Just wanted to pass on a bad experience that happened this past weekend while coming home to Florida from a recording session in Nashville, and pass on a "Be very Careful" message!!

I'm traveling South-bound on I-75 through GA about 50 miles So. of Macon, with Bela Fleck on the iPod, and a tire "chunk" comes out from no where in a rain storm and I hit it dead on!! Left tire runs it over and the "thud" and slap to the front bumper along with the jolt of running over the tire piece is enough to upset a cup of coffee in the cup holder.

This is where the warning comes in; do not put any kind of drink in that cup holder, because if it gets spilled onto the console, you're fuc-'d, as I found out.

Had a old time friend with me, and I looked up just in time to see a sign for a rest stop 1 mile. Pulled in to check the damage on the front end, and thinking that it wasn't anything I could do about it until I got home, started the car only to find out that it won't come out of park!!!

Used Tel-aid and they walked me through the steps for lemp home mode, only to find out that won't work either; long story short ( about time, huh?) they sent a tow truck to pick us up and had to spend the night in Macon while they replaced the shifting computer!!! They said that it is a poor design and that any type of liquid that runs down into the console will "fry" the shifting computer!

My car is going into the shop today to have the front end fixed and the cup holder taken out!!!! No more liquids in my CLK from now on!

Just wanted to pass on this warning to my fellow CLK'ers out there; it's not a warrenty item either, and it's not cheap!

Take car out there folks,

Jim

 

Thanx Jim,

Sorry to hear that, hope everything is fine now.

 

Thanks for the tip.

Count your blessings that you didn't get caught in a speed trap; it would cost more than the "shifty computer".

 

how to remove the cup holder assembly so I can clean it? It seems to collect a lot of dust that sticks to whatever liquid drops fell there. Thank you.

 

wow good reason to never bring drinks into the CLK- thanks for sharing the experience, glad your car wasn't hurt worse

 

all newer mb are prone to this problem, my service manager said it COMMON and that the emergency release is also unable to unlock it most of the time. isnt it will robinson?

 

Good to know!
I think the cup holders in the CLK are a piece of crap and are located in the wrong place. It looks to me as if the design was an after thought.
Tim

 

My service advisor warned me about this problem about 6 months after I got my car. He said they would replace it under warranty once, and only once.

 

exact same thing happened with me, I managed to get home in limp mode in 2+ hours for what normally would only take 20 min

the car only goes up to 30-35 mph in limp mode,

MBUSA had the car towed from my house to the dealer and fixed under waranty.

 

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones.... just saw them at a vineyard not too long ago. Wish they still had that badass keyboard/harmonica player from their earlier days but they still put on a good show.... especially when the Wooten brothers get into the funk.

 

what do you guys mean by limp mode?

b

 

Yeah, love the Wootens when they rock out; Victor is killer on that bass, and Future Man is something else when it comes to inventions with midi and samples.

If it happens around home, then great, your dealer will probable fix it under warr., as mine said they would have, but if you're on the road, expect to pay for the tow, labor, motel, and parts, which in my case came to over $850! Much more than a "speed trap"!

I just got off the phone with MB, and the girl told me that if it was up to the Germans, they wouldn't have any cup holders in the car, but the Americans demand it, so they put one in ( after thought indeed!), but just be very careful about any kind of liquid getting in that console!!! I wonder how much it would have cost M-B to inclose that little cpu card in expoxy so that liquids wouldn't have that effect? Another buck or two to protect such an achilles heel? i swear that is something I would expect out of a KIA, but not a $70,000 Mercedes Benz!!!

Please pass the word to all our friends that drive MB's, as this seems to be common with almost all the models!
Another great reason why not to drink and drive!!!!

Jim

Another

 

yeah, been there, done that.

lent the car to a friend, they spilled coffee from cupholder... results:

stained passenger side carpet/rug
malfunctioning passenger power seats
shift cover sticky

luckily, the shifter didn't get damaged, but the other stuff was fixed under warranty.

oh yeah, 'ex-friend' also smoked in the car, and tried to 'flick' a ciggy out the sunroof... but it got caught on headliner, left a burn mark...sigh

never again does this car go beyond my hands

 

how do i explain it... it is when the car's computer senses something is wrong, and doesn't want you to get hurt driving 'fast' or 'normal', nor does it want to leave you out in no-mans-land.... so, instead, it keeps working, but only in 1st & 2nd gear.... therefore, you get to ur destination or a mechanic safely

 

btw, i believe this 'might' be a MY00+ feature... not sure about pre 00 years.

you activate it by inserting a pen/pencil into the flap below the "D" on the shifter...

 

as i know none of the McDonald's Wendys A&Ws pop cup holds the drink especially when i want to super side my drinks

 

havent you guys heard of DRINK DRIVING??????
its illegal people!

 

dang sorry to hear about that at least you and your friend were not injured.

 

When I get home I'll post a picture of how the cup holder is REALLY supposed to be used (did you know the bottom cup holder perfectly holds a bottle of heineken?) no spills!@

 

The only thing I put in that cup holder is bottled water or diet coke, which falls straight to the floor on every corner, it sucks, but no spills.

 

LOL!!!!

 

to this guy that it's Warning: will ROBINSON, not Robertson?
I must be the only guy here old enough to know....

 

You must be the only guy old enough with a memory. Was he from Lost in Space?

 

Gee guys, you're all a tough crowd! Sorry for the miss spelled words and the fuzzy mental recall.
But if I remember correctly, and I am old enough ( which speaks about the fuzzy memory), then I believe the robot would say " Danger, Danger....... Warning Wil Roberson, or maybe I have that mixed up too?
Sorry if I used a phrase that is older than most of the drivers on this forum; I forgot my age again!! It happens after I drive my CLK, which is most of the time, but now with it in the shop I'm reminded of my "Golden Age"! Sorry guys and girls please forgive

 

both. Usually, "Warning" was for everyone, particularly Dr. Smith, but "Danger, Will Robinson" was usually when the robot and Will were out by themselves doing something they shouldn't be doing....OK, sorry. Back to adulthood now. (Grins!)