Goon

Hi ALL, just bought this '05 SL500 and a few things I'm wondering.

1) Looks like no bluetoooth for phone. Hard to believe. Our 05 Acura TL has that. I don't need the NAV so thinking of just replacing with an aftermarket stereo that gives me Bluetooth and the ability to plug in 3.5mm adapater for music. Is this a relatively easy thing to do with this car? Or is there a decent unit I can buy plus a wiring adapter and plug and play and still use the NAV feature of an aftermarket unit?

2) Trunk struts are shot. I looked at parts geek and they refer to "not compatible with remote trunk". I have soft close, and I see a trunk icon on my remote. So do i have "remote trunk"? Is there a special trunk strut I need? I usually just measure length and get a generic brand. I assume I don't want too much resistance on the soft close or the motor will have to work too hard??

3) Already had issues with the PSE blowing fuses. I see there is a rebuild kit on ebay with a new pump. I can't seem to find info on people who have actually tried the rebuild kit. Compared to the price of a new one, I thought this might be a good option. Anyone have any experience with this? The PN for my 05 is 2308000648. I also see many more PN 2208000548. Will this second PN work? Seem to be many used of the latter PN for around $200.

thnx very much for any help.

next2pool

The trunk struts are readily available from ebay or most parts stores at a very reasonable price. I don't think you have power open or close trunk but just the soft close. The key fob symbol will look like that for just the manual trunk.

Rudeney

Welcome, Goon! The radio replacement is a job. It uses a fiber optic system to send audio to an external amp. You'll have to run your own analog speaker wiring from the dash to the harness at the amplifier.

Goon

thanks for the replies. Looks like I'll be wearing my jabra earpiece again! Or find a Mercedes stereo install specialist. I'd be happy with a basic bluetooth head unit with the built in amp and 4 speakers wired into it. My hearing sux to the point that i don't hear the high ranges that well anyways. Only my dog will be disappointed

An ebay PSE rebuilder said these PNs are not interchangeable. I read others said the 20A fuse is borderline as the motor draws very close to that so they put in 25A fuse. i did that and it is not blowing fuses now, but i still think it was working too hard to blow fuses .

I wonder if door locks get a little sticky over time and if motor/pump has to work harder to lift them up/down? That is when my fuse blows, on the locks, not on the trunk. Could also be leaky airline somewhere too, making pump work harder.

Rudeney

If the fuse blows, then the PSI pump is bad.

Goon

Is it possible pump is working harder because of airline leaks, or an issue with PDL? It only trips on when trying to use the door locks. I see threads where people talk about these being a vane pump and they take apart and clean them up. Also, there is a small replacement pump that can be purchased on ebay for around $100. it is just the actual pump, not the whole assembly/circuit boards, etc... I was going to get my mechanic to look at that. OR a used pump is around $300 but I wonder if that might be a time bomb. NEW OEM complete pump assembly lowest price is about $850.

mercy-me

I agree with Rod. Motor is most likely drawing too much current and the cause of blowing fuses.

I recently replaced the motor in my PSE pump on my W220. Not a huge job but somewhat daunting. I ran into a problem with the replacement motor shaft being just slightly smaller diameter than the original. I had to dimple the shaft to secure the inner pump rotor. Not a big deal but my solution worked. By replacing the motor vs buying a completely different used or new unit was that I was able to retain the original circuitry programmed for the options on my car. Not sure if that would apply to the R230 as the air actuated options are limited so a replacement complete unit may not need to be programmed. Rod may have knowledge to share on that one.

Anyway, there are videos on Youtube to give you a flavor of what you will be up against.

Here is the one I used for my repair......


Good Luck,

Bob

Rudeney

I can;t help on the repair vs. used vs. new dilemma, but the pump does have an automatic cut-off to prevent overheating. If there is a leak that causes it to run continuously, it will shut down. This often happens when the trunk latch fails. There's a sticky at the top of the forum about various fixes for a leaky trunk latch. But like I said, if it's blowing the fuse, it's likely a bad pump motor.

Goon

Thanks everyone. Is this the correct forum to post tech-help questions for this model ? I was going to start a couple new threads to keep it focused. I did first oil change today. Was surprised how hard it was to find clear info. There is one drain plug towards rear of engine (visible after removing the 2 plastic protectors/skid plates). I drained a little more than 7 litres and local dealer told me they only drain from one plug . I had read there are 2 drain plugs, but i couldn't see the second one referred to as facing more forward towards driver's side . Since capacity is shown as something like 7.4 or 7.9L, I figured i got most or all of it. Really don't think I need to use a vacuum pump to suck out oil. My OEM filter came with 5 o-rings, 2 of which were the same size. I could only find 4 O-rings on the long rod the filter presses onto. A small one on the far end that goes in engine, a medium one half way up and the big one on top where it screws on. There was another medium size one a little higher up on the rod. i called dealer and they said 5th ring was probably an extra.

Noticed my front rotors are cross drilled and a little scored but braking feels fine. Pads are getting low. Do I need to replace rotors too ? Not sure if they have enough to machine them (I know a dealer would say replace). I don't drive that hard. I am getting Akebono pads. Any recommendations on front rotors, should I decide to go that route?

THNX!

next2pool

I wouldn't turn nor replace the rotors.

Rudeney

The SL500's M113 engine only has one drain plug. However, I think if you'd invest in a suction device and pull the oil out through the diptube, you'd appreciate the simplicity of doing the whole job from the top without getting dirty. And the suction method gets out as much oil as draining.

A word of caution on working on the brakes. Before you touch anything, you must deactivate SBC. Some will tell you to just pull a fuse or disconnect its wiring harness. That is sufficient to keep it from activating while you are dong your work, but there will be an important step missing. When your work is complete, SBC need to be properly activated so that it recalibrates the pad thickness. SDS does this, and I think that other tools like iCarsoft may also. Regardless, DO NOT work on the brakes without de-activating SBC!

Derbyowl

Older mercedes are no better or worse than any other older car. I have always bought older upmarket cars rather than new standard ones. One of my friends has a brand new Toyota hatchback every 3 years and pays around £3000 a year for the privilege. To them a car is just like a washing machine if it works its fine.

If you buy an older car you save on the depreciation or contract hire costs but you it will cost more in running costs and maintenance and you have to also put sometime and effort into looking after the car.

I have done this with 3 mercedes, a bentley arnage, a porsche 911, a bmw 7 series and 7 jaguars.

I reckon that my annual running costs are about the same as my toyota driving friend.

' You pay your money , you take your choice '

Goon

LOL, I sold my 2001 Camry to my brother. It was pretty easy to work on. My other brother had a Mini Cooper made by BMW. I always whined when i worked on it because it was something I wasn't used to working on, and it seemed to have more steps/more complicated than Japanese and American made stuff I was used to wrenching. Oil change via drain plug isn't bad for me because i have a 4-post lift.

Rudeney, thnx very much for the heads up on the brakes. I will do a bunch of research first.