99 E300 questions
 

I've got my W210 on the road. It's awesome driving diesel again. I've missed it. I got a couple questions,

The Climate Control unit, is this thing supposed to illuminate? It's a pain in the arse to see at night

Panel lights, Are they dimmable? or am I a dimwit and not seeing how?

also, Can you open the trunk from the inside of the car without using the remote?

This car is new to me... only put 145 miles on it since I got it....almost a year ago...

The CCU display is illuminated and the dash lights are dimmable. See the little + and - buttons on the side of the gauge cluster?

This car also has a photo cell in the dash that automatically dims the dash lights. You can see it work if you shine a flashlight on it while in the dark.

Trunk release is on center console back toward the arm rest.

You drive it less than I do...:eek:

that the switch thing that blinks/lights red when its open? Mine I think might be broken then

to be fair, I was told it had a transmisison issue, which turned out to be a non issue.... so... I wasnt driving it for no reason... silly but thats how that worked out.

diddnt know thats what those were for, there's a ton of odd features I'm getting used to. the mirrors go down when backing up etc. automatic dimming rear view all sorts of odds n ends that I'm not used to lol

If you swap the "active" mirror switch, the passenger side mirror won't dip down when going into reverse.

You pull up on the trunk button on the console to pop the trunk.

Get thee an owners manual. It's all covered in there plus a few more "features" that you ought to know about.

I happen to have one.....

Few things of note, My CCU does NOT illuminate. Irked about that. also, my truck release button is broken.... not so shocking. and I'll pick up a manual when I have some spare cash.... I wanted to replace the power button on mine but they are proud of that little piece of plastic, 40 bucks...

Trunk button being broken is fine with me.... But, the non Illumination of the CCU is beginning to annoy me. what should I look for? every other thing lights up as it should.

It has lil bulbs. Use "radio" keys to remove the faceplate.

ah nuts... I was hoping to avoid that lol. I'll see what I can do

It's easy to remove. I just use a paring knife.

Yes. It's not the brightest.....(center console dash section)......

I've never noticed whether they dim/brighten when using the main instrument panel switch.

Yes - the switch is located at the 7 o'clock position of your flat console panel next to your driver's seating surface.



Use this when backing - it can save running into things located close to your starboard side.

Yes, but you need to hold the switch in the 'up' position for a moment to activate the release.

Mine came with one too.

I did not read my owners manual cover to cover, so I'm sure I am missing some info about the car.

Replacement parts are pricey when available through the dealerships. Consider buying a parts car or two if you plan to run the car a looong time - provided you can store the extra cars.

The MB dealer car techs carry a pick, or what looks like a plastic short slender and brittle plastic tool to open many of the car's parts made of plastic/vinyl/rubber.

Got a couple of other questions....

Where is the fuse panel on this thing? I've done a cursory look around but diddnt see an obvious one. might be one in the dash by the door but not explored that one yet.

Where can I find injectors? Mine are noisier then I Think they should be and with almost 300K on them I'd like to swap them out with newer ones

my rear windows dont work, I assume this is a fuse problem, what type of fuses does this car use? blade or bullet like the 124's?

Also, can you replace just one switch or do you have to replace what looks like a circuit board around the shifter mechanism?

Does the radio auto-adjust with the ambient volume in the car? if not then I need to send this out to becker to have it serviced....

also noted one feature I diddnt know about, turn and hold the key and the window and sunroof opens... turn it the other way and it closes. interesting.

1. Fuses are under the hood, on the left hand side, up by the windshield, under a plastic cover.

2. Injectors are under the black plastic cover on top of the valve cover.

3. Uses blade style fuses.

4. I think the window switch assembly is one piece, unfortunately...

5. I'm not aware of the radio volume auto adjusting.

6. Hold the remote in the "unlock" position while pointing it at the door handle and all the windows and sunroof will open. Hold the "lock" button and everything closes.

oh it even works that way. interesting. my unlock button is broken, I need a new FOB. I know where the injectors are but I cant find a source for them online. C Sean Watts used to do them but I dont know if anyone does 606's

Sorry, I misunderstood the question. I bought new nozzles from a guy in Germany and Sean come over to the house and we assembled them together. I haven't spoken to him in a while but I don't see why he couldn't do the same for you if you send them up. I'm sure he still has the shims.

Hmmm.. It's my only working car right now so rebuilding is sorta out... I think I am missing fuses... A fair few.... Can someone post a picture of a known stocked w210 fuse box under the hood?

I can do this for you: I have a spare set of injectors. If you make arrangements with Sean, I will send them to him for rebuilding. Then, he'll send them to you and you can send me your old ones for cores.

How's that?

Let me know how much it'd cost

You'd have to contact Sean about the parts and labor for the rebuild. For me, it would simply be shipping to him of the injectors and shipping your old ones to me.

I sent him a message. he's not been on here in a year now :/ I'll let ya know if I hear anything

I gotcha. I haven't talked to him in quite a while myself. Last I knew, he was commuting back and forth between Raleigh and Winston Salem a few times a week, literally passing right by my house.

I could theoretically hand the injectors directly to him.

Regardless, if you find someone to do the work, I'll work out the same deal.

I'll wait a little for sean, I know his work, i have a set of injectors in my 300TD from him that I really like

Hey who is this Sean guy? Could you post contact info for the rest of us? (That is if he's still in business?)

