RJC

How effective are your ventilated seats on the cold setting?

Thanks,

Tjdehya

They dont work
I have been following this thread.
https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...anymore-3.html

If he has any success I will be doing this mod in the near future... Before the Vegas Summer.
But it still wont be as good as Lexus.
I test drove a Jag XJ and it seems that Jag has the same crap because they dont work in the Jag either.

RJC

Thanks, I was hoping they would have been improved by now; the one's in my 06 E55 were fair on the cool setting as well.

park423

Sometimes I feel it, other times, doesn't seem to be working at all

hyperion667

I have to agree: they stink.........all I can really notice is the fan noise behind my head....my wife thinks they're a joke and doesn't even bother......lol

mb4z

I have been an MB owner in the past, but currently driving Infiniti and I'm considering a return to MB this year. Any way this has been a fairly hot and humid spring even for ATL, so we use the coolling seat on a regular basis.
Infiniti's actually air conditioned seats, they have a separate cooling element that blow a refreshing breeze on buns, upper legs and the lower back / lumbar area. Why MB only offered vented seats and it is not even an option on E350 is beyond me But MB Driving Dynamics truly like no other car...

RJC

I am in south FL and have a cab on order so the cooling feature is important to me; Its dissapointing MB can't match Infiniti's tech for this. Fwiw the cool settings of the vented seats in my wife's Lexus are just about worthless.

shaytun

I agree that the vented seats are relatively ineffective. When at full blast while the AC is on, I can feel a minimal effect. In any other circumstance, I have to concentrate to even feel it working let alone feel any actual cooling effect.

ngerstman

I tried the ventilated seats for the first time today and could barely tell it was on. Not an option that I would spend money on. I do like the driver dynamic seat which makes the upgraded seats still worth the money, IMO. Would not pay for these ventilated seats on their own. Regards. Ned.

ttoE550

Sorry, just picked a random representative post. Not aimed directly at your post.

What's this about feel? Why do you have to feel it for it to be effective?

Here's how you tell it's effective: Take a nice long drive (6+ hours) without a vented seat. Get out of your seat, have your back and butt sopping wet from sweat. That's ineffective. Use the MB seats and take the same drive. Always, every time, no back or butt sweat. No, I don't always feel it (unless I turn it on after sweating awhile), but it's damn effective.

Now, if you want your butt frozen, you're probably better off with a different car.

MB-JIM

I agree completely with how the vented seats help keep your but and back dry.
I had them on an E430 and couldn't have been more pleased with how I didn't sweat on a long drive.

Tjdehya

I judge MB vented seats by the fact that there is no difference between when I have them on or if I have them off.
There is ABSOLUTELY no difference thus there are ineffective.
Also I judge them by experience in cars seats that actually have cooled seats.
And MB seats are nowhere near to other competitors.

RJC

I spoke with the dealership today and they told me even in the CL and S class sedan the vented seats have no true cooling feature. I was also told that real air conditioned seats are in the Lexus LS 460 (not a car for me) and they are highly effective.

ttoE550

I agree, MB seats are nowhere near competitors that have cooled seats since MB does not have cooled seats. MB has ventilated seats.

Now, if someone pointed to a specific problem with ventilated seats vs. cooled seats, aside from "feel," then maybe there would be an issue. What exactly do you want? Do you want your backside to feel cold? Well, then you need cooled seats, not ventilated ones. If you just want your backside to be approximately the in-car ambient temperature (which is "cooled" by the air conditioning), then MB has it just right, in my opinion. I don't want my front side at 70 degrees and my backside at, say, 50 degrees. As I mentioned, I do not notice the cooling if I turn on my seats early before I start sweating, which sounds about right to me.

One way to see that the cooling is effective is to turn it on in the winter. I've done this by mistake, meaning to turn on the warmers. Before the interior ambient has had a chance to warm up, the cooling feature is absolutely bone-chilling. And the difference between off and on is obvious.

I am struggling with an analogy here. But given the choice between two AC systems, one of which I could tell when the AC is on and the other of which I could not tell, I would choose the latter unless I could identify specific issues that related to my discomfort.

RJC

Yes I would like the option to have the seat chilled to the temperature of my preference, when you live in sticky hot humid places like I do and drive around with the top down and/or have a dark interior the tiny little seat fans that just push warm air around just don't cut it and especially for the price.

I'm addition lots of people buy heated seats in warm climates for back pain helping to relax tight muscles, many also get tremendous relief from cold as it helps with inflammation.

Tjdehya

Exactly I would like the "option."
When I drive in a friends Lexus RX, if you turn the seat to the highest setting its is cold, very cold but you have the option to turn it down which I do. The highest setting is really just to cool the seats at a faster rate... much like the highest seat heat setting in our cars heats the seats.
My main point is that in the summer the seats will get hot, and they will cool at a much slower rate than the cabin air, especially if you plant your hot rea end and back on them. Ventilated seat do nothing to cool the seats.
The only time they work is when the seats are not hot... but then what is the point if the seat is not hot?

ttoE550

This was my point -- the seat coolers are not ineffective because you can't feel them; they do not work for you for the reasons you describe.

The seat coolers are indeed very effective, not at cooling the seats, but at keeping your backside sweat-free over longer drives. And they are non-intrusive in the sense that you do not notice them working, which is also nice.

You want something different, a new option. That does not make the current seat coolers ineffective.

hyperion667

good point tto550.........
I never realized other cars actually cool you........
I never thought they were 'air conditined' but 'air' flow.......

scfishnman

The vented seats in my 2008 S550 were very effective as were the ones in my 2005 CLK500 Cabriolet. However, the ones in my 2011 E550 don't seem to work as well. I can feel the air flow from the seat back but not from the seat bottom. They are still better than no vented seat at all though.

RJC

The seats are apparently marginally effective to the majority here by just moving hot/warm body temp air around not actually cooling like a true air conditioned/cooled seat.

The question I asked at the beginning of my thread was how effective in actual cooling on the "cold setting", not venting.

With respect to venting, Porsche's design is quite effective as they draw air through the seat and pump the warm body air out the back rather than trying push it through. Here's some comments from current owners which are all very positive unlike the majority here. I did not have these in my 997S but plan on trying them this weekend.

http://forums.rennlist.com/rennforum...love-them.html

ttoE550

Responses in a thread do not constitute an independent sample to draw inferences about the population!

In any case, I'm perfectly happy with the seats as they are. I just finished a 1.5 hour drive, and my backside was completely dry. But I fully support your position that others prefer something different and that MB should offer that something different as (at least) an option in a car of the caliber of ours.

We all have irritations with our cars. Mine is that the hot setting turns to low after a while. Why the **** can't I keep it on high with resetting it?

RJC

MB monitors these forums so hopefully they'll make some needed changes

I was told by a neighbor today that Jag's have airconditioned seats and they are standard equipment.

hyperion667

I was told by a neighbor today that Jag's have airconditioned seats and they are standard equipment.
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RJC

hehe, but that does not the new body style okay, LOL......(joke)

mb4z

heated/air conditioned seats were also standard equipment on my Infiniti when I got it (as well as heated steering wheel and power foldable outside mirrors). Now, if I only could get Drive-dynamic multicontour driver seat with massage... that would be totally awesome

Wait a sec, I just went to MBUSA to build '11 E350 and guess what... Heated and active ventilated front seats are now available as $450 option!

babyjocko

I concur. It works for me. All it needs to be is effective, which is not necessarilly noticible.