2005 E500 Wagon passenger seat reclining problems
02-28-2005, 01:56 PM
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2004 SL55, 2005 E500 Wagon
2005 E500 Wagon passenger seat reclining problems
I have a US-spec 2005 E500 wagon. When the right rear seat back is lowered, the right front seat back won’t recline very much at all, no matter what the position of the seat on its track. In order to lower the left rear seat back, you must first lower the right rear seat back so that the bar attached to the back of the left rear seat back will clear. This means that any time either rear seatback is lowered, the right front seat won’t recline very much. Lowering the rear seat backs does not affect how far the front left seat will recline. I discussed the matter with my dealer. They told me that this situation is normal for this model, and that there is a switch in the right rear seat latch that triggers this behavior.
Having the front right seat back behave as it does creates a serious problem for my wife. Even with the head rest all the way down and back, when the seat back is as far back as it will go with the rear seat backs down, the head rest presses into the back of her head, forcing her head down. She is unable to ride in the car for an extended period of time in this position. This means that the car is not usable on long trips with lots of luggage or with dogs in the back, precisely what we had in mind as the principal use of the car.
I could whine about what the MB engineers were thinking, and I think I will. The way the car is designed in this respect makes no sense to me. If they were worried that the seat back would be damaged if tilted too far back with the rear seats down, why not take into account the position of the seat on its tracks. As it is, when the seat is forward, there is a lot of room behind the seat back when the mechanism refuses to lower the seat back further. And if it’s important have the seat work this way on the passenger side, why have it work another way on the driver’s side?
OK, the whining’s over. Now I have to figure out how to fix it. My current plan is to request that the dealer order a replacement right rear seat back latch and put it in my hand. I will then take it apart and find out if there’s a way to have it tell the car that it’s safely latched even when it’s not. I will then ask the dealer to install the modified seat latch in the car. Does anyone have a better plan?
Jim
Having the front right seat back behave as it does creates a serious problem for my wife. Even with the head rest all the way down and back, when the seat back is as far back as it will go with the rear seat backs down, the head rest presses into the back of her head, forcing her head down. She is unable to ride in the car for an extended period of time in this position. This means that the car is not usable on long trips with lots of luggage or with dogs in the back, precisely what we had in mind as the principal use of the car.
I could whine about what the MB engineers were thinking, and I think I will. The way the car is designed in this respect makes no sense to me. If they were worried that the seat back would be damaged if tilted too far back with the rear seats down, why not take into account the position of the seat on its tracks. As it is, when the seat is forward, there is a lot of room behind the seat back when the mechanism refuses to lower the seat back further. And if it’s important have the seat work this way on the passenger side, why have it work another way on the driver’s side?
OK, the whining’s over. Now I have to figure out how to fix it. My current plan is to request that the dealer order a replacement right rear seat back latch and put it in my hand. I will then take it apart and find out if there’s a way to have it tell the car that it’s safely latched even when it’s not. I will then ask the dealer to install the modified seat latch in the car. Does anyone have a better plan?
Jim
Last edited by CASL55; 02-28-2005 at 01:59 PM.
04-06-2005, 06:58 PM
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2004 SL55, 2005 E500 Wagon
Problem Solved!
I didn't have to mess with the hardware after all. The dealer figured out how to make the seat recline by reprogramming. If any of you have this problem, your dealer can probably do the same.
Jim
Jim
