Incendiary

Thanks to all those who helped me a few months ago when I was asking about wagon pricing.

I ended up buying from Lovence at MB Silver Spring. Great guy, super friendly and accommodating, and with the PenFed discount, I got a really good price.

Ended up customizing an essentially fully loaded 2014 E350 wagon. Picked it up yesterday. A lot more advanced technologically than the other cars I and my family have. Amazing how much things change in 8-10 years.

I'm wondering if anyone can help me answer a few questions.

1) Can I change the digital speedometer display to mph? I'm talking about the toggle on instrument cluster between "outside temperature" and "additional speedometer." I read in some older threads that it cannot be done, meaning it will only display at km/h. However, I also read one thread where it may have been changed in later model years, which mine clearly is, and it also says it can be done in the owner's manual (page 250). However, I cannot figure it out.

2) Is there lumbar support for the front passenger seat or is that a feature only for the driver?

3) How do you turn on front fog lamps?

Thanks in advance!

Incendiary

Adding to my questions:

4) Think I know the answer but just want to confirm... Is there an option to have the car parallel park on its own?

5) Can the side mirrors fold in? I didn't see a button to do it from inside the car.

6) The W211 had a REST button to recirculate warm air after the car was turned off. Is that feature still available? I didn't see a REST button.

Thanks.

DerekACS

1. Yes, you can choose imperial or metric under 'settings' via Command.

2. Yes, there should be a circular lumbar adjustment switch on the right hand side of the passenger seat.

3. There are no 'front fog lamps', but there should be a switch on the left hand side of the main headlamp switch for turning on the 'rear' fog lamp. When pressed, this switch will then light up an amber indicator in the main instrument display and the bright red fog lamp in the left rear light cluster.

DerekACS

4. Yes, providing your car has the Parktronic option.

5. No, only with Canadian production E Class, do the mirrors fold automatically with door locking. This great feature can be selected under 'settings'.

6. No, only with E550/E63 (3 zone climate control) is the rest feature included. This was a useful feature in the W211-E320 !

Why No.5 is not included with US production is inexplicable !!! Maybe send a note to MBUSA and ask them for an explanation as to why they have denied this feature to the US market ?

Incendiary

Thanks for responding. I appreciate your help.

Interesting. I wonder if US cars are different. I can change from miles to km, but I cannot change the temp from F to C, nor can I change from km/h to mph. See the attached pic.

Can't believe there are no front fog lamps. Why did they get rid of them?

DerekACS

You're welcome !

Yes, there are many differences in equipment between US and Canadian cars.

With our higher prices, we do fortunately get a few more goodies, e.g.. folding mirrors, fold down rear seats for sedan, heated steering wheel, heated mirrors and washer jets. With the real leather option, we get Artico leather stitched dashboard and window sills (not sure if these are available in the US
for E350 ?) - this looks very classy !

The Canadian speedo is marked only for kilometres, but we can choose between C or F temperature ! Fortunately, for the diesel E Class, we do not get RFTs, but a Tirefit kit instead.

As for the deletion of front fog lamps on W212, maybe it was a styling
decision ? They were in effect replaced by the DRLs for 2010-2013. Now that the DRLs are combined in the main headlamp assemblies for MY2014, there are two rather large empty holes in the front apron that cry out for some kind of lights !

Mbenz260e

Congrats on the new car! Always love those wagons...wish they would bring them over here as a BTC but too much of a niche market I suppose.

des16

I have had trouble finding a dealer in upstate NY who is willing to sell at European Delivery invoice or below. Any suggestions are welcome. I am willing to travel up to 500 miles for the car. My calculations is that this should be about 85% of the MSRP.

Incendiary

Sorry, what is BTC?

Incendiary

Okay, here's a few more:

7. The manual doesn't seem to contain tire pressures anymore, unlike in past years. Are the only places to find recommended tire pressures now on the driver side door frame and the fuel tank door?
8. Does anyone know if the reversible rear cargo/trunk mat (or anti-slip mat) is available for the wagon, or is it only for the sedan?
9. I have keyless go. Is there any way to set it so that unlocking the vehicle unlocks the driver side door (or whichever door I put my hand on) only instead of every door?
10. How do I set the navigation map to face the direction of travel instead of due north?

Thanks!

