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2018 S560 Changed Fuse Layout - No Switched upfront
Unless I'm dumber than I look, the 2018 Driver's Left Front fuse box has changed and I can no longer find any switched fuses there to re-install my radar detector. I finally pulled out a test light and checked each one and the couple of "spares" and they are all now constant power. I looked in the pax side and it seems to be the same. If this is the case, finding an easy-to-get-to fuse may be tough. I hope I'm just missing something obvious, but haven't figured it out so far. I even looked at old photos I have of doing this in my 2015 S550 and it no longer works.
Here are photos of the 2018 fuse boxes, driver and pax:
I tried the startek link but found it less than helpful. It seems you pay $60/day to use it and I don't need a fuse diagram that badly. Maybe there's a limited version for owners, but I couldn't find it. I'll get back to looking for that mirror now.
Found the fuse diagram buried in the trunk and it only confirms what I tested - no longer any switched fuses in the front cabin. Diagrams online are incorrect as they show 2014-2018 as the same, which led to my initial confusion. No easy way I can see to tap a switched fuse for accessories such as radar and dashcams.
i can give you some tips but first like you I find it hard to believe that all power is there all the time. The obvious is to look up the fuse purpose and figure out from that, also MB keeps a lot of circuits on for awhile (? minutes) then relays cut out and remove power. Does the 2018 have the 48 Volt system btw? Some big unfamiliar fuses there.
My dash cam connects direct to the battery and then to some thing called a power magic pro that cuts power once the battery voltage drops, (adjustable) This so the camera monitors the car when you are gone. https://www.blackvue.com/power-magic-pro for info.
My curb sensor connects direct to the battery and is only operates when the car is running ie 13 v or more I think. (for my Vet forget the mfr)
There are some ways of rigging a solution for the obsessed.
Thanks for the suggestions and, yes, I went through the list to see anything obvious. There are even a couple of "spare" unused slots and they too get power with everything off. I used a regular test light and will hunt up my volt meter to ck again, but I think they changed it for some reason. It may have to do with the 48v system change but I'm not sure. For now, I'm going to run a line from the switched 120V socket in the rear of the center console to under the pax seat and connect there. I didn't want to go the power magic route as it still uses the car battery and if it ever malfunctions, will drain it. I bought 2 external batteries that will run a dashcam in park mode for 4-5 days. The big test will come on my August trip to the UK and the car sits in the airport garage about that long. I would have preferred a simple fuse tap to be the cleanest, but the nearest is now in the trunk and I'm not sure if there's a way to pass wire thru to the cabin without new drilling/holes.
No. I had to resort to concealed wiring of the cig. lighter wire. I bought a longer one to replace the original (so no mute button) but it is hidden pretty well now. Center cover/slider in car won't close with plug inserted and I just didn't prefer that kind of connection. Never could find any switched fuses in the front 2 fuse boxes. Did the same with my Dash cams, but they run to a remote/external battery for parking mode recording.
I'm sure it's possible, but not by me. Too many electronics in that camera housing and I have no idea how to (safely) remove that housing. The mirror itself appears to get power from up the stalk into the camera housing. I just got my ALP laser back from my old car (dealer removed) and I may take it to a shop for that. At that point, I could get them to do the radar. Had a radar forum guy do the ALP in my 2015 and he messed up the re-install of the front grille, which the dealer quickly pointed out to me. Makes me nervous about using some local "expert" who likely has never done it on an S-Class before and I would be the guinea pig, as I was last time.
the dealer where I purchased my S560 agreed to hard wire my radar detector next week, I will let you know how they did it
how did you mount your detector? did you use the suction cup or a bracket attached to the rear view mirror? I noticed BlendMount does not make a bracket for this car.
also, where did you mount it for best performance?
Mine is mounted high/right next to RVM where the cutout is. For now it is on a small suction mount, though I may switch it to a slightly smaller but similar mount that uses 3M double sided tape once I'm sure the position is final. That position is for best performance out of the 2 available windshield cutouts. The low center one works, but is right in your face and reception may be degraded. I wired it through the various headliner/side bolsters down and through the glove box with just a bit of wire showing from the box to the side of the center console. A mirror tap would be about perfect, but I remain reluctant to pull off that housing to look for proper wires. No blendmount type install will work on the mirror due to size restriction. It simply surprised me that they changed the fuse layout so much that there is no switched fuse in the front and no easy way I could determine to tap either of the 2 cig. lighter sockets. The dash cam in the photo is wired the same but terminates at a battery pack that I keep in the webbed pocket on the pax side. Pretty clean but I'm sure a pro could do much better. Rubber will really hit the road when I decide to put my ALP laser system back in (just got the components back from my traded in '15 S550). If I do a full pro re-install, I may ask them to re-do my other stuff and clean it up even more. Don't want dangling wires in such a nice interior and I'm sure you don't either with your mini-Maybach.
I'm not sure where exactly yours is mounted. I took a picture of the housing for reference. The consensus for best performance, at least '15 S550 with distronic, was high and to the right (passenger) side of the housing
I also took a picture of the neck to the RVM, it looks like there is enough room for a blendmount clamp, would have to be a narrow one, but I see narrow ones on their site, maybe I'll call them on Monday. However, not sure it would perform well at that location.
so my windshield radar detector was hard wired by the dealer today
they ran the wire to the fuse box on the drivers side in the engine compartment, running wire down the side pillar to below the dash to a grommet separating the cabin from the engine compartment, accessible by pulling back the carpet
they replaced the grommet with one made to pass wires through it, then created a separate switched circuit for the radar detector, apparently there are open spare circuits available in the fuse box.
very clean installation, with the only wire showing being the one short piece plugging into the side of the unit
so my windshield radar detector was hard wired by the dealer today
they ran the wire to the fuse box on the drivers side in the engine compartment, running wire down the side pillar to below the dash to a grommet separating the cabin from the engine compartment, accessible by pulling back the carpet
they replaced the grommet with one made to pass wires through it, then created a separate switched circuit for the radar detector, apparently there are open spare circuits available in the fuse box.
very clean installation, with the only wire showing being the one short piece plugging into the side of the unit
Running it through the firewall to the engine confirms my belief that there are no longer switched fuses in the cabin. I may look into doing something like that (or having it done), but I'm curious how accessible the grommet is? If it's in reasonable view/access, could you possibly take a shot of its location? Thanks a lot for continuing to check on this.
Running it through the firewall to the engine confirms my belief that there are no longer switched fuses in the cabin. I may look into doing something like that (or having it done), but I'm curious how accessible the grommet is? If it's in reasonable view/access, could you possibly take a shot of its location? Thanks a lot for continuing to check on this.
apparently, according to the dealer, its just under the carpet and easily accessible below the dash on the drivers side, I will have a look and take a picture if I can find it
06-01-2018, 04:36 PM
