kaku

it must be me, but i don't see any door open indicators on the dash?

can someone please kindly point it out to my blind eyes where this elusive light may be.

tia=)

qwqwerertyty

you mean the light that tells you your door's open? There isnt. But the whole screen will turn red showing huge warning letters if u try to drive while the door's open.

kaku

how fast do you have to be going before that [red] light comes on?

it didn't seem to pop up when i was backing up with one of the doors ajar

qwqwerertyty

dont remember exactly but my impression is that it came on really soon after I tried to drive with my truck opened one time (on purpose though)

kaku

still can't believe there's no dedicated indicator light.. they could've used the multi-function display..

chokaay

All Mercedes that I've driven 2002 - 2009 use the multifunction dissplay to warn you about open doors/trunk. I believe you need to drive between 5-15 ft before the audio and visual warning pops up. If they changed this on the new C-Classes, that would be a surprise!

IMO, it's better to use the multi-function display than an indicator light since the 3-4 inch MFD turning red with BIG letters will most likely attract more attention than a small 1cm icon/light.

TB5...

my driver side dorr was open this morning when i was backin out of my driveway... the red light showing which dorr was open... came on pretty much immediately.

kaku

another reason they should have a dedicated indicator light (or a logo on the MFD) is not for driving, but after you park; when one of your passengers forget to close their door you literally have to inspect each door to see which one is not fully closed.

qwqwerertyty

if you park with one of the doors not properly closed, the car will not beep when you lock it.

kaku

exactly.

now without a dedicated door open indicator light/logo, how do you know which door is open?

TB5...

yea i was just out and tested this...

you're right there is no indication of which door is open until you start driving... when static there is no way of knowing what door or that even ANY door is open... lol

joshg1001

it also depends on your speed of movement. If you are backing out slowly, it will not show any indicator.

AL_ATC

so what happen to your door?

white46

not many cars have seperate indicator for each door these days.
most likely one red warning light for any door open. you still need to inspect every door.

joshg1001

most luxury cars have a seperate indicator light per door in the diagram. I know all lexus cars after redesigned after 2004 has this.

kaku

i think it's opposite. back then, there was only a single indicator for all doors. most cars nowadays have an indicator for each door. at least for all japanese cars..

Star & Laurel

I like not having indicators ... makes you use your brain ...

chokaay

I honestly don't mind with how MB designed it (although I would not object to having an indicator light either).

Usually when parking the car, I usually turn OFF the car before the occupants (and I) get out. In this case, the dash will be dark/turned off as well, thus no indicator lights would be showing anyway. If the car doesn't beep or flash at all when I lock it, then I know a door is not closed properly. It doesn't take THAT long to find which door isn't properly closed (you just look straight down the left and right sides of the car, and see which door sticks out further than the rest). In other cars (like Lexus), when you turn off the ignition, the dash also goes dark/turns off as well, thus no door open indicators will show either.

When I'm dropping someone off, I stop the car, the passenger gets out, and then closes the door. If the door is not closed properly, and I pull away from the curb, I will know within 5 seconds (usually more like 2) if the door isn't closed properly because it will show a visual warning on the MFD accompanied by an audio chime. Besides, if one knows his/her car well enough, it's pretty easy to tell if a door or window isn't closed properly by the increased engine and/or wind noise you usually don't hear inside your car when driving. If this is the case, either I would roll down the window and yell at the passenger to get back here and close the door properly (hehe), or I would do it myself (if the passenger is gone or if I'm in a place where I can safely exit my car for 5 seconds to close the door (like in a parking lot).

When I'm kicking someone out of my car while driving 80mph on the freeway, I don't need any stinking reminder that my door is open! The wind would probably slam the door pretty good anyway.


And if I was going to "fool" all of MB's open door triggers, and drive <5mph for distances shorter than a few feet, with my doors and/or trunk improperly closed, why would I do that? And IF I ever did drive <5mph, it probably would be to adjust a car in a parking spot, in which case an improperly closed door can be seen through the side mirrors while parking (and a wide open door would be even more obvious because of the outdoor noise that would come into the cabin).


SUGGESTION: Make it a habit to check your side mirrors after passengers get in/out of your vehicle to ensure doors are properly closed. It doesn't take that long, and it's always good to do a visual inspection before driving (as even dash indicators can fail under certain circumstances too). A quick glance in your side view mirrors should tell you if all doors are properly closed (at least in the daytime, or well-lit areas at night). And if you lock your doors after your car is parked, but you don't see any flashes or hear any beeps, then take a quick glance down the left side and right side of your car to see which door isn't closed properly... it'll stick out more than the other doors.