rmemory

I'm out of town until Tuesday but will certainly post one then.

bimbocoles

Awesome. Thx.

JoeMa

This a reasonable solution for those who need to mount a child safety seat. Thank you for sharing.

As for the non-swiveling headrest being uncomfortable for adult passengers, my son and I where at the MB dealer today to take a quick peek at a GL550 that was to be delivered in a few hours. It included EASY-ENTRY so I ask my son to sit in the seat with the headrest in the fully up position and the bottom does not swivel as was previously mentioned in this thread but it did not make for an uncomfortable situation either. In fact he said if felt just right when he put his head back on the restraint. I watched him do this and must admit that it didn't look uncomfortable. So I must retract part of my earlier statement about the lack of a swiveling headrest being a problem for passengers. It really wasn't a problem after all. I'll reserve future judgments of the GL until I get my own and have experienced it first-hand. Live and learn.

Mbenz260e

If I understand what you are saying our convertible carseat is installed in the same fashion. Mights it really tight so don't see it as unsafe but maybe not the best for the headrest?

I'll take pics this weekend...

rmemory

Attached is a photo of my carseat setup. All carseats are not the same, so other brands may not fit as well. It may be hard to tell, but the second row on this side is reclined slightly so the headrest sits right on top of the carseat.

bimbocoles

Thank you. Will try it out.

Mbenz260e

Forgot to take a picture of ours now back at the airport...

Our convertible carseat is a few inches taller than yours so ends up wedged between the front of the seat and the back of the headrest if that makes sense.

I notice you got the baby carrier base on the left side, our kids must be around the same ages...

I actually did a different config and have the baby carrier in the middle. Reason being so we can fold the 1 seat (without the seat in the dock) to access the third row. Actually never needed to do that yet but it does work. Just posting this as a data point because when we were shopping for 7 passengers SUVs 3rd row access with 2 car seats in the middle row was always a question we had. So hoping this will help someone researching the 164.

b.west1

Just want to make sure people understand this is not just an issue for those with car seats. My kids are out of car seats -- one is in a booster seat, the other is too big for a booster. Both kids complain about the headrest. The one in the booster complained that her neck hurt because it was pushing her head forward. And in the case of the older one (too big for a booster), the headrest actually hit him on top of his head, forcing him to slouch into a position where the seat belt went across his neck, until we had the ** things removed by a very accommodating dealer. Again, neither kid complained at all about the 2010 GL we traded for the new one.

BIG mistake by MB if the design is not fixed before it's included in the P1 package.

JoeMa

You probably saw the pictures I posted last month of a GL with and without EASY ACCESS and I a share your concern that this should have been designed differently. Adult passengers may not have an issue but small children still do.

Thanks for your post. Hopefully MB will address this issue. One question, did the removal od the headrests affect the ESAY ACCESS feature in any way?

wamochi

Thanks for the very helpful photos and information.

We are in the market for a new GL as our current 450 is up on its lease in a few months. This easy entry option is really scaring me because my two boys (just turned 3 and 5) currently ride in the second row of the GL in Britax Boulevards with the headrests OFF. They are totally useless when child seats are installed and take up too much rear visibility otherwise. The Boulevard is one of Britax's largest seats and I think it's going to be a challenge and nuisance to install with easy entry.

b.west1- did the dealer remove those clamps for you free of charge? If I was forced to get easy entry I'd want to get the clamps removed at the time of delivery.

It seems like I'll be forced to do special order just to avoid the easy entry as most dealers' inventory include the option

sraza

rmemory got it right-- tilt, raise head rest, snuck car seat under- its safe and maybe thats why it swivels forward.. works like a charm!

wamochi

Would you mind posting some pics of your setup when you have a chance? Anybody with a full back booster seat that can post a picture?

sraza

theres a pic in a thread above
https://mbworld.org/forums/attachmen...seat-photo.jpg

i have it in a similar way- depending on the car seat the headrest can actually 'hold' the top part of the seat in place..

