cheerful

2015 C300.

Climate control set to Auto, which means the fan speed and air flow are both auto controlled. Sync is on. Outside is 40 F and target is set at 72.

The vent on the door side has warm air coming out. The central vent, has nearly 0 air coming out.

If I switch off Auto, set the air flow to both leg and face, and increase fan speed, the warm air will start come out of central vent.

Is there something wrong with my car?

Thanks

gfmohn

Mercedes cars are like the women of Mozart's operas, best expressed by the title of one of his comic operas, Così fan tutte! ("They're all like that!," or "That's what they all do!") Not only the cars, Mercedes engineers are also like Mozart's women. "They're all like that!," in that they all know better than you do what you are supposed to like. Relax and go along with them, and they will take good care of you. Imagine that you are in charge and fight them, and your life will be hell.

The finale of Così fan tutte! gives the moral:
All
Happy is the man who looks
At everything on the right side
And through trials and tribulations
Makes reason his guide.

What always makes another weep
Will be for him a cause of mirth
And amid the tempests of this world
He will find sweet peace.

NewMBC300

I noticed that in my odyssey and also in c300 too. I guess that how the auto feature works. If you notice you will also feel warm air along the windshield. Looks like the idea is warm the permiter before the center vents.

cheerful

Maybe I am not patient enough: when will the warm air come out in central vent in auto mode? 10 min?

gfmohn

I'm afraid it doesn't (at least in auto mode). I don't like to drive with gloves, so I like to have the warm air from the center vent blowing on my right hand. Can't do it, without shifting off of auto.

cheerful

It actually requires 2 manual change. Auto off, then fan direction needs to get off windshield heating -- otherwise warm air from the windshield, not the central vent.

gfmohn

I did not intend to give the complete procedure, only to affirm that indeed auto mode won't do what you want. I merely have to tap the ventilation selection switch next to the driver side up-down temperature control. First tap takes it off auto; second tap selects the combination of floor heat and all vents.

cheerful

I am not complaining about your answer. I'm complaining that it takes several steps to keep my hands warm

topsider

hot air doesnt come out of central vents in any car that has auto climate in cold weather, it re-routes the air to the windshield and floor vents. very common

cheerful

Why do you say so? It's not the case for my previous car.

topsider

what was your previous car? in my past cars and all of the cars my family had ever has as far as i can remember this has been the case. in cold weather, the auto system knows that you do not need hot air blowing on your face, so since hot air rises, it blows on the floor and consistently against the front windshield for constant de-fog/frost purposes

Brutus99

I can choose hot air blowing from centre vents in our BMW X5 if I have it set to that or I can change the setting to go on windshield/feet or Auto. I guess this will be something new to get used to in the C300 lol

topsider

You can manually set the hot air to blow through the center vents in the c-class, however i trust the auto setting to run as it was programmed

Brutus99

OK thanks, will try when it arrives hopefully soon

cheerful

Volvo.

No, the auto-system does NOT know what I want. Otherwise I would not have to post this question

topsider

maybe not what you want, but it knows what is technically correct

cheerful

So, do you, or MB, think what drivers wants is irrelevant?

topsider

i mean, they probably employ hundreds (if not more) of people to design this stuff, gather info from owners, etc. so they are probably "right". maybe it is just a german brand thing, judging that i've had cars from each of the german Big 3 and they have all operated the same

cheerful

With a few really cold days recently, this has come back to be my biggest complaint about the car.

ManiacGT

I noted this on the first cold day. Warm only on the right vent in auto until about 20 mins then the centre vents balance it up.

One warm hand and one cold.

I always thought it odd on my BMW that there is both top level vents that can be manually controlled and climate vents elsewhere. That is of course until I realised the benefit of this setup in that both hands are warned easily by the manual top vents and the climate keeps the rest of me just right.

Another thing MB could learn from.

Zand3rs

U are all joking right? I live in a VERY cold climate during winter and i never have a problem with cold hands in my car. Put the heat at what you like it to be and if the center vent is blowing air on your hand and you dont like it? Turn it OFF!

Also did you pick the cheap or expensive aircontrol?

Anyhow, this is crazy

ManiacGT

The complaint is simply that what you'd expect from auto mode isn't what you get.

You would hope for auto to warm your hands if the interior is very cold etc

My BMW does this. It clears any damp from the screen first then diverts air to hand level before then opening up vents to the entire car.

The MB seems to be a bit less helpful so you have to turn auto off (making auto a bit pointless) and make several manual adjustments in blower speed and direction all hampered by the one click buttons.

Less buttons may look nice but it makes adjustments that much more fiddly.

SteveE400

In some cases, yes.


I remember when I bought my W201 (new, 1988). I asked the dealer if there was an upgrade for the radio, which was a Becker with 4 X 4-inch speakers. He told me, "Sir, people do not buy these automobiles to listen to the radio."


This attitude is also demonstrated by the length of time it took MB to finally acquiesce and include cup holders. For many years after the rest of the world had cup holders, MB had none, asserting that "You bought this automobile to drive it, not to have a cappuccino."

SteveE400

Maybe that's how they coax us into buying the heated steering wheel.

gfmohn

Wonderful, SteveE400! I am glad you agree with me! (One of my ancestors must have worked for MB!) And you, cheerful, are catching on.

When I was reading Road & Track and Car and Driver magazines back in the 1960s, exactly the same things were said about MB. The only technical subject I remember was the seats. When American cars had seats that resembled La-Z-Boy recliners, MB had seats intended force the driver to sit with good posture (hard, flat, with an almost vertical seat back). To this day, MB seats are more firm than many customers care for.

MB had it their way until the mid-60s. Audi did not appear until 1965. The BMW 1600 2-door economy sedan that made BMW famous with American sport drivers was not released until 1966. The large sedans that made BMW competition for MB were not released until 1968.

(I did not learn to drive until 1965 and then it was on the four-door 1800TI of the same series. The friend who owned it had a competition license, and he had a semi-race cam in it. It would not idle more than a few seconds; it would stall coasting down a hill in gear! You had to drive down the hill with your foot on the gas, downshifting as necessary to control speed.)