VancouverC32

I just got my car back from the dealer after they fixed my heating element on my drivers seat bottom. They apparently had to replace the whole thing including the leather as the heating element is part of the leather (glued together and comes as one piece). The replacement looks like crap. Very poor quality, does not look like or feel like the rest of the Nappa leather. It feels like the stock leather from the C240, hard and plastic like. The quality of the stitching is not comparable either. I am taking it back and I asked them to put back my original seat bottom until they figure it out, but he believes it went back for waranty already?


Has anyone else had this issue? It almost appears that the product is not a Mercedes product, but a poor aftermarket knock off. Does anyone know if there is a standard production location for the leather (i.e. all made in Germany) or are there multiple producers in the world and we might get mismatched parts over time?

Dink

i had the same thing happen. both driver and passenger bottoms were not heating, but only had the driver's side replaced. i have charcoal leather in my car, and the seat bottom feels different, the color is a bit off, and the support that keeps your butt in the seat is softer than the passenger side.

i complained to the dealer that the new leather is not nappa leather, and it is the same leather found in non AMG C classes. they said that they ordered the part from germany on special order (since it was AMG) and it is the same leather. they gave me some BS about the leather being new and it needs to break in or something like that.

i told them to order another one. but when i got that, it still was not the right leather. i told them to order it again, and this time, they showed me the leather first, and it wasn't even the same pattern as the AMG seat, they just got one for the regular C class.

after all of this, i just gave up.

Vomit, on this forum, had the seat bottoms replaced also, and it seemed like it wasn't the right leather either.

tell me what happens with your seats.

Wiedermann

Mr. VancouverC32
I had a similar issue with my BOTH of my front seats... driver side bottom would not heat, pass side the back side would not heat... after the replaced the components the seat looked... well just like you described.

Escalation and calls to MB Cust Service in New Jersey, plus nice pictures that I had from my car BEFORE and AFTER the work was done, quickly and promptly got the dealership to call me to replace the parts for the correct ones.

I've noticed that MB Benz repair centers on this side of the world do always "half fast" jobs... that is in my personal experience, so by all means, those of you that have had good experiences so far; should not be discouraged in any way...

After the seats were repaired, somehow, the convenience feature that allows the steering wheel and/or seats to retract + folding mirrors to auto fold, etc stopped working... later it was found out that somehow during the work done on the seats some discharge blew the module on the door that holds the control for those features... another couple od months for MB to fix that...

When the door module arrived and finally was installed.. about 5 months after the seat fiasco... well.. now the seats finally fixed... the door module is installed... whelp??? I lost the convenience feature for my mirrors to auto fold when I lock/unlock the car... reason..???... US specs don't have THAT feature... this would have been avoided had the correct part (which my car had originally) had been ordered...

After those 2 problems (second one of the convenience feature created while fixed the seats issue) were solved... I got my car back and half the dashboard would not illuminate... another 4 weeks of escalation... whelp??? what was the problem.. the techs played with the DAS and had changed some of the programming and simply the dash did not illuminate for that reason....

Lots of letters, video tapes were sent of all of this to MB in NJ and a copy I am taking with me back home (Austria) this Christmas as a Christmas present for my dealership in Berlin... while living in Europe, as I am originally from there, NEVER such things have EVER happened, this is with my fam having nothing but MBenzes (about 10 of them given take a few more or less at any given point).

Do the same, escalate your problem and get your car fixed as it is supposed to.

Cheers

Wiedermann

Wiedermann

Regarding my previous post...

Regarding the convenience feature not working... there is lots of what I call "blah, blah" that I am not going into, though some of you may be thinking about "testing" "resetting" of the system, etc etc... whelp>???.. all of that was done... amazingly... the other 2 keys I have for te C32 did retained their memories and set up the seats, steering wheel, mirrors, etc properly... the door module had blown/burned/damaged just the ciruitry that one of the three keys had... how do I know this???... whelp??? "blah, blah" which means testing, trouble shooting etc, proved the other 2 keys worked properly... (yup I spent an extra 175 bucks to get a third key that I never use... )... 3 keys are not supposed to work???... whelp??? YES they are supposed to work... now everything is fixed and I have 3 keys each of them with three diff seat settings recorded in memory.. of of those 3 keys work properly now...

Cheers!

Wiedermann

Lenin

Mr. Wiedermann,
Do you happen to have the part number for the correct Door Control Module that will control the folding mirrors?

VancouverC32

Mr Wiedermann:

Nice to hear from you again my fellow european. I was wondering if when you say that they called back to replace the parts with the correct ones, do you actually mean they got you proper Nappa leather that matched? Can you elaborate on the difference and anything you know about this at this time.

Thanks

VancouverC32

Also if there are two different parts, what is the part number of the seat bottom that should be installed????

Wiedermann

Mr. Lenin:

I don't have the part number, however, I will bringing it with me in Dec. after I come back from visiting my family back home (Austria).

