A common complaint on the 453 fortwo is that the radio reception is shit. However, it's ok on the 453 forfour. Why the difference? Well, it's not something that fortwo owners really notice until you point it out. Tell them to point at their aerial. They'll turn around...
Smartmods
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Kane Harrison
453 Fortwo Sequential Indicators
453 Fortwo Sequential Indicators Check out the fitting video. It's easier to show the sequential effect than explain it. They are available on the smartmods website for purchase. Will They Fit The 453 Forfour? No, the Forfour indicator is different. Are They Be...
453 Front Bumper Removal
Remove the front service panel and let it hang in front of the car. Remove the 4 bolts holding the straps. This type of bolt are used throughout the car. They are 10mm hex and Torx30. Use what you have. Disconnect the windscreen washer pipe and put the service panel...
453 Front Grill Removal
453 Lower Grill Remove the front bumper to access the back of the grill. All the way around the lower grill are clips that pass through the grill. Unclip them all (good luck). Some of the tabs don't self clip but have metal clips that push over them. Lever these off...
453 Fuel Filter Change
453 Fortwo & Forfour None of the 453 models have a replaceable fuel filter. Petrol non turbo Fortwo – no replaceable fuel filter Petrol non turbo Forfour – no replaceable fuel filter Petrol turbo Fortwo – no replaceable fuel filter Petrol turbo Forfour – no...
453 Fuses (Petrol)
Covers Fortwo & Forfour in all ICE engine and electric driver formats.
453 Gearbox Fluid Change
The 453 comes with 3 option for the gearbox. The turbo and non turbo petrol model had the option for either manual or auto. The electric drive model only came with a fixed ratio gearbox (not yet covered here). Manual Gearbox Fluid Change Post yourself under the car...
453 Glovebox Removal
Removing the glovebox is one of those annoying jobs that requires a lot of other things to be moved around it. This is for a Right Hand Drive car but for a Left Hand Drive it should just be the mirror of what you see below. Pull the surround away from the glovebox....
453 GPS Important Update
453 Smart GPS Week Rollover Bug PSA: Media-System in smart 453 is affected by the GPS Week Number Rollover bug. You MUST have updated before April 6th, 2019 in order to keep the time working correctly. Hey folks! On April 6th, 2019, GPS will experience a Week Number...
453 Hand Brake Adjustment
If your handbrake lifts up too high, it can run out of travel before it properly applies the rear brakes. Thankfully it's easy to adjust and a better option that the problematic auto-adjusters in the previous models. With the handbrake raised, look underneath the...
453 Headlight Adjusters
The most important part of the removal and refitting of the 453 headlight adjusters is to turn on the ignition and turn the headlight adjustment wheel to position 4. Wait a few seconds and turn the car off. This lowers the reflector in the headlight and extends the...
453 Headlight Adjustment
Remove the bonnet panel and let it hang from the front of the car. Look on the top of the headlight. The white adjustment screw is in the top of the electronic adjuster. You have the option of a cross head screwdriver... ...or what is far better, a 6mm allan key. Turn...
453 Headlight Bulb Change
Remove the bonnet and look behind the headlight with the bulb you want to change. Arrowed below is the bulb cover. Push the top back and lift it out from the car. Put it on the scuttle so you don't lose it. You can now see the back of the bulb and the electrical...
453 Headlight Pinout
Pre Facelift Headlight - Basic Pin Number Wire Colour Function/Connection 1 Grey Standing Light Signal 2 Blue Standing Light + 3 Green Low Beam 4 Black Earth/Ground 5 Pink High Beam 6 N/C Pin Number Wire Colour Function/Connection 1 N/C 2 N/C 3 N/C Pre...
453 Headlight Removal
To gain access to the headlights, you have to remove the front bumper, see here. This is what you'll be left with. Using a 10mm hex or Torx30, remove the inner bolt. Look at the front edge of the arch panel and remove these 2 bolts also. This disconnects it from the...
453 Headlight Upgrade
These are the boring standard headlights with warm white DRLs. Let's change them for the upgrade headlights. On the left is the old, on the right is the new. Same again but lit up. The upgrade headlights have a cool white strip which looks much nicer. Remove the front...
453 Heated Seat Retrofit
Does your 453 not have heated seats? Do you want heated seats? It's probably not as tricky as you think. Warning - you are disconnecting and reconnecting seats with airbags built in. Disconnect the battery before starting. If you are too heroic to disconnect the...
453 Heater Resister Removal
Turn yourself upside down and throw yourself as hard as you can into the nearside footwell. Take a torch with you. Look to the centre of the car and you'll see the cabin fan. Just forward of the fan, you'll see another connector. This is the heater resistor. Squeeze...
453 Horn Fault
453 Horn Doesn't Work This is a new one that's appearing more regularly on the 453. What confused me was that most people also had issues with their headlights in some way. So, I took a long look at the terrible wiring diagrams for the 453 to see if I could find a...
453 Horn Upgrade
Like all previous smart models, the horn is an embarrassment. A single unit that's far too quiet. What we need is a pair of tone matched horns (high and low frequency). Remove the front panel to access the main horn. It's just below the offside headlight... ...hidden...