Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

stickguy

The display is always there. Just no car in it if you aren’t driving.

gauges are for coolant and oil temp.

driver100

explorerx4 said:

So many questions, so little time.
The 'road' is for the adaptive cruise and lane keeping. They change color to green when in use.
Far right is transmission temperature. The 2 temperature gauges don't register anything because I just started it.
Oil pressure gauge is on the left at the top.
71 miles in 2 1/2 hours indicates a lot of short trips.
I'll post another interesting information screen after I take a picture of it.

Yah, because inquiring minds want to know

snakeweasel

explorerx4 said:

So many questions, so little time.
The 'road' is for the adaptive cruise and lane keeping. They change color to green when in use.
Far right is transmission temperature. The 2 temperature gauges don't register anything because I just started it.
Oil pressure gauge is on the left at the top.
71 miles in 2 1/2 hours indicates a lot of short trips.
I'll post another interesting information screen after I take a picture of it.

71 miles in 2.5 hours would indicate to me that there was a lot of urban/suburban driving where lower speed limits and traffic lights would severely lower average speed.

driver100

snakeweasel said:

explorerx4 said:

So many questions, so little time.
The 'road' is for the adaptive cruise and lane keeping. They change color to green when in use.
Far right is transmission temperature. The 2 temperature gauges don't register anything because I just started it.
Oil pressure gauge is on the left at the top.
71 miles in 2 1/2 hours indicates a lot of short trips.
I'll post another interesting information screen after I take a picture of it.

71 miles in 2.5 hours would indicate to me that there was a lot of urban/suburban driving where lower speed limits and traffic lights would severely lower average speed.

Hmmmm....I wonder what he was doing on those short little runs?

abacomike

Finally got a return call from MBUSA this morning - 8 days after leaving 8 voice messages, calling main number twice to speak with customer care, and 2 emails. She stated that my wipers were operating within normal parameters! So normal would mean the continual chattering and skipping of the wiper blades in continual moderate and heavy rain is NORMAL! What do you think of that?

I told her I would never buy another Mercedes-Benz vehicle. I said it would seem from my perspective that Mercedes-Benz does not satisfy all its customers - especially me who has purchased/leased over 21 MB vehicles in the past 33 years.

So I will have to live with this issue until such time as a buy or lease another car - but not a Meecedes! 🤨😩🙁

stickguy

I’ll take it off your hands. But since it’s a lemon, best I can do is an even swap for our RDX. Or $35,000 cash.

Michaell

@abacomike - you could consider moving somewhere where it doesn't rain as much...

stickguy

I suggested moving back to palm desert with his don. That will cure the rain problem.

ab348

Mike, maybe it just needs time to settle in, who knows. Does seem odd though, as I know it rains in Germany and I can't imagine those engineers would deem that acceptable.

dino001

abacomike said:

Finally got a return call from MBUSA this morning - 8 days after leaving 8 voice messages, calling main number twice to speak with customer care, and 2 emails. She stated that my wipers were operating within normal parameters! So normal would mean the continual chattering and skipping of the wiper blades in continual moderate and heavy rain is NORMAL! What do you think of that?

I told her I would never buy another Mercedes-Benz vehicle. I said it would seem from my perspective that Mercedes-Benz does not satisfy all its customers - especially me who has purchased/leased over 21 MB vehicles in the past 33 years.

So I will have to live with this issue until such time as a buy or lease another car - but not a Meecedes! 🤨😩🙁

You may run out of brands to consider fairly quickly, if one disappointment triggers "I'll never buy X again", Mike. Or does it take just couple of brand rotations to forget the pain and come back?

driver100

abacomike said:

Finally got a return call from MBUSA this morning - 8 days after leaving 8 voice messages, calling main number twice to speak with customer care, and 2 emails. She stated that my wipers were operating within normal parameters! So normal would mean the continual chattering and skipping of the wiper blades in continual moderate and heavy rain is NORMAL! What do you think of that?
🤨😩🙁

I would deduce that the problem is more likely a windshield wiper problem....maybe you should take it up with the wiper maker. It isn't the design, as very few cars seem to have the problem. Could it be a defective windshield.........how often is it the windshields fault on a new car, especially if it has been cleaned etc?

