Hello all,

I am still working through fixing my passenger seat (and, eventually, the driver seat). Quick recap: the forward/backward moving only works on one rail, airscarf headrest fan was broken and multi-contour seat adjustment is broken.

I took the cushion out and removed the multi-contour seat controls. There is a multicontour hose that's plainly snapped at the connector - any thoughts on where I can find parts for these? Couldn't see parts numbers.

As for some of the wiring, I had to put everything back together quickly to take the car out and, magically, the airscarf started working, even though the wires I thought were needed to make that happen are still disconnected. So I have a set of disconnected wires that I have no idea what they do.

Does anyone know whether there is a wiring diagram for the seats or something like that, so I can work out what the wires are doing before I reconnect them?

Thanks all!

 

Try Konigstiger on this forum, he may be able to dig it out

 

Hi @konigstiger - is this something you happen to have visibility of?

Thanks for the suggestion, @WRC-LVR .

 

PM him !

 

Quick update on my odyssey to fix my A207s seats. The passenger seat has regained its full range of motion. A dime had gotten trapped in one of the rails, which consequently led to the wire connecting the motor to the rail getting detached. The dime is no longer fit for circulation, that's for sure, but the seat works fine now.

The only thing that isn't working on either seat now is the multi-contour adjustments. I think I can hear the pump under the passenger seat, but I haven't looked hard enough to find it. Should there be a pump whirring under the driver seat for the A207, too? When I next have some time, I will see whether any air comes out on the passenger side. Is there a compressor for the system in the trunk somewhere (I've been reading up on MCS for other MBs)? I ordered new plastic connectors (a couple have snapped) and will try to put everything together over Christmas. Just hoping that I don't need a new pump...

Thanks all

 

Yes fix the leaks first. Unless the pump died from working too hard to try to inflate the bags , you should be alright. IIRC on the A207 the pump is in the back of the front seats. One for each seat.

There are threads on fixing the pump and hoses and connectors in this forum.....IIRC the Rainbird 1/4 " drip hose available at Lowes or Home Depot works as a replacement to the hoses. Connectors should still be available from MB but there might be alternative ones listed in the threads.

 

In my car, there is only one seat bolster pump and it's in the trunk area.

 

Interesting. I thought the thing hidden in the trunk (from reading the interwebs - haven't gone to look for it yet) was a reservoir for the pumps themselves? I can definitely hear something whirring in the passenger seat when turning on the ignition and can't think of what else it could be...

 

Do you have ventilated seats, with internal fans?

 

I do not, no.

 

yeah if you have the ventilated seats , there is a fan in the seats. I could swear the multcontour pump is in the seats too in my A207 2012 E-350 cabriolet.

Surest way to tell is to take both seat backs off and inspect.

 

I will take the driver's seat apart some more because I can't hear anything whirring in it, BUT: The passenger side hose with the broken connector is giving me bubbles in a glass of water. So, hopefully, I just need to get the correct connector (looks like it's going to come after Christmas now) and this might actually start working. I will report back on that. I might still open both seats up and, if one pump works and the other does not, check whether the driver's side system works with the passenger side pump attached. I checked all the connections and they all look as good as new.

I am also curious what on Earth happened to the passenger-side seat. Compared to how tidy the driver's-side wiring and hoses are, it looks like a raccoon has had a go at the passenger's seat and ripped plastic brackets out all over the place. I need to buy some additional plastic mounts to put everything back in place. Looks like someone tried a shoddy repair job and gave up...

 

Sounds like you got a partial result, then ! Yeah might be a good thing to try plugging in temporary tubes from the passenger pump to the drivers side seat. That way you would be able to test for leaks in the lines and bags......Hopefully the drivers side is just a bad wire or something disconnected...:-) Best to check if there is a separate fuse for the drivers side multicontout seats too...Oh and scan to see if there is an error code for it...If so it may just need a clear and reset?
Re the broken stuff in the passenger side...sounds like some had a go at fixing something, and tore up stuff. You might have a look at seeing if you can still order the needed brackets...if you cant then maybe get a seat from LKQ or other recycler maybe even pull apart places ??

 

I finally got some parts and found some spare time with the car today.

I have a question to anyone who spends a lot of time under their seats (not on them) - how many hoses go into the passenger seat multi-contour controls? On the driver's side, I have five hoses, one of which comes from the base of the seat pad (same place as an electrical wire, presumably for heated seats?). On the passenger side seat, I seem to only have four hoses, with the one from the seat base missing entirely (but the wire is there). Before I start messing with the seat base - should there be a fifth hose on the passenger side? I think there should, due to the distinctly low-tech way that the controls work, but I thought it worth checking...

Thanks all!

 

The driver seat has one additional air bladder, which controls the seat bottom extender (the part that supports your lower thighs); this bladder is not present in the passenger seat. Consequently, I believe there are five air bladders in the driver seat (upper lumbar, lower lumbar, left side bolster, right side bolster, and seat bottom extender) and four air bladders in the passenger seat (upper lumbar, lower lumbar, left side bolster, and right side bolster). So, assuming there is one hose for each air bladder, there would be five hoses for the driver seat and four hoses for the passenger seat.

 

Excellent, thank you.

I now have air going into all the hoses coming out of the control unit, but I have a suspicion that the bladders themselves are shot. Either that or, had I bought the car new, I would have been very disappointed about the functionality the bladders provide and probably asked for a refund on that option. Should inflating/deflating be distinctly noticeable?

I did notice the additional control wheel for the driver's side, but I had already posted the above... Oops.

Thanks for the quick response.

 

Inflating/deflating the bladders should definitely produce a noticeable result, particularly in the upper/lower lumbar areas. If you're small-statured, you may not feel the side bladders until they're almost full; if your torso is wide, you'll likely feel them encroach on you sooner. The driver seat bottom extender is the least noticeable.

My car has been at the dealer for almost three months now for this problem. All of the bladders inflated and held the air until the end of the summer, when suddenly I noticed that, upon starting the car, most of them would hold air for about two minutes and then all of them deflated. The dealer keeps saying that they're certain that "part X" will fix it, then they replace that part and it still doesn't work. So far, they've replaced the pump in the trunk and a few of the individual bladders. I suspect that they will ultimately replace all of them before it's fixed; they're just not very durable.

 

Nothing really noticeable. I have a suspicion that they may already be inflated and will take a while to deflate, perhaps? I guess I'm spoiled from more modern systems (my wife swears by the massaging seats in our new GLS).

I've been struggling to find part numbers for those areas, so if you do get your repair bill back, I'd appreciate if you could share what was replaced.

Thank you and good luck!

 

They don't take a while to deflate; when you turn the thumb wheel to open the bladder, you can actually hear the air hiss as it bleeds out. This happens very quickly.