Retrofit paddle shifters to W204 C250 CDI

[CitizenKane]

Hi

I have a C250 CDI with the 7 speed auto, but without paddle shifters (although it does have the “manual” shift function using the gear lever). Is it possible to retrofit paddle shifters myself and if so can it be done just by installing a wheel with paddles on it, or will it also require some coding or anything like that?

Thanks

 

[KennyN]

Did this on my `10 CLS , new steering wheel with shifters and coding was required to get them to work.

Depending on where the shifters plug into you may also need a new airbag.

IIRC it cost me around £300 all in , this was around seven years ago.

FWIW the changes will be no faster than using the lever or by letting the car do its thing , once the novelty has worn off you will question if it was worth the £££.

K

 

[AMGeed]

I doubt the wiring harness will be inside the steering wheel on your C250 CDi to enable shifters to be fitted.
If you have shift buttons already you may be in luck

G-Paddles - Fitting Instructions for AMG paddles!

This is all you need to know about how to fit our AMG paddles !

www.g-paddles.com

 

[BiTurboMercedes]

I did this mod on my 2012 S204 250 CDI.
The wiring was already installed in the steering column so I only needed to attach the paddles to the wheel.
I did notice that the pins on the paddles needed to be swapped.
Pics for your pleasure.

 

[CitizenKane]

Thank you for the replies and apologies for the delay in acknowledging them, I didn’t have notifications turned on so am only seeing them now!

@BiTurboMercedes - that’s very interesting thank you. I didn’t even consider attaching paddles to my existing wheel and instead I went and bought a second hand wheel with paddles already on it (I wanted to upgrade the wheel regardless to a “Sport Plus” one with red stitching). If it is indeed the case that the wiring is already in the steering column then I’m guessing it should equally work to just swap this wheel on. Although I read somewhere that I will also need to swap over the contact plate from my existing wheel.

Thanks again.

 

[CitizenKane]

Well, if anyone’s interested… I just installed a replacement steering wheel that had paddle shifters already on it and it works perfectly with my car. It was a straight swap, I didn’t need to swap over the contact plate from my old wheel or anything. The replacement wheel was taken from the exact same model and year of car (except that it was from a Sport Plus rather than a Sport), if that makes any difference. Very happy with that!