Rear passenger head restraints do not lift up in my 2005 CLK350 Sport Cabriolet

[Andetover]

Hi everyone, complete Mercedes Benz newbie here.

I'm having multiple issues with a CLK350 Sport that I bought in August.
Since then I've driven it just seven times, it's spent 2½ months in 3 different garages, the 1st place I took it to (AutoMerc Newbury) returned the car after A MONTH charged me £1800 and didn't do half the jobs they charged me for!
And they either forgot to torque, or left off the bolts holding the front nearside brake caliper.
And charged me for a coolant change, after apparently snapping off the nylon drain plug and not telling me... so how could they change the coolant then? See photos...

Anyway, when the second garage inspected the car prior to doing a simple rear differential oil change and headlamp polish (jobs which the 1st garage said was unnecessary, and then quoted me £118 just to polish up the headlights!) they urgently called me in to tell me that a bolt was missing and the other one was half undone on the caliper mounting plate, if I'd not driven it straight from the 1st garage to them, I'd probably have died... anyway that's just the intro...

What I need to know is, how do you RAISE the rear passenger head restraints?
The owner's manual is useless, there is even a note to passengers over the airducts on the centre console telling rear passengers to use them, but no instructions on HOW.

I've checked loads of forums and videos and it's all about lowering them, well I know that... you press the button below the radio, simple.
But how do you get them to go up in the 1st place?
I thought they might be automatic, maybe there's a weight sensor in the rear, and when the ignition is on and seat belts buckled, up they pop?
Tried that. Doesn't pop.

So, how DO they operate please, because for the safety of my family I'd like to know. And the mechanics I've asked don't know either.

Ta very much.

 

[Neiltodd]

Pretty sure you just physically pull them up but they will automatically deploy in an accident.

 

[flying haggis]

Does the button beneath the radio that drops the headrests raise them if you press it whilst they are down?

 

[Jobsworth]

On the 209 model they are automatically deployed in an accident. If you drive very hard over a speed bump it’s possible to get them to pop up. To lower them is a difficult manual process that involes a long screwdriver down the side of the headrest and pushing it down against a strong spring. There is no electrical system for raising or lowering them.
The earlier car, the 208 chassis, has an electrical system for raising and lowering the headrest roll over protection. A button on the centre console with an led in it is used to operate them.
It depends which model you have, but from your 350 description I think it’s a 209

 

[rich1068]

Different set up to my coupe. With mine you just push a button on the side of the restraint and move them back into place. But my online manual says this about the cabriolet.



Regarding the coolant plug, whether they did the change or not, that's an easy fix. A flat head screwdriver pushed into the plastic will remove the old one. Then just pop a new one in. You'll obviously lose a bit of coolant during the swap though. Went through all this when I got my CLK.

 

[Andetover]

Thank you to everyone for your time on this.
The model is the A209, and the console is exactly as described in the attachment of page 94 of the owner's manual. ie lowering them is a simple matter of pressing the button marked #1.
I've tried holding it in for 10 seconds with my son sitting in the back with his seat belt on too, and even bouncing up and down. I've also tried to physically/manually raise them, but their shape (smooth and gradually getting narrower towards the top) provides no purchase whatsoever, and there aren't any indentations where you might expect to grip. Tugging gave a slight movement (a couple of mm) but no, they won't lift.
My mechanic (Polish guy, very experienced with BMWs) watched and burst out laughing, he couldn't imagine that palaver every time you want to take people in the back.

As for the rad, we replaced it, at the same time as the leaking aircon condensor. Many of the brackets holding it on had sheared through metal fatigue, the hoses were practically welded on with age, and the lower hose had been chaffing against a lower metal plate (part no. A209620 0011... which was also fouling the front anti roll bar, and wasn't spotted during the so called "Health Check".
Apart from that, it's a good car, basically all the parts you would expect to degrade from wear and tear need changing, but the would anyway, and it's better to pay a garage to strip it out once, rather than 5 separate times...
Here is that plate rubbing the anti roll bar and the hose that when my second mechanic tried to move split immediately, we literally caught it within hours of drive time of letting go with potentially disastrous consequences.

