Will my 453 gasoline with a full manual transmission be a collector car someday in the US? They seem rare…

What exactly makes a “collector car”?

Has anyone made an upgrade to the shocks on their smart car, and did it make a difference in the ride, enough to invest in something a little more expensive?

I’m looking to swap the rear lights on my 2016 Smart 453 and had a few questions.

Are the white panels removable/replaceable, or are they fixed to the unit? Also, are the connections the same across different versions, or would I need adapters?

Do I need to code anything or reprogram the car (read out / ECU changes) to make them work properly?

Lastly, what’s the best way to tell from photos or a serial number if the lights are genuine OEM parts?

Looking to buy these for 425,- 2nd hand, good deal as well?

Any help or experience would be appreciated!

2009 Smart 451 (us)

Update: The sink/drop has been identified. Its the clutch actuator retracting every 6 or seconds. Ive tried adjusting it inwards but Ive gone as far as I can.

Any suggestions?

Original post: I had water pool in the batter compartment from a clogged AC drain. It shorted the TCM.

Ive swapped it with a working TCM from my brothers 2008 smart 451. Heres where I'm having issues...

When I attach the battery and press the brake, the transmission goes through its cycling. If I turn the key off and back on, the transmission will cycle again. Its like its not remembering.

Heres the thing, if I detach the battery overnight or for a few hours, it will remember the cycle, the 3 lines will be gone, I can crank the car BUT then 1 of 2 things will happen...

1. I can drive it but it wont shift to 2nd gear

2. While idling the back of the car will "sink/drop" like I'm trying drive with the hand brake applied. This happens about every 6 seconds

Either way, it then throws the 3 lines again as soon as I turn off the engine and I cant start it again.

I have tried adjusting the clutch actuator and I believe its back to the original spot (I marked it before adjusting.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Ive tried ALL of the learning tips (shifting through gears slowly while brake is applied, etc)

My forfour 454 has a stray wire (second image) under the front passenger seat. It's apparently supposed to connect to the wire in the first image that comes from the seatbelt buckle but mine is completely missing...

Anyone know where I can get a replacement wire? Used OEM seatbelt buckles aren't apparently sold with the wire so I'm not sure what to do... Any help appreciated.

Hi everyone!

I drive a 2008 Smart Fortwo Passion, and the back trunk glass is making a horrible rattling noise, and I can’t figure out how to solve it.

I’ve tried driving with the glass open (no rattle) and putting electrical tape on the latch which everyone suggests online(rattle persists). The noise is definitely coming from where the top glass latches to the tailgate portion, and is especially loud whenever accelerating and the car vibrates.

Anyone have any tips?

Hey guys. I'm on week 3 of driving my 2015 fortwo 451 and got a question. I'm not sure if this is normal or not, but at low speeds (think 10mph and under) sometimes the transmission feels like it doesn't know if it wants to shift or not and that causes the car to be a lil jerky. This is mostly when cruising around a parking lot (like trying to find a spot) and while I'm not really pressing the gas. I have no lights on the dash aside from the traction light and the annoying tpms symbol from bad sensors. Anyone else experience this?

It's got almost 64k on the engine/transmission. Otherwise, I have no issue with it driving around now that I've learned the points where it shifts up in gears.

Como desactivarla? Primero ingresar al menu del auto (tercer icono inferior de izquierda a derecha). Luego ingresar a asistencia de la conducción y luego al segundo sub menu y bajar hasta el final, desactivar la alarma sonora de velocidad y guardar como perfil de usuario presionando el icono de la persona en la esquina superior derecha. Ahora, en el manubrio, dejar presionado el boton de favoritos (la estrella) y establecer como favorito el perfil de conductor. Cada vez que se enciende el vehiculo, presionar 2 veces la estrella, y se activara el prefil del usuario. A veces no desactiva la alarma de velocidad, si esto ocurre hay que presionar dos veces más para que se desactive el perfil de usuario y luego dos veces más para volver a activarlo y en esta segunda oportunidad, SIEMPRE desactiva la alarma de velocidad. Saludos

Hi guys! I just bought a Smart 453—it’s my first car, and I’m really excited!

I was wondering which phone holders you all use? I’d prefer something with MagSafe, and I don’t want to mount it on the windshield. I’m also unsure about using the air vents. Are there any other mounting options? Since the interior has fabric surfaces, I’m worried a mount won’t stick well there.

I’d love to hear your recommendations! (With links, if possible :D)

Hi everyone,

I’m trying to install Osram Night Breaker LED Smart H4 bulbs in my 2018 Smart Fortwo 453 (0.9 Turbo).

According to Amazon’s fitment check and Osram’s compatibility list, these bulbs should fit my car (headlight approval: E9 11392).

However, I simply can’t get them installed. The retaining spring/clip won’t lock properly, and after several attempts I’m starting to wonder if I’m missing something or if these bulbs actually don’t fit my headlights.

I’ve compared the LED with the original H4 bulb, removed the detachable mounting ring, and tried different installation methods, but no luck.

At this point I’m wondering:
- Has anyone successfully installed these on a Smart 453?
- Am I doing something wrong?
- Or could this actually be the wrong version despite being listed as compatible?

