E-Class (W211) 2003-2009

What's this button do?

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Old Jan 18, 2007 | 01:27 PM
  #1  
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What's this button do?

Ok, so I've never been in the backseat of my car until this last weekend. The car nookie takes place in the SUV

Anyway, on the rear dome light there are 4 buttons. 1 on each side and 2 in the middle. The 2 on the outside are reading lights for the rear occupants. What on Earth do the two in middle do? From the picture on them, they look like some sort of dimming buttons? Mine do absolutely nothing no matter what combination of lights are on. Headlights on, headlights off, map lights on, map lights off, dome lights on, dome lights off....nothing. Look at this pic:



What's this button do?-011807_13031.jpg
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Old Jan 18, 2007 | 01:43 PM
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Originally Posted by Benz-O-Rama
Ok, so I've never been in the backseat of my car until this last weekend. The car nookie takes place in the SUV

Anyway, on the rear dome light there are 4 buttons. 1 on each side and 2 in the middle. The 2 on the outside are reading lights for the rear occupants. What on Earth do the two in middle do? From the picture on them, they look like some sort of dimming buttons? Mine do absolutely nothing no matter what combination of lights are on. Headlights on, headlights off, map lights on, map lights off, dome lights on, dome lights off....nothing. Look at this pic:



Attachment 96174
They dim and brighten the ambient lighting when the inside ambient lighting is on. So if the interior light setting is set too high the people in the back seat can override it, but only on that overhead light fixture.

Steve
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Old Jan 18, 2007 | 01:48 PM
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Originally Posted by Benz-O-Rama
From the picture on them, they look like some sort of dimming buttons?
Correct. If working properly, solid should make the ambient light bright, the other dimmer.
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Old Jan 18, 2007 | 01:53 PM
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Its big and Grey!
its the eject button. DO NOT PRESS IT!
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Old Jan 18, 2007 | 01:56 PM
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Originally Posted by konigstiger
Correct. If working properly, solid should make the ambient light bright, the other dimmer.
Interesting, maybe mine are broken.


With all interior lights off and just the ambient lights on, these buttons still do nothing for me. I do have my ambient set to '5' on the MFD though. So I would think at least the dimming one should do something, right?

I'll check again tonight just to make sure I haven't been smoking too much crack but I'm pretty sure they did nothing.

Then again, can you really smoke TOO MUCH crack?
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Old Jan 18, 2007 | 01:56 PM
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Originally Posted by KosherBenz
its the eject button. DO NOT PRESS IT!
HA! I thought for sure that would be the first response!
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Old Jan 18, 2007 | 02:04 PM
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Yours work just fine, the button increases and decreases in VERY VERY small increments so keep your finger on it and you'll see a difference.
This is also controlled by the comand setting in your cluster.
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Old Jan 18, 2007 | 02:09 PM
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You have to pres and hold. It takes a couple of ticks of the second hand before they start to work. Think of the symbols as "Ramp up" & "Ramp down".
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Old Jan 18, 2007 | 02:53 PM
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I wondered about those buttons on my car when I bought it, because there was absolutley
NO mention of that dome fixture buttons in the owner's manual.

Last edited by starbrite; Jan 18, 2007 at 02:57 PM.
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Old Jan 18, 2007 | 03:05 PM
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Makes it brighter where the sun don't shine. The little painted symbols explain it all.
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Old Jan 18, 2007 | 05:30 PM
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I have been having a problem with these buttons. They work fine in controlling the brightness of the rear ambient lighting. However, I cannot get the cluster control to change the rear lighting. So the front ambient lights work with the cluster control and the rear work with the rear buttons. But I think before the cluster control would change both sets of lights. Any ideas on how to fix it?
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Old Jan 18, 2007 | 05:59 PM
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It ain't broke. Thats how it works.
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Old Jan 18, 2007 | 08:12 PM
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OK.

2 things:

1. I love the crack pipe. And yes, I held the little dimmer button and sure enough, it dimmed. When I was trying it before, I was tapping it. Holding it does the trick.

2. My cluster control (MFD) controls both the front and rear when I change my ambient light setting. They change together.

Thanks guys
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Old Jan 18, 2007 | 08:16 PM
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crack kills!
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Old Sep 17, 2010 | 11:34 AM
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Smile Ambient Light

I have tried my rear ambient light it does not come up at all,
Any clues,
I have a panoramic sunroof with the rear ambient lights,
The front work no problem its the rear ones
Please help
Thanks
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Old Sep 25, 2010 | 10:44 PM
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If I remember correctly, the rear seats dont have ambient lighting (the circle ring like the front does). Is the front and back suppose to light up as ambient lighting, or is it only for reading lights.
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Old Sep 27, 2010 | 07:10 AM
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charliele729:

Yes, the rear seats do have the ambient ring and an adjustable setting.

netwalla:

Turn the ambient setting on the MFD all the way up to 5, then press and hold the rear illumination button until the lights are at their brightest.

Once you confirm its operation, adjust the settings to your liking.

GL.
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Old Sep 27, 2010 | 08:33 AM
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Old Sep 30, 2010 | 04:41 PM
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Ok, I have confirm that my 09" does not have that option. There is no circle ring light, just two reading light. I guess that change it from the previous models.
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Old Oct 23, 2010 | 12:18 PM
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I was just getting ready to go out to my car with my phone to take pics but now I see I'm not the only one. I was doing the same thing pressing those buttons and nothing was happening. I thought something was broke. I also noticed that there was ABSOLUTELY no mention of these buttons and their function in the manual. I will try holding the button down to see what happens. I can just see my neighbors wondering what the hell I'm doing sitting in my own back seat, alone in the dark, with the car running....
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