Anyone ever changed their ambient lighting on their 221?
 

On my 2010 S550, it supposed to have 3 colors but really only 2 noticeable difference. I checked what lights up the plastic bars and there are 2 tiny leds, one is blue and the other is kind of amber. It's one color or the other or mixed. I didn't really like the color so I added my own leds and now my new colors are red, blue, and purple. The colors are much cleaner and brighter than stock. The comand operates and dims the new lights. I have also added a module to further the color options and use. I can do any color choices and have it also do patterns and go with the music if wanted. The big thing is now I can choose a much better color option. In fact the choices are far better than the new S class with limited color range.

Nice job does it look aftermarket ?.

I added the LEDs myself. You can see it's much brighter. I'll post some other color pics later.

Okay that would be cool,I wish the 08 09 models had this !

You can do it on those years except if you want to have the comand operate it, it will be only one color of your choice or operate the colors through RF remote or your phone.

Damn really that would work for me I wouldnt mind using my phone I just got the 6 +, is it hard to install?

It's a bit of work but worth the effort. Does your car do just one color or three? Do you care if you had your comand operations removed to control the lights. You can do both remotely and by comand but limited to what comand options for lighting can do but it's a bit more technical to go this route. I had to build a circuit to make this work.

Ambient Lighting
 

I do not think my 2012 S350 has this option. Was it standard if not is it possible to get it fitted now?

I'm not familiar with the 2012 s350 but if the interior is the same, it can be done. Does your car not come with ambient lighting? Should have three options, solar, neutral, and polar.

I DIY on this would be epic. I have a 07 with one color and pretty electronically inclined. Would love some more info on this! Share the wealth!

Very nice! show where the LEDs are located that you replaced.

On the doors the factory uses one set of leds or led depending on the year towards the front of the car at the end of the wood panel. On the dash part if I remember correctly there is 3 of them. If your car does only one color and you only want one color of your choice, you could simply attach the power for the led to the power wire of the factory led on each door. What I did since I have a 3 color option I used RGB led strips. As easy as it may sound, there is a lot of trimming to do where the clear part where the factory led emits through sits on. It's the black part that holds the clear strip. The RGB strip does not curve the way you want to where the radio is and you need to cut the strip and attach wires to make that bend to make the connection. On some of the areas of the bend, I only cut two of the contacts and bend the strip and the gap areas I added solder to fit in between the gaps. Kinda hard to picture until you actually do the job. Because the led strip light is so strong, I had to diffuse the light so I added a strip of white vinyl and it did the job. I had taken some pics but they are not detailed for explanation as I did not expect to do it again or expected anyone to do this themselves because it's very tedious. I was planning to make kits for these cars so what I did was pretty much a prototype but when and if the time comes, I would have a much better and easier way for the do it yourselfer install it themself. Removing the door panels is easy as well as the dash wood trim. Literally the wood dash I can remove in less than one minute, there is only 3 screws and 3 panels to pop off. If you can accomplish all that and know how to trim parts with a dremel, then you are ready for the next task. The trick is on the power connection of the ambient lighting, it uses one common and two positive. Common RGB strips use one positive and 3 negatives. This is where you have to build a circuit. You can choose 2 out of the three you want to use for the 221 models that have 3 color choices and mix the two color choices for neutral so I choosed red for solar, blue for polar, and the neutral comes out a nice violet color. Now I went the extra mile and added a controler that is operated through wifi and can use RF controller as well so I got all three colors and now the color is infinite plus I have it move to the beat of the music. I didn't know what to expect when I got done but when I finished the task, the colors are just amazing. In fact more amazing than the new 2015 S because you have the green light. On the new S, you don't have green to mix, plus you don't have it flash to the music. Not for driving use of course, it's very distracting. For show, it's awesome! I am currently seeking smaller 0404 RGB chips and trying to get someone to manufacture them for me as this will give a more solid look without having to difuse the light from looking spotty. If you plan to do the RGB setup, you don't need to use the factory led wires. If you plan to do both operation of the comand for three colors and do the RGB through controller, you need to build a circuit to isolate the RGB controller to do the rest of the colors. I am working on another project which I will post soon that many would be interested in as well.

