Nice little secret mod. I have hated that I couldn't charge my cell with the car off.

Just did it.

Thanks!

Did this mod this weekend....took 5 min. Awesome info.... Thanks everyone!

Did anybody ever figure out how to get the rear lighter socket to always stay on. I like to use that one to power my cell phone so the wires are not running across the shifter area and in my way. I have tried moving 53 and 54 in both positions, I can get the ashtray socket to stay on all the time but not the rear socket.

I'm afraid the simplest way would be to use another, circuit 30 fuse at the fuse box. The wire would need to be removed from the current holder and put to a new one that is coded to the new position.

But are you sure you want the rear plug always on? I assume you do not intend to leave it in the car? You would gain from continuous power only when you are in the car but ignition is switched off? You would increase the risk of running the car battery flat if you forget devices to the socket.

Thanks for the reply. Just to clarify I am talking about the lighter socket behind the console, not the one in the trunk.

YES I always want it on or I would not have asked....

This is my first Mercedes and I absolutely love the car. Oddly it seems to me that the Mercedes batteries must be very poor for people to be sooooo worried about draining it from charging a phone or bluetooth device like a headset .

cool...gonna go change mine later tonite.

This thread is great. Moving the fuse to a second position to enable the cigarette lighter to be always on was really easy. It helped me switch over my E350 to have the cigarette lighter always on, so now I can keep the battery charged with my battery tender. My friend now wants to do the same for his S500. Does anyone know if he do the same mod on his car? If so, does anyone have specifics like where provided for the E350 earlier in this thread? Thanks for any ideas!

How in the world did you manage to run the wire to the ashtray, I have thought off it several times and looked at it, but never attempted to actually get to it as it all seems so closed off and I don't want to risk breaking something and ending up with a nice little rattle somewhere..

Read all the posts and open up all the pics in this thread: https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ss-drawer.html
Ran mine under the shifter too, and into the center arm rest.

It's SO easy! Just be gentle with your wire...they're all cheaply made.

Sweet thanks! Been trying to solve this for awhile haha.

See if you have a fuse box someplace in the cabin. The C calls has it on the driver side behind a pop off dash endcap. You can't use add a fuse to the existing fuses because it doesn't fit. But all of the empty holders were hot with the key turned off.

I just noticed this problem today on my E500. Same fuse box? It lights up around the 'bezel', but no juice inside. The 5A fuse inside the car was fine.

A tech told me the actual cigarette lighters tend to go out too. Anybody have that problem?

The fuse block for the cig lighter is under the hood. Ck out the thread I have posted above.

Does anyone know if the option exists to switch the cigrette lighter power to "always on" for a 2011 E Class?

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...er-always.html LINK

Look at graphic in post #20. Compare this to your front SAM. If it's the same, follow the instructions in that thread.

Well, I went and tried this mod and found the fuse for the trunk plug to already be in the always on position yet the power is only on with the key on. The front one I moved over to match the rear one and it is now always on. I only wish the rear seat position would act the same but I can live with it.

My first modification - LOL.

Thank you!

Great tip, especially as I could not find this info in my manuel. Best 2 minute MOD out there
cheers

Enjoy your new ride!
Wine Drinker. LOL

Unbelievable how difficult it was to find this fuse!!!
Owners manual only mentioned the dash fuse location. Paper there only mentioned dash and trunk locations. Thank you for the post!!!

Great mod, but now my radio is on with the key out of the ignition. My wife is sure to leave the radio on and run the battery down. Anyone else experiencing this?

This is a characteristic of the way the COMAND system is connected to the electrical bus.

One can always turn the radio on - so long as the doors are unlocked. If you use it for more than a period of time (~15 minutes I think) a message appears telling you to switch the ignition on. The radio shuts down at the end of the 15 minutes.

If the battery voltage gets too low, a message also indicates this in the COMAND display, whereby the radio will shutoff.

Very easy very useful mod for the cell phone generation.
The ashtray mat today lists for $12 FYI.
The cover for the fuse box is a PITA to put back, any tricks?

I found it and moved the fuse! I am amazed that MB does not even mention this fuse block in the manual or on the paper in the main block. Why have the option to move the fuse if owners are not informed?
Larry

There are three "lighter" sockets:

1. front of console ash tray
2. rear of console ash tray
3. trunk

In the SAM are fuses 53 and 54 which can be swapped for switched or always on.

Is 54 for the front console, and 53 for the trunk, and the rear of the console isn't switchable?