Radio volume on start-up.
Radio volume on start-up.
Just noticed this tonight while driving with Honey. Before she turns the car off she turns down the radio volume to almost the point where you can't hear it. She uses the volume knob in the middle of the dash. When we get back into the car and start her up the radio comes on much, much louder than when we left. Why does the volume go up after the car is turned off. It doesn't make much sense. The Nav/Radio screen was down the whole time. Also she was listening to Sat radio. Is there a setting for the radio volume somehwere we are missing?
the system has a built in sensor to detect road/engine noise so the volume increases as the enviorment gets louder and decreases as it gets quieter. when the engine is off, i guess the sound stays pretty low, but when you start up again, it increases because of the engine noise. if you want to test it out yourself, get a little dirt devil vaccum and clean your car with the music on. you can hear the volume increase by itself and then decrease when you turn off the vaccum.
the system has a built in sensor to detect road/engine noise so the volume increases as the enviorment gets louder and decreases as it gets quieter. when the engine is off, i guess the sound stays pretty low, but when you start up again, it increases because of the engine noise. if you want to test it out yourself, get a little dirt devil vaccum and clean your car with the music on. you can hear the volume increase by itself and then decrease when you turn off the vaccum.
OK, I understand about volume going up and down when there is road noise...but my point is, she turns the volume all the way down while the car is still running (in park). She then turns the car off. After a certain amount of time she gets back in and turns the car on (still in park). Radio volume is no longer low like before the car was turned off...it is now high. Almost like a preset level somewhere in the computer. So the car disregards the volume setting before it was turned off and just reverts back to a standard volume level? Too much fancy technology. In my CLK the radio stays at whatever volume I keep it at. Is that too much to ask?
Must be a way to set the level upon startup?

Must be a way to set the level upon startup?
Trending Topics
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 402
Likes: 3
From: Jet City, USA
'08 W204.081; M 272.948 KE30; Colour Code#792
Just noticed this tonight while driving with Honey. Before she turns the car off she turns down the radio volume to almost the point where you can't hear it. She uses the volume knob in the middle of the dash. When we get back into the car and start her up the radio comes on much, much louder than when we left. Why does the volume go up after the car is turned off. It doesn't make much sense. The Nav/Radio screen was down the whole time. Also she was listening to Sat radio. Is there a setting for the radio volume somehwere we are missing? 

Super Member
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 811
Likes: 2
From: Toronto, ON
2011 E350 4Matic Wagon, 2013 C350 4Matic Sedan
Let me know if you find something in the Bible of MM. I noticed the same thing on my car but have been living with it because it's not that drastic to me (I guess I like the volume to be a little high?)
Senior Member


Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 343
Likes: 7
From: Calgary, Canada
'13 C300 '14 E63S '08 E92 M3
hmm iguess thats good though, cause if you forget to tur ndown the volume, u could blow your speakers???
maybe the benz just puts it to the middle volume, where its not to loud or to quite to hear
maybe the benz just puts it to the middle volume, where its not to loud or to quite to hear
If it's like the audio system in my VW, you can set the "switch on initial volume level" to what you want. That way, when you switch on the car the audio always starts at the same level, regardless of what level you were listening at when you turned it off.
hmm...maybe i should crack open the OM. that MM system's book is just as thick as the one for the rest of the car, easy to miss something.
I read virtually the entire thing very quickly. It isn't that bad, once you dig in, and you'll find little bits you can skip as it's silly or not related to your country's car or something.
OK....Honey and I tried reading both the owners manual and the COMMAND manual. I can't find crap about the volume setting. What am I missing here?
Looks like the next step is the dealership.

Looks like the next step is the dealership.
No help at the dealership. They can't find any settings in the computer for the volume. They said they would have to take out the radio and check the connections.
I think they are stumped. The Tech came out to talk with us. He said it wasn't suppose to do that. He had no idea why.
Oh well. Looks like we will just deal with it for now.

I think they are stumped. The Tech came out to talk with us. He said it wasn't suppose to do that. He had no idea why.
Oh well. Looks like we will just deal with it for now.






