BudC

I have an '08 E350 with the split rear seat option.

When I release one of the latches in the trunk, the front seat moves forward to provide clearance for the fold down seat.

I flip the bottom cushion up and remove it and then fold the back cushion down.

Now when I try to move the front seat back to take up the gap between the folded down cushion and the front seat, it refuses to move.

How can anyone sit in the front seat when the rear seat is folded down? Even the shortest of persons can't fit in the front seat.

The manual says nothing about moving the front seat back.

Am I missing something or does this look like a problem for the dealer?

TIA,
Bud

E3504matic

I'll have to check that out on mine.

Roehl

I'm really wondering why the split rear seats has to be an option while other car makers had this as standard.

bertman

Sounds like your seat is operating as designed. The front seat will not reverse while the rear seat is down. Most humans will still fit in the front with the seat forward. I'm 6' and 215 and I fit, albeit snugly.

SAguirre

Your system is operating as it is supposed to, BUT there is a way to have your MB technician reprogram that system so that it will not make the passenger sear go so far forward. I had this adjusted at the same time they adjusted my easy entry/exit setting on my driver's seat and steering wheel. (I don’t think that the new E's have the driver’s side seat move back feature now).

Either way, be nice to your dealer and they should not charge you for it either. They made my car chirp when I lock it even thought he 2004s don't do it out of the factory. They don’t usually charge me for any of these little adjustments.

Steve

BudC

There's no way either my wife or I can fit into those seats that far forward. Neither of us is very tall at all.

We certainly couldn't drive the car that way.

The feature is practically useless the way it is. I can't believe that this is how it's supposed to work. I need to talk to a dealer about it.

BudC

They charged me $30 to make my 2004 chirp when I locked it.

My old dealer has opened a new dealership much closer to me and my old SA came along with it. I'm going to give him a call to see what can be done. I suppose if I could kill the automatic seat movement, that would fix the problem. I think the W203 didn't have the auto movement feature.

silberrosa

Hello BudC. There is a work-around for he situation you have and I have used it on my MY08 E successfully. As soon as you release the rear seats via the handle in the trunk, immediately move any of the front passenger seat adjustment switches and the seat will stop. You are not able to adjust the seat further (while the seats are folded) after this point but at least the front passenger seat stays in the current position. It takes two people but works. Let me know if this works also for you. You are correct, there is no way someone could fit in the front seat when it adjusts itself. This is something that started in the MY05 or MY06 models. The older cars adjusted the front passenger seat also but not nearly as much as the newer cars. I can explain the reasoning further but then it gets boring

BudC

Great! Thank you very much! Whatever Daimler-Mercedes reasoning about this, it's flawed.

I'll try it and get back with my results.

Thanks again.

Bud

Davel

This must be a change with the later models, my front seat does not move forward when i lower the rear seats (although my front passenger seat is close since my 12 daughter sits there most of the time), and i dont usually remove the seat cushion. I just used it the other night, i loaded 9 boxes of wood flooring for the kitchen including all the trim and quarter rounds too. Its like having a E class pickup

BudC

The procedure posted by siberosa works just fine. As an aside, last year we were getting ready to go on vacation and had put the rear seat backs down so we could load the trunk from both ends.

I put both rear seat backs up and then spent an hour in a blazing hot garage trying to get a front seat to go back until it dawned on me that one of the seat backs hadn't locked. I was not a happy camper. Fortunately, my brand new '08 with 200 miles on it ran flawlessly on our 6,000 mile driving vacation.

Polar Bear

I will have to check this on my 2005 - I unlatched the rear seats but didn't observe the front ones moving to compensate.

Every time I drive my car I am reminded how wonderful it was designed.