wdimagineer

A good friend came to visit me in Austin recently and we decided to take some pictures of my wagon, including various mods I've done to the car. I figured I'd turn some of the pics into a quick build thread. My goal with this car was similar to my other builds across various makes, which was essentially to build it as I would buy it if I were still living in Europe.

My modifications:

- Stitched leather airbag
- European MULTIBEAM LED headlamps (fully activated)
- European LED taillights (amber turn signals)
- European exterior mirror glass
- Rear cargo rails and cargo management system (including underfloor storage)
- European front sun visors (no airbag warning labels)
- Lots of coding to remove US-specific functions and nags

Enjoy!











































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Dunga

Very very nice. Interested in the stitched horn pad. Did you just order one that goes with the S class? Can you advise on cost?

CALBenzo

Nice!!! I'm also interested in the stitched horn pad!

tvitarel

Looks great. How did you get the european lights to function?

techno_violet

Nice build, car looks great. Also side-note: I love the update to the steering wheel for the MY19s. Changed the black plastic plates around the buttons to that metallic trim instead. Looks nice.

24Hours

yeah... and at what cost? Looks awesome! I want my pics to look as good as yours do. Thx for sharing.

wdimagineer

I flashed the headlight control modules and coded the car to support the feature.

E634Me

If I recall correctly, this required access to a multi thousand dollar programmer thingy, correct? Not something generally available to the average owner right?

If I'm mistaken, I'd be happy to run out and buy one right away

wdimagineer

Correct. Along with a contact or two within Daimler to make some changes to your vehicle's configuration in SCN.

jkob5

How could I do this?

wdimagineer

You can’t.

jkob5

That's what I figured ;(

Mandarin

Can you provide the contact to the shop that made it for you?

wdimagineer

I did this myself.

internet

of course he can...unless you're some kind of magician. he's just gotta find a magician willing to share info rather than strictly photographs.

wdimagineer

My "magicians" work for Daimler, and previously under me at VAG. They did me a favor which isn't an option for others if they'd like to keep their jobs. I'm sure there are other ways to accomplish this, but mine is survivable if a US-store ever SCN codes my car.

Responses like this are exactly why I don't share information on major projects like this. If you'd be willing to compensate me for the tens of thousands of dollars I spent on these retrofits, parts, workshop licenses, EPC/TIS subscriptions, XENTRY diagnostic hardware, ToughBook laptop, etc., please feel free. I've been glad to share part numbers and other things here since I've joined, but for certain projects, especially ones this involved, I like to keep to myself. I'm sorry if that annoys you.

internet

responses like this are exactly why people aren't willing to compensate you for the tens of thousands of dollars you spent on those retrofits, parts, workshop licenses, epc/tis subscriptions, xentry diagnostic hardware, toughbook laptop, etc. you dismissed ol' boy instead of saying "pm me if you're interested but just to forewarn you it's not going to come cheap"

my point was: you're not a unicorn. not trying to sound like a dick and, granted it's a longshot, but others may have the connections (and/or funds) to make **** happen too.

i'm cool with the headlights mine came with so i'm not offended by withholding of information. always willing to lend realistic perspective as warranted though.

wdimagineer

I'm certainly no unicorn, but my cars are. I appreciate your perspective. Perhaps mine might change if there were less demand for information and a bit more use of the word "please".

wdimagineer

Airbags are around $1,200 for the US-specific 2-stage model. I brought mine back from Germany. Unfortunately, I found out the S Class airbag is not a direct fit. Some modification was required.

Dunga

Understood. That’s what it cost me for the Audi airbag on my previous “unicorn” car ;-) I love me some leather airbag so I gotta sell it to the wife now. I’m sure I can bribe her with a nice wallet or something!!

Zach Norman

I know this thread is a few months old, but I just wanted to say how gorgeous your wagon is! I currently have a "unicorn" Mk6 Golf GTI with a Euro lighting conversion done. LED rear lights, high beam assist, European active headlight coding, etc, etc. I saw in a previous post that you are a Dual Citizen and you were able to register your car in Europe but keep it in the US. I am actually in the process of becoming a dual citizen in Lithuania and this is something I may be interested in doing in the future. Could you please fill me in on how you did this?
Thanks,
Zach

hyperion667

Are the headlamps different? In what way are they better and nicer?
Nice wagon

Zach Norman

They allow full Multibeam functionality. This video should sum it up.

hyperion667

Wow as hell......and they've been around since '16 damn! May your headlamps never break!

24Hours

Damn... that is sweet. I was happy with my lights until I saw this!