Maybe the wiper company should be made aware of the problem and they may have a solution, or be willing to try another pair.

dino001

I noticed that chatter tends to become more likely in light rain than heavy, when the wiper goes over a dry surface. Worn wipers tend to chatter more often than new ones. It can also vary with speeds, I've seen more chattering at really high speeds when air resistance is much heavier and can create issues. Overall it can be a fairly complex problem to solve and wipers may sometimes chatter when in a very specific combination of rain intensity, vehicle speed, wear and the manufacturers may not be able to eliminate all ranges. However, they should cover some basics, like genuine wiper blade should work well in "normal rain at typical speed" condition, that much is clear.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

explorerx4 said:

So many questions, so little time.
The 'road' is for the adaptive cruise and lane keeping. They change color to green when in use.
Far right is transmission temperature. The 2 temperature gauges don't register anything because I just started it.
Oil pressure gauge is on the left at the top.
71 miles in 2 1/2 hours indicates a lot of short trips.
I'll post another interesting information screen after I take a picture of it.

71 miles in 2.5 hours would indicate to me that there was a lot of urban/suburban driving where lower speed limits and traffic lights would severely lower average speed.

Hmmmm....I wonder what he was doing on those short little runs?

Probably bringing food to the poor and homeless.

fintail

"Normal" = design flaw they don't want to deal with. It might even be specific to NA market cars. All of my W212s did it, and so does the wagon, MB owner forums have endless posts dealing with wipers. This isn't a one-off thing.

My first 212, a pre-facelift car, did it. I got 2 sets of blades under warranty, they adjusted the tension/angle on the arms, then told me that's just how it is. I read on a forum where a guy took apart the stock (Valeo IIRC) blade holders and inserted Bosch rubber. I did this, problem solved.

Unfortunately with the facelift, the wiper arm/blade holder design changed, and this isn't possible, or at least nobody has found a solution. The problem is some of these aftermarket wipers can cost $50 a set, and it might take several sets to do real research. If anyone wants to donate to my fund, I can do some research. Until then, it will take Rain-X nearly every time it rains, or usage of the factory (or Rain-X, I suppose) fluid often in the rain.

ab348

If Bosch rubber inserts fixed it in the past, I take it Bosch no longer makes a replacement blade assembly that will fit?

benjaminh

abacomike said:

Finally got a return call from MBUSA this morning - 8 days after leaving 8 voice messages, calling main number twice to speak with customer care, and 2 emails. She stated that my wipers were operating within normal parameters! So normal would mean the continual chattering and skipping of the wiper blades in continual moderate and heavy rain is NORMAL! What do you think of that?

I told her I would never buy another Mercedes-Benz vehicle. I said it would seem from my perspective that Mercedes-Benz does not satisfy all its customers - especially me who has purchased/leased over 21 MB vehicles in the past 33 years.

So I will have to live with this issue until such time as a buy or lease another car - but not a Meecedes! 🤨😩🙁

Wow.

Probably you've already tried something like Rain-X....

https://www.rainx.com/tips-information/rain‑x-windshield-wiper-fluid-video/

graphicguy

abacomike said:

So I will have to live with this issue until such time as a buy or lease another car - but not a Meecedes! 🤨😩🙁

And the countdown starts.......NOW!

Did you ever test drive the Genesis, Mike? From what I hear, they're all about customer service so they can expand their foothold here.

abacomike

graphicguy said:

abacomike said:

So I will have to live with this issue until such time as a buy or lease another car - but not a Meecedes! 🤨😩🙁

And the countdown starts.......NOW!

Did you ever test drive the Genesis, Mike? From what I hear, they're all about customer service so they can expand their foothold here.

Yes, GG, I have test driven the G80 - nice car - just a little stiff. I am going to have to live with this wiper problem for at least 3 years since I am not going to buy another car for at least three years. Almost made it to three years with the S450. Keeping a car that I hardly drive for 3 or 4 years is OK with me since I don't drive as much as I used to.

snakeweasel

abacomike said:

Finally got a return call from MBUSA this morning - 8 days after leaving 8 voice messages, calling main number twice to speak with customer care, and 2 emails. She stated that my wipers were operating within normal parameters! So normal would mean the continual chattering and skipping of the wiper blades in continual moderate and heavy rain is NORMAL! What do you think of that?

I told her I would never buy another Mercedes-Benz vehicle. I said it would seem from my perspective that Mercedes-Benz does not satisfy all its customers - especially me who has purchased/leased over 21 MB vehicles in the past 33 years.

So I will have to live with this issue until such time as a buy or lease another car - but not a Meecedes! 🤨😩🙁

Just remove the windshield, there problem solved.

nyccarguy

I think Mercedes should bring back the single wiper like my parents' 1990 300E had.

imidazol97

8 days after leaving 8 voice messages...

I always laugh about Chick Fil A's reputation hyped by some for great customer service at the headquarters, not the stores.
If it involves technology--not so great. Latest is that with my new phone I had to log into ChickOne account to reclaim the
cash on the app and credit points for purchases. But the process sends a verification email to that email address registered to the account. My email provider for my online webmail site uses some software that strips out active links from emails that don't have a real name for a sender, from what I can find.

