Omega8

I recently purchased a new C200 with seat comfort option. The electric seats, memory and heating work fine however the lumbar support doesn't seem to. On both the front driver and passenger seats the 4-way switch on the outside of each seat only works when pressed up, down and forward, but not backwards. It also feels that the up, down, forward movement is the same, ie it only feels like the lumbar support is being pushed out more but not up or down.

The biggest issue however is that it won't go backwards into the original position. If the 4-way button is pressed up,down or forward I can here whizzing/servo sound and feel outward movement in the seat backrest. If I press the backwards button, nothing happens, no whizzing/servo sound, I hear nothing, and the lumbar support/seat backrest stays in the outward/previous set position.

According to the car specs it has electro-pneumatic lumbar support; does this mean the lumbar support mechanism is pumped-up/inflated with air, or is there some sort of mechanical arm pushing the backrest/lumbar support out/up/down? If it's inflated with air, do you think it's possible to press hard on the lumbar support lump and backwards position of the lumbar support switch to deflate it? As it's happening on both seats, I'm just wondering if I'm doing something wrong, or whether I need to push hard on the backrest when pressing the button to return the lumbar support to normal position (if that's do-able that is).

I don't think it is operating properly as in my previous car I could feel all 4 directional lumbar support movements/adjustments individually. I can take it back to the dealer but can't do that for a few months due to time constraints and in the meantime thought I could share this issue on this forum for some advice.

Any advice/help will be very much appreciated. Thanks.

ManiacGT

Was your previous car the same model because that’s the only way you can make a comparison.

the lumbar support is air pockets. Bladders that fill and empty as you press buttons.

you will not hear anything when they empty and go back, only when the compressor is needed.

mine appear fine and you simply feel the seat back slowly moving back when they deflate.

DBOC205

It's a dual air cushion (i.e. upper & lower air bladders; press up, to inflate the upper segment, down for lower, fwd for both). Pressing back simply opens the air valve to allow the bladders to deflate and hence no noise. If you can't feel it going down perhaps the solenoid or switch is broken. Compare it to the lumbar on the passenger side and see if it's the same there. Head to the dealership if you suspect it's not working.