Donn

I bought my coupe just over a month ago and still haven't read the manual. If I have a question I look it up, but a 393-page manual is not high on my "can't wait to read list"! Due to this laziness I find myself making surprise discoveries, a coupe of which, I thought I would mention to help others who may suffer the same phobia.

1. You can increase your storage space by removing the ashtray insert from the center console. With the ashtray removed you have room to store three cassettes or additional condoms...just kidding!

2. You can increase rearward visibility simply by folding down the rear seat head restraints. Push the button on the side of the headrests and you can flip them down. I usually don't have rear seat passengers so I keep the headrests in the folded down position. If a rear seat passenger is aboard all they need to do is flip the headrest back up.

I know both items are in the manual...pages 211 & 60.
Feel free to add your own discoveries.

-Donn

Mark08859

You'll probably get flamed for not reading the manual. Didn't know it was almost 400 pages! But discovery can be fun (not to be confused with condoms and self-discovery - tsk, tsk)

The items you mentioned I discovered while going through a car on the showroom floor. Although, it might be worth taking a day from work, school, or a weekend and just go through the manual. Knowledge is power.

revstriker

Does the coupe not have the button on the dash to flip the back headrests down?

tommy

No, it doesn't. Our ccoupes are SO pedestrian.

Donn, finding these little fun areas like the pen and sunglass holders in the glovebox, or the ventilation in the bottom armrest area are half the fun, but I think that you should crack out the bible for at least the ventilation system, which is confusing, even after reading it several times.

galaxygrrl

Bible, I say War and Peace. I fell asleep reading it one night. I still don't understand the climate control.

Donn, you will get flamed for not reading the manual. Someone will say RTFM to you sooner or later -- I'll let you figure out what the means, but the first word is read.

Cheers,

Beth

tommy

Beth, MYOB!

I was waiting for someone to put that in a thread; now you're ruined it. Thanks a lot!

One that I just got is that the "Service A in xxxx miles" every time that I start the car now. It was a nice little reminder for a while; now, it's just annoying.

Lynn

The Mercedes operator's manual is not just a sleep aid, it is the worst piece of technical writing I have read since the poorly translated Japanese motorcycle manuals of the late 60's and early 70's. The biggest difference is that one could get a few laughs from the bad translations of the Japanese manuals, but the Mercedes manual is just annoying in its disarray. I have discovered things that I think might be features, but can't find anything about them in the manual.

revstriker

Must have been right before the part about the seatbelts!

Sorry Beth, I couldn't help myself......

MarkL

Hey, what is the problem you guys/gals are having understanding the climate control system (somewhat kidding)?

2 knobs, only used for manual control: 1 for fan speed, 1 for air direction. The knobs are inoperable when system is in "auto" mode, except turning the fan speed to "0" shuts off the whole thing.

OK, the air direction knob is a little confusing. The "box" is upper (face) vents, up arrow=windshield, down arrow=floor, up/down arrow=floor/windshield. Positions in between mix air between the 2 settings.

Buttons:
AUTO: LED ON means auto fan/air direction control enabled. LED OFF means you have taken over manual control with the 2 fore-mentioned knobs.

EC/REST: EC LED on means ECON mode is selected, and compressor is off. REST LED on (only when engine is off) means you have selected REST mode - circulates residual warm or cool air after engine is shut off

RECIRC: Self-explanatory

REAR-DEFOG: Self-explanatory

FRONT-DEFOG: Self-explanatory

What else is there???

TimmyC230boy

i found that if you have the heat on blowing through the vents, if you open the sunroof (where it is tilted) the fan speed increases and blows out more heat.

MarkL

This might be due to the upper sensor (in the upper console) determining that more warmth is needed. Don't know if it's directly connected to the sunroof being opened.

galaxygrrl

My day would be incomplete if I could not give you a hard time!

Sure you couldn't. Try! OK :p

The fact the darn thing blows tons of cold air all the time. Was there a heat wave or something in Germany when MB designed this system. It's cold in SF sometimes and then may car makes me colder. You can't get warm air to blow on your face.

And, so if you put the car on auto, you turn it off and turn it back on, it's no longer in auto. Right? So you just can't leave it on auto all the time.

Is there a logical reason for the climate control to work this way?

