JRC1979

Hello all!!!

This is my first post here. I recently bought my wife a 2013 C300 4Matic sport as her commute is changing and she currently drives an LR4 which gets horrible MPG.

Last weekend we took it for a drive and the blower stopped working. Everything else seemed to work fine and I could tell the heat, vent, and A/C wanted to blow but the blower had obviously died.

After reading through the forum and some parts sites and looking at youtube, I figured I would need to replace the entire blower motor assembly and the resistor. However, I could not find the resistor anywhere online.

Well maybe that isn't exactly accurate. I could find it but the websites kept telling me it would not fit my car. All the information I could find about how to fix this issue seemed to be the contrary, so I kept searching. I ended up buying the BEHR OE replacement blower and regulator (non-MB branded) from one site I found online and the resistor from one of the big chain auto stores that had it in stock online.

So after getting the parts Friday, I set out on Saturday afternoon to install everything. I had the T20 Torx drive bit and my impact driver/drill so I was ready along with a few other needed items such as a long flat head screwdriver and a small plastic pry bar.

Getting the underneath panel off on the passenger's side was pretty simple, just followed the tutorials I found online and no issues.

This is where it got interesting. As soon as I got under the dash to get a look I could tell that this model had definitely gone through a small redesign most likely with the facelift. None of the videos or tutorials I found showed this change and neither does the OEM parts book for my VIN.

So the good news was I had the right regulator, the blower, and the resistor (just in case). I did not need the resistor in the end, but I thought it would be better safe than sorry since I could not confirm whether it would be needed or not.

Once I got a look I saw that the new regulator had 2 wire harness attachments to it, which were easy to disconnect, then it had 2 -T20 torx screws holding in place. I removed them and replaced it with the new part. Again I bought the BEHR parts as they were about $400 cheaper than buying the OEM MB brand (same exact parts when comparing labels to the old parts I removed, identical). Once the old regulator was out it was quite simple to see where the new one will fit along with a small gasket that seats on top of it.

After getting the regulator installed, I found 1 small T20 Torx screw holding the blower in place (right next to the release tab you will find in videos and tutorials) and took that out. Then I used the flat head screw driver to help get the tab down so I could get it clear and get the blower removed. However, this is where I hit another issue.

So when I turned the blower it stopped and wouldn't move far enough to come out. I looked up in from underneath to see what was keeping the blower from easily coming out and with the redesign/facelift I noticed that the blower sits closer to the actual glove box and the blower was catching on the back of the glove box and there was no way to get it out without removing the glove box.

So I went back to youtube and found a nice tutorial on how to easily remove the glove box. I had my son hold the glove box once removed so I didn't have to disconnect all the wires, but this was super easy to take out too. There were 2 bolts, one on each side and only 4 more holding the entire console in place (not 5 like in the pre-facelift models). I used the pry bar to pull the trim piece off that sits between the door and the side of the glove box to gain access to one of the 2 bolts on the sides. Once I removed all the bolts (6 in total) the glove box came off easily, and I had my son hold it while I reached under and pulled the blower motor out. There is also a small tab in the middle blower motor housing that holds wires in place and needs to be popped out, but it just pulls off easily and there was a spot to install it back on to the new blower motor which I did after installing the new motor. I slid the new motor back in, locked it in to place ensuring it was completely in an seated properly and then put the glove box back together. Then I got back underneath and reconnected all the wires as needed.

Once that was done I had my son start the car and crank the heat. Everything went back to normal and the entire HVAC system was working perfectly in all settings.

Turned the car off and put everything back together.

All together it took me about an hour to get it done start to finish, a little more involved on this one but not difficult at all.

Also I noticed that on the panel on the passenger side where there was supposed to be a sensor for auto climate, there wasn't one (on the under panel closest to the center console). Guessing this is also something changed in the facelift models.

All in all the difference from the pre-facelift models to my 2013 is minimal and changing the blower and regulator out was still totally easy to do with the right tools, a little help, and some good tutorials and forum info.

The old blower was almost completely locked up, it felt like the bearing died. It would not move freely to the touch like the new blower fan would. So I don't know if the regulator was actually bad or not since the blower was in such bad shape, but at the end of the day I still saved a ton by doing this myself instead of going to the dealer. All in I was right about $225 for the BEHR OE (non-MB branded) parts compared to the $650 in parts for OEM MB parts and whatever they would have charged for labor.

Great forum, hope any C300 owners with the facelift find this useful.

Thanks!!!

Josh

TheRulesLawyer

Mind giving a link for the parts you used? My 2012 blower is noisy. I've been meaning to do something about it.

JRC1979

Sure, I used Pelicanparts.com
Just put in your vehicle info and they will sort the parts for you. Click on the Ventilation A/C tab and then click blower motor and parts. It will give you OEM MB options along with BEHR (OEM supplier non-MB branded) and other brands. I went with the BEHR non-MB branded stuff and works awesome. They also have some great picture tutorials.

Good luck!!!

Ronin_Dax

Nice write-up. My blower motor has been clicking for a while so I'll probably be doing this soon.

xsever

Is the new blower a new part number meaning MB has updated it so that it doesn't whine and fail prematurely? I understand it being noisy after 10 years maybe, but not 5!

JustLooking

Great write up. I've had (1) 2013 w204-c3004m and (2) 2014 w204-c3004m ... two of which were new, one was cpo. Two of the cars from Germany, one from SA. All three, had blower motor noise outside of spec within the first few years of ownership. IMO there's some pressure differential that moves the shaft of the blower to one side or the other, or there's supposed to be a venting action through the center.. in any case, the shaft will wear the bearings out in a non-uniform way so that you will hear it squeak, click or chirp like crickets after a short time. It's one item I'd go aftermarket on for sure, based on my experience with now 4-5 OEM units.

My 3rd w204 that I still currently own was still under CPO and I waited for the last couple remaining months to take it in for replacement. Just got it back this week and boy what a difference, it's like riding in a Mercedes lol. No muss no fuss, they just replaced the unit. If there is no bearing revision on the part, I expect it will last 2-3 years before it sounds like a cheap box fan... so I'll order the same unit as OP from Pelican when it does. Car is bulletproof otherwise if the 7g stays reliable.

xthirdx

Blue'03SVT

Just had mine replaced under warranty yesterday at the dealership also. The service advisor said this is a common issue, but didn't know why .