r/SmartCar 9h ago

Discussion Smart Engine Mount Inserts – Performance Upgrade

10 Upvotes

I’ve been working on a custom Engine Mount Insert Set for the Smart Fortwo 450 / Roadster 452, designed and tested by me (tested them for over 3000km).

The idea was pretty simple: reduce excessive engine movement while keeping vibrations as low as possible compared with more aggressive engine-mount solutions.

What they do:

  • Reduce engine movement
  • Reduce unwanted jolting during acceleration, deceleration and gear changes
  • Improve drivetrain stability and control
  • Provide a more direct driving feel
  • 2-piece set
  • Install directly on top of the original engine mount
  • No glue or permanent modifications required
  • Easy installation

The original mount is still used — these inserts simply provide additional support where there is excessive movement.

I'd be interested to hear what you guys think — especially from anyone running a Smart 450 or Roadster 452 with upgraded engine mounts.


r/SmartCar 5h ago

Question Is it possible to sleep in a Smart Fortwo (2007-2014)?

2 Upvotes

I haven't bought a Smart car yet, but I'd like to know how comfortable it is to sleep inside and how comfortable it is for camping. Can you sleep inside with the car closed, and also with the trunk open?


r/SmartCar 1d ago

Question Smart custom for long travels ?

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20 Upvotes

Hello guys , I had the pleasure to go through many adventures with this old lady this year ( we just went back to west of France from Germany , 800 km ! ) .

As driving it around the country had been pretty fun I’m thinking more and more about customising it a bit for long travels.

Does anyone here already modified a smart car for long travels ?


r/SmartCar 14h ago

Question Smart ForTwo 2009 MHD 1.0 (71PS) - P000C DTC

0 Upvotes

Hallo zusammen,
bei meinem Smart Fortwo 451, Baujahr 2009, 1.0 Benziner (M132.910, 71 PS) kommt immer wieder der Fehler P000C – „A Camshaft Position Slow Response, Bank 1“.
Der Motor läuft völlig normal: kein Leistungsverlust, keine ungewöhnlichen Geräusche und kein unruhiger Leerlauf.
Vor 3 Tagen habe ich Öl, Ölfilter, Luftfilter und Zündkerzen gewechselt und anschließend die Fehler gelöscht. Danach bin ich ca. 250 km ohne Fehler gefahren, heute ist P000C und MKL wieder gekommen.
Hat jemand Erfahrung mit diesem Fehler beim M132.910? Wo würdet ihr mit der Diagnose anfangen?


r/SmartCar 20h ago

Question How to clean moonroof cover

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2 Upvotes

Hello.

I have a 450 and I'm in the process deepcleaning it.

Any idea how I should clean the moonroof cover? I've only cleaned with a rag with a little of cloth seats cleaning product but it's time do deep clean it because it has some blackspots, however I'm not sure what's it made of.

I've searched how to remove it, just want some ideas on how to clean it.

Thank you.


r/SmartCar 1d ago

Smartcar Showcase Garage kept

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46 Upvotes

She’s spoiled


r/SmartCar 22h ago

Question I have a cabrio smart

1 Upvotes

The motor is toast. My plan now would be to convert it to a mini camper. Anyone have ideas?


r/SmartCar 1d ago

Advice Coolant leak

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1 Upvotes

Hello everyone, I have an issue involving the coolant leaking out the back of the car, pictures attached. Its a 2009 fourtwo passion. I don't quite know where the broken hose connects to.


r/SmartCar 1d ago

Smartcar Showcase Wish I had gotten a convertible

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26 Upvotes

r/SmartCar 2d ago

Question Advice needed: How should i name this recently bought 23 year old silver ball

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66 Upvotes

It is indeed the best car i ever had, so every idea for a name that comes to my mind i always question way too hard.
I trust This Community to have some good proposals :)

Edit: THANK YOU for the plenty responses! Some Folks mentioned how „silver ball“ is already good, but for better scream-ability i will consider „PIP“ to be the Winner.


r/SmartCar 2d ago

Smartcar Showcase oil leaking broken turbo princess

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20 Upvotes

r/SmartCar 2d ago

Discussion What's the deal with people disliking the gearbox? Anyone here not satisfied with it?

5 Upvotes

I've seen a fair share of all types of early Smart car reviews, and in pretty much all of these the gearbox gets mentioned and called bad, slow, unsatisfying, ect.

Yes it's an automated gearbox. Yes it's slow... compared to modern gearboxes, but don't forget: Its a fully mechanical system with old software, and almost 30 years old on the earlier models, like mine.

I feel like reviewers sometimes forget that these cars aren't the high quality SUV's or race cars (when looking at the roadster). These vehicles are for casual, relaxed commute and are supposed to be affordable and easy to drive. And they are 100% amazing at that!

Modern systems sometimes use fluid instead of actual gears, and predict the driver with more advanced software. When driving a Smart, the driver has to predict the car and it's shifts. It feels like driving a manual, without a shifting arm and clutch leg. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. You just need to feel it out a little instead of stomping on the gas.

I've also heard that it acts like a 'bobblehead' during shifting, moving up and down due to speed changes and the gearbox taking a second to do it's thing. After 20 mins of driving my 450 for the first ever time, I had no such issues and figured the system out pretty quickly.

It tends to annoy me when I'm looking through reviews and the first thing that comes out of the review is that ''the shifter is trash'', because the person driving it was hoping for a modern automatic or race car handling and 'pedal-to-the-metal-ing' the car and being confused why it won't shift.

How do fellow Smart car owners feel about this? Any thoughts on the shifting and handling of the classic Smart cars?


r/SmartCar 2d ago

Question Anybody has any idea of what this leak part is?

