turbocad6

hey guys I know the mod scene on the R class is really minimal but personally I guess I'm just a modder at heart. I've done a few mods and have a few more in mind for the future and thought it couldn't hurt to share them here.

first thing I did as soon as I got my R was to figure out how to stick an android tablet in the dash, really this was the only thing that was absolutely mandatory to me and had to be done right away, I really couldn't stand using the stock command for nav, especially since androids nav with live data for traffic is just so awesome, and I really like internet radio and listen to pandora all the time, and of course there are many other really cool things a tablet like this can do. really this wasn't even optional for me and I had to do it one way or the other, just came down to a matter of exactly what way I should go to achieve this...

I really didn't want to butcher the hell out of my new (well, new to me ) benz, so after serious thoughts of several different ways of doing it I decided to go conservative with only a 7" screen and keep the whole factory harmon kardon intact, but try to really keep a factory appearance too. part of me really wanted to go with a bigger screen but this would have required much more extensive butchering. to me custom sucks if it looks tacky, many times adding functionality winds up being an act of function over form but here I really didn't want to take anything away for my beautiful new benz. as a modder at heart I guess I'm not opposed to butchering and altering stuff if it's really necessary to achieve a mod, but at the same time I also would rather not butcher and work with the factory design rather than against it too if possible. I decided to do this in a way that is 100% returnable to stock and really only had to cut a few easily replaceable parts, yet achieved the factory look I was after.

here is a few pics of progress, it's at ~ the 85% done point and has been at this point since about 2 weeks after I first got the R, still a few cosmetics I need to clean up and finish off some of the custom trim around the climate control and still need to finish up a few button modifications but I do these little tweaks as I have time







I can't even begin to tell you how awesome a tablet like this is in the dash, I love just speaking any address, or say the name of any place I want to search for and then just clicking on the screen to navigate to my destination . I love having live traffic with real time travel times based on this data and having the ability to just click on "routes" and have it show me up to 3 alternate routes, the traffic on each and where, and estimated travel time for each, among so many other things

I found room for the climate control and am able to get it to look perfectly at home in the forward storage compartment of the console but I really can't find any place at all to install the button panel without it looking tacky. sticking it in the console compartment or glove box goes way against my goal of factory looking so I decided to buy a spare button panel and use this to modify further, separating the whole huge button panel which I have no room for down to separate more manageable pieces. for example the seat heater switches are pretty tiny and can fit almost anywhere, I think Ill install them just forward of the center arm rest, they would look at home there I think. the airmatic raise and the sport comfort suspension switch and the ESP off button I decided to group together and install them just forward of the gear shift knob on the little wood trim piece that's just right of the steering wheel. a progress shot of this as I'm building it




anyway I guess this first post has been long enough here, I've got a whole lot more text to add about wheels tires and suspension but for now I'll just upload some pics and add to this after. this is also a work in progress as I tweek and tune suspension height vs. tire size vs. offset, and I'm also working on building my own interface to raise and lower my suspension under my control, more on this after, a few camera phone night shots for now I'm including several sots from different angles to see the overall stance as it is so far. I really think I want to remove ~6-8mm on the front offset, it's just slightly too far out to be really perfect I think but I'm still at the deciding stages of this I guess



























anyway, questions and comments, good or bad are always welcome, especially on my wheel tire combo which is a bit different from the majority of R's that are modded with wheels, I wanted a bit more sporty and aggressive look yet still want enough rubber to drive it like I stole it on the streets and highways of NYC year round. can't say I'm 100% sold on my tire choice yet, but just wanted something on there to start with and measure from so I started with these as mock up and so far I think I'm really liking the stance and ride

turbocad6

oops, forgot to mention the wheel specs... these are ML63 AMG wheels from an 07-08 ML63, the tires are taller than the stock R size, the tires are 265/50-20's. the stock overall diameter on the R is ~29"-29.3" depending on wheel size, these tires are ~30.6" overall diameter. I like them for 2 reasons, one is the extra cushion of the taller side wall and the other is the way it really stuffs the wheel well and makes the wheel gap so much less, in effect making it look lower than it really is... to lower the R to the point of very little tire gap with a 29" assy you would wind up having to go a bit too low, where here I can get to the point of almost not tire gap yet still have adequate suspension travel.

