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Finally decided to join the forum having lurked for a long time. I finally have a question to ask that I can't seem to find the answer for on my own lol.
I've owned several Merc's through the years (always as a 2nd / 3rd vehicle) and never being the one to absorb the high price of new (I'm a cheap).
Here's a couple pics of my 100k mile 2013 GL550 I picked up around 6 months ago. First thing I did besides servicing everything, was to install a different screen to get wireless carplay. I'm the type that always fixes my own stuff so pretty handy I guess lol.
Essentially, car has distronic but came with an illuminated star. As you can imagine, distronic plus wasn't exactly working good lol (vehicle would slam on the brakes while in the left lane passing a car on the right etc.,etc.,etc., and random failures). Had no idea until I dug further that the illuminated star (obviously some aftermarket hack job) wasn't part of the distronic package (pretty obvious after understanding the system), and once I removed the grill, system works great. Now I understand all the amazing comments about it (which I didn't understand before).
Anyhow, since the lighted star is "glued" to the existing grill and the grill isn't in the best of shape anyways, my question (which I think would be an easy one) is do the distronic and non-distronic grills accept both types of emblems? Meaning, I know the non-radar emblem has a carrier, plate, and the star itself (to make the 3d star) while the distronic star is all one piece (my understanding). Will both the 3d star and the 2d star fit in the same grill? Or did MB make the grill cutouts differently depending on if you have distronic or not? One star 1/4 rotates out and one star has clips so that's the confusion.
I don't want to go through all the hassle of ordering a grill (it will be aftermarket) only to have it not have the right opening. And since this has the AMG appearance package (different grill than the 450's / 350's etc.) if I get an aftermarket one for a GL63 (lookalike) for instance, is that star for a GL550 AMG package going to fit the GL63 (GT / etc. grill) or is the GL63 even bigger? The parts books are a joke not in looking up the parts themselves, but with the fact there's no descriptions to tell you what they mean for the different options.
Essentially, car has distronic but came with an illuminated star. As you can imagine, distronic plus wasn't exactly working good lol (vehicle would slam on the brakes while in the left lane passing a car on the right etc.,etc.,etc., and random failures). Had no idea until I dug further that the illuminated star (obviously some aftermarket hack job) wasn't part of the distronic package (pretty obvious after understanding the system), and once I removed the grill, system works great. Now I understand all the amazing comments about it (which I didn't understand before).
Anyhow, since the lighted star is "glued" to the existing grill and the grill isn't in the best of shape anyways, my question (which I think would be an easy one) is do the distronic and non-distronic grills accept both types of emblems? Meaning, I know the non-radar emblem has a carrier, plate, and the star itself (to make the 3d star) while the distronic star is all one piece (my understanding). Will both the 3d star and the 2d star fit in the same grill? Or did MB make the grill cutouts differently depending on if you have distronic or not? One star 1/4 rotates out and one star has clips so that's the confusion.
I don't want to go through all the hassle of ordering a grill (it will be aftermarket) only to have it not have the right opening. And since this has the AMG appearance package (different grill than the 450's / 350's etc.) if I get an aftermarket one for a GL63 (lookalike) for instance, is that star for a GL550 AMG package going to fit the GL63 (GT / etc. grill) or is the GL63 even bigger? The parts books are a joke not in looking up the parts themselves, but with the fact there's no descriptions to tell you what they mean for the different options.
The system is supposed to be recalibrated after installation but I mean if this is the star the car came with why wouldn't it work. But yeah removing the front star on a distronic plus car is SUPER frowned upon for this reason
The system is supposed to be recalibrated after installation but I mean if this is the star the car came with why wouldn't it work. But yeah removing the front star on a distronic plus car is SUPER frowned upon for this reason
Hi Chris! Thanks for responding
I do know what star to get (have one on the way). My main hurdle was knowing if the grill itself is designed to accept both types of stars to begin with. Finding an OEM grill that isn't already about as bad is mine seems to be a lesson in frustration. All sorts of "china" grills available (GT / Panamericana etc) but none of them say if they have the proper tabs to accept the Disctronic star and reading through some of the reviews, I find several they say the distronic star doesn't work with them.
So that leads me down the rabbit hole of simply trying to find a distronic grill (aftermarket or not) to put back on. It still boggles the mind someone would remove the distronic star, put on a lighted one (hack job with glue, thus ruining the grill), and ruining one of the nicest features of the car itself. After removing the grill, it was SOOOOOO enjoyable to drive with all the cool aids on / including cruise. It's a different car altogether.
I do know what star to get (have one on the way). My main hurdle was knowing if the grill itself is designed to accept both types of stars to begin with. Finding an OEM grill that isn't already about as bad is mine seems to be a lesson in frustration. All sorts of "china" grills available (GT / Panamericana etc) but none of them say if they have the proper tabs to accept the Disctronic star and reading through some of the reviews, I find several they say the distronic star doesn't work with them.
So that leads me down the rabbit hole of simply trying to find a distronic grill (aftermarket or not) to put back on. It still boggles the mind someone would remove the distronic star, put on a lighted one (hack job with glue, thus ruining the grill), and ruining one of the nicest features of the car itself. After removing the grill, it was SOOOOOO enjoyable to drive with all the cool aids on / including cruise. It's a different car altogether.
That one is for a W166, but I did end up finding one that works (I hope). So it's on the way. It's basically a GL63 x166 platform with radar and without front camera (like mine). So we shall see. Fingers crossed anyways.
I wouldn't have thought a grill would be such a PITA to find a proper one lol.
That one is for a W166, but I did end up finding one that works (I hope). So it's on the way. It's basically a GL63 x166 platform with radar and without front camera (like mine). So we shall see. Fingers crossed anyways.
I wouldn't have thought a grill would be such a PITA to find a proper one lol.
options have ruined cars lol.. everything is so much more difficult because of toys people don't even use on their cars..
options have ruined cars lol.. everything is so much more difficult because of toys people don't even use on their cars..
ive used my distronic maybe 4 times in 4 years
Haha, I don't know how you do it. I even use the cruise in a 30mph zone. It's flat land USA here and I drive all over for work. Cruise not working would almost kill me lol!
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