Forgive me if I'm breaking any rules or if this is in the wrong section. I did a search, and looked through the DIY's/stickies and didn't see anything.


I drove 4 hours to Birmingham Alabama today to pick up a 2009 Mercedes C350, white in color, loaded with nav, Bluetooth, Comand interface, leather, sunroof, etc.


I just came out of a 2005 BMW M3 a couple months ago. Power-wise, the C350 is certainly no M3. I bought it though, not for the power, but because I'm expected my first child, and needed a more family friendly 4 door. I wanted something more upscale, refined and luxurious, and the C350 is what I settled on. So far, I'm not disappointed. In all honestly even though it's not as fast as the M3, I think I like it more.


All that aside, I do have a couple disappointments/concerns. Not with the manufacturing of the vehicle, but just a couple issues/questions that arose on my 250+ fun filled mile drive home today.


1. None of my vents, except the passenger side front vent adjust. They will move the horizontal slats up/down, but the slider seems detached from the vertical slats on all the vents (including the rear vents) except the passenger vent. This is a little irritating, because I didn't notice it until after I bought the car. I really hope that the slider just someone became disconnected from the slats, but I assume they are all broken and need replacing, which I'm assuming will be upwards of $300-$400 for all the vents. Just so I can make sure they are broken and not repairable, is there a DIY for removing all of the vents so I can take a closer look?


2. My trunk seems very difficult to close. You really have to slam it hard to shut it, or it won't latch. Is this normal, or is there an issue here? The latch seems bent out of shape perhaps? I will take a picture tomorrow to show what I mean.


I have one more question about the black strips in either side of the roof where the roof meets up with the edge where the doors close, but I will have to follow up on this one tomorrow with some pictures.


Other than that, the car is great. If you can help me, particularly with number 1, that would be great.

Welcome to the forum.
As far as your concerns-
1. This is not a common issue with the W204 C-Classes- Hopefully it won't be too bad to fix
2. Trunk should not be difficult to close- this is also not a common problem
3. Are you referring to the clear top-coat peeling? This IS a common issue and was usually replaced under warranty. The parts are not difficult to remove and replace yourself if not covered.
Sorry to say, but it sounds like someone was a little rough with your car. My 2008 C300 looked and felt showroom new after 5 years. I loved that car and would still have it if not for the accident.

Now you mention it my trunk requires slam to lock as well, you cant simply gently close it it will pop open again.

Same here.. I have to slam my trunk a little also.

Try adjusting the bump stops on the trunk lid so that it closes a little lower...

I will check this out as well. I just got mine on Tuesday and have to slam the trunk.

This, along with bending the bar the latch hooks onto, and unscrewing/rescrewing it down to move it left/right helped a great deal. The bar was bent all to hell and when lined up with the marks on the chassis to indicate proper alignment, it was too far to one side and the latch was hitting it. The two pieces line up now, and it closes with a really light push as it should. The Carfax was clean, but I wonder if the car was ever rear ended at some point. Oh well, 1 problem down, a few more to go.


The AC vents (atleast the center vents) are trash. I took it out, and they are broken, which is why they won't adjust. I don't know how the hell you do that to one vent, let alone 4 of them, but I'm just going to spend some money on brand new vents. Does anyone have a part number for the vents that go with navigation? Are these the right ones?


http://www.ecstuning.com/Mercedes_Be...ard/ES1741353/


As for the roof rack stripping, that is what I was referring to but still haven't gotten any pics. It's the piece that starts on either side of the windshield, and goes along the side of it then follows the roofline by the top of the doors, all the way to the back window. Im sure you all know what Im talking about so I don't think pics are necessary. Short of spending money on new molding/stripping, what are my options? Take them off and have them recleared? It's not a huge deal, they are just kind of an eyesore.


One new issue I remembered, is that my rear passenger window wont auto roll up. It will auto roll down, but you have to hold the switch to roll it up, and when it gets to the top, it will roll itself down about an inch then you have to slowly roll it back all the way closed. Ive read it's a common issue, and I've tried the two methods of fixing it (i.e. holding all 4 switches up to reset the computer and holding the affected switch up once its all the way rolled up) and neither worked. Is this something I should take to the car to the dealer for, or is there something else I can try?