Mr. VancouverC32:

After escalating the issue with MB Benz cust. serv. (USA), the CORRECT parts where ordered and ulimtately installed. The part numbers are not the problem, the problem is the color code for the matching leather tone. I had even received the "reason" that leathers tint differently, cause, "after all" its the skin of a different cow.. blah, blah... unfortunately, I am a science major in the medical field (and though I am not a veterinarian, still the whole chemistry thing, still is the same, you know??..lol) and though my chemistry is not as good as it used to be when I was in school, there is no telling that because of the color of the cow the leather looks like crap in the car...

Basically the dealership, probably like in your case, had ordered the wrong part, and "hoped" you (the customer) would just suck it up and stay with the crapy seat.

Always, try to have pictures of what your car looked BEFORE you take in for service.

I had a similar situation with the navigation system that would not work properly at times... took in for service... the same "blah, blah" from the dealership, "system its "ok" ", "no error codes on the "system" ", blah, blah... whelp???.. I pulled up my video camara and right there in front of them I played the video of the nav system malfunction... 2 days later I had a new Nav system installed... (dealer was trying to stay "away" from ordering a new part... how reckless is that???.. ).

In Europe, they (the dealership) will gladly replace the whole car if necesary!... I know that from experience... though not with MB, but was with a Porsche that just never worked right... so after a year of not working properly, the dealer just replaced the whole car and the problem went away... ... (well, I don't like Porsches that much.. so the new one, though worked very well, I still didn't like it)

There is a part number for the seat bottom and there is another part for the top.

Cheers!

Wiedermann

BenzC32

Mr. VancouverC32,

Which dealer did you bring your car in for service?

TC32AMG

Greeeaatt my seat warmers just quit on me......which dealer did you take it to?

This is pretty sad that the heaters are going like this, could this be a design flaw?

T

C55AMG2005

The driver side heater (bottom part) in my C32 went out on me last year. I had it replaced by the dealer without a hitch...but seeing some of the posts here, man, there are some SHADY dealers out there! I would and do expect more from a MBZ dealer!

Biggest problem I have had with the dealer was after one of my services, a mysterious lipstick was dropped in my car, leading to a major fight with the wife. Never did figure out where it came from...

VancouverC32

Broadway Vancouver. The service guy was nice about it, but they are pointing at Toronto as supplying the part and it is the part that they sent. I definitely am not going to accept it and will keep you posted.

Kar don

try boundary road, i hear they have better service.

VancouverC32

Broadway Vancouver. The service guy was nice about it, but they are pointing at Toronto as supplying the part and it is the part that they sent (part listed for car). I definitely am not going to accept it and will keep you posted.

dsC32

My C32 went in last week because the heated seat went out on the driver's side, bottom and back. Also the headrest and steering wheel adjustments went out. Got it back with apparent success on headrest and steering wheel, but not the seat. Driving home the radio did not work on AM, popping, lack of power on some stations. The key will not control the settings on the seat, steering wheel, and mirrors. Took it back again. Now its back today and tomorrow, with new seat element ordered. They have no idea about the redio. I always thought people were overly critical when there was an electrical problem, but with the car in for service 4 days in the last 6 business days, I am getting worried.

TC32AMG

I take my car there they are good, I go in extra early so the service guys are not too awake yet but I think the service techs are top notch. Used to take it to North Van they were very good too but I usually had to go hunt for my car in the lot afterwards. Either or give them a try. What is interesting is pricing on things like oil for your service it is cheaper in NV than on boundary.

I guess I should make my appointment and hope for the best.

T

doofoo

I am having problems with my 2003 C32 drivers side bottom heating element now. No heat. Taking my car in tomorrow, hope I don't have the same problems with the leather color some of you have been having.

I'll keep everyone updated.

-Mike

BenzC32

Is his name James?

VancouverC32

No. I don't want to name names. Like I said the service guy was nice, but the shop manager was a bit rude.

chitownc32

i just had both drivers and passenger side bottom seats replaced and the leather did not match the service manager said to give it a couple of months to wear in i think this is bull**** I filed a complaint with mercedes benz and they couldnt do nothing about it i took it to another dealership and they said to bring it to them next time i will never go back to lober motors ever again they get all personal like their losing money when the parts are covered under factory warranty their are so f***ing lazy i cant believe this

doofoo

I just had mine replaced as I said before, it looks perfect. Like a new seat coushin. Lether matches perfectly.

Sorry all your guys are havign problems. Euro Motorcars in Bethesda, MD is where I got it done.

-Mike

VancouverC32

Do you mind quoting the part number or anything of the service sheet that I can take to the dealer as a reference?

Thanks

VancouverC32

This is my last effort. If anyone has successfully had a match of leather quality and color during the heated seat bottom replacement, could you please post the part number that was used. I would greatly appreciate this information.

Many thanks.

doofoo

The part number for the cover I had installed was:
1 203-910-43-46-9C05

Hope that helps you out.

-Mike

VancouverC32

Many thanks,
I will pass this information on to the dealer. See if it makes a difference.