GuyFawkes

Among some of the less well-known features on our W212's, I found these to be interesting:

The "HOLD" function. Where if you push down on the brake a second time, it holds the brakes.

Parking Guidance instructions. I suppose most people have figures this one out by now by asking what the little "P" under the coffee cup and lane assist icon mean, but after seeing it on the forum I went to try it out and it works!

Downloading music onto the harddrive.

Zagat Survey for restaurants. In the Navigation portion of command, if you look up POI's like restaurants, some of them actually have Restaurant Reviews if it has been included in the Zagat books. And the neat part is that even being in Canada, they list out even overseas restaurants in NYC etc.

I like that you can enter the numeric frequency of radio stations instead of using the error of the command knob. Or maybe I'm just a "knob" for finding this cool. lol

I would love to hear from others to see if they know of any other 'secret features'.

hyperion667

what about the sub machine guns and rocket launchers?
the oil slick is located next to the parktronic button.......
oh, and the night vision is really lame...........

GuyFawkes

Sadly I did not get the machine guns as I had a September production car and those were not available til December. Would be useful though

hyperion667

LOL, having trouble with my police band reception too.........

GuyFawkes

#another feature:

In the centre armrest storage compartment, one of the flaps has a "PEN HOLDER".

Now I'm just wondering if any of your cars came with a Mercedes pen or do we supply our own little Bic pencils... LOL

Come on... I can't be the only one that has been finding neat little features!!! Chime in!!

BPhillyBenz

I use the armrest storage flap to hold a tire pressure gauge instead of a pen.

htn75

If you have the push button start. The cap can be pulled out and put key in.

Zinny

Good Lord.....you guys HAVE GOT to do better than this!!!!

Plang1

If your windows are open (And sun roof) and you hold the recycle air button in, all glass closes. Hold the recycle air button in again and all glass goes back to original position before closing.

K-A

I'm drawing blanks now, lol. I've learned so much from these Boards, however, now everything seems totally "normal", so it's hard for me to think of things I don't assume others to know about.

This is a general M-B thing, but if you hold the paddle shifter DOWNSHIFT (left) side down for about a second, the car will shift into the optimal gear to put your car in its prime powerband. So if you need to make a quick pass, don't bother clicking down 2-3 times, just give it one hold-down.

Also, another M-B general thing, if you half-tap the blinkers (don't "click" the shaft down or up, just press it softly enough so it could spring back into place), your blinker will blink 3 times. I find myself using this a lot, as it's so much nicer than having to click the thing down, then click it back up after you're in your lane.

hyperion667

yes! I love that three click turn signal business too.......I use it tons......
I also enjoy using the system button to turn the screen off since I never use the
stupid thing anyway....
also use the cruise control to slow down......that 5 mile an hour increment is really cool, as is the single, I use that a lot to slow up and speed down on the highway.........
I'm really used to the three on the tree now too........drove my pick-up the other day and had some problems.....LOL......I'm so used to my benz now, after only a month!! LOL

JY888

Also, another M-B general thing, if you half-tap the blinkers (don't "click" the shaft down or up, just press it softly enough so it could spring back into place), your blinker will blink 3 times. I find myself using this a lot, as it's so much nicer than having to click the thing down, then click it back up after you're in your lane.[/quote]

I love the 3 blink! I also had that on my SRT-8 Jeep, great for those of us who don't like to signal when changing lanes!

BPhillyBenz

...there you go. I had no idea you could do that. Thanks.

ttoE550

I don't know if it's standard or part of a package, but I can close my trunk from the driver's seat by pushing on the trunk release lever.

I cannot figure out why that is a useful feature though. It's fun to amaze people with it, but it takes more effort to get them to understand that you DON'T want them to close the trunk.

Zinny

Okay.....now I am learning so stuff!

Thanks guys.

jbean114

LMAO!!! I can't tell you how many times I yell at the glass when someone wants to close the trunk because I want to use that button... "No! I can do it... I can do it!" Crap, they closed it.

Tjdehya

This always comes up in these threads everytime. But it sounds like a cool feature but it was removed in the later years of the W211 and more than likely it is not present in the W212.I am glad that I am not the only one that does this. lol

RNBRAD

I thought the little air conditioner vent in the glove box was pretty neat for keeping your plugged in electronics cool and it's output is adjustable. Another thing I didn't know about till recently was the headlight squirters, though I'll never understand that feature. Also the headrests can be adjusted to cradle your head, and man those things are plush!!

BenzE350

Wouldn't stepping on the gas pedal accomplish the same thing?

Isn't that what a good automatic transmission should do?

ttoE550

Stepping on the gas does indeed downshift the transmission. One difference is that with K-A's method you are ready to go when you need to pass, whereas with the step-down you have to wait for the transmission. Moreover, the transmission is "intelligent" in the sense that it will get "sleepy" when it senses you are driving serenely. So it might step-down slower and might not go to the optimal passing gear. You might notice this as the acceleration after a step-down might initially feel sluggish and then it begins to slowly "spool up" as it gets into the optimal range. I notice this a lot with the step-down method. By comparison, with K-A's method, the car immediately hops to attention with no wait for the step-down and no spool up.

The difference may seem minor, but at the rate our cars accelerate, a second (or even a fraction of a second) can mean several miles per hour. A car traveling one mph faster goes approximately 1.5 feet more per second, and this advantage will be carried the distance of the pass (assuming equal cars and both at max acceleration). So 1 mph advantage carried through a, say, 4 second pass will cover 6 more feet, almost half a car-length. A car with, say, a 5-mph advantage will cover 30 more feet, about 2 car lengths.

I've had a couple of beers, so I am hoping my math is right. But the principle is definitely right. In racing school, it was constantly hammered into us that 1 or 2 mph can make the difference between being the slowest car or the fastest. It sounds easy to pick up 1 or 2 mph, but it's incredibly hard.

GeoE63

If you have an iPhone with favorites programmed into the phone, you can press and hold "1" on the Comand keypad to call your first favorite, 2 for the second fav, 3 for the third, etc. I found that this is the fastest way to call someone ...

htn75

Man... I thought I was so clever when I learned about it.

K-A

No prob bud! I remember you saying that you use the paddles a lot, so I was actually hoping that would be of use to you or anyone.

Agreed! I hate using blinkers (bad habit), and this is fit for me perfectly.

Yeah that's part of the P2 Package, and I too learned that no more than a couple months or so ago. And I do the same thing! Lol. I don't know how else the thing could be useful (unless you forget to activate the motor to close it when you're actually standing back there)?

Ah, so that's why the Leather cars come with headrests with a "bar" thing in the middle. I take it this is in fact only a feature with Leather equipped cars?

BenzE350

I have no idea if your math is right. However, if you need to hold down the left paddle shifter for a second to get the proper passing gear - you have obviously lost a second compared to stomping on the accelerator to pass.

ttoE550

No - you hold down on the left paddle BEFORE the traffic clears, BEFORE the passing lane comes up, whatever -- while you are still behind the car you want to pass. If you stomp on the accelerator before you are clear to pass, you'll run into the back of the car you want to pass!