W210/E Class Clicking/Creaking Seat Problem
 

Just a little message to those W210 owners who have experienced the "clicking and creaking" front seat frame syndrome.

After having the dealer look at it a couple times over the last year, and having been told "they couldn't find anything," I went back in today armed with the info I received from Jim Smith and others about their own experiences with the problem from this website.

The car went in this a.m., and came out this afternoon free of the clicking and creaking! Service manager said they replaced the seat frame. I have tried and I can no longer get the seat to click, so hopefully this will be the end of the problem.

The part replaced was a : 1 210-910-41-36

The part name says "seat adjuste" however it looks like the whole seat frame was replaced. The old one had a glossy black paint finish on it while this one has a decidedly matte/semi-gloss finish to it.

Hope this is helpful to those out there who have been annoyed by this same problem. I'll post info if the noise returns at a later date. Good luck, y'all!

Jay,

Congratulations. Now wouldn't it be nice if the service guy had just done his job and fixed the car the first time you brought the subject up? It is amazing that Mercedes tolerates an interface with customers that puts future business at jeopardy like that. Well, glad things worked out, and by the way, my seats still don't click so I think the fix works. Jim

How many miles are on your car? Was that done under the original warranty or an extended warranty?

I ask because I never noticed mine clicking until it was mentioned here. At 90K miles, I'm waaay past the original warranty but still have some left on the extended.

My car only has 46,500 miles, so the original warranty was still in place-though not by much! (to Oct '03 or 50,000.) I originally mentioned the problem back in Dec '99 with just a couple thousand miles on the clock, so even if I had been somewhat past the warranty period, I would have had them look on their records that I had complained originally way back in '99.

Even though you are so far past warranty, I would still complain and ask to speak to a zone rep, as this apparently was a known defect-with a bulletin issued over 5 years ago (per M.B. Doc.) What do you have to lose? I'd even ask your dealer for a copy of the text of the bulletin to show them you're serious about the issue.

J.G.

It can actually be fixed with updated backrest hinge bolts that have an o-ring built into them. These came out a few years ago.
Installing a new seat adjuster (complete lower frame) will have
these bolts and fix the problem as well, plus you will get new
adjustment motors and tracks.
I prefer to install the new adjusters when MB is flippin' the bill.
DR.D