jhillman

I have my settings on 'steering wheel + seat' for easy entry/exit. To my surprise the other day, my driver's seat moved forward when I opened the rear, left door from outside the car.

This happened after having parked the car in my garage, where the seat and wheel had moved out of the way and were in there "exit" position. I leave my doors unlocked and the key in the ignition, turned off of course, when I park in the garage. An hour or so later, I returned to the car and first opened the right, rear door. Upon opening the door, the driver's seat began moving forward. I thought this was really cool since it would allow for the rear passenger to get into the car more easily.

But here's the problem....this is the ONLY time I have noticed this happening, and I can't get the driver's seat to move forward again when opening the rear door. I have tried several times.

Has anyone experienced this?

bagwell

never experienced this before....but I'll give it a try.

BTW - you got your car back ?

did MB fix everything ?

jhillman

I'm picking my car up today. They've had it since Monday morning. The service advisor said he thinks they've fixed all the rattles, but the techs could have been hearing different rattles than the ones I heard. We'll see...

jswedberg

I have never encountered the seat moving forward either.

But I did discover another trick. I'm tall, so my seat is pretty far back normally. "steering wheel + seat" would do nothing - I guess because the seat was already back. In the "both" position, if the seat is too far back nothing will happen - neither the seat nor the wheel will move

I set it to "steering wheel" and now at least the wheel moves up.

By the way, if I were you I would NOT leave the keys in the ignition - if a bad guy gets into your garage it's all over - and it is pretty easy to break into most garages.

I used to do that, too, but my wife convinced me otherwise.

Clownburner

On modern cars, they also often control power based on the presence or abscense of the key, so leaving the key in the ignition may cause your battery to drain.

At least, that's what the owners' manual of my Porsche says.

Matt230K

This is true. When they key is in, there are some electronics that get switched on in anticpation of you starting the car. It does drain the battery. How much just depends on equipment. An S-class will drain very quickly because it has so many electronics. I've heard of it happening in just a half hour, enough drain to where it wouldn't start.

Moser

My car battery drains flat if I don't start the car for three days.
Is this normal?.

I went away for 10 days and came back and couldn't stat the car. The Deakership changed my battery.....for the second time!.
They blamed the cold and told me to disconnect the battery if I go away for more than a week....... is this rght???

Thanks
Moser

Matt230K

No, you've got a drain somewhere. On my dealer lot, I start the cars once every two weeks to keep the batteries charged. They start right up. Batteries usually don't go dead on them unless I leave them sit for 3 weeks or more. Usually it takes more, depending on the car and the temperature.

Moser

What would take 3 days to drain it?.
I had a dvd changer installed. could that drain the battery in three days if it were staying live?.... it's connected through the tv tuner.

Thanks
Moser

Matt230K

Since it's probably something that is not supposed to be draining, it could be anything. It may be something you added, but it could also be a problem with any other electronic component. If your dealer is not willing to look for it, try to find another dealer.

MB-BOB

Jswedberg, when I have mine set for wheel + seat, the wheel DOES move up/down even though the seat is too far back to move. You might have a small glitch there, Jim.

JHillman, as Matt points out, you should not leave your keys in the ignition, even if it's the "Off" position. The electronic ignition is always ON whenever the keys are in the EIC so the battery IS draining. The Multi-Function Display warns you to remove the Key when the car is switched off... for this reason.

Also, to clear up part of the mystery, if your seat is positioned in any other place than one of your memory settings, the seat can move forward when the key is in the ignition and the door is opened. For instance, if I have my seat in the memory position, it will not move forward and back, because it is set too far back. However, if I manually move it forward (not using memory) to allow someone to enter the rear seat, the seat will move back and forth when I take turn off the car and take out the key (even if the memory position easy out doesn't work) Reason is that when moving the seat forward, it trips over the auto cut off position, and then functions normally (cylces) Not sure if this is what you observed.

Moser, the BS about the battery needing disconnection if not used for a week is just that, BS. The dealer needs to find the source of the drain, not make excuses...

jhillman

First, on the matter of leaving the key in the ignition. I do take the key completely out and then I stick it back in before leaving the car. When I take it out, the warning message disappears, the lights go out, radio off, etc. When I stick it back in, the only thing I hear happening is the sound of the steering column unlocking...at least that what I think that sound is--it's like an on/off sound you hear each time to put the key in (on) and then take it out (off). Since I do first take it out, do you guys still think there's a problem with leaving the key in the car? (Aside, of course, from the risk that someone breaks into the garage and steals the car.)

MB-BOB: I don't quite understand your last post about the seat position and memory. I'm actually more confused now.

MB-BOB

I'm confused, too. If you take the key out of the ignition and put the keys on the console, you have no problem (you must not have teenage kids, though, LOL!). However, your first sentence implies you remove the keys from the EIC and then reinsert them in the ignition. IMO, this is a problem. Yes, I suppose you can "fool" the warning system. But I'm led to believe that anytime the key is in the ignition slot, there is electricity being used in the car.

