Driver's Seat - Too Far Back?
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,455
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From: Long Island, NY
W220 S65 AMG
Driver's Seat - Too Far Back?
I have an odd issue, and the dealer said he'd get back to me on it but as of right now he believes it's operating normal...
Anyways, my driver's seat does not move up all the way close to the steering wheel as it did in my S500... I don't have trouble driving or reaching the pedals, but I would feel a little more comfortable with it closer.
I read a great post by Skylaw about resetting all the motors by holding them down at maximum limits for several seconds that and that actually fixed the vertical adjustment on my S500, but I did nothing for me on the S600 and the seat still travels the same distance.
I can however, move the passenger seat as close to the dashboard as I was able on my S500...
Any ideas?
Anyways, my driver's seat does not move up all the way close to the steering wheel as it did in my S500... I don't have trouble driving or reaching the pedals, but I would feel a little more comfortable with it closer.
I read a great post by Skylaw about resetting all the motors by holding them down at maximum limits for several seconds that and that actually fixed the vertical adjustment on my S500, but I did nothing for me on the S600 and the seat still travels the same distance.
I can however, move the passenger seat as close to the dashboard as I was able on my S500...
Any ideas?
Member
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 78
Likes: 2
From: Alabama gulf coast, formerly Charlottesville, Virginia
2004 W220 (S430), 2001 R129 (SL500 Sport)
Mine does the same thing. I have to move it manually the last couple of inches. Someoone at the dealership said the auto set wouldn't move the seat as close as I wanted it, so someone with longer legs or a bigger gut wouldn't get squashed by the wheel. I figure if someone got squashed they got what they deserved, because they were trying to steal my car.
Can anybody confirm the dealer's story?
Can anybody confirm the dealer's story?
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 4,278
Likes: 377
From: San Jose area
'19 E63S sedan
Mine does the same thing. I have to move it manually the last couple of inches. Someoone at the dealership said the auto set wouldn't move the seat as close as I wanted it, so someone with longer legs or a bigger gut wouldn't get squashed by the wheel. I figure if someone got squashed they got what they deserved, because they were trying to steal my car.
Can anybody confirm the dealer's story?
Can anybody confirm the dealer's story?
Super Member
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 508
Likes: 1
From: california high desert
2003 S500, 03 C240, 03 E320, 03 tahoe
are you sure ?
are you sure it isnt the "G" force pushing you back into the seat like the apollo rockets?.is it harder to reach the pedals at 5k rpm than say 2k?.someday ill have one of those biturbo cars and it will fit me perfect cause im 6'2.
Super Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 646
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15' W222
Gotta slightly OT question........I drove a s500 and I moved the seat back, and it went so far back that my feet could barely touch the pedals. (I'm 6'3") So I was highly impressed. But when I got my s430 that wasn't the case. Is the seat positioning different from the 500 and 430?
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,455
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From: Long Island, NY
W220 S65 AMG
Guys-- I'm still not sure what's up with the seat... my passenger seat moves closer to the dashboard by about 5" or 6" than the driver's seat..
Anything I should check? What would prevent it from going up past a certain point?
I tried everything even SDS and it's hitting the upper limit way before it's actually reached.
Anything I should check? What would prevent it from going up past a certain point?
I tried everything even SDS and it's hitting the upper limit way before it's actually reached.
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Super Member
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 584
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From: Northern NJ
E90 N54 & W251
Guys-- I'm still not sure what's up with the seat... my passenger seat moves closer to the dashboard by about 5" or 6" than the driver's seat..
Anything I should check? What would prevent it from going up past a certain point?
I tried everything even SDS and it's hitting the upper limit way before it's actually reached.
Anything I should check? What would prevent it from going up past a certain point?
I tried everything even SDS and it's hitting the upper limit way before it's actually reached.
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Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,455
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From: Long Island, NY
W220 S65 AMG
I believe the motor is out of sync, and the limit of 32550 is hit before it's actually in the correct position, so my seat moves not far enough forwards but over extends when moving all the way back.
I tried the methods for syncing up the seat controls by holding the switch but the Hall Sensor output is the same.
I am going to tear apart the bottom of the seat and see if I can correct the position of the motor...
I have no idea how it could have lost it's sync intially though...
Super Member
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 646
Likes: 16
15' W222
Gotta slightly OT question........I drove a s500 and I moved the seat back, and it went so far back that my feet could barely touch the pedals. (I'm 6'3") So I was highly impressed. But when I got my s430 that wasn't the case. Is the seat positioning different from the 500 and 430?