Mbenz260e

My 2 year old works in the Boulevard for now with the headrest all the way up and the carseat forced between the headrest and seat. Actually it's pretty tight so not a bad thing for safety though little concerned about the seat. However may be a problem for you as I assume the actually headrest of the careseat is all the way extended for your 5 year old? For my 2 year old it's obviously not...

b.west1

Wamochi - My dealer did want to charge labor (~$175) to remove the seats, remove the clips and re-install the seats, but we came to an agreement that there would be no charge since the option was new at the time and the dealer hadn't yet seen it on a vehicle. Before we ordered the truck, we had the kids sit in the back seat and had to raise the headrests so they could even sit in the seats. Of course, they were short enough that they didn't need the headrests and they just caused problems with visibility when raised. We validated that the headrests could be removed before we even ordered the truck, and the dealer "assumed" that the headrest on the easy-entry would be removable as it is on the manual version. Given the kids' height, they couldn't sit in the easy-entry seat even with the headrest raised, and since we could call it MB's fault for not letting their dealers know enough about the option at the time, they removed them without cost to me.

wamochi

yeah i really don't know what to do. my 5 year old recently reached the 40-lb mark to be able to use a booster. we haven't purchased one yet but saw a Britax Frontier in someone else's car and was surprised to see that it's pretty much the same height and size as a convertible seat like the Boulevard or Marathon.

he's still young so his head probably wouldn't touch the headrest yet, but i don't know how the booster seat would look wedged in between the headrest seat. the Boulevard has side impact wings on the top that come out from the back of the seat so i think it might still be ok if we get a seat with the side impact head restraints

is there ANY flex at all in those power EE headrests? like if you pressed on them super hard they don't bend in at all?

i guess i just have to take the seats to a dealer and try it out. it's very irritating to have to think about it. i don't know why mercedes can't use the "regular" head rests like other car makers. the fact that when they are down you have to raise them to seat a passenger is very odd. and then they are either fully up or fully down. no in between. what's up with that?

and they when they are fully up they practically touch the ceiling even if you have a small passenger sitting there. i wish they had redesigned the whole thing for 2013 sorry for the rant!

wamochi

thanks for the information, b.west1. i'm glad they absorbed the cost for you. most of the dealers i've talked to about it haven't heard about the child seat issue and go on and on about how amazing the power easy entry is. and yes, it's pretty cool, but the headrest issue has to be addressed.

JoeMa

I posted this back in February but thought I would dust it off a bit. In my opinion, MB made a mistake with the EASY-ENTRY system by including the headrest in the operation when the button is pressed. When they decided to include the headrest in the operation they had little choice but prevent it from swiveling so it could be lowered prior to folding the seat. This decision created a problem for owners using child safety seats because they cannot remove the headrest without help from the dealership and that may not be free.

One possible solution would have been to provide an audible beep when the button is press and the headrest is not lowered. A simple sensor could have been used to detect if the headrest has been lowered all the way down or not. Thus making it the responsibility of the operator to first lower the headrest would have allow MB to include the swivel feature and allow the headrest to be removed for a child safety seat. If I'm not mistaken, this is exactly how the headrest work when this feature is not included and the operator needs to fold the seat to allow access to the third row.

Another solution would be to allow the headrest to swivel in when in the up position and also allow it to be easily removed when needed but automate the swivel when the button is pressed. This solution would require a redesign of the swivel mechanism so it is swiveled out automatically. Going down this path could increase the cost of this feature but would be the best of both worlds.

One final comment, the headrests are comfortable for an adult when in the up position. I had some concerns about this but my son and I tested them in the up position and they are fine. Still, I hope MB is working on a solution to satisfy all customer needs.

HanhNS

My husband and I had placed an order for the MY2014 GL350 last month. When we saw the issues discussed on this forum on the 2nd row headrest, we went by the MB dealership this past Saturday and took both our 4 1/2 year old's booster and our 2-year old's Britax Frontier to see if they would fit correctly on the 2nd row of the 2013 GL450 they had on the show floor.

Neither car seats fit correctly on the seats. The GL450 on the show floor had the Easy Entry and so our sale guy couldn't remove the headrest. You probably could fit the Britax Frontier in extremely snug but you had to lean the seats back. We were going spend around $80K with all the upgrades on this SUV and so we were extremely disappointed that the SUV was not going to work for us. We went ahead and cancelled our order. We were not going to spend this much money on a car and have this issues and have our girls be extremely uncomfortable later on when they get out of the car seats.

