Ok...mom is from Germany and at a very early age made sure I learned Celcius as well as Fahrenheit. This has been invaluable. Passengers riding in my 190E however seem a bit confused when I set the Climate Control Setting on 21 or 22 and complain about our damned hot and humid 35C+ current temps.

Why is it that my outside temp display and my climate control are in C...and I see so many cars with them in F? What was the logic/pattern behind MBs branding of temperature measurements.

BTW, This car was imported into CT, USA brand new.

Thanks, as always,

- John

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John J. Meadows
'83 300D 260k mi.
'85 190E 2.3L 99k mi.

It's that German thing. Most are calibrated in degrees Celsius. BMW will let you switch back and forth. Maybe the newer one's have that capability. For an absolute answer E-mail your question to MB USA. If they respond, you might get an interesting answer.

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Jeff Lawrence
1987 300e
1989 300e
1987 BMW 325

While on the C/F subject, a trivia question .
When are degrees C and F the same ???

Answer;
At 40 Below !!

May need this important info the next time you are on Jeopardy . Who knows ??

Funny how the brain works (my brain, anyways). In my 1986 2.3-16V, the climate control thumbwheel reads degrees-C and is color-coded (blue/cold to red/hot). My LCD outside temperature display reads degrees-F (just now thought of it; is this "settable" to "C" or "F"?). Anyways, glancing at the outside temp is no problem (i.e. - no translation required), but when I glance at the thumbwheel, my brain registers the color setting, not the (degrees-C) number setting. Anyone else notice themselves doing this? I guess that's why they have idiot lights vs. actual gauges nowadays. "Most" idiots can recognize a red light as "not good", but can't tell that a coolant temp reading of 300-degrees (F) means your pistons are about to seize. Just rambling . . . sorry.

Brian

The outside temp display in F was for US spec cars.
These cannot be changed to C without replacing the entire unit which is about $500.00 Canadian (around 280-300 US).


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Cheers!

Yen-Hsen Liem
'93 500E black pearl/black leather; 89,000km
'93 500E bornit(blackberry)/black leather; 69,000km; european delivery
'88 560SL desert taupe/dark brown leather; 89,000km
'87 190E 2.3-16 black pearl/black leather; 55,000mi
'70 280SL white/red; 135,000mi (original)

[This message has been edited by yhliem (edited 08-11-2000).]

Each Benz is different depending on shipment/order.

For example,

My 420 is just like Brian's, F outside indicator and C for climate control, but

for my 300, the outside AND climate control are both in F (I like that better).

I also noticed that some dashes, i.e. the water temp, can be found in F, while all three of my Benzs were in C. I don't mind that because I know that the boiling point of water is 100C.

Again, I think for the most part, except for the outside temp, you are going to find most things will be in C of MBs, unless an American specified F.

Only diehard Americans need the F.




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'89 420 SEL
'90 300 SEL
'84 300 SD (sold it)

It's the atmospheres that give me trouble.
How many pounds to an atmosphere?

Larry,

are you talking about the oil pressure gauge? it reads in bar and 1 bar is roughly equal to 15 psi

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Cheers!

Yen-Hsen Liem
'93 500E black pearl/black leather; 89,000km
'93 500E bornit(blackberry)/black leather; 69,000km; european delivery
'88 560SL desert taupe/dark brown leather; 89,000km
'87 190E 2.3-16 black pearl/black leather; 55,000mi
'70 280SL white/red; 135,000mi (original)

Larry,

Actually atmospheres (atm) are the easiest to understand. At ambient pressure, the atmospheric pressure is 1 atm.

The conversion to psig is

1 atm = 14.696 psi = 1.03 bars = 760 mmHg

but who's counting.

In the US, we mostly use psi, but in Europe, they love to use bars. I don't mind using bars because it so close to atm.



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'89 420 SEL
'90 300 SEL
'84 300 SD (sold it)