Also- I'm not sure about 99s- but our 96 has another fusebox under the rear seat near the battery, besides under the hood, and under a panel on the side of the dash. The W210 seems to have 10X the fuses of our 201 and they are the small euro spade/blade fuses- impossible to find at the local retail shops.

I found the fuses under the seat. all of them are good so I'm not worried about them too much, the issue is really I think I'm missing a whole lot of them in the main fuse panel.... there is a LOT of empty space in there....

OK, so the '99 E300 I delivered to Nebraska's trunk-release switch started acting-up the week before I delivered it.

The symptoms are that it works fine, except that it works at random by itself - as when you roll to a stop, it opens. Or, when the car is parked, you may return to the car and find the trunk has released itself to open. At a rest area in Kansas, I left the engine running and locked the car with the valet key, and as I was returning to the car, it popped open on it's own. Not good, since the open trunk has a light that illuminates, and will stay on, not extinguishing itself as the interior lights do automatically on this model car. Not to mention the open trunk presents an open invite to theft if in a public area.

Probable cause was when it was at the headliner trim shop, all kinds of hand prints, smudges left by the contorting of the installers on the inside of the car, and the trunk release switch was likely heavily leaned on during the process of headliner installation. Summarily compromising the switch's electrical contact points, I would guess? Now, anytime you graze the switch while adjusting the outside mirrors for example - 'pop' goes the trunk lid when the car rolls to a stop, triggering the command from when the car was rolling. This now happens a lot.

So, as I re-read this thread, the switch is $40 or so, right AquaE? My Q is how to access the switch in the console, R & Ring the wood panel? How is this accomplished w/o breaking the panel? I'm not too versed in accessing the hidden areas of these cars / Any how-to tips appreciated!

the wood comes up, Not sure how yet. I've not addressed my busted switch yet. It's on the list of minor inconveniences at the moment. I assumed that all the switches were on a printed board underneath there actually.i'll look when it cools off today. It's currently 95 and rainy outside.

on the list of Major inconceniences is the key FOB. every button works but the unlock. which sporadically wants to work.... the radio dosnt like changing the volume so I'll have to send it off to becker and have them work magic on it and my right rear reverse light and tail light assembly's both need replacement as while my bulb and bulb holders are good, they dont like to keep working. I've managed to get ol Jerry Riggs on the one light to make it work but the other is a lost cause. so i'm looking for those lights and I hit a branch in the road and it took out my right side fog light.. as I was going to get my light back some putz in a bmw coupe convertible ran it over for me....

There should be a cardboard layout of the fuse panel under the plastic cover. A lot of the fuses "missing" may be options your car may or may not have, hence there is no fuse in place.

Q/thoughts?:
Is this cardboard layout tutorial meant to be kept under the plastic cover in the engine compartment - or under the rear seat? I don't recall I've owned the car so long. :confused:

I found my black plastic cover to be in the un-hinged position last week - I don't know how the cover got that way since I left the car off for 10 days of service work at my indy in June, and now I think that keeping it in the glove box may be a better place for it. I just didn't notice the when of it that's all, so I am wondering if it un-hinged itself, since it doesn't seem to grip in place very tightly. It easily slides to the open position.

The car just doesn't hardly ever get seen by a shop, since it was driven so little for the past 10 years, I don't know when it slid open. Sure do not want to lose that tutorial.

there should be a Datacard underneath the lid of the fuse panel Like the 124's have I assume. I've not seen this in my car. Then again I've not looked either. I know my fuse for the rear windows are blown but this has not been a priority fix

What I'm trying to clarify is where it was originally kept in the car. Under the rear seat, or under the bonnet in the engine compartment?

I can't remember where it was when I originally found the card 4+ years ago since I bought the car new. I think the card may get thrown away if kept in the glove box, (where I placed it 10 years ago) is why I'm concerned where it's kept going forward with the new owners.

I placed this all-important card in the car's glove box 10-years ago, and ran across it when I was checking the new owner out on the workings of the car last week. Since I now find myself in the advisory role of advising the new owner from time to time on the car's workings/maintenance, that's why the flurry of Qs from me, on a car I owned/drove for 14 years. :o

Is a new console trunk-release switch assy. available from other than MB dealers? Anyone know?

The W210 has four (!) fuse locations (and the general description of what is there)
- In the passenger side electronics bay, on the K40 relay (engine controls)
- In the fuse box on the drivers side (most of the rest of the loads in the front half of the car)
- The light switch assembly, remove the plastic sail panel on the side of the dash (all exterior lights)
- Under the back seat (loads in the back half of the car)

My 210 main under hood fuse box is about 1/3 full. There are many more positions than circuits used.

I have had the console off, it just pulls up from the rear - grab the rear edge from the cup holder opening, and gently pull up.

There are two wire harnesses plugging into my console panel. The ASR switch is independent. The remaining devices (windows, child lock, airbag off light, mirror control, trunk release) are all on one assembly with a 4 wire connector. I surmise the wires are +12 V dc, ground, CAN HI and CAN LO.

The switch assembly appears to be one complete device from the windows down to the mirror/trunk switches.

I would try the yards or eBay for a new switch assembly. The ones I have seen are included with the wood, so I suspect the switches are bonded to the back of the wood/aluminum panel.