So I get an email with nothing in it. Their solution is to send it to their higher level support. I learned years back with problems on Android phone with an OS that couldn't be upgraded further in the Android sweet newer systems that their tech folks have one way and it's their way. I gave in and upgraded to a newer phone so the operating system would cooperate with how their Android app at CFA was written. Hearing back from their higher level tech is like hearing back from the president of Mercedes about Abaco's problem.

The current problem was shared with a few other companies such as SiriusXM and a garden hose company trying to send me a link for a refund credit. SiriusXM fixed theirs. The garden hose company knew of the problem and had a way around the blank email. CFA doesn't really care, or they're chicken to tackle a technical problem that's not on their Apple phone platform.

@abacomike likely will find a solution.

driver100

nyccarguy said:

I think Mercedes should bring back the single wiper like my parents' 1990 300E had.

Half the chatter

fintail

Not at the last time I checked. The new assemblies kind of break and fall apart when you try to swap the rubber blades (ask me how I know), a retrofit isn't really possible,

I have an Autozone gift card collecting dust on my desk, I might stop in sometime before the rainy season and see if they have anything that looks workable.

ab348 said:

If Bosch rubber inserts fixed it in the past, I take it Bosch no longer makes a replacement blade assembly that will fit?

fintail

My C43 and E55 had that, MB used that system all the way until 2003 in some models. It always worked fine. I retrofitted a Bosch Icon beam style holder into it, technically mounted upside down, never had an issue, smooth operation.

nyccarguy said:

I think Mercedes should bring back the single wiper like my parents' 1990 300E had.

driver100

Mike....did you ever try a premo brand of windshield wiper....maybe like;

Advanced, Beam Blade Technology – Contours to the curvature of the windshield for a smooth, virtually streak-free wipe and features a patented universal adapter for easy installation.
All-Weather Performance – The synthetic blend rubber squeegee can withstand extreme weather conditions for enhanced durability.
More Than Just a Wiper Blade! 2-IN-1 Wiper Blade + Water Repellent - Clears & Repels Water
There could be others!

ab348

Let’s all chip in, pass the hat, and team up to buy Mike a set of every brand of wiper blade on the market! We can send them to him down there in Abaco-land and then he can try them all and report back! Whattaya say?

stickguy

I used the rain X blades. On our old RDX. I think they were good.

kyfdx

Bosch Icon

oldfarmer50

imidazol97 said:

8 days after leaving 8 voice messages...

I always laugh about Chick Fil A's reputation hyped by some for great customer service at the headquarters, not the stores.
If it involves technology--not so great. Latest is that with my new phone I had to log into ChickOne account to reclaim the
cash on the app and credit points for purchases. But the process sends a verification email to that email address registered to the account. My email provider for my online webmail site uses some software that strips out active links from emails that don't have a real name for a sender, from what I can find.

So I get an email with nothing in it. Their solution is to send it to their higher level support. I learned years back with problems on Android phone with an OS that couldn't be upgraded further in the Android sweet newer systems that their tech folks have one way and it's their way. I gave in and upgraded to a newer phone so the operating system would cooperate with how their Android app at CFA was written. Hearing back from their higher level tech is like hearing back from the president of Mercedes about Abaco's problem.

The current problem was shared with a few other companies such as SiriusXM and a garden hose company trying to send me a link for a refund credit. SiriusXM fixed theirs. The garden hose company knew of the problem and had a way around the blank email. CFA doesn't really care, or they're chicken to tackle a technical problem that's not on their Apple phone platform.

@abacomike likely will find a solution.

Yeah, tech can be frustrating, particularly for a dinosaur like me. When I went to sent up my email with Yahoo they demanded my mobile number for some reason. I didn’t have a cell phone at the time but they insisted some of the sign up could only be done by text. Why?

Now back at work my key cards don’t work because I was out so long. They seem unconcerned that I can’t get their cars through the gate. Some other guys can’t swipe the time clock to get paid (fortunately my card works there). The boss says they’re dragging their feet because they plan on scraping the time clock for “an app on your smart phone”.

Well, a lot of the old timers, myself included don’t have smart phones. This should prove interesting.

oldfarmer50

ab348 said:

Let’s all chip in, pass the hat, and team up to buy Mike a set of every brand of wiper blade on the market! We can send them to him down there in Abaco-land and then he can try them all and report back! Whattaya say?

