I am not a W223 owner, but one W223 forum member @DoctorDash here have referred me to a coder who successfully coded his W223 for ILS+ INTELLIGENT LIGHT, so thanks so much DoctorDash.

I researched him well, and spoke with him on the phone. I posted about my experience with him in the W222 forum as he does coding for both W222 and W223, and I currently drive W222.

Just wanted to share. If you want to know more, see copy of my original W222 thread below (or link below)
https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...ml#post8746472

No affiliation whatsoever, just a happy customer sharing knowledge. Enjoy your W223s everyone!

--------- Copy of my original thread ----------
Just sharing my experience working with one of the companies who are well known in the hardware retrofitting coding area for German cars based on what I concluded from their previous work and reviews. After I recently learned they are the only one offering W223 coding and successfully helped some members here, I asked few members if they tried him for W222, and answer was positive.

I did extensive review of his previous work in BMW forums and his reputation is high, so I contacted him to learn more about his services for Mbenz and W222. He was easy to work with, responds immediately on WhatsApp, he always does a (connection test) before you pay a single penny, and offer a nice gesture of free AMG theme coding (at least in my case) before booking a formal/final appointment for all you coding needed. Plus, they do not have any minimum coding service amount.

I hired them as they offered me ONE THIRD the cost that other coders are asking for (I did not negotiate, simply accepted, fair enough). They also do coding FULLY REMOYTE without requiring you to buy any equipment that must be shipped to you, and without you needing to pay for renting any equipment (so no shipping delays back and forth, lower cost, etc.). It is all 100% remote, and you only pay reasonable amount for his coding time which was really quick.

Process (finished same day, took 2 hour from first contact to finish):

1. I contacted them around evening US time "morning time for them" (they have WhatsApp number ). Responded within 15 minutes.
2. All I needed is a cable from Amazon for W222 (if you have W223, ENET cable "OBD-to-Ethernet" is all you need which you may have already or find anywhere locally or $20 Amazon). For W222, if you don't have it already, he can suggest you a 30 bucks OBD-to-USB cable from ebay (also available on Amazon Prime) which I already had in advance as I used it before for coding on my BMW X7.
3. Once cable connected to my laptop, via TeamViewer he did my coding in 15-30 min coding (he stores a backup of your initial settings)
   • I did ILS+ (amazing how it works)
   • And I also did (Engine Auto Start/Stop last setting memory) coding.
   • He did some AMG logos and theme coding for me at no charge. I thought about europ-spec's height which he can do, but still not sure if I really want it; might try it later for a few days and reverse it if I don't like it.
4. After coding was done, he called me on WhatsApp and had his camera/video opened to check on everything and that all was good and am happy with the service. The video chat call made the experience a bit more personalized and makes you feel comfortable that you know who you deal with. He stayed with me during a test drive and also walked me through the menu step by step to make sure I know how to control the new features I got and that they are working.

According the coder, his method does NOT keep records or history or traces in the car for access. The business owner name is Max, very very nice guy and highly recommended company feel free to direct further questions to him, I am just a happy client. Check them out on YouTube, outstanding reputation in other BMW forums, and did very complex retrofit work on Mbenz and German cars based on what I saw on his YouTube channel.

A few members here on the W222 have already hired him, and that's how I knew him. They are welcome to share their experiences here too.

Disclaimer again: I have no affiliation nor any relationship or connection with this coding company the owner of this business; I am simply a happy costumer sharing experience for the benefit of the Mbenz community here. Not the first to use him here; he was referred to me by other members here.

 

I was also referred to them. I’ve been WhatsApping with Max and he seems very knowledgeable and is very proactive/responsive.
Seems he has quite a bit of coding options for W223 and I that’s needed is the OBD cable I assume either to Ethernet or USB.
I can’t compare costs since I’m not familiar. But what he has offered seems very reasonable.
I’m mainly interested in activating the rest of the Digital Lights in addition to other options such as Active Lane Change Assist, Traffic Sign recognition, speed limit and seat belt chime.

 

has anyone had the 10 degree rear steer coding installed by max? he offered it during our exchange, but I'm just a bit worried of doing a non-OEM install of a feature that, if something goes wrong, could be catastrophic.

something going glitchy with lights, though not great either, i feel is less of a catastrophe.

 

Very legitimate concern, indeed.

Even if nothing goes wrong while on the road, how would a MB dealer looks at your car when it needs regular service. They surely will know your car is not supposed to have the 10-degree rear axle steering. Will they deny any service or warranty work associated with it? No one knows for sure except a dealer, I reckon.

 

All of these tweaks are great—until they’re not. Should the modified vehicle be involved in a serious accident, where fingers are being pointed at the manufacturer, when the MBUSA lawyers find out the car has been modified, they will blame everything on the modifications and disavow any responsibility. Same goes for warranty repairs. If you need something out of the ordinary and they find the car modified, good luck. It’s not nice to fool with Mother Mercedes!

