Hello all! I've searched some but figured I'd post my questions/problems.

1. I have to change a handful of bulbs out every few months, low beam, prking etc. What can casue this? It's annoying.

2. Passenger seat will not go back fully. All other controls are fine, tilt, elevation, forward and recline all work great.\

3. Side mirrors tilt down on reverse, but don't always go back to the correct position once in drive.

4. Sunroof control is flakey.

5. The enclosure around the gear shifter lifts up when i change gear. Can i just glue this down, or is there a replacement part I can get online? Not sure what the part is called.

6. The door handle on the passenger side comes out of socket, can this be glued or do I need to have the panel taken off and it refixed?

7. AC seems to blow out inconsistently and not from all the vents all the time.

This is everything I can think of at the moment. It's my first mercedes, and when the time comes, I'm not sure if I will get another one. I've had issues with it. Sometimes it makes me miss my accord!

 

Wow. Burn it.

Just kidding. I'm gonna tell you what I know, but please use the search - you'll find a ton of info.

1. I've heard of this, but I have no idea how to correct it. My car doesn't have the issue.
2. There are clips on the seat that tell it when it's all the way back. Maybe these have came off? I read about this from a guy on here with an 01 320. Maybe holycaoAMG?
3. Every so often my car's mirror fails to return to normal position. It's annoying but I just restart the car and go on.
4. Define "flakey". Literally, meaning it is peeling, or figuratively meaning it doesn't always work?
5. I wouldn't use glue. I'm not sure what it is called but yes it can be replaced.
6. Again, I wouldn't use glue, but the door panel has to come off to fix this. You mean the handle that runs up the door, not the handle that opens it, right?
7. Search for stepper motors.

And finally, did you just get this car? Reliability wise it will never come close to an Accord.

 

Whoa, sounds pretty similar to my car.

1. For the bulbs, im not so sure, but i get very frequent warning messages on my display saying the bulb is out when it ISNT.
2. How do you know its not all the way back?
3. My reverse mirror tilt function stopped working and i never bothered fixing it. (like i ever use it anyway)
4. 'flakey'? like not smooth? lube it.
5. Its called the 'shifter trim', i forgot the part number, but mine has broken, TWICE.
6. My door handle broke as well but had the dealership fix it under warauntee.
7. Stepper motor/links.

No matter how much i adore my car and all the time and money spent on it, its build quality and reliability gets really annoying. I've had many more problems on mine than what was listed above (MAF, CPS, ESP ABS BAS failing, Failures of all types of electronics, front sway bar bearings, the whole suspension basically, leaking valve cover gaskets, dimming of the MFD, you name it, the list goes on..)

Matt- the guy with the faulty passenger seat wasnt me. (knock on wood)

 

Oh okay, I thought you had a faulty driver's seat that you noticed when your easy entry feature wouldn't work. Nevermind!

I couldn't deal with all those issues. My car's mirror will once in a blue moon not return to the original position, and twice in a year it has told me I have a license plate bulb out (when it wasn't) - but other than that, my car is very reliable @ 58k miles.

 

I will have to look for the clips and see about the seat. I know it doesn't go all the way back since it doesn't go back as far as the driver side seat and because I have actually had the seat all the way back since i needed the front space to move a tv.

The bulb thing is anooying, They are out though so i need to change them. As for the mirror I generally reset it manually and go on. As for the sunroof, the controls don't always work correctly and this is a feature on the car I rarely if ever use.

The handle running up the door pops out. so it seems I have to get that fixed. I've had the car for about 2 years. It is a shame that such a nice car can't be reliable. I've had other issues with it as well. I had an accord and the only thing that ever happened was a blown radiator. But then again the car was 15 years old and had over 200k miles on it. Other than that, it neer had so much as an oil leak.

 

Search... But Number 3 i will help you with

Parking position exterior rear view mirror
(only vehicles with memory function)
The passenger side exterior mirror can be adjusted and
programmed to assist the driver during parking
maneuvers (e.g. to observe the curb or other objects
close to the vehicle).
With the electronic key in starter switch position 2, and
the exterior rear view mirror switch in the passenger
side position, the passenger side mirror will be turned
downward when placing the gear selector lever in “R”
reverse.
Note:
For activating the mirror adjustment, see under
individual setting menu “CONVENIENCE” – “MIRROR
SETTING WHEN PARKING”, on page 134.
The mirror position can now be adjusted as desired.
The passenger side mirror will return to its previous
position:
• immediately at speeds above approx. 6 mph
(10 km/h) – independent of the engaged gear,
• after 10 seconds when shifting gear selector lever
from “R” Reverse,
• by pressing the driver’s side mirror button%.

To store passenger mirror parking position:
1. The vehicle must be stationary.
Turn the electronic key in starter switch to
position 1 or 2.
2. Select passenger side mirror& and adjust the
mirror to view the curb.
3. Push the memory button “M” (4).
4. Within 3 seconds push bottom of adjustment
button (3).
The mirror should not move.
Repeat the memory procedure if the mirror moves.
Note:
One stored parking position is available for each of the
two electronic keys.
This is only possible if you select “ON” in the menu
“SETTINGS KEY-DEPENDENT”. Refer to individual
setting menu “CONVENIENCE” – “

 

Number 5


Part number : A 203 267 19 88 cost was 146 dollars.. i kept telling them i just wanted the chrome part... But the whole thing must be paid for.

