So I was on a date the other day on a very hot summer day. It was close to 100 and the interior of the car was scorching HOT. I always open the door for women so I was not on the driver's side and I figured this would be a great time to engage the summer ventilation feature of my car to make the interior a bit cooler before I open the door for her. After multiple tries, to my disbelief I found out that the IR port that engages the summer ventilation feature (opens all 4 windows + sunroof, and turns on ventilated seats to cool the car quickly) is only present at the driver's door handle.

So basically if you want to be a gentleman and open the door for a girl on a very hot summer day is there no way to engage the summer ventilation feature from the front passenger door handle?

I guess Mercedes does not believe in chivalry How much did they really save by not having the IR sensor on the front passenger door handle

On the plus side as your passenger is in the car and baking in the hot heat, the IR port on the driver's side door handle lets you ventilate the car before YOU get in

You could always retrofit the MB OEM AUX heater. You would not need the heating feature at 100 F but with a remote that works up to a distance about 500 meters, you can switch on the car fan to cool the cabin as far as the ambient temperature allows. This works from the passenger side too.

Another option would be to let her drive, sounds a bit scary though but then the summer convenience function would work at her side of the car.

Seriously, I think a W210 still had IR sensors on both door handles. The 221 could have it even if the E-class did not (it was gone by 211 I believe).

EDIT: I thought this was on the 221 forum, I should fix the above as if it was perhaps OK if the 204 did not have IR sensors on both front doors but the 211, 212 etc. should have it.

Why presume the driver is male?


Actually, a good point regardless of gender...should have been designed to work while approaching from either side!

Letting a girl drive my car is an act of utmost trust... And that takes time It is a very big step (for me).

Even if I let her drive the point is it is nice to take care of a woman you are out with and opening the door is a simple act of care and respect. Ventilating the car so it is cooler and she's comfortable just shows that you care... Apparently not possible on a W211... Pretty disappointing.

Let me guess; the few seconds saved by going passenger side is going to get you ....drum roll please...(your wishes here)............



P.S.
Park it it such a way that you can access the driver's side IR prior to opening the passenger's side.

Perhaps you could fit the door handle from a RHD car.

You CAN have your cake and eat it to if you trade your car for a 2003 model... both front doors had the feature in '03.

Or you could install a remote start (with a smartphone option even), and start the car as you pay the check, and it will be nice and cool (or warm) to the preset cabin temp.

Just sayin....

Ah you don't quite get the opening the door for someone else thing. If you have to run over to your side and back it ruins the whole moment. Would have been a lot easier for Mercedes to have an IR sensor on the other side of the car...

SBC and a bunch of other reasons would preclude me from doing that.

Mine is a 2007 E550. Wow so Mercedes actually deconted the passenger side IR sensor... A little unbelievable.

All RHD in South Africa. Thank you for this great information, we always wondered why some of our S-classes, just did'nt work from the rhs door, with keyless irrespective, wonderfull, atleast I can call my MB technical department and get them to re-program for all doors, front and back.

Are people who work for such large concerns like Daimler Benz, just dumb, lazy or in our country, excuse the phrase, never mind, I can't say it.

Thanks once again.

Your '07, like mine has a whole bunch of things that were deleted that were in previous year 211s. But my car has been absolutely perfect. So it was worth the trade off. Most of the missing things had given me trouble or were unreliable in my 04.

From personal experiance, being aloof gets you laid more effectively than "chivalry".

decontenting the IR sensor on the passenger side just seems like a cost cutting move. It is a solid state device that is unlikely to fail much.

The 2007 E550 has been solid and reliable so far... Except for the recent $4,000+ repair to fix the engine gear defect... That has been the most expensive "check engine light" I've ever had

You have no idea how many of the pre 2006 electronics in the 211s failed... or how unpredictably. This entire forum represents a fortune made by someone, built on the failure rate of components of the pre 2006 E Class. It (the 211 Forum) was originally a means to find ways to keep these cars on the road... not so much as a place to gather customizing tips.

Yes, MB saved some money by deleting certain things, but they did so primarily as a quick way to make these cars more reliable.. as quickly as possible. Originally these 211s were "overthought and overwrought" and poorly sourced and executed... and nobody knew how to fix them, because the replacement parts were just as bad as the parts they were replaceing.

...even right now, my IR "summer opening feature" works beautifully in the service department tunnel or outside at night, but rarely during the day in bright sunlight. Changing the IR handle sensor would solve the problem, but that is one item that regularly fails eventually on all of these cars.

My signature is cryptic but satisfying to me... and I've been here since 2003 about 2 months after I got my 2004 E.

Yup... the 2007 were damn near perfect. So much so, that MB started adding things back into them in 2008 & 2009.

mine works from passenger side...

Yes, it's unbelievable how much was decontented for the facelift W211s.

Most of it in order to make Sirius, phone, etc., standard equipment.

The worst was the change to the really awful only black, tan, and gray interiors.

Okay so I was fiddling with the passenger side door handle "switch," which is the switch button on the inside of the door handle on keyless go cars and I WAS able to trigger part of the summer ventilation feature! Basically based on a a specific combination of how I pressed that button on the passenger side door handle I was able to trigger the ventilated seats to come on AND all 4 windows to go down (sunroof would not open). The problem is I can't duplicate this... It seemed to happen when I double click and hold the button on the inside of the passenger door handle.

Anyone know the specific button press combination to trigger the summer ventilation feature from the passenger door handle? At least I now know it is possible... Just need to figure what exactly what I did to trigger it...