Hades

I was wonder how are the display for the audio and ac control on the other E. because my dad's E320 display are so dim that you have to use your hand to block the sun to be able to see the display during the day. at night they are fine. just wonder if it's normal?

here's the photo of the interior of the car.

Barry45RPM

If the radio in the picture is turned on, the display is either set to stay in "Night Time Mode" or stuck there. Go into settings in the radio (Hard Button on left outside of screen area) & set up the unit to "Automatic".

I'm not sure right now, but I believe that setting also affects the Heat/AC display brightness.

If it doesn't, I've had my heat display sometimes stick in the night time illumination mode during the day. (The daytime display is much brighter) It usually fixes itself by the next time I use the car. If yours doesn't there is a daylight sensor that is not working or out of tolerance.

If he turns the headlights on during the day, the display will dim to night time illumination too.

DWP

The light switch on our car is usually on "Auto" and on overcast/foggy days the exterior lights will switch off and on with slight changes in lighting conditions, like going under a bridge. When they switch on, the climate control display lighting will dim to the point that it's hard to read. It gets brighter when the headlights go off. I don't know what happens in countries like Canada where headlights have to be on all the time; maybe in those countries the display lighting level is linked to whether the exterior light sensor is reading daylight, not whether the headlights are on.

W211 Ryda

Odd, I thought the steering wheel would matching the color of the interior

CE750

They are perfect.. I can say I've never owned a car with a more ergonomic interior than this E..

Having said that, I have the sunlight readable LCD screen for my radio, and the 2-zone knobs for temp.. and you seem to have an LED screen and 4-zone. how about a closer shot of the radio?

Barry45RPM

I saved his pic & blew it up on my computer. It looks like he has a black plexi covered display on his radio which covers a much smaller real screen display (possibly "white dot numbers" under the plastic than we have here in the states. The screen is up way high to the top. No CD slot, can't see a tape door. (Almost looks similar in design to what a C class radio is.) No buttons on the bottom to eject the cd or mute or phone just a large expanse of the opaque plastic.

His heat/Ac display is the "little white dot" display I have on my 4 zone. Can't read his buttons.

marc777

I have exactly the same problem and am looking for a solution. I am in the UK and I have what you refer to above as the "white dot numbers", At night they read fine but just lately I can hardly read them in the daytime (and thats with headlights off so no auto dimming)

Incidentally I have a 6 CD changer thats hidden behind an electically operated panel that houses all the switches and hazard warning lights. Press a button and up it rises.

The tape door is just under the black screen, together with the eject button.

Marc

KosherBenz

What is this tape door you speak of? :p

marc777

Never thought I'd use it until recently buying a cheap little unit that plays the i-pod through the tape player. Cheap and cheerful solution which will have to do for now

Barry45RPM

His Non US Spec Radio has a door center bottom thru which he can insert a casette tape- small side edge first with the open tape edge facing to the right. His eject button is below the tape door.

Barry45RPM

My suggestion having seen your radio picture is to check the small "reset" push button/knob on the dashboard by the speedo. I will bet that it is rotated to a "dim" position. This is how we adjust the brightness of the dash guages AND the heater air conditioner display brightness in the US. Without "feeling your knob", sometimes these switches may also have a "click" position to lock them on "full Bright" display whether it is day or night. Be sure it is rotated to the brightest position.

That's all I've got...

Hades

wow... that's alot of responds, thanks guys for helping me out...( and other members as well..) looks like the thread starter(me) is a bit behind of time.. (i suppose to be ahead of you guys in South Africa, in terms of time)

well.... i've got the same audio unit as Marc have. with a 4 zone. wonder is there a way to set the brightness thru the audio. i've tried the knob, trun it both ways but didn't work....

i was thinking maybe the sensor is not working... because when turned on to auto during the day, the light comes on... and also the interior lights come on during the day... i thought it suppose to detect the outside brightness to automatically switch on and off the lights... did ask the dealer about it but they said it's normal.. so i'm wondering am i daydreaming or what?

SAguirre

The E220 CDI that I drove while in Europe this last August had the same radio that you are showing here. Even on cloudy days (which they have in abundance in Germany) I found the display to be weak and hard to read. Coming from my COMAND unit it is an extreme contrast! I looked around the radio setting and I did not find anything to adjust either. I did not try the dashboard rheostat but I seriously doubt that would work during the day when the light are off.

At night, I thought that the display was fine and adequate though. I kind of think that you will just have to deal with it.

Steve

Hades

How is the LCD of the a/c in your car?

SAguirre

The LCD I am talking about is the COMAND one. I did not order the 4-zone climate control. I have the completely analogue climate control head. My E is only driven by me and I did not want to spend that much more money and never use it. However, the LEDs on the other design of climate control are very easy to see in all kind of light.

The car I drove in Germany, with the same kind of radio you are showing in this picture did not have the 4-zone climate control either. So I only found the little dots on the radio to be hard to read.

Steve

Hades

i want to compare the LCD of my 4-zone climate control because both the audio and climate control LCD is dim... i'm quite sure that my 4-zone is the same as the others in the forum. so if it is not normal that the 4-zone LCD is dim during the day, then i know there's something wrong and i can ask the dealer to check it out.