You have an electronic ignition. The EIC has an electrical induction coil that surrounds the ignition slot. If the induction coil senses the Smart Key in the slot, it turns on various systems in the car that remain on until the key is removed from the slot. This induction coil is like a digital switch... it either senses the key within its field, or not, and I understand is always "on" when the key is in the slot, "off" when the key is removed. For reliable operation, I wouldn't think you want it to work any other way.

I don't think you can "fool" the system by removing and replacing the key in rapid succession. In fact, some of the diagnostic procedures for keys involve inserting/removing/inserting the keys several times, so it's apparent to me that the EIC recognizes the key and powers systems everytime it's present in the slot.

As far as my sliding seat description, I can't think of any other way to describe it. It confuses me, too.

Matt230K

Bob, I don't think that would fool the system either. If you take it out and then put it back in, it would think you are going to start the car again. I think it would be better to just turn it off and never remove the key. Then maybe it would turn some of those things off because you had just shut off the car. But either way, I still think it will drain power.

On a side note, the few MB's that still have regular keys will work this way. When you turn the key off, it still knows it is there and beeps when you open the door. But if you remove they key, you will hear a click and then if you put it back in, I don't think it knows that it is there until you turn it. On cars like these (ML's and SLK's), I usually pull the key out and put it back in. But on those with smart keys, I never leave them in ignition.

MB-BOB

The owner's manual is very explicit when it says to always REMOVE the key from the ignition when the car is not in use. The MFDisplay warning is just another reminder.

I don't lock my car doors while parked in the garage, but I never leave the keys anywhere in the car or garage. You never know when the wife will park her car in the garage after you and forget to lower the garage door. This leaves the car available to anyone, whether it be curious kids who can hurt themselves, mischievous teens wanting to listen to the CD player in daddy's Benz, leading to the inevitable joyride, or thieves.

I understand some insurance companies will fight a claim if it can be proven you left your keys available in the car. Keeping key and car separate is just a good habit to develop.

jhillman

OK, fine. I'll quit leaving the key in the car. Geez!

MarkL

Actually, I think the key warning is just to remind you the key is there, like any car that has a warning buzzer, bell, etc. Not necessarily that you should remove it due to power drain. That said, it doesn't warn you about the key once you remove it and put it back in because you haven't yet started the car and it doesn't want to set off the buzzer unnecessarily. I do agree that the power drain will occur whenever the key is in the ignition, warning light or not...

Smiles

You used to break into garages?

avlis

Uh, I think he meant that he used to leave the keys in the car...

MB-BOB

I've waited to post this until I could verify with my car... Your first post said you have the car programmed for Seat + Steering Wheel. Mine is programmed the same way. Except when I insert my key in the ignition module, the steering wheel IMMEDIATELY begins to move down to the preset driving position... it sounds from your description that inserting the key in your car only unlocks the wheel, but the wheel doesn't move immediately. In my car the wheel does move. And when I remove the key, the wheel instantly starts to move up out of the way, too. In short, the steering wheel tilt function appears directly tied to key insertion or removal in my car. You might want to experiment with yours again.

Gary

That's the way it works in the Coupe too.
Also when the seat starts moving forward if you twist the key to start the engine the seat will stop moving and then continue once the engine has sarted.
Upon shut down the seat will immediately start traversing rearward and the steering wheel will move up.

Originally posted by jhillman
...When I stick it back in, the only thing I hear happening is the sound of the steering column
unlocking...at least that what I think that sound is--it's like an on/off sound you hear each time to
put the key in (on) and then take it out (off).


I don't get any of these sounds might be time to head for the dealer to get a loaner (I currently have a C320 - sweeet! but I miss my Coupe )

Kal Rubinson

It is not normal. We use the car almost only on weekends, so it sits in the garage for 5 days at a time (unless the car jockeys move it which I doubt since they know our habits). Sometimes, we skip a weekend which means 12 days idle.

We've never had a problem with battery or starting. (Of course, now that I open my mouth I know I'll regret it.)

Matt230K

No, this sound is normal. You probably are just used to it. When you insert the key, you hear a sound that sounds like something unlocking and that allows the key to turn. I don't know if it is unlocking the steering column though. This might not happen until you turn the key to the on position.

jhillman

I just verified...it is the steering column unlocking when you stick the key in. Try turning your wheel without the key--it reaches a stop in both directions. Then put the key in (you hear the sound) and you can turn the wheel past the point it stopped previously. Just FYI..

Matt230K

I suspected that it might be the steering column unlocking, but I just didn't think this could be right. Most other cars won't unlock the wheel until your turn the key on. I guess having the key in is enough. Many other manufacturers don't have keys that are capable of recognizing the key as soon as you insert it.