Cheers,

Beth

revstriker

The cold air may be coming from the top vent. I had this problem on my car in the winter; the side vents were blowing warm, and the middle was blowing cold. I turned the middle vent off, and this seemed to work fine. I normally have my temp set for 72, so when it's 73 outside, even though that's a nice comfortable temperature, my car blows cold air, and can be chilly sometimes. I normally just hit the EC button, or turn the fan down to 0 (I will also have the windows/sunroof open).

I know that our climate controls are different, but mine is set for auto all the time. When I start the car up, it stays on auto. I did shut off the auto directional setting though. It seemed to blow too much cold air on the windshield and caused it to "ice up" (for lack of a better term) a bit.

galaxygrrl

The cold air is comming from the top middle vent. I've turned it off, but, I would like it to blow warm air too. The SF fog can be chilly. It's just a strange design.

Thanks though!

MarkL

Beth and Revstriker, it sounds like your "blue arrow" wheel, in the center of the middle dash vent is in the wrong position. If it is in the "up" postion (blue arrow showing), then cold air will be sent to that vent during heating if the upper area is too hot. I leave mine almost in the full "down" position (blue arrow almost hidden) to avoid this cold air. You can then leave the outer "white arrow" wheels up to let air come through the center vents. See if this helps. Also, you should be able to leave the system in "auto" all the time. You don't have to change anything when you shut off the car.

EDIT: BTW, the blue wheel being in the down position will not affect the performance during hot weather operation. The cold air will still come out as needed. The blue arrow wheel is just a way that M-B gave you to get some upper coolness during heater operation. Just leave it in the down position all the time and it should be fine. (Note: some people have noticed a slight whistling sound from the upper vent during high fan speeds. This seems related to the position of the blue arrow wheel. That's why I leave it just a tiny bit up from full down, if that makes sense...)

tommy

Sounds like a "RTFM!" post is really needed for those two about the blue arrow wheel.

See, Mark? Maybe these two aren't good examples, but intelligent people do have a hard time decyphering the hvac controls.

galaxygrrl

Tommy, three words: pot, kettle, black. At least I'm not a tax accountant.

Donn

tommy....actually I did read the manual regarding the ventilation system. I've got to say, after reading all the posts, I have come to the conclusion that there's certainly no shortage of hot air here!!

beth....my intention is to RTFM, but, like you, I keep nodding off.

-donn

galaxygrrl

I thought about that hot air joke, but I thought it would get me in trouble to post it. It's pretty funny. There is a lot of hot air here.

I actually have never used RTFM 'cause I think it's rude, but it is used on MB world all the time.

columbus

No *****, $herlock!?

1. Well, right before taking it in to have the bulb replaced above the vanity mirror, I found that after unhinging the visor to swing it sideways it can be pulled out to extend over the rear of the side window. Now if you don't push it all the way back in, it won't properly line up for the electrical contacts to close the circuit feeding the bulb.

2. I'm too lazy to RTFM or try it out in real life, but in the center console, there's a vent with a lever to open or close air induction (guess you can keep your 7up chilled or your <insert favorite snack here> warm. Which position is 'Closed', which 'Open'?

3. Does it pi$$ you off too when the morons from the car wash rip up the drivers side floor mat to vacuum underneath, thus popping off the little buttons that secure it so it won't bunch up under the brake pedal? And I've always wondered what the little arrows were for on those buttons. Hello?!? You're supposed slide them in the direction of the arrow to remove (or was it re-insert) the mats, but maybe they should have written it out in English AND Spanish instead of using symbols?! Duhhh...

Luckily, you can keep re-assembling the buttons for a while before they get so worn out you can't snap 'em back together.

Spyke

If you think the Japanese manuals are bad, try oone from an Italian bike... My favorite comment so far goes along the lines of "never start a cold engine".

galaxygrrl

Thanks Mark. That did it, hot air in the middle, I'll think of you on cold foggy days.

Fuzzo

i don't know how correct this information is...simply because with no air on and with the sunroof open or even in the tilt position, i feel a draught coming in from the doors and near the door handles...when i close the roof, it's all quiet and sealed just fine... so i''m thinking this is why the heat blows stronger when the roof is tilted....

could this be??

a1phanumrc

It's not the Air system putting more heat out, it's simple physics.... you open the sun roof and it creates low pressure above you making an increase in the amount of air needed in the car, which comes from the vents... so your system is just fine

MarkL

Glad it worked out. I had to experiment w/ that blue control a few times until I figured it out. LOL about the cold foggy day comment