Incendiary

I got non-RFT also! Actually, I thought MB gave non-RFT on all their cars. Based on your comment, I guess I'm wrong about that?

dfordham

IIRC, European delivery gets you the car for 7% off, which IS invoice. I believe the dealer just gets a fixed fee for handling the transaction so he really can't discount any further.

Regards,
Don

martinlarose

Bluetec. Diesel.

DerekACS

7. Yes, read label on driver's door frame.
8. Yes, there is a 'shallow trunk tray' for the wagon; not sure if a reversible one is available for the wagon. Check with your dealer's Parts Dept. There is also a 'Load Sill Protector' that connects to the shallow trunk tray, for protecting the bumper.
9. Yes, under "settings" you can choose to unlock only the driver's door or all doors.
10. Using 'Command' with Navi map; for further assistance, read you 'Command' Manual.

Incendiary

I changed the settings so that only the driver's side door unlocks. It wasn't in the COMAND menu or under settings, though. You have to hit both lock and unlock on the key itself and hold for a few seconds.

As for map orientation, I can't find it in the COMAND menu. It's in the COMAND manual, but for some reason won't highlight for me. I look for it both when the navigation feature is activated and not, but can't find it. Weird. I'll try again later.

Two more questions, for anyone who knows:

11. I have Keyless-Go. What do I do if my car battery dies and I want to shift to neutral? How am I supposed to do that if the gear shift is controlled electronically but the battery is dead?
12. I bought my car from a Maryland dealer but had it registered in Virginia. Should the dealer pay for my state and emissions inspections, since they are taking care of tax/title/registration for me? Or will I need to go to a gas station in VA to get that taken care of after getting the tags?

DerekACS

Suggest you read the section in your Owner's Manual, "Breakdown Assistance: towing a vehicle with both axles on the ground." This section is found on page 254 of the 2013 edition.

This section offers the procedure for shifting the transmission into N. With Keyless-Go, you have to remove the Start/Stop button, then insert the SmartKey and turn to position 2 in order to shift to N. In order to maintain the N position, the SmartKey must be left @ position 2.

Further to Question 7, the label on the fuel door (MY2013) has more detailed info on correct tire pressures, for Normal and Heavy loads. The pressures shown on the driver's door label (MY2013) are only for Heavy loads.

Incendiary

You've been very helpful, thank you. I'm slowly making my way through the manual. I'll get there!

BTW, regarding some of my earlier questions:
I was told that US cars cannot display outside temp in Celsius and also cannot display speedometer in mph (on that same setting toggle). Oh well. And supposedly no reversible cargo mat will fit the wagons. The wagon gets shafted again...

Here's one more:
13. Does this ECO start/stop feature harm the engine? I was always under the impression that you shouldn't turn on and off the engine frequently, as each start-up sequence ends up causing more damage than just leaving the car on and burning a little bit of gas.

PeterUbers

per Benz, the starter is built "8x" stronger and more durable than a traditional starter to accomodate the frequently start/stops. that being said .. i've had the car stop/start over 40x in one trip during stops and go's.... can this really be good?

At the end of the day, they'll get money for a replacement stater etc and that's more revenue for benz.

I tend to keep ECO off during stop and go traffic where you're always slowly moving, but if it's a long light, i'll turn eco on to preserve fuel

DerekACS

The disadvantage of the reversible cargo mat is that it would not contain any liquid spills, which is why I prefer the rubber mat with a lip around it.

As for ECO start/stop, yes it will cause more wear on the starter, the battery and the engine. What's "eco" about that ??? Let's face it, it all about lowering CAFE (corporate avg. fuel economy); if the mechanical components have a shorter lifespan, then the manufacturer will have the opportunity to sell more replacement parts !

Fortunately, my 2013 Bluetec V6 does NOT have 'ECO' start/stop. It makes no sense in a diesel in any event, since these engines use far less fuel @ idle than a similar size gas engine.

YYZ-E55

Huh? Fuel economy is one thing, emissions are another. And CAFE doesn't even take stop/start systems into account.

DerekACS

OK, then I stand corrected. This means the only 'benefit' for *** is lowering of emissions, but the offset is a potentially shorter service life for the starter, battery and engine. Does this trade off make long term sense ?

YYZ-E55

Don't forget that the button on the dash might break or the green LED could burn out.

DerekACS

Good one !

Incendiary

You forgot a few: Sprain your finger while pressing the button. Break a finger nail. Accidentally spill coffee on yourself while reaching for the button.