I am extremely surprised MB has not addressed this issue on the MY2014. Our sales guy was not able to confirm if they redesign the headrest on the MY2014 GL.

I guess the only way BM will address this issue sooner is if someone famous put the issue on Twitter and it goes viral. If I hadn't came across this forum I would not have known the issues and would have taken the possession of the car when it came in. Many Thanks to those who post on this issue.

JoeMa

Our GL550 includes EASY ENTRY and for adults the headrests pose no issues. They in fact comfortable. But for small children or those with car seats, it is a problem. I hope MB reads these forums and eventually redesigned the headrests so all customers needs are cared for.

I understand EASY ENTRY is now standard in Premium Package 1 for MY14 builds but you might ask your dealer if it could removed via special order. That would give you a standard headrest that swivels out of the way when fully extended.

wamochi

it will depend on the type of seat you have. we have two britax boulevards for our boys, 3 and 5 years old. at first when i tried to get the seats in, i thought no way in hell will this work ... i had to squeeze the back up and under the headrest and shimmy it into place. if you don't do the squeeze and shimmy, the seat just looks like it will never ever touch the back properly.

but once i got it in there, and i did the LATCH strap tightening with my knee and full body weight in the seat, the car seat sank deep into the 2nd row bench and the headrest was no longer touching it. the headrest does come out in front of the seat though, but we have side impact protection head restraints so it didn't seem to affect the angle or comfort once the 2nd row was tilted back all the way.

i've removed and reinstalled the seats a few times and have gotten the hang of it. only takes me about 3-4 minutes to put one in.

in any case, you are right that you shouldn't have to even worry about these things in a $80k family SUV, and that MB should know it will have many child seats installed. my guess is that at some point there will be a TSB or optional dealer retrofit (free of charge to the customer) to have them remove the clamps that prevent the headrest from coming out.

but just wanted you to know that it does work and for us, will be satisfactory for the 3 years we have the car on lease. here are some pictures and information: https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-...installed.html

bimbocoles

I got my clamps removed for free by the dealership. Initially they were a little hesitant and wanted to charge me but I guess after listening to my whining they did it.

I tried but the 3rd row headrests (those swivel back and forth) dont fit in the 2nd row easy entry headrest system. All the latest models on the lot have the easy entry system option, no way to test whether those from the regular 2nd row would fit in my car.

The issue is not only that the toddler car seats dont fit but if your kids use the booster seat their head will bounce against the headrest. At least this way I can remove the headrest and my 4 year old daughter with a booster is not confined to the middle seat if she wants to sit in the 2nd row. This would have been an even bigger issue once my twins start using a booster seat in a couple of years, the car would have been completely useless.

I dont known which moron designed this system but that person most certainly doesn't have any kids. I have called MB headquarters in NJ on this issues, I don't even know whether MB is aware of this problem. Otherwise they wouldn't have placed it into the P1 package without redesigning it. I hope they come up with a solution which can be retrofitted.

Mbenz260e

Question for those that have had the clips removed. Does everything still function the same with the headrest installed, you just need to manually lower it before hitting the easy entry button?

Also I assume for those with boosters you are just ridding withing it installed at all?

b.west1

Before I moved my headrests to their permanent home in a closet, I did check that the power fold works fine if the headrests are lowered manually first. If they are not lowered first, the seat still folds and -- watch out below... With the headrests removed, everything works as you'd expect without issue.

I'd be happy to talk to anybody at MB about this as well who will actually listen and do something about it... any ideas on who that might be?

Mbenz260e

Thanks for the info, I think I will need to address this at the 10K service.

As far as contacts, a few years ago I sent a letter to Alan McLaren at MBUSA who was head if customer satisfaction or something. Doing a quick search it looks like he left MBUSA. However, I did receive a call within a few weeks of sending my letter from a person at MBUSA who kept up with me and contacted dealers for me to resolve issues I was having wit ha vehicle. My connection is bad right now but if I can figure out what his official position was and who is in it now, I'll let you know.