Super Member
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 584
Likes: 3
From: Northern NJ
E90 N54 & W251
There are no stoppers on the track, the way the DCM knows when to stop the seat from going too far front or back is by using Hall Sensors which count how many revolutions the motor produces. Once it reaches it's maximum (32550 revs) it know its all the way up, when it counts down to 0 it know it's all the way back.
I believe the motor is out of sync, and the limit of 32550 is hit before it's actually in the correct position, so my seat moves not far enough forwards but over extends when moving all the way back.
I tried the methods for syncing up the seat controls by holding the switch but the Hall Sensor output is the same.
I am going to tear apart the bottom of the seat and see if I can correct the position of the motor...
I have no idea how it could have lost it's sync intially though...
I believe the motor is out of sync, and the limit of 32550 is hit before it's actually in the correct position, so my seat moves not far enough forwards but over extends when moving all the way back.
I tried the methods for syncing up the seat controls by holding the switch but the Hall Sensor output is the same.
I am going to tear apart the bottom of the seat and see if I can correct the position of the motor...
I have no idea how it could have lost it's sync intially though...
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,455
Likes: 11
From: Long Island, NY
W220 S65 AMG
That's interesting. Even the seat adjustment can't be simple on a Mercedes. What would the ramifications be if you were to disconnect the seat motor/DCM and reconnect it to clear it's calibration memory? Anything in WIS for the recalibration, say if you were to replace these items?
Maybe I'm crazy though?
Can someone please take a picture from outside the car with the door open with the drivers seat as close to the steering wheel as possible? Thanks!
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,455
Likes: 11
From: Long Island, NY
W220 S65 AMG
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,455
Likes: 11
From: Long Island, NY
W220 S65 AMG
Anyways I found out what was wrong...
Looks like someone at the factory switched two bolts around that hold the seat to the rail.
The bolt was hitting the end of the rail where the yellow arrow is.
Here is how it was:
And here is how they are supposed to be:
Looks like someone at the factory switched two bolts around that hold the seat to the rail.
The bolt was hitting the end of the rail where the yellow arrow is.
Here is how it was:
And here is how they are supposed to be:
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,063
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From: Tampa, FL
2005 S500 4-Matic, 1978 450SL
Oxygen, Im sorry I missed this request. You're a frequent and helpful contributor, and I'd have been glad to help if I had seen it. Anyway, thanks for the feedback on what you found - especially after our failure to help you.
Last edited by Skylaw; Aug 13, 2009 at 04:27 PM.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,455
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From: Long Island, NY
W220 S65 AMG
I brought up the issue when I first test drove the car before buying it... I told the guy "this seat does not move up far enough, not very comfortable for me. My S500 moved the seat a lot closer to the steering wheel."
He told me that he did not think that anything was wrong, but told me if I do decide to buy the car, they will look into the issue at the shop prior to delivery.
Upon delivery he told me that they found absolutely no issues with the seat and that's how it was on the S600. I ate it because I really like the rest of the car.
I also brought the car to 3 other dealerships afterwards - Mercedes of Huntington, Mercedes of Smithtown and Mercedes of Massapequa. All 3 dealerships said that there was no problem found and the seat was working as it should.
He told me that he did not think that anything was wrong, but told me if I do decide to buy the car, they will look into the issue at the shop prior to delivery.
Upon delivery he told me that they found absolutely no issues with the seat and that's how it was on the S600. I ate it because I really like the rest of the car.
I also brought the car to 3 other dealerships afterwards - Mercedes of Huntington, Mercedes of Smithtown and Mercedes of Massapequa. All 3 dealerships said that there was no problem found and the seat was working as it should.
Thread Starter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,455
Likes: 11
From: Long Island, NY
W220 S65 AMG
That's interesting. Even the seat adjustment can't be simple on a Mercedes. What would the ramifications be if you were to disconnect the seat motor/DCM and reconnect it to clear it's calibration memory? Anything in WIS for the recalibration, say if you were to replace these items?
I also disconnected the electrical plug from the motor and connected 12VDC directly to the motor. It stopped in the same exact position so this lead me to believe it was a mechanical issue rather than electronics.
I took it one step further and disconnected the metal cable that connects the left and the right rails and attached an electrical drill to the end of the cable. This allowed me to manually move each rail back and forth. I saw that the left rail moved freely front to back but the right rail kept getting stuck.
So while slowly moving the rail with the drill I saw the bolt hitting the other bolt as it was moving, and it was all clear from there.
From what I can tell the seat was never disassembled and and there is no reason for those two bolts to be switched unless it was a mistake during manufacturing.
I highly doubt anyone else is going to run across this issue.
But I am really glad that it's fixed now.. my toes used to get tired from reaching for the pedals the whole time and I was forced to use cruise control on most highway driving to relax me feet a little. Now I feel like I'm discovering the car for the first time... it's so great!