 

i hear u... and agree with the concern.
i don't think the rear steer code is in the cards... I'm quite satisfied enough with my 4.5.

but with the ILS+, I'm still contemplating is it worth the potential of something going awry. I'm assuming it's a very simple software execution... I'm just too unfamiliar with this subject matter to truly understand the risks. eg, could a glitch with merely the light coding cause a malfunction with the accident detection system?? who knows! 🤷

 

These are all factory options being coded. I can only speak to myself, I've had every bmw, mercedes and audi coded for the last 17 years and haven't ever had an issue. If you search MbenzNL on here or if any forum members here are OG's they remember back in 05/06/07/08 when Steve would come over from NL to the US for months on end and retrofit our cars with every EU part known to man. The dealers have zero clue whats coded, do you think there service guys even know what things like Vediamo ior DTS Monaco? There's literally zero chance of these guys knowing you activate some factory option. The ONLY time this would become of concern, you have 10 degree steering coded and there is some issue and you try to warranty something that isn't on your build sheet. You would have to have it reverted back to 4.5 degrees and then bring it in for service. Coding for ANY other Mercedes aside from 206/223 is simple, cheat sheets for coding are widely available along with seed/key keygens. For most of us its easier and cheaper to pay someone like Max or Ninja then to go through all the hoopola. This 223 is the first car i haven't coded myself as it requires a ZenZefi certificate which hasn't been hacked yet. I can assure you once its hacked, just like every other model the coding sheets will be aplenty and it'll be easy peasy once again.

 

About that 4.5: The inference I would make is that you have the AMG wheels which means you can't use the 10 degree with those wheels; they're too wide. That I'm aware of, two posters here have added 10 degree steering after picking up some vanilla wheels. You most certainly can do it; the hardware is the same and the 4.5 is strictly a software limitation. If you think about it, your wheels already are at the mercy of the software switch you say you don't want to be at the mercy of...

Coding is reasonably safe as modifications go as long as you stay out of the driveline. It should be kept in mind the lights are a setting, you are not altering the software. These kind of changes are fairly safe in regard to both warranty and liability because you're initiating a change that the factory has already thoroughly tested for you and sold to others on what amounts to the same car.

 

Has anyone been able to convince their service advisor to perform the upgrade? I thought I read that someone asked theirs and they said no, but I know things are always consistent on the dealer end, unless it’s being explicitly restricted by MBUSA, which I would find hard to believe.

I’m going to ask mine later.

 

If it has been done no one reported it. My dealer says he can't and even if he could he wouldn't. This because, yes, it is explicitly restricted. They are not supposed to enable features or options from another region that are restricted in theirs. Or at least that's what one dealer said, perhaps you'll get a different answer?

The why is a good question. They are supposed to test them for regulatory conformity but as far as I can tell they don't have to undergo testing.

 

the stock 20" amg wheels don't work with 10-degree rear? really??

 

I'm going to post here what I posted in the identical thread in the W222 forum, because I think its important to think about:

Do you really know though? Isn't this the first time you have coded an MB? Be careful what you think you know and advertising that assurance to others. I will be the first to tell everyone, I know nothing about this. An MB is not a BMW and is not a Lexus, just because you have experience coding a BMW doesnt mean you do a Mercedes.

I'm not sure what you do for a living, but I am a professional who charges a premium for my time because of my massive experience and expertise. Something takes me 5-15 minutes takes that short a time because of that experience and expertise...I don't charge for time spent, I charge for the many years of experience that go into the time I spend. So, I understand where BenzNinja is coming from, he has a ton of experience and a long long list of satisfied customers here at MBWorld and a track record of nothing going awry. He is not wrong to charge for that experience vs someone only a few people have used and who has no track record or commitment to the community.

People get offended by what I charge sometimes too, and I'm not the professional for them if they want the cheapest person. I'm not somebody who automatically wants the cheapest person.

I think we would all benefit then by having that reputation and background in coding shared with us here. One red flag for me is he told a member it would work on a Mac, and when asked he had never actually tried. I have a hard time imagining BenzNinja would say that having talked to him and had him work on my car. Professionals don't tell customers things they don't know to be true.

I'm not saying that Max is not a good solution for coding, I'm just saying that looking at it myself BenzNinja is clearly a safe solution for coding, and for me I will pay $700 for that vs $200 (plus having to buy a PC laptop and cable, so $350) for something I don't really know every day of the week. If I was that worried about $350 I wouldn't drive this car. You can also buy the equipment BN needs, and there is a group share computer here on the forum thats an option as well. I think we need more infortmation about who Max is and what hes done before I would be comfortable choosing him.

 

Correct; that is the reason the AMG package (by whatever name) is limited to 4.5 worldwide.

 

And this is an example of the difference, BenzNinja would never code that on a customers car until he was sure it would work. I don't want to be the test case.

 

@Sonic Boom urs is 20" with 10-degree rear?