So, um, is there no way to deploy the rear head restraints despite the manual, and a sticker in the car instructing us to raise them before sitting in the back?
It just seems so un German...

 

[Petrol Pete]

Hello and welcome . You seen to believe that the German car you have will be very 'German' ..or at least what we tend to believe about German engineering and efficiency.

Be prepared to want to scream at some of the very 'non German' things you might discover .

I'm not taking the mick , my MB is my first and I have found one or two things on the car that make no sense at all , it's all part of the ownership 'experience' You might get used to it. .

Again , welcome to our world.

 

[Andetover]

Thanks Pete.
One thing made me laugh...
In the boot, on the right is a little bag held in place with velcro... the First Aid Kit... woo-hoo!
So I took it out, checked it was unused, then spotted underneath where it had sat, a little round hole in the carpet. "What's under there?" thinks I.
So I lift up the carpet and look inside the hidden cubby hole...
There's a black leatherette bag!
Stash of cash?

Nope. A SECOND unused Mercedes Benz First Aid kit... WTF?

 

[rich1068]

..or at least what we tend to believe about German engineering and efficiency.

Is it possible that they have deployed previously and a previous owner has bodged the lowering described by @Jobsworth ?

 

[Andetover]

Is it possible that they have deployed previously and a previous owner has bodged the lowering described by @Jobsworth ?

I think that's unlikely. The lowering process is very simple, if everything is working as it should you just press a button on the dash. I can't imagine anyone messing that up.

That business with a long reach alan key that is bundled with the owner's manual, pushing it down the right side seam until it engages a release lever is more in line with the coupe. The A209 just uses a press button to presumably activate a solenoid to release the ratchet.

It's really frustrating, I've asked 3 mechanics, and they don't know. And the previous owner was a middle aged couple who never used the rear seats and never saw the rear headrests raised.
There's lots of A209 cabriolets out there, surely even ONE owner has had passengers in the back and used the rear head restraints?
And as mentioned previously, the official CLK handbook is literally useless "Extend head restraint #1 fully"... that's the instruction. 4 words.

 

[Andetover]

Accidentally repeated the same message. System won't let me delete post #11.

 

[Petrol Pete]

Thanks Pete.
One thing made me laugh...
In the boot, on the right is a little bag held in place with velcro... the First Aid Kit... woo-hoo!
So I took it out, checked it was unused, then spotted underneath where it had sat, a little round hole in the carpet. "What's under there?" thinks I.
So I lift up the carpet and look inside the hidden cubby hole...
There's a black leatherette bag!
Stash of cash?

Nope. A SECOND unused Mercedes Benz First Aid kit... WTF?

For some reason my estate has 2 jacks ,2 wheel braces , 2 towing eyes and 2 wheel positioning pins and 2 fold down wheel chocks . Just extra weight to lug around and all seem to be factory supplied. . Newer cars don't even get a spare wheel so maybe I should think myself lucky !

 

[Andetover]

That is truly weird.
It's like the car specs were designed by two different teams that didn't speak to each other, each thinking they had responsibility for stowing the tool kit, and by the time it went to production it was too late to change. What a waste of money, and weight.

 

[Andetover]

OK, there is this instruction on the rear facing vents (for the rear passengers), telling us to use the headrestraints, but as mentioned previously, no discernible way to do it....

I am currently waiting for a response from Mercedes, but most of their mechanics seem to be younger than the car and don't know either.
So, if I ever find out, I'll post it here, but if anyone has experience of this, please let me know... then I can tell Mercedes.

 

[W1ghty]

OK, there is this instruction on the rear facing vents (for the rear passengers), telling us to use the headrestraints, but as mentioned previously, no discernible way to do it....

I am currently waiting for a response from Mercedes, but most of their mechanics seem to be younger than the car and don't know either.
So, if I ever find out, I'll post it here, but if anyone has experience of this, please let me know... then I can tell Mercedes.

I have the same car in 200 form , as said above you press a button to drop the headrests . As to pulling up there is a slight recess at the back top of them . They do require some grip strength to lift but you would easily do it with both hands .
Just a thought , have you tried lifting the headrests without lowering the roof first (or vice versa)
I wonder if the car has any diagnostic fault codes that might indicate an issue .

