. There's no bulb or wiring harness at all behind it. Just space.

Crazy, right?

Old 12-12-2018, 05:11 PM
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Originally Posted by we47b1me
Hey Dr. Wolf -- guess what? Before I took the truck in, curiosity got the best of me and I popped the red reflector on the front driver door. There's no bulb or wiring harness at all behind it. Just space.

Crazy, right?
you should have them in the front regardless,, yours is 2014 and it should be in the front, even w/o 876, have the dealer investigate further
Old 12-12-2018, 05:11 PM
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Originally Posted by drwolf
you should have them in the front regardless,, yours is 2014 and it should be in the front, even w/o 876, have the dealer investigate further
It's a 2015, if that would matter?
Old 12-12-2018, 05:19 PM
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Originally Posted by we47b1me
It's a 2015, if that would matter?
it shouldn't, i mean most the GL/GLS/ML/GLE ive recently seen have the front on
Old 12-12-2018, 05:22 PM
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Originally Posted by drwolf
it shouldn't, i mean most the GL/GLS/ML/GLE ive recently seen have the front on
what I've learned on this truck so far is to go look at one with similar options in the service department and see if it does (or doesn't do) what mine does 😂
Old 12-12-2018, 05:35 PM
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Originally Posted by we47b1me
what I've learned on this truck so far is to go look at one with similar options in the service department and see if it does (or doesn't do) what mine does 😂
haha, hopefully they'll bring it up to par. Your truck didnt come w the HK7 system?
Old 12-12-2018, 06:09 PM
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It did not, but I couldn't pass up the deal. 50k on the clock, 2015, all highway miles, Bluetec for 27k and was a CPO. Only thing it was missing was the HK system, and ambient lighting -- didn't think it was worth the 7-10k more for the ones I did find that had those options. This truck was spotless inside and out -- the prior owner was a traveling salesman so was only him in the car 90% of the time.
Old 12-12-2018, 07:02 PM
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Originally Posted by we47b1me
It did not, but I couldn't pass up the deal. 50k on the clock, 2015, all highway miles, Bluetec for 27k and was a CPO. Only thing it was missing was the HK system, and ambient lighting -- didn't think it was worth the 7-10k more for the ones I did find that had those options. This truck was spotless inside and out -- the prior owner was a traveling salesman so was only him in the car 90% of the time.
understandable, well i dont know how long you plan on keeping this one, but if you dont really plan to for long i would say wait it out until you get another MB GLE and you might find one with P3 package and that pretty much comes will all the bells and whistles you can think of inside the car including the HK7 system. Up to you, thats why i never went through the trouble of attempting to modify w/ambient lighting
Old 12-12-2018, 07:04 PM
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Originally Posted by drwolf
understandable, well i dont know how long you plan on keeping this one, but if you dont really plan to for long i would say wait it out until you get another MB GLE and you might find one with P3 package and that pretty much comes will all the bells and whistles you can think of inside the car including the HK7 system. Up to you, thats why i never went through the trouble of attempting to modify w/ambient lighting
Well I kept the W163 for 16 years and 325k miles, so we'll see how long this one will last! That's why I'm looking right now, only to do the audio upgrade.

And 1000% agree on the next one. Have the bucket list already ready, but enjoying this one for now!

Last edited by we47b1me; 12-12-2018 at 07:08 PM.
Old 12-21-2018, 09:19 PM
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Originally Posted by drwolf
haha, hopefully they'll bring it up to par. Your truck didnt come w the HK7 system?
Hey Dr. Wolf --

I've officially swapped out all the door speakers with their HK counterparts. Only speakers I didn't do are the D pillar ones. Can I ask you a huge favor when you get a chance though? The 2 mid-range speakers in the front doors sound a bit overpowering. When I installed them there was a foam piece there that blocked the grill on the door. I cut it out carefully as I assumed it was part #18 here in the diagram for cars with the non-HK system (to cover up a blank hole) - https://www.mbdirectparts.com/auto-p...ront-door-scat

I'm curious in your truck, if you shine a light in the speaker grill on the door, with the top hole, can you SEE the mid-range speaker, or is it behind the foam piece I cut out? (Meaning you'd only see the foam piece). I'll know how to proceed accordingly then

Thanks!
Old 12-23-2018, 01:04 AM
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Originally Posted by we47b1me
Hey Dr. Wolf --

I've officially swapped out all the door speakers with their HK counterparts. Only speakers I didn't do are the D pillar ones. Can I ask you a huge favor when you get a chance though? The 2 mid-range speakers in the front doors sound a bit overpowering. When I installed them there was a foam piece there that blocked the grill on the door. I cut it out carefully as I assumed it was part #18 here in the diagram for cars with the non-HK system (to cover up a blank hole) - https://www.mbdirectparts.com/auto-p...ront-door-scat

I'm curious in your truck, if you shine a light in the speaker grill on the door, with the top hole, can you SEE the mid-range speaker, or is it behind the foam piece I cut out? (Meaning you'd only see the foam piece). I'll know how to proceed accordingly then

Thanks!
here is the diagram as to how it would look in the ML/GLE



I'll check and get back to you
Old 12-23-2018, 01:21 AM
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Originally Posted by drwolf
here is the diagram as to how it would look in the ML/GLE



I'll check and get back to you
Sounds good --

Yeah, there's where the mid-range speaker is. In the ML's that didnt have the HK system, the interior panel in the door frame and the speaker grill are the same (meaning there's the mounting holes, and the hole in the grille) for the HK ML's. It fits right in as it should -- just curious on yours if you can see the actual mid-range speaker when looking thru the grille like you can the woofer.

Again, no rush, just curious! Thanks Dr!

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