 

hey so here it goes
problem 1 i thought i had until i realized that i actually was not replacing the same bulbs over and over again. so one day i found a website online that had cheap light bulbs and replaced every exterior bulb and i haven't had the problem since.
#2 read this https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...t-problem.html i think i was probably the person lilbenz230 was thinking of.
#3 i have this problem to but it was sort of fixed under warranty. i just hit the memory button if i notice it doesn't come up. actually i always do it now it has become a habit.
#4 no idea
#5 mine was broken buy dealer but mine stays down enough not to cause problems. the dealer told me that it would cost like 250 for replacement.
#6 my driver side handle was replaced. took me like 30 minutes with a screwdriver. part was really cheap like 20 bucks.
#7 start the car and push the two buttons on the bottom row the left ones. hold them together untill they start blinking back and forth. now if that keeps going you have a problem. if it stops the steeper things are ok.
hope this helped i am typing really fast because i have a plane to catch out to lax. please forgive bad grammer and lack of spelling abilities.

 

I totally know what you mean about these problems I've had them all. My C320 and C32 are insane money pits and has been a nightmare at times fixing problems with both.

Here's what I did to fix those issues.

1. Cleaned the headlamp sockets contacts make sure they seat fully against the headlamp when you twist them on. If that does not work replace the entire socket. At one point my flashers were going crazy blinking fast with a malfunction that the Left Driver Headlamp went out. I go outside to look and see if it was burnt out and to my surprise they were not. To make things more confusing they were blinking at the normal steady pace but on my interior cluster it was blinking erratic with that malfunction. I went crazy checking everything and changing the bulbs to new and still the flasher was clicking rapid. Ignored it and few hours later it fixed itself. Went home later that day and clean all the ground leads never happened again. Very strange issue.

2. Unplug the connectors at the bottom of the seat for a few minutes and plug them back in. It sometimes does the trick your seat modules may be failing. Same thing happened to me before the modules went dead. Also, program the memory is never consistant. It never puts the seat in the exact precise spot. I modifid it to bypass the power circuit to shut off so it stops killing my battery. I hardly use the memory anymore it's just a hastle.

3. Same issue with mine it's intermitent. Just set it to where you want it. Push the other side mirror adjustment button to bypass automatic mirror tilt.

4. Clean your sunroof railings if that doesn't work unplug the connector and re connect reset the button. Tilt works fine it's the automatic slide that's get fishy/flakey. When my button doesn't respond here are my symptons: when I hold it backwards to slide I get a 1 second pulse then the sunroof stops no matter how long you hold the button back and to get it to fully open you have to push back, push back, push back. Same with holding the button forward. How I fix it when this happens I noticed it wants to be started in the fully closed position if you want to use the auto slide that requires you to hold the button to the back for a few seconds hold down on the button for about 5 seconds then try to hold it back it should automatically slide. It's really strange that the sunroof acts like it forgets what position it is in sometimes.

5. For the shifter to keep it from lifting up at the very edge of the trim mine use to have some black material that seats it snug but somehow is has manage to disappear and come off. What I did to fix it I bought some crazy glue and velcro and placed it around the outter edges front and back and pinched the chrome shifter trim between the bottom wood grain panel to keep it a really snug fit. And te velcro does not show or has yet to come off.

6. Pop off the cover there is a notch on the bottom get a small flathead to get access to the a torx screw driver. There are a few other hidden bolts in the SRS Airbag plastic clip and center armrest. You have to pop a few plugs to get the door panel off. Make sure to check if the handle is not damaged. You might have to replace it if the inner diameters hole has punched through your bolt and is no longer holding down your door handle. The plastic rubber handles get brittle in heat and overtime wear out by people constantly slamming the door because of all the force that causes this door handle to pop out. If you find your handle is broken what I did with mine I permanently epoxied and shoved a 1cm washer in the hole let it try and so far works like a charm.

7. Run the HVAC diagnostic by pushing those buttons like "samaritrey" to see if the amber lights go off. The best bet to know for sure is Search the stepper motors to fix the problem and open up your center console and see if they are damaged.

 

rjaystyle try to re sync your sunroof. i think that is all it needs because they do sometimes forget where they are and a quick sync will fix that.

 

I wish i were mechanically inclined lol. I might mess it up more than help it. I should have gone with my gut and bought another accord or camry. The sham wow guy lied, the germans don't make good stuff lol. At least nothing good that starts with "C"

 

Not true unless the digits 2-0-0-1 are in front of the "C".

MB computer tested stuff instead of real-world testing it and people who bought the early 2001-2002 cars paid the heavy price.

 

Yes - sadly 2001 - 2002 cars were rotters in the US - especially Brazilian built ones. Benz let their customers finish the QC testing for them thanks to computer simulated endurance testing.You are lucky you do not have an E class that followed.

 

MB had a technical service bulletin on 01 C class lighting.

They replaced the inner bulb housing and wiring on mine at the dealer. I was friends with a tech and I saw them change it on mine. Originally there was too much power being fed to the bulbs causing them to burn out quicker than normal.

I can't remember the last time I had to change a bulb.

=)