I have noticed that we only seem to get the auto climate control panel here in the US, while in other parts of the world they have the option of a manual climate control panel. Anyone have any experience with these, and if someone wanted to, could possibly retrofit one of these into a car to avoid the problems associated with the auto units? I don't have a car myself to play with yet, but I was not sure if you could just swap one in if the auto unit went south or not. It sounds unusually simple, hence my question. Thanks in advance.


Travmonster

i have looked at doing this as well as the euro climate control system is far more reliable, you can actually achieve the result you are seeking, and in many early models, it is a dual zone system.

to do what you are proposing will most likely be more trouble than it is worth. the euro climate control is cable driven and would require the re&re of the air distribution box. to do this, you would have to disassemble most, if not all, of the dashboard. a heck of a lot of work and the air distribution box isn't exactly cheap or easy to come by out here in north america.

__________________
'94 W124.036 249/040 leder; 8.25x17 EvoIIs
'93 W124.036 199/040 leder; 8.25x17 EvoIIs, up in flames...LITERALLY!
'93 W124.036 481/040 leder; euro delivery; 8.25x17 EvoIIs
'88 R107.048 441/409 leder; Euro lights
'87 W201.034 199/040 leder; Euro lights; EvoII brakes; 8x16 EvoIs - soon: 500E rear brakes
'70 R113.044 050/526; factory alloys; Euro lights

I guess it is a bit more complicated than it looks. Oh well, it seemed like a possibly good way to keep from having to drop a bunch of cash on the auto stuff. After I posted that message I thought "I wonder exactly how that thing actually works- if it's an auto system, it's prolly operated by vacuum and servos, and if it's manual, it's prolly cable driven like the rest of them are. Don't know if it's that easy or not." Thanks for all the info, very helpful.

I had a US 280E and bought a euro 280E to use for a manual 4-speed conversion. The climate control on the US car was kaka and I spent an afternoon looking at what would have to be ripped out and re-installed and concluded it was 'way too much work. I mean it made the 4-speed conversion pale in comparison.

But I agree totally with your premise that the manual is a better arrangement.

__________________
Chuck Taylor
Falls Church VA
'66 200, '66 230SL, '96 SL500. Sold: '81 380SL, '86 300E, '72 250C, '95 C220, 3 '84 280SL's '90 420SEL, '72 280SE, '73 280C, '78 280SE, '70 280SL, '77 450SL, '85 380SL, '87 560SL, '85 380SL, '72 350SL, '96 S500 Coupe

I went as far as buying a control panel for a Euro W126.

The US ACC has a 5 or 6 speed (depending on year) resistor pack while the Euro control switch has 4 speeds. No big deal.

The US ACC vent flaps are driven by vacuum motors while the Euro selector switch pushes and pulls two cables. It wouldn't be so bad except that two cables can't easily be used to control 4 flaps.

Other issues like using a dual zone temperature controller in a single zone car are easy to resolve. Unfortunately you have to retain the ACC temperature control unit, which to me is no more reliable than the push button unit, so you can use the thumbwheel to control the heater monovalve and AC compressor.

In the end, you don't get rid of a lot of unreliable parts.

I wish someone would offer a manualized push button control unit. I mean one that ignores relative temperatures and sets the flaps based on the button pressed and cycles the compressor and or monovalve depending in proportion to the position of the thumbwheel. I'd gladly live with 3 blower speeds.

My living with 3 126s is a testament to the rest of the engineering because I would not put up with this type of ACC in a lesser car.

Can we talk about radios next?

Sixto
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

I also want to convert my 92 400E HVAC system, but only to control the fan speed manually at certain times. My thoughts were to use the high-speed fan circuit and install the Euro fan switch, or a variable control switch. Any thoughts/ideas about accomplishing this?
enjoy your drive
timreid

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timreid
1992 400E
euro lights
500E sway bars
210 16in wheels

If the 124 is similar to the 126 it won't be too difficult. You'll have to 'intercept' the temperature controller signal to the blower controller as well as the push button unit signal to set the blower on max when defrost is selected. Thinking about it, you probably don't have to intercept the defrost signal since you want the max blower setting in defrost.

Sixto
91 300SE
87 300SDL
83 300SD

Or you could just buy my car or any W123 240D with AirCon