Where can we get the leds you added? any links?

This is pretty awesome. You must make a video. Im going to send you a pm.

You can see a partial video of the setup on youtube. It's under "Mercedes S550 custom ambient lighting"

Ok, you are good sir, very good. Is it friday night yet???

I finally found time to add some pics of the install. I only have a few pics as I was more focused on completing the job. If anyone plans to do the task, depends on the year weather you plan on using your comand for one color light, three color light 2010 year, or combined as you will need to build a small circuit to make it work. A lot of cutting and sanding was involved to make the led strip fit.

Wow, that seems like it would be fun to install and have. What type of module did you need to get to make this work?

can you post a link on where you bought the led strips from and other components?

You can buy led strips anywhere online but beware of the quality of the led chips. When they are priced cheap, it's because the led chips are cheap. This is not something you want to gamble on. It's a lot of work to remove and replace after all the work. I'm using a 300 5050 SMD 5 meter strip which is long enough for 4 doors and the dash. I'm looking for 600 5050 SMD 5 meter strips as the 0404 series strips are not available. I have played around with a few RF and wifi RGB control modules and a lot of them have pluses and negatives. Depending on your setup. I can recommend certain modules. I've played around with many at my expense. I settled onto one that works good for my needs. The important thing you must tell yourself, do you plan on keeping the comand unit to control one color of choice or if you have a 2010 221 to choose 3 colors. If you have a 2010 221, you must build a reverse circuit as RGB strips have one + and 3 neg for RGB. The comand sends 1 neg. and 2 positive out for single and mixed. I am currently looking for the right parts to make the RGB simpler for installation. The closer the RGB chips, the better the flow. There are three better alternatives and all three are not available on the market. I settled for the 300 5050 SMD RGB and they still look great. Just I want perfect! I am working on things for the 221 that are not available on the market for these cars such as the 4 cam setup for the comand screen to work for turn signal blind spot, front cam so you don't hit your front bumper on your lowered car and the rear cam. Some cool ideas that I'm currently working with a manufacturer on. And yes I will also have these available on other Benz models. I will have them made to look like they came OEM. Not some tack on camera setup. As things progress, I'll let interested people know. I'm also working up things for the CLA.

Another pic from the back of the car.

Would it be possible to post the circuit you are using please ,I would like to be able to use Comand as well as 'disco'?

Fi I would like to keep my amber Comand led as is(pre facelift w221), but then to be able with the flick of a remote or phone ; to get different colors or to be able to turn on and off .

Another thing, where in the dash can I find the Comand wire that controls all the led-strips?

mbmoding, this seems right up your alley. Stay on with you lights and turnh amber when you signal...

http://www.cwperformance.com/wp-cont...3/IMG_2760.jpg

https://mbworld.org/forums/members/h...re-a-23400.jpg


https://mbworld.org/forums/members/h...re-a-36938.jpg

That is also a good one too on the mirrors.

I drew a diagram of how to wire the factory lights to the controller. Now this is for the single ambient light. For the three color you have to use the dual transistor setup. If you plan on using the factory command for the stock ambient light color then you don't need to use this diagram. If you are planning to use the the factory command but use one of the RGB colors then this diagram is a must. This will allow you to use one color of your choice and control it by the factory command and have the option to turn off the lights from the comand center and use the RGB controller for choice of color. Personally I do not like the factory ambient color of light. Once you dial in the RGB color to your liking, you will not want to go back to the stock dim amber lighting. All the females just love the colors, it hypnotizes them everytime. It is a bit of task to do this job and for any first timer, you have to be good at soldering, dremelling, and running wires. It's somewhat a delicate job. It's easy to break contact on the RGB strip if you tug it the wrong way. Once done you will realize it was worth every minute you have put into it.