W204 C Class buttons peeling and other interior issues
Discussion
I bought a 2012 C220 coupe last week. Car is in decent condition, apart from some interior issues.
The steering wheel buttons are peeling badly, that horrible rubberised paint. The previous owner had stuck some vinyl stickers over the buttons, which looked awful. I've ordered a set of silver button caps from eBay, about £15. Hopefully that'll sort it. If not, I'll replace both switch assemblies. Ebay has them for about £85 the pair for Chinese copies.
Anybody replaced the switch assemblies with Chinese ones?
Next issue is the power button for the radio. The chromed volume ring is there and working, just the centre pushbutton completely missing.
I can't find one of these anywhere, unless I buy a complete secondhand head unit. I've ordered a chromed button cap for a fiver, and I'll make a holder from plastic to fit it in the middle of the volume knob. It doesn't really need to actually work, as there's no real need to switch the head unit off.
There's a bit of wear on the driver's seat bolster, which I'll attempt to repair with a leather/vinyl repair kit. If that's not successful, I guess a partial re-trim with Artico, or a full re-trim of both front seats in proper leather will be needed.
Anyone had a seat re-trim in proper leather?
Final thing for now is the "eco" symbol on the dash never goes green. It's solid amber all the time. From what I can make out, Eco mode (using the switch below the heater panel) should enable stop/start once the car is up to operating temperature with a good battery. It shows in amber if the stop/start conditions aren't met.
Any ideas why it shouldn't operate after a 40 mile drive? Aircon is off, interior up to temperature, 10 degrees outside temp, no lights switched on.
I had a similar problem with my Superb, and a new battery fixed it. The battery was dropping to about 10 volts overnight, so obviously on the way out. Battery seems OK in the Merc.
Oh, just thought of one more:
Next to the gearshift symbols on the dash is a single letter that shows what driving mode is selected. When tslowing down, this changes to a blue and white "P" (parking symbol). Is it just letting me know that the parking sensors are now active? Car has the two LED strips, one on the dash, one above the rear window.
The steering wheel buttons are peeling badly, that horrible rubberised paint. The previous owner had stuck some vinyl stickers over the buttons, which looked awful. I've ordered a set of silver button caps from eBay, about £15. Hopefully that'll sort it. If not, I'll replace both switch assemblies. Ebay has them for about £85 the pair for Chinese copies.
Anybody replaced the switch assemblies with Chinese ones?
Next issue is the power button for the radio. The chromed volume ring is there and working, just the centre pushbutton completely missing.
I can't find one of these anywhere, unless I buy a complete secondhand head unit. I've ordered a chromed button cap for a fiver, and I'll make a holder from plastic to fit it in the middle of the volume knob. It doesn't really need to actually work, as there's no real need to switch the head unit off.
There's a bit of wear on the driver's seat bolster, which I'll attempt to repair with a leather/vinyl repair kit. If that's not successful, I guess a partial re-trim with Artico, or a full re-trim of both front seats in proper leather will be needed.
Anyone had a seat re-trim in proper leather?
Final thing for now is the "eco" symbol on the dash never goes green. It's solid amber all the time. From what I can make out, Eco mode (using the switch below the heater panel) should enable stop/start once the car is up to operating temperature with a good battery. It shows in amber if the stop/start conditions aren't met.
Any ideas why it shouldn't operate after a 40 mile drive? Aircon is off, interior up to temperature, 10 degrees outside temp, no lights switched on.
I had a similar problem with my Superb, and a new battery fixed it. The battery was dropping to about 10 volts overnight, so obviously on the way out. Battery seems OK in the Merc.
Oh, just thought of one more:
Next to the gearshift symbols on the dash is a single letter that shows what driving mode is selected. When tslowing down, this changes to a blue and white "P" (parking symbol). Is it just letting me know that the parking sensors are now active? Car has the two LED strips, one on the dash, one above the rear window.
The ECO can take quite a while to go green - it may be a problem with the aux battery in the boot, but more likely just needs a while to sort itself out. Sometimes takes a couple of days.
The blue parking symbol is telling you it’s looking for a parking spot (parktronic)
It appears below 15mph and an arrow will appear next to it if it finds a suitable space.
A message will appear saying something like press ok for parking assistance. You then follow the instructions on the display turning the wheel as requested.