Have him make a YouTube video of the try outs.

carnaught

abacomike said:

Finally got a return call from MBUSA this morning - 8 days after leaving 8 voice messages, calling main number twice to speak with customer care, and 2 emails. She stated that my wipers were operating within normal parameters! So normal would mean the continual chattering and skipping of the wiper blades in continual moderate and heavy rain is NORMAL! What do you think of that?

I told her I would never buy another Mercedes-Benz vehicle. I said it would seem from my perspective that Mercedes-Benz does not satisfy all its customers - especially me who has purchased/leased over 21 MB vehicles in the past 33 years.

So I will have to live with this issue until such time as a buy or lease another car - but not a Meecedes! 🤨😩🙁

Sounds like some customer service conversations I’ve had:

“I’m very sorry, sir.” (Your being sorry doesn’t help me one bit.)

“Is there anything else I can help you with?” (No, you didn’t help me with this problem.)

explorerx4

@oldfarmer50,
As with most jobs, you have to adapt or...

imidazol97

If I get a response from the uplevel tech "help" from Chick-Fil-A, it will be 4-5 weeks from the time of the request.

Oh year, my email provider had heard of a few cases of their system stripping the active part of an email. I looked over the source code of the delivered email and saw that Barracude (the commercial antivirus, not the vehicle) had rated the email as dangerous, but the email provider here said if Barracuda had disliked it, I wouldn't have seen any email, let alone an empty one.

So I set up email on my phone using an app. There I was able to see the link CFA demanded I click. Most companies would put a second method in their email to get to the response in a text formate. E.G., Microcenter in many of their advertising emails says if I can't see the images, I should click on this link in the email and I'm taken to a webpage version of the advertisement.

At least Mike got a timely response from MB was my point in the earlier post here.

I'm just astounded that someone with engineering ability hasn't found the problem and a cure for the MB chattering wipers problem. The chattering is coming from variations in friction of the wiper material against the glass: high friction which lets go and the wiper jumps with low friction over the heavy water and then catches again with a high friction occurring again.

Fintail is familiar with this occurring on several MB. Are they all related models that use the same pattern for the linkage in terms of the mechanical advantage in the levers involved.

imidazol97

imidazol97 said:

suydam said:

My idea of camping is the Hilton.

And for me "roughing it" is a Holiday Inn Express.

To be clear, when I said "Holiday Inn Express" was roughing it, that was relative to a Hilton, or Hampton.

We long ago stayed at various no name motels and saved money but the experiences were good most of the time. So we only stayed at Hampton Inn and Fairfield Inn level and up from then on.

oldfarmer50

Is this why explorerx4 is selling his truck? Propeller scratches?

https://youtu.be/hdrH667n64c

oldfarmer50

explorerx4 said:

@oldfarmer50,
As with most jobs, you have to adapt or...

....retire and drink beer?

stickguy

that is my game plan.

with a couple of minor details to work out (such as how to pay for it.)

roadburner

My son is visiting; his E90 still looks pretty good for being 11 years old.

jmonroe1

oldfarmer50 said:

imidazol97 said:

8 days after leaving 8 voice messages...

I always laugh about Chick Fil A's reputation hyped by some for great customer service at the headquarters, not the stores.
If it involves technology--not so great. Latest is that with my new phone I had to log into ChickOne account to reclaim the
cash on the app and credit points for purchases. But the process sends a verification email to that email address registered to the account. My email provider for my online webmail site uses some software that strips out active links from emails that don't have a real name for a sender, from what I can find.

So I get an email with nothing in it. Their solution is to send it to their higher level support. I learned years back with problems on Android phone with an OS that couldn't be upgraded further in the Android sweet newer systems that their tech folks have one way and it's their way. I gave in and upgraded to a newer phone so the operating system would cooperate with how their Android app at CFA was written. Hearing back from their higher level tech is like hearing back from the president of Mercedes about Abaco's problem.

The current problem was shared with a few other companies such as SiriusXM and a garden hose company trying to send me a link for a refund credit. SiriusXM fixed theirs. The garden hose company knew of the problem and had a way around the blank email. CFA doesn't really care, or they're chicken to tackle a technical problem that's not on their Apple phone platform.

@abacomike likely will find a solution.

Yeah, tech can be frustrating, particularly for a dinosaur like me. When I went to sent up my email with Yahoo they demanded my mobile number for some reason. I didn’t have a cell phone at the time but they insisted some of the sign up could only be done by text. Why?

Now back at work my key cards don’t work because I was out so long. They seem unconcerned that I can’t get their cars through the gate. Some other guys can’t swipe the time clock to get paid (fortunately my card works there). The boss says they’re dragging their feet because they plan on scraping the time clock for “an app on your smart phone”.

