raymond

Sorry, buellwinkle

Stafford is near Houston. Any Houston based C230K "aviators"?

C230Komp

OK, for you DFW guys: Who's the best dealer for service, regardless of which loaner is issued? I had two people directing me two directions when I ordered my car, but I went w/Ewing in Plano. Are their service and technicians equal to or superior than Park Place? I'm not as concerned about a loaner as the follow-on service and quality that the dealer provides. What say ye?

pixmation

Don't worry, I won't get hooked on it. Sedan is never my kind of car. Especially large ones. Well, if I get a SLK as loaner, that's another story...

raymond

The Park Place guys I use seem to be unable to fix things first time around, but they're nice about it!

C230Komp

[QUOTE]Originally posted by raymond
[B]

The Park Place guys I use seem to be unable to fix things first time around, but they're nice about it!


Ha! LOL Well if they're nice about it, what else could you ask?

MB-BOB

My sedan is at Ewing Autohaus as we converse. (First time) I gave them a list of 17 items. I'll see how they deliver and let you know. Probably won't be until the end of the week, though.

Good question, though, Kompster. I'd like to hear thoughts from others, too.

MarkL

Well, I just finished reading each and every response, so I guess it'll have to be me to come to the C's defense

"Drumming" sunroof - I think all cars w/ sunroofs do this. Just crack open a rear window a bit and it'll solve 99% of the problem. It's caused by a resonance set up in the cabin -- pretty sure it's a law of physics... you can put on an ugly after-market plastic deflector that might help more...

Most car manuals explain you shouldn't leave the HVAC in recirc too long -- no fresh air intake. M-B solves this by setting a time limit "for you". I think it's 30 minutes or so, but also depends on the temp I think (haven't read the manual in a while) Why do you need recirc on so long?

Rain sensor -- I've never seen a car w/ any type of intermittent or rain sensor system that will use any speed other than "low". The rain sensor is simply an extension of a normal intermittent system only the wipe is triggered by detecting rain drops instead of simple timing. They all delay the low speed wipe mode.

Just my $.02 :p

raymond

My immediate reaction was also that all sunroofs "drummed", but MB were quick to point out that the sunroof-equipped sedans don't drum, which I verified. I think I saw somewhere that MB is adding a re-designed wind deflector for the Coupe next year. BTW, if I cracked one of my rear windows in the coupe, I may cut myself on the glass!

The recirc is just a personal preference, the main reason is the smell of diesel fumes and roadkill skunk is minimised if in recirc. If MB is intent on thinking for you, why not switch to fresh for, say, 1 minute out of 10 if you've selected recirc?

I agree on the rain sensor, now that I actually think about it as an extension of the intermittent function. THanks

THanks for the input.

Although my brain gets irritated with the little issues with this car, my heart loves it. Today I had it out in torrential rain, and I have never felt as stuck to the road as in this car.

Cheers

Raymond

revstriker

You have that right! Crazy rain today!! It took me over an hour to make my normal 15 minute commute home! At least it wasn't snow coming down.......

WyattEarp

I have read and laughed at all of your responses.

MB-BOB anytime you need a Drill Sergeant let me know.

Rev butt-munch is a 12 year old remark I'm glad someone figured out the context.

Greg your signature becomes you. Kudos for making the buttmunch moniker noble!

Finally my favorite person to **** off,

You must be schizophrenic. There is a definite duality to your personality. Aren't you the guy who jumped up and down because I called greg a buttmunch. Chill out dude, don't you have a sense of humor.

benzomonterey

Fortunately I have begun drinking at work so I don't give a **** anymore

jkelley

Any chance the C's have a different set up the the CLK's? Love the rain sensor setup on my '01 CLK55. Any hint of wet, I just set it & forget it. If the volume of water picks up, the wiper tempo does as well - ranges from one-swipe-back-in-the-well to full tilt non-stop boogie. All without me touching a thing.

