Barry45RPM

Judging by the number of "How do I?" and "What's this for?" posts concerning our cars, Do you think that MB's rather voluminous owner manuals, are written clearly, and contain all the information one would expect to understand the vehicle, or are they merely wordy and missing important information?

HotWheels500

I voted yes, but I would have selected another choice of "mostly good, but lacking some info." For example, unless I missed it, the "tunnel feature" (press and hold the recirculate button) doesn't mention that it becomes "express" when, after activating the window closure position, you can remove you finger and the windows and sunroof continue to close on their own. Same in reverse, when you want to open everything.

But I think this is picky, since there is so much stuff in this car, that I suppose it would only become confusing to the average owner to deal with it all. I think of them as little easter eggs (from the software programming world) you find from time to time, and can share with others on this forum.

Here's another: In the 500 Wagon, when you lower a second row seat (I lowered the right hand seat behind the front passenger seat), if it needs more room to fully lower into a horizontal position, it automatically moves the front seat-back up and the whole seat to the front... just enough to let you lower the thing. Nice touch!

If these two are described in the manual, then I missed it. But if not, how bout we start a thread just for "easter eggs?" I for one would like to hear about others. Any takers?

Barry45RPM

I sort of feel that while there are many, many features in these cars, the number of booklets and pages in each are far too many to be leaving so many unanswered questions, and so many "undocumented features". If there are so many questions after reading the manuals, (even 10 months after getting the car) how much usefull info was hidden in all those words, on all those pages? Not as much as there should have been. There are a lot of booklets and a lot of pages there.. too many to find a suitable place to neatly store them all in the car!

konigstiger

So what you’re really saying is (heads up) someone should publish an “E-Class for Dummies” book; http://dummies.com

Barry45RPM

Don't think for a Nano second that it wouldn't make you rich!

glojo

Hi Barry,
I hate to do this BUT... I voted yes because if you generally look hard enough 'most, if not all' questions can be answered from the manual. (All 536 pages not including the seperate COMAND manual)

In another thread you enquired about the 'Tailgate Opening Limiter' This is an option that stops the tailgate from fully opening and can be set through the operating system 'Settings'.

There are so many options\settings that I find it impossible to remember them all, and this forum is a great help in refreshing peoples memories.

Nice poll.

John
Sunny, but windy Torquay

BoSoxFan

I would say "none of the above" since the topic question: "Are MB Owners Manuals Clear, Concise, Instructional and Understandable?" is not really addressed by either option. I would say that they are instructional and understandable but are definitely not concise and are only marginally clear. As to option 1, they are not well written but do contain what you need to know. IMO, the omissions are minor. As to option 2, they ARE poorly written (since they are overly verbose and poorly organized) but DO convey the necessary information. Nonetheless, I voted for option 2.

NitroShredder

I was curious if there is an "online manual" on the web. I thought I remember seeing a Euro/English E class manual on the web some time ago... but can't find it now.

Maybe it would help shed some light on the Euro Command features some of us have been blessed with here in the USA.

Thanks
Peter

glojo

Oslooooo!!!!!
'Nitroshredder' was asking for the address of an online manual for the E-class. I used to use this link:

http://www.mercedes-benz.com/omb/e/c...ng/flash5.html

but unfortunately it no longer works on my computer. Sadly I cannot speak or read German so I was wondering if you might be able to see if the manual is still available on this site.

Nitroshredder,
Some European E-class come with a DVD manual, there may be ways of getting one


Regards,
John
Expecting a shower any minute here in Torquay

NitroShredder

I wonder if they are "burnable" =) or at least orderable here in the US. My dealer parts guy tells me anything "not destined" for the US they will likely NOT BE ABLE to get. Even with a part # since they don't have the distribution channels to get Euro parts.

BoSoxFan

I downloaded a copy when it was available on that web site. I would be pleased to send you a copy if you can take a large file (3.8 MB as an Adobe Acrobat .pdf or 2.8 MB as a pkzip .zip if your system will let you take a zip). I don't believe that I can attach a file to a forum email or pm but if you pm me your email address, I could send it that way. The offer is open to anyone on the forum who would like a copy.

interpol

I ripped the online manual a few months back and put it all into one .pdf file. Get it here

BoSoxFan

Oops! Interpol and I crossed messages. Whatever works best for all of you.

lyrixmajor

The manual is not written very properly. Its not very intuitive at all with the actions tehy're trying to get across. Example. Look up DRL, Daytime running lights and see if it answered any questions on that. With that said, i have seen worse.

Your poll should have a option for OK....Neutral...not good...not bad...

Barry45RPM

When I created the poll post, they do not give you enough line space to compose the poll question as long as the space you are allowed in the text portion of the post. As a matter of fact, as the poll question was displayed, it used up almost every character space allowed by the BB software.

You are right though, the manuals use a lot of words to convey such a small amount of info. It seems like the manuals give a very cursory introduction to the item's intended function & leave the reader to figure out how to do it.

BoSoxFan

I didn't mean to sound critical and hope it didn't come across that way. It was a good topic which prompted a lot of good discussion.

glojo

You also have to know what your looking for. Lowering the back seats!!!!!!!

Lowering Back seats....... No
Back Seats ....... No
Ahhh ....... No


Enlarging the Luggage Compartment (Estate) ........ Of course, obviously.


The information is there, you just have to find it

Regards,
John
Cloudy Torquay

Barry45RPM

I tend to think that in general, the manual tells you what the function of an item is, and not really how to excecute the necessary steps to "make it happen". it relies too much on previous experience with a Mercedes product or trial and error to figure it out. They tend to use the fewest number of buttons/knobs possible with many features having dual functions. To me, many things were illogical at first, and after trial and error/accidental discovery or info from this bulliten board, combined with "getting used" to them, I understood how a MB engineer arrived at those steps. Still, not "logical" but quite useable.

ATS

I found the manual great.. I read it front to back twice. The only lacking part was the garage door opener part.

ENEM

I think the manuals are fragmented and repetetive and overall do not give sufficient information on the operation of what is a complex and sophisticated vehicle.

The asterix techniqe for signifying options is littered througout the manual and it is often difficult to know how your particular vehicle will operate. Liewise for the estate and saloon models - I feel that these require seperate manuals.

I accept (as stated elsewhere in this thread) that the operation of most functions is probably covered somewhere in the manuals, but it is not easy to find and sometimes more information is required to understand the choices. It is sometimes necessary to explain what an option does, not just how to turn it on or off (e.g. drive dynamic seats)

And not everything is covered. Can anyone decipher from the manuals the relationship of Keyless Go to the memory seat package (including the easy entry option; the parking mirror assistance and the 'key dependent' functions in the operating system). I know that it might be possible to find out how it works by trial and error (or by posting to the helpful and knowledgable folks on this forum ), but I think it should be clearly explained, in one place, in the manual.

Proctor750

Can someone provide this .pdf again please

konigstiger

http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/servic...owners_manuals

samaritrey

http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/servic...owners_manuals

Edit:
I was beaten