Hi Guys,

Well, I recently upgraded (well, I hope that's what I've done) from a 1995 E320 W124 Wagon (for sale, BTW) to a 2004 E500 4Matic W211 Wagon. I think I was smart and got a total of 3 year total CPO warranty, which I'm pretty certain I'm going to need with this bad boy.

Anyway, it's a pretty great car, with Nav, Dynamic Seats, Avantgarde Pack, Keyless Go, etc. Capri Blue with Ash Leather and those cool blue-tinted windows. I'm a pretty savvy car guy, and I absolutely always RTFM, but I'm stumped on something... Here it is:

The passenger side seat automatically motors forward when you release the rear folding seatback on the passenger side. Pretty neat - gives you room to fold everything down. HOWEVER, once you've folded the passenger side rear seat down, you can no longer adjust the front passenger seat rewards, or recline the backrest at all. Not one centimeter, even though there is PLENTY of room to move the seat back. The drivers side can move back once the rear is folded on that side, but not the passenger side. The passenger side moves forward, tilts forward, and the backrest moves forward when it does its little trick. This makes it nearly impossible for anyone over 5' tall to sit in the front seat when the rear seat is folded. This seems to make absolutely no sense to me. BTW, the owners encylopedia makes NO mention of this "feature", nor how to disable it. I finally overrode the frozen front seat by using a screwdriver to trip the latch inside the back seat to fool the computer into thinking the rear seat on that side was in the upright, latched position. This seems to be an inelegant solution... I called my dealer and MB hotline, but nobody knows anything about this feature.

So, any of you guys heard of this feature? I like the auto "move forward" bit, but I can't see any reason that you can't then slide the seat back into a useable position... Is this another case of the car being too smart for my own good? Should I have stuck with my trusty, classic (luddite?) W124?

Well, wish me luck - just got the car last week, and heading on first long distance drive tomorrow from Washington DC to our place in Michigan. Hope it's as good of a high-speed highway device as I imagine...

Thanks, and great forum!

Gavin

2004 E500 4Matic Wagon
1995 E320 Wagon (for sale... maybe)
2007 Porsche Cayman
1996 Ford F150 4x4

 

What your referencing is completely normal - although admittedly frustrating. There really is not a "solution" for this issue. There is some reasoning about ensuring the front seat has clearance from the rear seat when folded. Clearly they too this a little too far. One way which it can be defeated but it requires either 2 people of 1 quick one. Here goes...once you pull the seatback release handle, have a second person move the passenger seat controls in just about any direction and this will defeat the automatic movement. I don't think you'll be able to move it any more after this but at least it will remain in place until you return the rear seat back to its upright position. Congrats on the great new car. Good Luck

 

Thanks for the tip... I'll give it a shot next time I fold the seats.

 

Are MB blue tinted windows an option? My C-class has them and I thought all of them do.

 

Generally only the "sport" model cars have them.

 

I recently discovered this problem with my new E-Class (W212). I called the service dept and the guy suggested the screwdriver fix you mentioned and said he would ask around for another possible solution - a code that could be changed or something like that. I'm somewhat relieved to know my car isn't faulty, but it's still a frustrating feature.

Have you happened to find any other solutions for this problem? Did silberrosa's suggestion work? I haven't had a chance to play around with mine yet.

Thanks.