mpgurin

Hi, just bought R320 in Barolo Red but have some questions.

1. Halogen headlights - can they be aimed higher to compensate for harsh cutoff? Service dept said no. Is this right??

2. Does Panorama sunroof have auto CLOSE feature? Owners manual says yes, but car doesn't do it and dealer says feature doesn't exist. Is this a typo in the manual??

3. At night under lights the hood's finish has a weird swirl effect as if someone waxed it with rubbing compound or something - weird. Dealer says, "oh yes, the dark colors often have this look under light, but it is normal." Call me suspicious but I just find this hard to believe. Anyone ever heard of this??

Thanks!!

mitaka

First of all I hate all dealers. I have been reading that MB has some issues with bad paint. Mine seems OK lucky I guess. My sunroof does not have auto feature although the button can slide back and forth and you also can pull the button down. I would think this should be the auto but it is not on mine. How is your tranny. Do you get the little jerk between 1st and second gear? It is so annoying I hope it goes away after the software update.

mpgurin

Hate? perhaps stronger than I feel, but certainly distrust them. Name of the game is "move units" whether it us Hyundai or MB.

No problems with tranny that I have noticed so far, but car only has 300 miles (has already been back to dealer 2 times already for Sirius radio not working, slice in leather on steering wheel,dents in driver seat back).

I am really worried about the swirls on the hood --- looks really bizarre and I absolutely can't believe it's just a natural effect of the dark paint.

Scotsman

We've xenons on the R and SL but our previous CLK with halogen couldn't be adjusted any higher.

Paint work on our Carneol Red which looks much the same as yours is perfect.
I'd get them to respray it if it won't buff out.

We don't have an auto close on the roof and don't remember seeing it in the manual - I'll double-check. No mention here http://www4.mercedes-benz.com/e/cars...eneinheit.html

mpgurin

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I'm beginning to think the halogens can't be aimed, though some posts in other forums claimed they could. Checked the owners book last night and it clears states the Panorama roof has auto open and close, so maybe it was a typo?

Finally, I will definitely have them look at the paint job - the only place on the whole car where these swirls appear is the hood, so it just feels like they are feed me a line.

lkchris

It would be illegal most places to produce a vehicle wherein the headlights couldn't be aimed.

The sharp cutoff, however, is a desireable feature and you can probably assume the vehicle came from the factory with the lights properly aimed.

mpgurin

After researching this whole issue I have to admit that it seems the cutoff is desirable and not worse...just different. As one expert noted, "if you can't see beyond the cutoff and you are feeling anxious about that then you are going too fast." Good point.