It’s easier to ignore it and park normally
The blue parking symbol is telling you it’s looking for a parking spot (parktronic)
It appears below 15mph and an arrow will appear next to it if it finds a suitable space.
A message will appear saying something like press ok for parking assistance. You then follow the instructions on the display turning the wheel as requested.
It’s easier to ignore it and park normally
LordLoveLength said:
The ECO can take quite a while to go green - it may be a problem with the aux battery in the boot, but more likely just needs a while to sort itself out. Sometimes takes a couple of days.
The blue parking symbol is telling you it’s looking for a parking spot (parktronic)
It appears below 15mph and an arrow will appear next to it if it finds a suitable space.
A message will appear saying something like press ok for parking assistance. You then follow the instructions on the display turning the wheel as requested.
It’s easier to ignore it and park normally
Thanks. Just did a quick bit of googling, and it looks like the aux battery runs the stop/start system, and it only gets charged after the main battery is "full". I don't get any error messages, so it could well be that the car needs driving more so that both batteries get charged up. It was the previous owner's second car, so it probably didn't get much use. The blue parking symbol is telling you it’s looking for a parking spot (parktronic)
It appears below 15mph and an arrow will appear next to it if it finds a suitable space.
A message will appear saying something like press ok for parking assistance. You then follow the instructions on the display turning the wheel as requested.
It’s easier to ignore it and park normally
I'll see how it goes over the next couple of weeks.
Weird that the car looks for a parking space automatically each time you slow down. I've not seen the arrows or messages appear yet, even when reversing onto my driveway or pulling into a supermarket parking space.
This is my first Mercedes, and they certainly seem to do things differently to most other manufacturers. I'm still getting used to the parking brake, and the lack of a second stalk for the wipers caused a bit of head scratching when I tried to "flick wipe".
clockworks said:
This is my first Mercedes, and they certainly seem to do things differently to most other manufacturers. I'm still getting used to the parking brake, and the lack of a second stalk for the wipers caused a bit of head scratching when I tried to "flick wipe".
Yep those both flummoxed me as well.Have to say I still think the floor-mounted parking brake is the best solution - once you're used to it, it becomes second nature. It's also easy to make sure it's properly set, as you just give it a good stomp.
clockworks said:
romeogolf said:
Start-Stop issue definitely sounds like the battery needs switching out. Had the same on mine when it was 3 years old.
The battery in the boot?clockworks said:
Oh, just thought of one more:
Next to the gearshift symbols on the dash is a single letter that shows what driving mode is selected. When tslowing down, this changes to a blue and white "P" (parking symbol). Is it just letting me know that the parking sensors are now active? Car has the two LED strips, one on the dash, one above the rear window.
This is the Park Assist function, I think. The manual will explain more clearly but it's essentially scanning for parking spaces when the blue P appears. If a little arrow appears next to the P it means a suitable space has been found and if you stop and press the "OK" button the car will park itself. By default is scans the left-side of the road, but if you turn on the right-hand indicator it will scan the other side.Next to the gearshift symbols on the dash is a single letter that shows what driving mode is selected. When tslowing down, this changes to a blue and white "P" (parking symbol). Is it just letting me know that the parking sensors are now active? Car has the two LED strips, one on the dash, one above the rear window.
After having my E class for a while the green eco light on my E class became slow to turn on, found out it was a weak battery. Batteries replaced and it switched green really quickly.
A few years later it once again became slower to turn green, a while after I had a fault code for the NOx sensors. Had these replaced and the eco goes green really quickly again.
I actually switch off stop\start on most journeys.
A few years later it once again became slower to turn green, a while after I had a fault code for the NOx sensors. Had these replaced and the eco goes green really quickly again.
I actually switch off stop\start on most journeys.
2 more potentially expensive issues appeared over the last 3 months:
Intelligent lighting system fault message kept popping up on the central display.
The electronic steering lock refused to disengage a couple of times. No errors on the display, no ignition.
I solved all the problems by trading the 220 in against a 2019 Abarth 595!
Intelligent lighting system fault message kept popping up on the central display.
The electronic steering lock refused to disengage a couple of times. No errors on the display, no ignition.
I solved all the problems by trading the 220 in against a 2019 Abarth 595!
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