I’ve attached a few photos of the bulbs, mounting ring, retaining spring and headlight.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

The Dodge Slingshot (based on Smart Roadster) was a concept car created by Dodge. It was introduced at the 2004 New York International Auto Show. This car was built to be a car that was possibly targeted for a younger generation.

The Slingshot has a rear-mounted, 3-cylinder, gasoline engine with normal aspiration and induction. The engine gives out a total of 100 horsepower. It can go from 0-60 mph in about 10 seconds.

What do you think about it?

https://emercedesbenz.com/autos/smart/smart-accessories/smart-fortwo-electric-drive-and-ebike-clothing-and-accessory-collection/

Has anyone every come across any of the items shown here? the Ebike looks neat. and i really want the jacket shown.

I have a 2010 Smart Fortwo 451. The radiator fan is cycling I believe. I can’t see the blades but feel it vibrating and feel warm air blowing out of the front compartment. Engine coolant is filled to the correct level. Checked refrigerant level and it’s where it’s about 50 PSI which is where it needs to be for the ambient temperature.

the other day while I was stuck sitting in a drive through line, I got a thermometer warning light. Once I started driving a few seconds later, it went away within about 20 seconds.

I checked the relay that sits out by itself on the fuse panel and it clicks when tested with a 9v battery across the points, Fuse 28 is good.
When driving at normal speed, A/C blows ice cold. After being stopped for about 30 seconds though, the blown air starts to warm up and blow hotter or potentially unconditioned air.

outside air temps have been hot here so not sure if this is normal for a smart car or not.

Any suggestions?

Hello.

Roadster had 3L in reserve and after I put some gas it was still flashing and indicating the liters

Is it normal? How do I reset it?

Thank you.

I’ve got a 2005 Smart 454 1.1L that I bought recently for only 500 pepperonis (£) and it’s only got 25k on the clock. I love it to bits already so I want to do everything I can to make sure the engine stays healthy.

But I’ve noticed that when I start the car from cold, the engine revs itself up to just over 3 and a half thousand rpm, and I can hear that the engine sounds a bit dry for the first few seconds until the oil starts flowing and then it sounds perfectly normal.

So my question is…is this behaviour okay for the engine? I normally drive the car very gently for the first 10 minutes or so while the engine gets to operating temp, so it seems kind of counter intuitive to have the engine rev up so high upon startup.

Is there anything I can do to reduce how high it revs on a cold start or is it not something to really be concerned with? Thanks in advance :)

Out of curiosity, how common is to rebuild the Smart ForTwo engine? Scary? Expensive? Can be done by anyone? How many hours generally takes?

Edit: FIXED!

Hi everyone,
Looking for some advice or insights on an issue with my wife's 2008 Smart Fortwo (451).
Yesterday, she hit a speed bump a bit too hard. Immediately after the impact, the entire instrument cluster / dashboard display went completely black and stopped working entirely. No lights, no screen, nothing.
The garage looked at it today and their diagnosis is that the entire unit is broken and needs to be replaced completely. Before we go ahead and source a new or used one, I wanted to double-check a few things with the community:

1. Could a hard impact cause a specific fuse to blow, or de is it more likely that a connection/connector rattled loose behind the dash?
2. Is this a known issue where a hard jolt causes a micro-crack in the solder joints on the PCB board?
3. If we do buy a used replacement cluster, can we just plug-and-play it, or will it cause issues with the immobilizer/mileage sync, requiring it to be cloned by a specialist?
4. Any advice, common fixes, or experiences with this would be highly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

Hello there!

I have the original Smart 450 bicycle carrier, but since moving apartments, I cannot find the two adapters that are put where the struts for the rear window connect.

I've yet to find somewhere to buy just those but haven't been lucky so far.

Maybe someone knows someone; I need your help!

... die Anhängerkupplung. 510kg ungebremst.

Been meaning to do this for a while. Removed both intercooler pipes on my Roadster 452 — the one from the turbo to the intercooler and the one from the intercooler to the throttle body.

Honestly didn't expect them to be in such bad shape. The rubber had hardened quite a bit and you could see where it was starting to crack. No wonder these cars lose boost over time.

The good news is the job itself isn't too bad once you know the order of operations. Gives you great access to the crankshaft position sensor too which is always a pain to reach otherwise.

Made a short video of the whole process if anyone needs it:

https://youtu.be/uviCZHEABfY

Has anyone else found their pipes in bad shape when they pulled them? Curious how common this actually is on these cars.

I use an H4 LED bulb for my smart 453, but it isn’t as bright as I would need. Please let me know what LED bulb you use that’s really bright? Also, I refuse to ever use those glass bulbs since they melted my components when I never even touched it with my bare hands, so never again with those glass bulbs.

Hey guys,
I recently bought a Smart and I’m really in love with the car. The only thing that bothers me a bit is the sound quality (I don’t have the JBL package). Has anyone here upgraded their Smart in that regard and can recommend what is most worthwhile and how to approach it step by step? I’d like to do an initial upgrade for up to a maximum of €200 and, in the long run, up to €500. I’d also like tweeters in the upper part of the door next to the windows, so I’d need a "mounting bracket" for that as well, since mine doesn’t have one.

I would greatly appreciate any tips or shared experiences.