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I know this is an old post, but was curious why you would import a US MB into Germany, the home of MB?
I would think you would be able to get a much better deal in Germany?
I personally get asked that same question all the time here in Sweden, where imported MB's from Germany are a dime a dozen. The reason why I purchased mine from the US (sight unseen) was because it was a very unique Designo edition SL, in seemingly great condition, and the total cost including shipping, import & customs fees, etc, was about the same as what a similar (non-Designo edition) MB would cost in Sweden.
These are the steps to change the country for the instrument cluster:
1. Start DAS and establish communications with the vehicle.
2. Navigate to "Control Units" > "Information and communication" > "ICM - Instrument Cluster with maintenance interval display"
3. Navigate to "Control unit Aaaptations"
4. Select "National variant coding"
5. Choose a location from the list.
I can't promise this will unlock the MPH/KMH menu, and i am not sure which country to choose (maybe Canada or Rest of World?) but that's where the country setting is for the ICM.
I can validate that theses instructions worked for 08 sl550 in USA. The dealer was skeptical but it worked and they charged 30 min labor. The odd thing is that after the update when in reverse my passenger side mirror tilts down for better view. My Audi used to do that and I loved that feature so not sure why people outside USA get this and we don’t.
On models where you can't you can always add the conversion to VDOK then do a online SCN coding
For this you need a full, less then 1 year old non Chinese Xentry as most don't want to do Online with those anymore (trojans stealing SCN logins)
Other solutions that always work is Vediamo for older cars
or
DTS Monaco (only on Sd Connect C4+) and does not work on Kline
Last edited by pmercury; Jan 25, 2020 at 05:30 PM.
I can validate that theses instructions worked for 08 sl550 in USA. The dealer was skeptical but it worked and they charged 30 min labor. The odd thing is that after the update when in reverse my passenger side mirror tilts down for better view. My Audi used to do that and I loved that feature so not sure why people outside USA get this and we don’t.
it shouldn’t have been the update that caused this. I think I know what happened.
In most German cars you have a mirror adjustment switch and below it is a little switch that says L/R so you can decide which mirror you are adjusting.
When done adjusting mirrors If you leave it on L everything operates normally. If you leave it on R then the mirror dips when reversing.
i think someone changed yours when the car was in for service.
had a neighbour with a BMW complaining that his wife drove the car and the mirror stopped dipping in reverse. We flipped the switch and it worked again perfectly.
2005 R 230 SL350 (M112 3.7). Sold the 1966 W113 230SL recently
Not sure if it’s me being confused about the above mirror adjustment, but just sayin’ that for cars with the mirror tilt function there’s a simple adjustment procedure.
Ignition on - select passenger side mirror - adjust tilt - press ‘M’ in door - press mirror adjustment button. If the mirror doesn’t move now, you’re good.
The function is toggled in settings - convenience - mirror setting when parking.
350 SL, R230 - 300 SL, R129 - 1964 Corvette Sting Ray Sport Coupe - Porsche 911 Twin Turbo (sold)
Just as Frederick NL says
Originally Posted by bha
it shouldn’t have been the update that caused this. I think I know what happened.
In most German cars you have a mirror adjustment switch and below it is a little switch that says L/R so you can decide which mirror you are adjusting.
When done adjusting mirrors If you leave it on L everything operates normally. If you leave it on R then the mirror dips when reversing.
i think someone changed yours when the car was in for service.
had a neighbour with a BMW complaining that his wife drove the car and the mirror stopped dipping in reverse. We flipped the switch and it worked again perfectly.
xclens wrote: Just having it in digital form won't cut it, it needs to also be km/h for the big gauge
If you need to have to have the speedometer gauge showing km/h i suppose the only and best option is to buy new dials showing km/h as shown on the picture here. The link to the comany that sells new dials is below: https://www.heiler-tachodesign.de/SL500
Price for the dials starts from 150 euros
Yes, that will do the trick, i changed faceplate also on my 55 from 200 miles to 330 kmh. also guys changed so digital reading was in KMH
350 SL, R230 - 300 SL, R129 - 1964 Corvette Sting Ray Sport Coupe - Porsche 911 Twin Turbo (sold)
If i imported a US SL, R230 and i am not a big fan of the size of the US license plates (but i for sure like them on my 1963-67 Corvette ) i would take off and replace the plastic outer lower trunk lid license plate panel and replace it with an European spec trunk lid lower panel
I had the bottom off of my SL, R230 since the "nuts" for the license plate was spinning around so i had to replace those nuts and this is a very easy job
Then you have the Euro spec lower part on the trunk lid which i think looks better here in Europe. But i have no idea how much the panel cost
But it is good that we all do not have the same taste
The plastic outer lower trunk lid license plate panel is taken off on the picture below
Originally Posted by xclens
It should work just fine!
Here in Sweden the Transportation Department has the option to choose "US plate" when they first register our imported cars. If they see that the regular wide plates don't fit, we get a much smaller (much better-looking) plate. The guy who registered mine was nice enough to let me have the smaller US plates both front and back.
These are the steps to change the country for the instrument cluster:
1. Start DAS and establish communications with the vehicle.
2. Navigate to "Control Units" > "Information and communication" > "ICM - Instrument Cluster with maintenance interval display"
3. Navigate to "Control unit Aaaptations"
4. Select "National variant coding"
5. Choose a location from the list.
I can't promise this will unlock the MPH/KMH menu, and i am not sure which country to choose (maybe Canada or Rest of World?) but that's where the country setting is for the ICM.
I can confirm that with the instructions above worked on my 2004 R230 SL500. I was able to convert my US imported car into Canada to KPH. The instructions were exactly correct and I used Canada as the location. I just got my DAS from an indy that closed. I have some learning to do.
Last edited by craigmac215; Aug 27, 2022 at 03:10 PM.
Guys, I am a living witness on how difficult is to adapt your mind from Miles per hour to Kilometers per hour and vice versa..!
I grew up in a country where KPH is the usual unit and most vehicles have the KPH speedometer. Unfortunately, when I came to the US in 1985, cars didn't have
the digital displays that we have nowadays...just analog! So, my mind couldn't judge the speed in MPH on this Camaro 1984..! So, I took a piece of clear tape wrote the equivalent KPH on it and stuck it to the speedometer! Then I could tell how fast I was going!
VERY happy to have found this thread. We just imported our 2003 R230 from the USA to Canada and I need to have the speedometer changed from MPH to KPH. I'll take Rudeney's instructions to a local independent shop and see if they can help. While I have not had any experience with our local dealers yet they all get bad reviews for their service departments.
Cheers,
Bob
VERY happy to have found this thread. We just imported our 2003 R230 from the USA to Canada and I need to have the speedometer changed from MPH to KPH. I'll take Rudeney's instructions to a local independent shop and see if they can help. While I have not had any experience with our local dealers yet they all get bad reviews for their service departments.
Cheers,
Bob
It was honestly no more than 5 minutes of pressing a few buttons in STAR once I had received Rudeney's instructions. I hope the thread helps you, and enjoy your new SL!
) i would take off and replace the plastic outer lower trunk lid license plate panel and replace it with an European spec trunk lid lower panel