Well, a lot of the old timers, myself included don’t have smart phones. This should prove interesting.

You may have to return to driving a 42 passenger Blue Bird.

jmonroe

driver100

Youtube video shows top 5 wiper blades with Bosch Icon #3 and RainX #1. Looks like if these don't work nothing will;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPKoA0pBNRE
2018 but these things probably don't change.
Chattering is a wiper problem...not an MB problem.

driver100

roadburner said:

My son is visiting; his E90 still looks pretty good for being 11 years old.

BMW looks great and that is a car that looks really good in red. Was that an original color on that car....it looks like it was just painted? I don't recall bright red being offered 11 years ago.

roadburner

driver100 said:

roadburner said:

My son is visiting; his E90 still looks pretty good for being 11 years old.

BMW looks great and that is a car that looks really good in red. Was that an original color on that car....it looks like it was just painted? I don't recall bright red being offered 11 years ago.

It's Crimson Red- the original color; he just detailed it.

nyccarguy

@roadburner - your son’s car looks fantastic!

tjc78

Chattering is a wiper problem...not an MB problem.

No it's a specific Mercedes model problem. @fintail has had issues and from the posts can only assume that he reads Mercedes specific boards and others are experiencing the same thing.

It is obviously a design thing. I'm sure it's annoying, especially on a brand new highline car.

stickguy

yeah, if it was as simple as switching brand of wiper blades, the community would have figured it out by now.

fintail

Just one thread from one forum - search any MB forum in W212 and W213 groups, and you'll find a lot more. Probably the same in facebook groups.

This says a lot:

"This is an issue that plagues pretty much every new Benz and has for many years. I've yet to find a fix.. tried everything from adjusting angle of the arms, all different blades, dealer cleaned windshield with OEM cleaner, claybar windshield, polish.. nothing has ever solved it. It's ridiculous."

I've wondered if it's an issue with the glass itself.

stickguy

well, I probably was not likely to be getting a newer Benz anytime soon, but after reading about this issue, definitely off the list!

roadburner

nyccarguy said:

@roadburner - your son’s car looks fantastic!

Thanks! Now that he's settled in to Charlotte he's thinking about getting a newer car in a year or so. Probably a 2 Series.

oldfarmer50

roadburner said:

My son is visiting; his E90 still looks pretty good for being 11 years old.

I don’t understand why there aren’t more done in red.

oldfarmer50

jmonroe1 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

imidazol97 said:

8 days after leaving 8 voice messages...

I always laugh about Chick Fil A's reputation hyped by some for great customer service at the headquarters, not the stores.
If it involves technology--not so great. Latest is that with my new phone I had to log into ChickOne account to reclaim the
cash on the app and credit points for purchases. But the process sends a verification email to that email address registered to the account. My email provider for my online webmail site uses some software that strips out active links from emails that don't have a real name for a sender, from what I can find.

So I get an email with nothing in it. Their solution is to send it to their higher level support. I learned years back with problems on Android phone with an OS that couldn't be upgraded further in the Android sweet newer systems that their tech folks have one way and it's their way. I gave in and upgraded to a newer phone so the operating system would cooperate with how their Android app at CFA was written. Hearing back from their higher level tech is like hearing back from the president of Mercedes about Abaco's problem.

The current problem was shared with a few other companies such as SiriusXM and a garden hose company trying to send me a link for a refund credit. SiriusXM fixed theirs. The garden hose company knew of the problem and had a way around the blank email. CFA doesn't really care, or they're chicken to tackle a technical problem that's not on their Apple phone platform.

@abacomike likely will find a solution.

Yeah, tech can be frustrating, particularly for a dinosaur like me. When I went to sent up my email with Yahoo they demanded my mobile number for some reason. I didn’t have a cell phone at the time but they insisted some of the sign up could only be done by text. Why?

Now back at work my key cards don’t work because I was out so long. They seem unconcerned that I can’t get their cars through the gate. Some other guys can’t swipe the time clock to get paid (fortunately my card works there). The boss says they’re dragging their feet because they plan on scraping the time clock for “an app on your smart phone”.

Well, a lot of the old timers, myself included don’t have smart phones. This should prove interesting.

You may have to return to driving a 42 passenger Blue Bird.

jmonroe

No, since I left they’ve gone all computer nutty with all instructions done by email. route bidding is totally online this year because of Covid. I had refused to sign up for their network back then on the principle that I shouldn’t be forced to buy and maintain computers and internet service for their benefit. They probably wouldn’t hire someone now without at least a smartphone (which btw, they will fire you for using on the bus).