I know some are going to think the tire is so tall that it makes the 20's look like 18's, especially these 20" wheels with a lip, but honestly I don't really mind this so much, I'm more looking at overall stance and attitude, even though they aren't low profile tires the overall look and stance looks pretty beefy and low and aggressive I think...

socmninja

I love the tablet. If you did it yourself, could you post "how to" pictures and a step by step?

capn_shawn

Definitely like the taller tires. SUV's just don't look good in ultra-low profile.
Nicely done.

turbocad6

I took a few pics as I built the tablet install but there on another phone that I've got to dig out when I can, I'll def get some better pics and show more of how I did the tablet.

as far as low profiles on a big truck like vehicle I think they can look good low profile with the right setup, but in too many cases the end result either winds up looking like it's just sitting too high, or it winds up being lowered to the point of it looking good but sacrificing wheel travel and ride quality too much, and it can def look awkward a whole lot easier that it can look great. many times when done poorly it can look like a football player wearing glass slippers and imo most trucks in general with low pro's are just sitting way to high visually, low pro's require low car to me

done right with the right stance low pro's can be beautiful too, but I already have another suv with the staggered 22's, nice and low and sick looking yeah, but the 22's really can't be used in the winter in nyc, I bent all 4 of them up in about a year and they were high end custom 3 piece wheels too, here is the R parked behind it to see the difference in the tire sizes, the rear wheel is bent and the tire is flat on the fx, I haven't driven it since the last pothole attack bent the crap out of them








... once the freezing weather comes, the potholes come as water goes into all the cracks in the road and then freezes overnight and just pops big chunks right out of the road, leaving some nice at least 3-5" deep wheel killing potholes that are like driving in a mine field... yes you can drive with low pro's in the winter, but it will really cost you in the long run

this benz is my daily driver and I use it for work too, I really wanted something more practical yet still have an aggressive attitude and stance. I can hammer some pretty nasty stuff with these 50 series tires without cringing every time I jump a curb or hit a pothole and I think they still look pretty good.

my R came with the 10 spoke 18's. I really liked them but they were just a little too small, if they made that same wheel in a 21" I'd be all over that, the styling was very fitting to the R I think. these wheels are used factory amg wheels but have some minor curb rash and blemishes here and there. I picked them up cheap planning to just refinish them and get new tires, but they arrived not looking too horrible so I decided to waste a few bucks mounting and balancing them as-is with my original 20" tires from my fx that I still had laying around, as a test fit and so I can get some good pics to play with wheel colors in photoshop and decide exactly what size tire I really want and if I need to remove any offset from these wheels.

at first I expected to want either a 275/45 or maybe a 295/40 but the more I look at these 265/50's the more I think I may just stay with the taller tire, it's kind of growing on me here's some more phone shots I took today, I need to dial in the perfect default ride height so I can get a wheel alignment.almost perfect where it is but I think I want just the front very slightly lower. after alignment the front wheels will no longer be as negatively cambered, the top of the wheel should come out a litle bit and then they may look like there sticking out even more than they do now, I may have to remove ~6-8mm from the front offset to make it perfect I think. the broken grille I just hit someone a few days ago and haven't figured out what I'm going to replace it with just yet, I might build a custom grille for it. also without a doubt need some big brakes here, this thing does not stop on a dime that's for sure, or I'd still have a grille without a few missing teeth

houseofdiesel

Nice pics, like to see the R with different wheels/sizes. Personally I find the offset too small from the ML wheels (I have ML63 designed Assanti wheels in 22") and they are too flush with the sides making the car dirty/road rashed too much. I went back to 18 for now...love your tablet install, show some pics of were you relocate the buttons!

turbocad6

hey, yeah, been pretty busy and never got around to finalizing the remote mounted buttons.
right now the way I have it setup, I have to tilt the tablet panel down to access the button panel which is behind the tablet atm,
but I am relocating them to be much more proper and accessible.
I will relocate the emergency flasher triangle and the cluster of buttons directly around them at the top of my steering column,
and the 3 main buttons for sport/comfort/normal suspension, vehicle raising and the button to turn off the ESP
will be in the wood trim panel right next to the ign switch...

here is the button panel I'm building into the wood trim:





and here is a shot showing how the tablet slides into place when installed or ejected.
the lower wood panel is hinged to allow it to open to eject the tablet when necessary






I would love to have the time to finish this off 100% cosmetically but tbh it is fully functional right now as-is
and I rarely access the button panel as I always leave it in sport suspension and sport transmission mode,
so it's not very high on my priority list right now...
also need to finish off the cosmetics of the bezel itself,
the little hole you see on the bottom edge is for the internal microphone for the tablet,
turns out both tablet mic's are mounted behind the tablet and this particular tablet has no provisions for an external mic
so that little hole was necessary for voice control, it's tunneled with a path directly to the mic and works fine now
but I need to clean it up cosmetically... eventually

turbocad6

oh, and as far as sticking out to much, I usually judge this for myself by weather the wheel tucks or hits the fender edge, if it fully tucks into the well without hitting the fender edge at all when fully compressed then to me it's not sticking out too far, and these wheels fully tuck on my R when the suspension is fully dropped. actually if anything the rears could come out a bit even but not too anxious to start screwing with spacers and stuff, overall I think I'm satisfied with the stance and wheel fitment for me