BlueMonk

My wife's 01 E320 and my previous 99 CLK 320 both had a feature pretty common on luxury cars -- automatic adjustment of the stereo's volume based on the noise level in the cabin. It is nice when you transition onto a freeway where the road noise is much higher.

On both of my other cars, the adjustment is noticeable. My 04 E may or may not make an adjustment. However, the adjustment is not enough and I have reverted to having to adjust the volume up and down. Granted, it is not the biggest hardship on the planet. But with a $50k car.....

Is anyone else having this issue? Or does anyone have info on this feature?

Not sure that I have read anywhere that the auto adjustment is a feature. Just assumed it would carry forward. I searched for related posts and this issue was raised about 15 months ago but didn't seem to reach a conclusion.

Thanks.

jim256

Supposedly the HK is "listening" for unwanted background noise and then changing sound properties to cancel out the unwanted intrusions while emphasizing the source. It's far from simple to me, but maybe the other cars are just using volume while there is a cancelling effect here. You can read elsewhere on the internet about Logic 7 and the supposed advantages which may provide a better technical base.

bmms8

yea jim is right, but i do agree with you, and i cant hear any difference. its supposed to make the volume louder if there is extra noise coming from one side of the car, to block it out, but it doesnt work at all in my mind.

W210

I find the W210 adjusting too much and brought it to the dealership to turn off the feature.

I wonder perhaps the dealer can adjust the sensitivity on the W211? To me it's just right.

JimPurdy

The auto-volume was quite subtle until I passed a truck with the sunroof open. I was surprised at how much the volume was increased and then decreased when I shut the sunroof.

HELL ONA HARLEY

I was screamin at the kids the other night in the car and the volume was noticably raised.... Me and the ol lady looked at each other and just laughed about it.... It definatly took the "heat" off the rug rats....

BlueMonk

No kids to sceam at but I will try the sunroof test to see if I can hear any change. I have not noticed any change when my wife is in the car rubbing my nose in a function that her older car has. However, I do agree that the volume adjustment in her 01 is a bit agressive.

I had not considered the noise cancelling possibility. I have the Bose headphones for air travel but had not noticed the same affect in my E. Only comment would be that it isn't working at all on my car like bmms8 mentioned.

A sensitivity adjustment may be the solution if that is possible. I will check next time I talk with my dealer.


Thanks for all the comments and ideas.

Adobe

Be thankful you haven't got the older Becker radios that had speed sensitive volume control. It drives me crazy but I'm too lazy to pull the radio head to disable it.