No this is a valid question. Not feeling put down

MBs has for awhile now created an adaptable drivetrain for most of its cars. Since the advent of drive by wire, the computer has taken over the control of the engine output, shift points etc. MB uses this control to make cars as smooth and comfortable as possible. That is the luxury side of MB. The adaptability comes to play as the car learns how sporty or how conservatively its driver likes to drive. Theoretically, if you were to drive as aggressive as you can, the car may adjust its various characteristics like shift point, throttle response etc to match your driving. On the other hand if you drive as slow and smooth as possible, the car will adjust accordingly. Many believe that the car needs to adapt to a sporty driving style to maximize its capabilities and thus would like to induce this type of adaptation. Some feel that a "reboot" will allow for a blank slate as opposed to the inadvertent adaptation to everyday stop go driving. It is logical to think that it is easier to erase 'bad' adaptation instead of reversing it. And that's why most resort to doing a reset or relearn.

It isn't clear if it really matters to do this. Whether or not it is based on a driving session, a period of time or cumulative over the life of the car. At extremes people find big changes. I had to do this after a tune as the car became very weird and weak. After resetting, the car's personality was restored.

This is above and beyond the s+ type adjustments you mentioned.

 

Hi, this is a trick you guys might already know of.

 

Mine doesn't seem to work unless you're standing very closing with the infrared side pointing directly at the door's . I've tried standing from a few feet away at various angles, none of it works. Has to be standing very close having it pointed DIRECTLY at the door.

In the video, it seems that's not the case. I have a U.S. spec car, not sure it makes any difference..but thought it was weird. I pretty much given up on it, I never use this feature since its such a PITA.

 

Yes, it is an infrared system (at least in the U.S.). I do have to be standing close to and slightly to the rear of the handle of the driver's door. Somewhere in the C300 manuals, it does say you have to be within six feet. The fob does have to be pointed at the tiny infrared sensor in the handle.

I use it all the time in summer. My 2007 C280 4Matic (see my Signature below) had the same exact system, so I was already familiar with it. My C300 is not garaged, so it builds up a lot of heat. Like my C280, it does not have a sunroof. Still, if I hit the fob a couple steps away, that initial furnace blast of hot, stuffy air has rolled out the open windows by the time I sit down. In my C300, the fob also activates the fan for the ventilated driver's seat. Especially if the seat has been baking in the sun, it has just enough time to push enough hot air out of the seat, so that the seat back is not burning hot when I sit down.

 

Actually I wonder why we should let any air from outside come in the car ?

Isn't it just more chance to get dirty particules in the car ?

Why not only drive with the recirculation button on ?

 

Oxygen

 

That did genuinely make me laugh. Perhaps do a test, tape a bag over your head and see why you'd need fresh air to come in.

(Legal disclaimer, don't do the above, I'm being facetious due to such a silly question)

 

And your discolsure made me laugh because there actually IS a chance someone would do this and then his family will come after... Good thinking.

 

Anyone stupid to try that is on borrowed time anyway.

 

Do you really believe that oxygen won't come in anyway ? Are you suffocating when you start the recirculation ?

Weird replies guys...

 

MB may think it is a possibility. That may be why MB designs the air recirculation to turn off and to go back to outside air after 10 minutes. More likely, they are concerned about the buildup of moisture.

I once had a girlfriend who bought the same model car that I drove, an '87 Hyundai Excel. The first time I got in her car, it was to drive it. I asked her why she had the driver side window open an inch. She said that if she didn't leave it open, her window fogged. (It was winter, so, of course, she wasn't running the AC.) She then complained about the cold drafts, even though the heater was also on. She also complained that her carpet was always wet. I replied, "That's odd, my car doesn't do that." Then I noticed that the lever for air recirculation was in the recirculate position. I asked her, "How long has this been in this position?" She replied, "I've never touched it; I don't know what it does!"

She had been tracking snow and water into the car all winter. What little water the heater evaporated had nowhere to go, except to condense on the widows. Even if she had run the AC, it might not have helped. In really cold weather, AC doesn't run much. Otherwise, ice will form on the evaporator coils and block the air flow. I explained what air recirculation does, turned it off, and shut the window. The windows cleared up, and she thought I was wonderful.

May you profit from her experience. (And stop questioning every little thing! One of the premium qualities you are buying with the higher price you paid for your Mercedes is that Mercedes has more experience than any other car maker. You will see complaints here and elsewhere that Mercedes has a tendency to give customers what Mercedes thinks the customers need, not necessarily what the customers want. Do not be misled. Mercedes engineers really do know more than you do.)

 

I had the pano roof popped up in back this last summer whena sudden storm came up.I can see my carfrom my second story office window.Itwas lightly raining at first so I watched to see if the sunroof would close aspeople have said when water hits the rain sensor in the windshield. Well it didnot close.So I tried to close with mykey fob. Not closing. While I was dicking around with this all of a sudden 50mph winds came up.Now it’s a torrentialdownpour and the rain is going sideways straight into my car back tofront.By the time I ran down the stairsand to the car I had an inch of water in the front seats and my whole dash waswet.

Moral of the story… always test features before. (I did testkey fob feature when I was closer to car and it did work)

 

just realized this weekend that the passenger side mirror housing is not as deep front to back as the driver side mirror housing, and is smaller overall. is this to better show blind spot on driver side? does anyone know reason? annoys me now that i noticed it lol

 

So does anyone know if it is true that the panorama sunroof would automatically close if water hits the rain sensor ?

 

I just tested mine:
- Ignition on pano roof open ; spray rain sensor - nothing happens
- Lock the car roof open; spray rain sensor - roof closes to the tilted position

So as far as I can tell the roof does indeed close but only partially. I guess they think that the drain can channel away enough of the water if it's tilted open. Not sure if a torrential downpour will close it entirely. I couldn't get it to do so.

 

Never mind

 

Do you think it will make a difference if you run a water hose instead of spraying on the rain sensor ?

 

Yes, it will make a difference....

 

I guess the car will fill up a lot faster with water if you use a hose

 

It doesn't close completely to ensure there is adequate ventilation - imagine you left the roof open on purpose as you had a dog in the car, and then the roof closed completely. Mercedes don't want to be responsible for what might happen here.

See attached for an extract from the user guide

 

Thank you so much for all details. I didn't know that it would stop after 10 mns.

Also didn't know about the HOLD method (pushing the brake 1 time to stop the car at trafic light).

You are all great, guys !

 

what app is that? mercedes guides? i'd like to read all the tid-bits about the car

I've also heard that if the pano roof is open and you are highway speeds the rear of the glass lowers a little bit for aerodynamics, no idea if this is true though

 

I use this app on my iPhone

 

found it

 

I was trying to upload a screenshot of the MB Guides app but I couldn't get it work

Glad you found it, I find it very useful