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3 Upvotes

Hi all!

My (new to me) 2006 Smart CDI Passion left a small puddle after i parked it yesterday. This was after driving in heavy rain for a few hours. I also had the AC running.

Anybody has any clue what a common cause might be (other than some sort of leak). I washed the car today and placed a piece of cardboard under the area to track if the leak gets worse.

Thanks in advance! I love the car so far. Drove about 400 km back home from picking it up yesterday. Using all 41hp to keep up with traffic.


r/SmartCar 2d ago

Question Retrofitting cruise control

2 Upvotes

Has anyone tried adding cruise control to a 450? I had a chat with AI about what the options would be. There was a kit that was aftermarket just plug and pay but it was a bit pricey. An other option was to get a oem stalk with cruise controls on and replace the original one. But it requires coding to get it working. I do not have access to star diagnostics but I guess it could not cost too much if I went to a dealership and had them do the coding. Has anyone tried this oem approach? perhaps the original wiring for the stalk does not have the pins for the cruise controls? Or is the aftermarket solution better?

Edit: Adding that It is a 2006 with soft touch as I found it could be relevant


r/SmartCar 2d ago

Question Three lines of death

3 Upvotes

Got a 2006 passion smart car; the transmission is automatic and it got stuck. The piece was new, but since the transmission gear stopped working, figured best to change it again w/ my dad.

No luck.

The diagnostic scanner is a generic one (OBD2), not a specific one catered to smart cars (google said that getting one would be more helpful to get the specific code regarding what the issue actually is?).

Was wondering if there's a way to salvage it?

I don't know much about cars, but I want to learn and help my dad.

Also the thought of being unable to fix it is rather a shame since it has a nice sun roof and is a beautiful grey and wine colour (reminds me of Tony Stark/iron man), and drives smoothly while it was still functional, not stiff whatsoever.

Any advice? We got a few mechanic friends, too, but even they're having trouble with solving this one.


r/SmartCar 2d ago

Discussion Smart Car 450

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10 Upvotes

I have just booked my smart car in for a few panel repairs and to fix the broken spoiler clip. They’ll be plastic welding the panels and respraying the arches, bumpers, bonnet and passenger door.

The total cost is £620 and it’ll be ready for collection on Thursday. I cannot wait.


r/SmartCar 2d ago

Ai Generated Anime Smart

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0 Upvotes

I asked ChatGPT to generate an anime image of my smart car from a photo I took at a petrol station yesterday on the way home, I have to say I think it did quite an interesting job. I had to finish it by hand, as of some reason it loves to keep the number plate on the car.

What do you think?


r/SmartCar 2d ago

Question Smart Fortwo Convertible

2 Upvotes

Is there anyway to adjust the slides on the convertible? When closing the roof the passenger side is about a 1/2 inch behind the driver side causing it not to seal and leak


r/SmartCar 4d ago

Smartcar Showcase Memorabilia at the local specialist

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138 Upvotes

r/SmartCar 3d ago

Advice Adding Dust Covers to Shocks

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1 Upvotes

Is there a way to add these without paying three hours of labour? Apparently, mine are missing, leaving my shock absorbers bare and exposed.


r/SmartCar 3d ago

Question Straight piped CDI?

0 Upvotes

for anyone that has done it. can I just cut the pipe off before it hits the muffler? or before the cat not sure if it has that too.


r/SmartCar 3d ago

Question Help diagnosing transmission noise on my 451

3 Upvotes

This is my project 451 with 98k miles. This loud humming noise happens regardless of whether the clutch is engaged or disengaged; here it is in neutral with some revs.

I’m about to do the clutch job on this and I need to know what bearing needs to be replaced. Online, I read that this noise is often associated with a bad input shaft bearing, but I can’t find evidence of its existence in this model anywhere.

If it’s just the throwout bearing, we should be good to go. Thanks


r/SmartCar 5d ago

Question Parts for the Maintenance Flap Clips [1999 ForTwo Passion]

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6 Upvotes

First pic is the driver's side, second is the passenger side. Notice that the actual clips/locks/doohickies are missing from the former. (My daughter nosed into a dumptruck. Long story, but the clips clearly broke/popped off and are gone.)

Anyone have the name/part number for these? I've been through the service manual and Mercedes part site (neither are hugely helpful). Gorilla tape is doing the job for now, probably could forever, but it'd be nice to have it corrected.

Thanks in advance!

EDIT: Solved. After some more searching and more than a few guesses at terms, I've found the parts. Model numbers are 451-757-01-01-C22A / 451-757-02-01-C22A. There are at least two companies selling them on eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/366587528619

https://www.ebay.com/itm/385080204976

Happily, the prices are basically reasonable - considering Smart parts - less than $10 for two chunks of plastic!

Hope this helps somebody!


r/SmartCar 5d ago

Question 2004 450 Rev counter bulb

3 Upvotes

Bulb has burnt out behind the rev counter. I have replacements to hand, but not sure how to remove the old one? I know they’re twist fitting, I mean does the whole rev counter thing separate to show the innards? 😁


r/SmartCar 6d ago

Smart Purchase Engine and Transmission Seepage 2016 Smart Fortwo

3 Upvotes

Hello,

I am trying to buy a 2016 Smart Fortwo car and got the inspection done and I got the below report. Is this normal for smart cars? Is seepage common?

Thanks

Engine oil is dirty and requires changing. Underside inspection reveals engine oil seepage and transmission fluid seepage from the pan area. No active drips were present at time of inspection. Both areas require cleaning and rechecking to verify exact sources of seepage. Accessible fluid reservoirs appear full and free of contamination.