Got my new E550 coupe on Friday. My last MB, a 98 CL600 was a terrible experience, so for the past 10 years, I've been a BMW guy, and my leased M6 also went back on Friday.

The car was ordered with all the options available in Canada. The driving experience is great, even coming from an M6. The fit and finish is perfect, and the new technical features are awesome. I have gone through the manuals since I ordered the car in November, and felt I did not need any explanations from the dealership on delivery.

I have found that several things are not working as explained in the manual, am I missing something or do I need to take the car back to the dealer. I appreciate all feedback:

1. Brake hold is very iffy, I stop the car and then increase the brake pressure, but sometimes I have to repeat this a couple of times, releasing the brake and applying increasing pressure again until the hold takes effect.

2. Hill assist does not work, as soon I release the brakes on a steep grade, the car starts creeping backwards.

3. Trip computer is not working. I start with the basic mileage display, hit the right or left arrow until TRIP is highlighted. Very quickly, I hit the submenu arrow ( up or down arrow), but the whole menu line disappears and I am back to the basic mileage indicators. All the other menus in the MFD are working, and I can change the settings for lights, door lock etc...

4. Park assist is not working, when I crawl along parked cars to my right, the P symbol in a box appears on the MFD, but as I pass an empty space, the arrow does not appear.

5. I went with my 2 sons on a long drive yesterday morning, the windows and windshield kept fogging up, I had to turn the defrost on every 5-10 minutes. The system was on auto @ 20C/68F with a/c on, which is really not necessary as the outside temp was -6C or about 20F. And yes I checked that recirculation was off.

6. Do the cars come with a Nav DVD, or is it just preinstalled in the car. I do not want to be charged for a missing DVD at lease end.

And finally it is a pleasure to participate in this helpful forum.

 

Hard drive based Comand cars do not have a DVD with a new car, at least not in the US.

I'm pretty sure you just need more practise for number one. Do you have the gear selector mode correctly set for hill assist (I did not check for the 212 but usually it only works in one of the modes).

Are you sure you followed the manual for the trip menu (I admit I lost your description, not your fault, I should have been in the car to duplicate what you did).

The fogging of the windshield sounds odd. If it was -6, I wonder if you had some snow in the car and a lot of humidity from the persons travelling with you (the windshield and front side windows should not fog up from 5 persons alone).

I'd suggest you to familiarize yourself with the car for a couple of weeks and hopefully all, or at least most of your concerns are gone.

 

Welcome to the forum....

 

Thanks for your reply

The car came from a heated garage, it was a cold dry sunny day, and our clothing was dry.
For hill assist the car is in drive, comfort mode. (the basic setting).
And yes I am pretty sure I followed the manual for the trip computer, as the same steps are needed for the other settings.

 

It is actually called parking guidance, uses the sensors to detect a parking space and then gives you instructions in the MFD ( Backup, turn the wheel etc..) to parallel park in the found space.

 

i too sometimes have a issue with the fogging in my e550c. but with this canadian weather i never bother.

 

My suggestion would be to go back to the dealer and review the items that you think are a problem. From your description it sounds like you may be tentative as to how these things operate. That is understandable as you also said you did not let the delaer personel review the car with you on delivery and had reviewed the manual yourself. Sometimes I have found that the manual is not terribly clear and over complicated. I too review the manual but I always let the dealer review the vehicle with me.By doing what I had suggested you will know very quickly if there is in fact a problem. I too am a BMW convert but that happened in 1998.

 

+1
Although I was already familiar with my car's functions when I bought it, the salesperson offered to go thru everything with me.

Not only is that helpful if you don't know the car (saves a LOT of time), every car should be checked out before it leaves the lot. Even brand new cars. Always check everything out before taking delivery. Saves headaches later on.


To the OP, you have distronic plus, right? That can interfere with the hold function.

"The system was on auto @ 20C/68F with a/c on, which is really not necessary as the outside temp was -6C or about 20F."

Obviously you know you need to leave the a/c on? The a/c has to be on to clear foggy windows (switches back and forth from heat to cool depending on the outside temp.) Without a/c it will fog up. The auto climate control will keep it at the temp you set using a/c and heat. It's all spelled out in the manual.

 

Thanks for the replies, I went back to the dealer, and the shop foreman rode with me:

Brake hold is iffy. If you push real hard, it works most of the time, but sometimes have to release and repeat. Wish it was like the VW's, where you push a button and brake hold works automatically at every stop.

Hill hold assist is working as it should, the hold time is very short compared to my M6, but it's no big deal on an automatic.

Trip computer OK, I was pushing once the down arrow, so nothing happens, turns out have to push twice.

Park assist works if you are really driving close to the parked cars, I'm not comfortable with that.

At least I was right about the fogging problem, they had to reset the zero position on the outside air flap which was partly closed. And as I thought,
the A/C compressor does not kick in in subzero weather, the outside air is so dry it cannot be dehumidified any more.

I think it would have been impossible to go through every detail with the salesperson upon delivery, would take half a day or more.