 

[Andetover]

I have the same car in 200 form , as said above you press a button to drop the headrests . As to pulling up there is a slight recess at the back top of them . They do require some grip strength to lift but you would easily do it with both hands .
Just a thought , have you tried lifting the headrests without lowering the roof first (or vice versa)
I wonder if the car has any diagnostic fault codes that might indicate an issue .

Thank you, I'm starting to come to the conclusion that it really is a case of getting a good grip and tugging them up.

I've got a bit of rheumatoid arthritis in my hands, so my grip isn't fantastic, but the whole scenario of (suggesting to passengers) "Right, before you get too comfortable in the back, kneel on the seats, get a grip on (the smooth, polished leather that tapers slightly) the rear head restraints and pull up with as much force as you can" is ridiculous.
Like I said, I tried it the other night with (a very experienced with German cars) my auto electrician mate watching, and he almost pissed himself laughing (the pained expression on my face probably didn't help).

I mean, if you've got kids, they've got no hope of lifting them. I'll have another go after I get the car back.
It's still got a couple of outstanding jobs to attend to: the last aircon regas didn't quite fill it with enough (doh!!), and we're awaiting the arrival of some conductive silver paint to (hopefully) fix the missing lines in the rear window demist grid.

Then there's one minor dent to attend to (the mechanic has a dent in his car too, so he's calling a bodywork specialist to fix both cars together when mine is back together), and then finally... after 3 months, I might get around to driving it.

Both of the last (good) mechanics have said that if I want to sell, let them have 1st bid. I know it sounds like it's been a nightmare, but it's really, really clean, and although a lot of stuff was just coming to end of their service life when I got it [front brake calipers and flexi hoses, water pump and pulley wheels, ribbed belt, aircon condensor and seals, seat pneumatic pump, radiator and hoses, a few minor gaskets, full set of (very nice) tyres... there was nothing that in older cars wouldn't have needed doing at some point anyway.
And these guys know all the hard work has been done, so it really is a case of waiting for summer...

But not, necessarily sitting in the back, just yet.

 

[W1ghty]

Thank you, I'm starting to come to the conclusion that it really is a case of getting a good grip and tugging them up.

I've got a bit of rheumatoid arthritis in my hands, so my grip isn't fantastic, but the whole scenario of (suggesting to passengers) "Right, before you get too comfortable in the back, kneel on the seats, get a grip on (the smooth, polished leather that tapers slightly) the rear head restraints and pull up with as much force as you can" is ridiculous.
Like I said, I tried it the other night with (a very experienced with German cars) my auto electrician mate watching, and he almost pissed himself laughing (the pained expression on my face probably didn't help).

I mean, if you've got kids, they've got no hope of lifting them. I'll have another go after I get the car back.
It's still got a couple of outstanding jobs to attend to: the last aircon regas didn't quite fill it with enough (doh!!), and we're awaiting the arrival of some conductive silver paint to (hopefully) fix the missing lines in the rear window demist grid.

Then there's one minor dent to attend to (the mechanic has a dent in his car too, so he's calling a bodywork specialist to fix both cars together when mine is back together), and then finally... after 3 months, I might get around to driving it.

Both of the last (good) mechanics have said that if I want to sell, let them have 1st bid. I know it sounds like it's been a nightmare, but it's really, really clean, and although a lot of stuff was just coming to end of their service life when I got it [front brake calipers and flexi hoses, water pump and pulley wheels, ribbed belt, aircon condensor and seals, seat pneumatic pump, radiator and hoses, a few minor gaskets, full set of (very nice) tyres... there was nothing that in older cars wouldn't have needed doing at some point anyway.
And these guys know all the hard work has been done, so it really is a case of waiting for summer...

But not, necessarily sitting in the back, just yet.

Let us know how you get on buddy , someone with big manly hands may need to be borrowed for a few minutes to lift those headrests

 

[rich1068]

And then maybe just leave them up?

 

[Andetover]

And then maybe just leave them up?

The problem with that is, that if they're up, you can't operate the roof.

 

[rich1068]

Ah, did not know that.