tacobell555

Hi...

I have owned my 2004 W211 E240 for over four years now, but yesterday I have noticed that when the driver door is open and the light under the steering wheel is on I can see it glowing through the driver side AC vent.

I have never noticed this before at all, and I tried to see the light of the other front door via the right AC vent but it was totally dark. Does this mean that something sealing the inside of the driver side AC vent is fallen, that is why I can see the light through it, or is this a normal thing ??

I did replace this light (driver side) about 6 months ago and the car was in the paint shop last week, although it was a bumper paint job.

Any ideas?

Thanks

konigstiger

You can start by removing cover beneath instrument panel to see if all fastens properly (i.e.: footwell lamp).

tacobell555

Thanks for the reply,

This means that it is not normal to see the footwell light through the ac vent right ?

ozusa

I wondered if your question was a joke, but I took the bait and went outside in the dark to check on my MY2004 E320 4Matic. Lo and behold, I can see the footwell lamp through the airvent too! So, I thought, the ducting has fallen off mine too. But I couldn't see any ducting hanging loose in there.

Next step: Check on EPC on my laptop to see what it should look like! I have a W211082. When I checked my model, but without using my VIN, the diagram shows the side ducts. When I check using my VIN, the ducts are grayed out and the parts do not appear in the parts list.

So, the ducts between the central air handler and the side vents do not exist on my car. The air just exits the central air handler into the free space enclosed by the panel under the steering wheel and makes its own way to the side vent and out any other holes that exist.

(There are several other ports that DO have ducts on my car, for example those feeding the rear passengers. )

I checked other models and maybe you get 'em, maybe you don't. I could only check other models without using a VIN.

So, the air that does come through your side vent is simply getting "ducted" there by the panel-work under the steering-wheel. It needs to go somewhere due to the modest pressure difference and it comes out the vent and at least one hole in the footwell onto your lower legs. This method is pretty leaky, but it mostly works. It also explains why the side vents always seemed pretty anemic to me.

Of course, you MAY be one the lucky owners, but with ducting that's fallen off and need to reconnect it, but I suspect it really only comes on models with fancy automatic climate control, like the E500s.

BTW, my E320 is pretty well-optioned as E320's went.

tacobell555

Thanks for the detailed investigation,

I will have to check it out to see if there was some ducting present initially. It feels strange when you notice a simple thing after owning a car for a while.

Did you check the passenger side (front) ? It seems perfectly sealed. I have read about people complaining of cooler air coming only from the passenger ac vent (driver side vent air not as cold) when the ac is low on gas, probably this might explain it.

Thanks again.