 

@SW20S you seem to be on a mission to promote Ninja and at same time demote other new alternatives. If so, good for you, if am wrong, am sorry but my point is let the people decide and let people try (folks are as smart as me and you to make decisions). They ask questions here, and they learn what is safe and not safe to code.
If there is a guy who SUCCESSFULLY coded ILS+ on W223 and is truly THE ONLY one who could offer such service on the W223 now, then they deserve to be talked about. If others are still in their testing phase, good for them too.

 

Just a reminder for everyone, coders as coders if they can code something for you and get paid for it, they will most likely do it; however always do your own research and check with the community in advance. Some forum users here have way more knowledge than any coder, and certainly can advise you on what makes sense or don't (so it's always good to check with the community here). On the 10 degrees coding for W223 AMG packages, i think it is worth considering but certainly there are risks (If I had a W223, I would have asked here first). In all cases, there is going to be some (first beta tested) guys always. For any coder, he will have to have that type of user willing to try it out. If you are interested to be that person, good for you and thanks for sharing knowledge. If not, simply ask your preferred coder to get back to you when he finds someone to test it out for you.

If I have a W223, I am a risk taker, and I would have probably tried to code the 10 degree coding. But, I am not suggesting you any of you should try it.

 

I'm not on a mission to promote anybody, but I don't see how you can say with a straight face that I am promoting BenzNinja and you are not promoting this other guy. I mean....come on...look at this objectively. Why does it offend you that I am skeptical of this guy?

What I want is for people in the community to have different points of view and to be able to make good decisions. I am extremely skeptical of someone who would code 10 degree rear steering on a customers W223 without being able to say affirmatively that the 20 inch wheels will clear. Mercedes limited that for a reason. That alone would keep me from trusting what he says is safe and what isn't.

With that said, I don't know that I would have an issue with him coding things on we KNOW are safe, but as a professional I respect BenzNinja's professionalism in that he WON'T code things until he knows they are safe, and I like to reward that with my business.

 

I thought it’s legally allowed in our region now? What reason would MBUSA have to explicitly restrict it?

 

No dealer will ever do any coding...even though its allowed they won't take on the liability. Now, if you have a local mechanic that has access to the system, they might...I will ask my MB Mechanic if he would do it.

 

@SW20S I don't know much about the 10 degrees discussion nor that I have seen the conversation; but in all cases, as I said earlier, I would not trust either coders on any new tricky coding. I would still do my research before asking for such services even if any of them claims he tried it before. Non of them is a W222 or W223 owner anyway, so in many cases we know MORE ABOUT THE CAR than they know. Ninja for instance claimed that my car needs NighVision detection coding for animals as it detects people only... Wrong..that was for pre-facelift only, while facelift has enhanced animal detection line code already turned to "Aktiv"... and I captured a snip of that line that myself when my ILS codes was done... My car detected a deer twice already anyway. I have had multiple conversation with him and found that he lacks a lot of knowledge in the difference between facelift and pre-facelift and tried to sell me services that my car already has (just like animals night vision detection). The same way, Max lacks some knowledge in these vehicles too. We the owners are still responsible to do our own research first.

On the safe coding notes, I agree with you on that note. I would only do safe coding if am not a risk taker, and for that, I would still do my own research.

I dealt with "contacted" both of them, and I found Max to be as knowledgeable. I am a software tech person myself and I do code both BMW vehicles I have, so I have relevant background. I hired Max just like a few others here, and he always answered all my questions in a convincing manner. Felt comfortable working with him just like you felt with other side. As DoctorDash already mentioned, there is no magic or nuclear science anyway in any of these services, but it's the license they own. In all cases, he remains the only one offering W223 coding, so for people wanting even the simple coding services, he earned my trust enough that I felt comfortable sharing my experience here about working with him for my car.

 

But you don't have a 223...thats part of why this whole thing seems a little...off...to me. Share your experience sure but you are selling his services to owners of a vehicle you don't have, you have no experience with this vehicle. Let people who have the W223 and have used him bring that to the W223 community.

 

Well turning on lights seems pretty benign especially from a dealer perspective. I know Audi dealers would turn on or off features like preventing the rear window shade from rolling down on reverse if requested. They would just charge you the hourly labor rate. Of course these items can also be coded by anyone using Carista, etc., without risk of warranty exclusion.

 

He did coding on the W223 ILS+ and that how I knew about him (through users in this W223 forum who recommended him to me); later I did my own research about him, found threads on BMWs forums about him, verified him and talked to him. As a courtesy to W223 friends here, specially those who referred him to me and hired him even before I did, I reported back to them. I had conversation with some of those here, and one of us was going to share his experience, and we agreed then that I can start the thread if I have the time, so I did; they later chimed in with their experience.

 

Dealer is just never going to code on an option that the manufacturer coded off for this region. There are some changes they are authorized to make, it was the same way with Lexus. Carista etc isn't going to code stuff like thus