I was thinking of buying the Mods4Cars SmartTop but then I realised I had an AutoPi.

[Conor]

And the award for the most drawn out thread title goes to...

Anyway.. has anybody got the Mods4Cars Smart Top control, which among other things, lets you:

* Remotely drop the roof
* Allows you to control the root while moving

I was kind of tempted by it but then remembered I got AutoPi (2nd gen) a few months ago and not played with it yet.

Supposedly it has CAN bus sniffing ability.. so in theory I should be able to build remote roof open/close myself? What do you think?

.. I am also aware there is another thread where I promised a review of the AutoPi and I am getting to it. I've just been incredibly busy the last two months.

 

[rorywquin]

Yep. Had one in my SLK & now another in my SL. For the money, I wouldn't bother to try to build one, but interested to see your efforts.

 

[sl500amgsport]

I have it in my SL great but when the car has been left a few days and I activate it refuses and sound horn 3 times. I guess it is complaining the battery charge is too low as all works perfectly once engine started and car has been driven.

Mercedes SL500 R231

 

[Blobcat]

I’d like to get one for my SLK once the salary starts

 

[flowrider]

I've thought about buying one but can't really see the value in it. I think the smartop is about £350 which, IMO, is a lot of money to remotely open your roof.

 

[sl500amgsport]

I've thought about buying one but can't really see the value in it. I think the smartop is about £350 which, IMO, is a lot of money to remotely open your roof.

Not just that though, it allows you to open/close upto 30mph (ie if it rains you do not need to pull over), sets seat position, mirrors etc when entering car (no standing in rain holding button) and amongst other things allows you to permanently disable eco stop/start saving mechanical bills!

Mercedes SL500 R231

 

[John Laidlaw]

I had the smart top in my SL and it worked brilliantly - took it out and another member has it in his SLK now

 

[Trev1964]

That would be me.
Proper piece of kit and i highly recommend it.
Remote opening is only one feature out of loads.
I like the fact it allows you to raise all 4 windows when roof is down.

 

[Conor]

Assuming when you guys refer to it, it's the Mods4Cars one, yea?

I think i'll hold off, mainly because I already have the AutoPi.io and it's only a nice to have. I think I would rather spend that money getting the paint work touched up..

 

[Conor]

Interested to see your efforts.

Me too, I am really excited to get playing with this thing.

 

[rorywquin]

Me too, I am really excited to get playing with this thing.

I seem recall some other person trying to make his own and he eventually gave up.

Lots of wires to consider never mind the electronics.

 

[Chrishazle]

Must admit it's something I also considered for my SLK, for comand.co.uk to fit when we had both cars down to them, but as the bill for the work already planned was well into 4 figures (and worth every penny) I decided it was "a bridge too far" for the moment

 

[flowrider]

Not just that though, it allows you to open/close upto 30mph (ie if it rains you do not need to pull over), sets seat position, mirrors etc when entering car (no standing in rain holding button) and amongst other things allows you to permanently disable eco stop/start saving mechanical bills!

Mercedes SL500 R231

Still not enough for me though to justify the price, if it was £150 then maybe but I dont think I would get enough use of it to justify the cost. In 3 years of owning my SL I have never had the requirement to do any of those things.

 

[LostKiwi]

Still not enough for me though to justify the price, if it was £150 then maybe but I dont think I would get enough use of it to justify the cost. In 3 years of owning my SL I have never had the requirement to do any of those things.

With you on this. Usually if it starts raining I'm somewhere doing more then 30 so would have to at least slow right down so may as well find a suitable stopping place for the 15 seconds it takes to close the roof.

Now if it were like the Smart where you can open and close the roof at over 80 mph....

 

[Blobcat]

With you on this. Usually if it starts raining I'm somewhere doing more then 30 so would have to at least slow right down so may as well find a suitable stopping place for the 15 seconds it takes to close the roof.

Now if it were like the Smart where you can open and close the roof at over 80 mph....

Not if the side pods are out though...

 

[Chrishazle]

Just wish I could find a way to put the small rear side windows of the SLK up with the roof down - even though we have the wind deflector SWMBO in the passenger seat, side window up, complains about the draft - but then shell always find something to complain about (as in God gave women orgasms so they could moan even when enjoying themselves!).

 

[Blobcat]

Just wish I could find a way to put the small rear side windows of the SLK up with the roof down - even though we have the wind deflector SWMBO in the passenger seat, side window up, complains about the draft - but then shell always find something to complain about (as in God gave women orgasms so they could moan even when enjoying themselves!).

Put the seat all the way down. I don’t notice wind over the shoulder because of the small windows being down. I’ve a net wind deflector in mine.

BTW did you know with a double tap of the roof switch you can lower all the windows with the roof up. Or with the roof down lower both front windows together.

 

[Conor]

I seem recall some other person trying to make his own and he eventually gave up.

Lots of wires to consider never mind the electronics.

View attachment 58747

Interesting..i believe you wouldn't need all that with the Autopi as it goes in via OBDII and sits on the CAN bus that way.... Open to correction though.

Currently sitting in West London waiting for recovery to take me home with a misfiring engine!

This experiment put on the back burner again.....

 

[LostKiwi]

Not if the side pods are out though...

Oh I don't know....

 

[John Laidlaw]

With you on this. Usually if it starts raining I'm somewhere doing more then 30 so would have to at least slow right down so may as well find a suitable stopping place for the 15 seconds it takes to close the roof.

Now if it were like the Smart where you can open and close the roof at over 80 mph....

You can now do it at higher speeds, just wouldn’t recommend it! I did like Being able to get the roof down remotely before getting in the car