MBZNewbie

On a 2008 E350 P2, Sport--

After spending a lot of time unsuccessfully attempting to program the passenger side rear view mirror to tilt down upon shifting into reverse, (dutifully following the instructions in the manual) I find out from the dealer that the function has been disabled. Does anyone know how to reinstate that function? Dealer claims that it can't be done. Is he right?

MARK CUMMINS

The Dealer Can version code it Via the Star aka SDS....

The Function was disabled on the late W211s....takes about 5min to version code it

MBZNewbie

Thanks, Mark. Not sure what that means, but hopefully my (or a) dealer will.

lasvegas99

I read another member got around this by tilting both mirrors down and then saving that position in memory 3. Assuming your seating is the same at memory 1 and 3 and the only difference is the mirrors tilted down for 3 you can make it a one button push operation. Not as nice as the automatic in reverse.

I have had mine turned on for a while and I think I am going to do the memory method above. Sometimes I want to use the mirrors to look straight back and don't need to look at the ground every time I am reversing and think I would prefer to choose.

Vik888

Great idea!

MBZNewbie

Great outside-the-box thinking on someone's part. Appreciate your passing it on, LV99. I think I'll play with that a bit before going for the permanent fix.

whoover

Having to push, hold and wait for the mirror when you want it to move is not the same as it doing it automatically, and returning automatically. I had the dealer restore it on an '06 S-class (where it was also dropped). They originally claimed it couldn't be done, but "figured out" how to version code it after I wouldn't go away.

whoover

With the feature, you can choose. If the mirror adjustment control is set for the driver mirror, the feature is switched off. In other words, which button is pressed in (left or right) determines whether the passenger-side mirror dips.

It's all this complexity that confounds owners. That's why MB disabled the function. They were spending too much in spurious service calls.

jimm

A couple more thoughts on this:

My 08 doesn’t have it and I've been told that the 07’s didn’t have it either.
Someone here suggested that MB quit it because of their relentless effort
to climb back up in reliability. And that was just one more little thing that
could go wrong. (l believe that some other items have been discontinued
also for that reason.)

I was told, like many of you, that it “absolutely” couldn’t be made to work
on the 08s. That was disappointing.

However .. when I looked at the mirror when backing, one day, I noticed
that even with the mirror set for the highway I could still see the curb! So
I guess I really don’t need it! The mirror apparently has a very wide angle
vertically. Go figure.

jimm

==========

‘08 E350 Sport, P2, Black/black, Parktronic,
Voice, Bluetooth, Burl Walnut, Split rear seat,
Wood/leather steering wheel

DrRx

I loved LasVegas99's "Memory 3" work-around and was about to implement it, but decided to give the "official MB" procedure per the owner's manual a try first. I had assumed from this forum that the feature was disabled in my '08 E350 4M Sport, and the fact that the Command setup now makes no reference to this feature (ie. enable or disable mirror tilt-down) just reinforced this idea.

However, when I followed the step-by-step instructions it worked flawlessly, just like on my old '04 E320 Also, what I didn't know earlier, and might be a new feature, is that it's active when the mirror switch is in the "passenger" setting and disabled when in the "driver" setting. And, when in reverse, you can switch between tilt-down and normal simply by toggling the mirror switch between "driver" and "passenger" settings. Could these features be fooling some into thinking it's not active on their cars???

Why would MB ever "decontent" such a feature from a car? I can't see them saving much money this way as it's obviously just a few lines of code that have been removed from command since all the hardware bits are still there and active. Makes no sense to me!

Anyhow, it's functionality in my car must be a "Canadian" vs "American" thing ...

whoover

The passenger vs. driver mirror button controlling this feature has always been the case. As you suggest, it is one reason that people can't figure out how to use the feature (the programming sequence to configure it is another). Mercedes decided to disable the feature because so many people couldn't manage to make it work. That was causing both initial quality survey negatives and expensive warranty claims. When you bring it in to service, even if they only explain to you how it works they bill the factory for service time, and MB was tired of paying it.

konigstiger

In actuality, MBUSA became tired of paying on both ends - for education and franchised ignorance on the part of the dealerships for not educating the customer properly upon initial delivery. http://www.mbusacareers.com/index.asp

DrRx

I guess its a sad reflection on our society that many of our finer things must get dumbed down to meet the needs of the lowest common denominator; first television programming and now the technology of our cars. I can't figure out, however, if technology is advancing at too great a speed for the masses to keep up, of if the apathy of the populous has become so great that they can't be bothered to learn any new tricks at all. Ignorance is bliss, for some I guess!

lkchris

No better example than BMW iDrive.

SUNILP

Mark,

I am not sure if the dealer can do that. I do know a modified star diag can do it.

W211.

I JUST GOT A STAR C4, CAN YOU TELL ME UNDER WHAT MENU I CAN ACTIVATE THE AUTO TILT?
thank you