W210 Should air come from vents prior to engine warming?

[shertex]

On my W124, when climate control is set to auto and heat, no air comes from the vents until there's warm air available. Makes sense: who wants cold air on a cold morning?

But on both of my W210s, there is some air flow at the vents when set to auto and heat right from the start. Is this how it's designed? I would think it was a minor malfunction of the climate control system were it not for the fact that both my 98 and 99 behave exactly the same way.

[GregMN]

Both of mine do. It's kind of annoying. My late 60's Volvo wagon had better manners in that regard.

[shertex]

Originally Posted by GregMN

Both of mine do. It's kind of annoying. My late 60's Volvo wagon had better manners in that regard.

Weird. Must be how it's designed...it's pretty unlikely that your two and my two all have the same malfunction.

[treetops]

Same with mine. Three of the LCD columns lit on the CCU, it waits until about 40C then it goes to full blast. Neither are ideal and I just turn it off until 40C then adjust to about 3/4 speed.

[KarTek]

In my experience, heat only comes from the side vents, the defroster and the floor. The blower seems to hold off to a low setting until the engine reaches a temperature appropriate to start blowing harder.

[shertex]

Originally Posted by KarTek

In my experience, heat only comes from the side vents, the defroster and the floor. The blower seems to hold off to a low setting until the engine reaches a temperature appropriate to start blowing harder.

It's that "low setting" that makes no sense to me. Why blow at all when the air is cold? MB obviously thought this issue through on the W124. Odd thing to change.