Jim

MB-BOB

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by MarkL
Rain sensor -- I've never seen a car w/ any type of intermittent or rain sensor system that will use any speed other than "low". --------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Any chance the C's have a different set up the the CLK's? Love the rain sensor setup on my '01 CLK55. Any hint of wet, I just set it & forget it. If the volume of water picks up, the wiper tempo does as well - ranges from one-swipe-back-in-the-well to full tilt non-stop boogie. All without me touching a thing.

Jim

MarkL, I'm curious as well. The Rain sensor on my Sedan works as Jim suggests, speeding up or down, both in wiping frequency and blade speed, as necessary.

revstriker

MB-BOB, Mine works as MarkL stated. That is, it will work only as fast as the first settings. While driving home in the downpoor yesterday, I had to change the setting to fast because the rain sensor would not speed past the regular speed setting.

Buellwinkle

How did this post go from a guy complaining about his car being in the shop too long to the ethics of driving a rental carl/loaner differently than your own to windshield wiper settings. This is just too bizzare.

MB-BOB

Pushing the dead horse aside for a moment, I'll have to pay more attention to this when I get my car back from the dealer (and when it rains). The cars are all the same on this, or some of us have a warranty issue to explore.

benzomonterey

I liked that dead horse so much I made it my wallpaper.

MarkL

OK, I can't swear that I know how EVERY car works, but I'll be willing to take a bet that rain sensor controls, in general, replace the "simple" intermittent feature found on almost all cars. Some intermittent systems, even the standard system on the C Class, is not a variable system, that is, it works at one pre-determined interval time and you can't change it (which sucks). Most decent intermittent systems have several positions where you can choose the delay interval from about 15 seconds to about 2 seconds. All of these systems simply interrupt the low speed wiper control. I believe the rain sensor is simply an extension of the variable intermittent system. Instead of using any of several pre-defined settings, the rain sensor triggers a wipe when it detects rain drops. Again, I don't think there's a system around which will kick the wipers into the high speed mode. At most, they will call for continuous low speed operation.

Edit: Simple test: Next time it's raining at a decent rate, set your wipers on delay-mode (rain sensor). When they're moving at a continuous rate, first move the switch to the regular low speed position, and then to the high-speed position and note the difference. :p

Another edit: Did you know that many rain-sense systems (i.e. GM) let you adjust the sensitivity of the rain sensor. They use the same wiper control as the variable intermittent system, but instead of the multiple positions controlling the timing cycle, it adjusts the amount of rain drops you'll let the sensor "see" before it triggers a wipe.

revstriker

I did not know this, but it makes sense. I would like to have this ability. Although I think my rain sensor works great, it only takes a tiny bit of water on the windsheild to set it off.

Lynn

While driving in a light drizzle the other night, I discovered an interesting glitch with the rain sensor. At intersections with multiple (more than two) signals, red lights would cause the rain sensor to switch from intermittant to constant wiping. When the signals turned green, the sensor switched back to intermittant. I suppose this is because the sensor is infrared, and the red traffic signal is much closer in frequency than the green signal. This does not happen in daylight.

benzomonterey

.

Buellwinkle

Good work Benzo, getting the post back on track. That is a pitfall of playing to hard with your rental. Heck, that's why I got AAA for. They'll pull it out of the ditch for ya (they pulled my daughters car out of a ditch). Hose it off, return it and get another one. There's an endless supply of loaners and rental cars waiting for me!

raymond

Hi all

Just to let you know my C230K is back in the shop. I was actually offered a choice of loaners, and the guy behind the desk almost passed out when I chose a C320 Wagon. His comment was "I could give this guy loaners all day long!".

What is it with the US and station wagons? Is there some sense of security in driving SUVs which are typically truck suspensions and drivetrains with softened springsand a heavy body?

BTW, caught my first look at an SL500 in the flesh - very sweet. Placed an order for 3 - one for my wife, one for me and one for our business partner. MB said they could guarantee consecutive VINs if I ordered together. Just worried how I'll get by without my Ford Ranger and our C-Coupe. They wouldn't take my check, though.