Mercedes air con?

[Fady]

I've read one or two other posts here, and is it official that Mercedes air con is pants?

In my last two cars I'd get frost bite if I set the thermostat to minimum. In my 2 and a half year old W211 the system seems barely effective even with the blowers full on through just the driver's two central vents. I know it's pretty warm outside at present but I would have expected better.

Opinions please - I'll go for are re-gas if need be (but again, my last two cars went 5 years without needing this).

Thanks in advance.

 

[Rory]

Hmm - we mused the other day about whether MB fit higher capacity units to cars in hotter climates (it was suggested that they don't) so I had a browse of the US forums and there are plenty of similar comments to ours - that the system really can't cope, and that it doesn't react very well to varying outside temperature when set on auto.
However there are a few comments from people using cars is places like Arizona and Texas, who say it works fine.

 

[fuzzer]

ive never had a problem in any cars.

if you feel its pants , might be time for a change of pollen / activated charcoal filter.

This makes a HUGE difference to the airflow in the car.

 

[big x]

Well,if you look at parts like the compressor they are Japanese so I don't think the performance is any different than all the other makes using the same basic system.

adam

 

[skemball]

I had my air-con regassed at MB dealership on Saturday based on their recommendation that it needed it during a recent B service visit.

Mileage is 92,000 and there is no record of it having a re-gas from new.

I cant say it feels any colder to me so i would suspect yours is O.K

 

[nickmann]

I agree with Fuzzer, check the pollen filter. I believe the system to be inherently capable. I had 4 adults in my 210 at the weekend, with 27 degrees showing on the temp display, in full sunshine, and we didn't need to put the blower on full, or turn the dials to full blue.

After we left it parked, in full sun, for two hours, the aircon brough the temp down very quickly indeed, less than two minutes.

My 202 took a bit longer to cool down, but it was an estate with more glass and more internal airspace. It got there in the end though.

 

[Shude]

I had my air-con regassed at MB dealership on Saturday based on their recommendation that it needed it during a recent B service visit.

Mileage is 92,000 and there is no record of it having a re-gas from new.

I cant say it feels any colder to me so i would suspect yours is O.K

Did you ask where it was leaking from?

 

[illidan]

how much does it cost to get it re gassed

 

[maldon]

At the risk of boring everyone, the MB a/c service is, IMO, worth every penny - the a/c on our old C Est became feeble.

We paid the 99 quid and it came back a completely different car - freezing cold, if you wanted it. The entire system had been cleaned and deodourised.

Am surprised at how effective the a/c is in the M - in 27.5 I set temp to 18 within about five mins the car was comfortable and once down to 18 internal ttemp, the fan speed had been lowered so was all but silent.

 

[Dave Bailey]

I've read one or two other posts here, and is it official that Mercedes air con is pants?

In my last two cars I'd get frost bite if I set the thermostat to minimum. In my 2 and a half year old W211 the system seems barely effective even with the blowers full on through just the driver's two central vents. I know it's pretty warm outside at present but I would have expected better.

Opinions please - I'll go for are re-gas if need be (but again, my last two cars went 5 years without needing this).

Thanks in advance.

I agree with Shude, check the pollen filter first. I had this problem year before last. The pollen filter had probably never been changed, there was no record of it in the service history. The amount of crud that was on the old filter was a amazing as the quantity of leaves and other detritus that fell out of the ducting when I removed it. I fitted a new filter, the air con then worked superbly. A firend of mine took his pollen filter out and blew the crud out of it with an air line. He was happy with the result, so that might work for you too. Replacement or inspection is a ten minute job on a W202, I'd guess that it's not much different on a W210. Shude posted a superb "How to" on this topic a while back.

 

[Rory]

There's no problem with the airflow in my car - it's only 18mths old (20K miles) and the a/c performance seemed inadequate even during last summer (when it was only a few mths old). The air in my car simply doesn't get icy cold - which other people have said is typical of MB systems.

My car is an estate, but I'm doubtful that would make much difference - there isn't that much more glass than a saloon.

I'm actually in the US at the moment, and I intend to buttonhole some MB owners if the opportunity arises. One thing I have noticed is they generally have much more heavily tinted windows here.

 

[Parrot of Doom]

A little warning here. I went to ECP today to buy a new cabin filter, and was told that 'they didn't make them anymore' and 'you'll have to buy a normal one'. No big deal I thought, only £8 or so.

The difference in air quality in the cabin was staggering. I could instantly smell every cigarette, dirty exhaust, farts from pedestrians, you name it. I drove instantly to the nearest dealer and bought one of theirs (yes, they still sell them despite what ECP say) for nearly £30. Much better, can't smell anything now - its because the cheap one was just cloth, the expensive dealer one is charcoal.

Oh, and airflow has been somewhat improved. The system is also quieter as well. Highly recommended.

Anyhow, if anyone wants to buy the cheapy filter version off me for a fiver, you can have it. I'll chuck in my old charcoal filter as well, maybe you can clean it out.

 

[Satch]

There can be a big difference between aircon systems in terms of the heat exchanger. On my E class I have what can only be described as a loop of metal tubing in front of the radiator. There is no finned heat exchanger device that I can see.

My Land Cruiser on the other hand has a proper radiator type heat exchanger that is mounted directly in front of the engine radiator and is about 70% of the size. The basic design is for something that can cope with desert conditions.

The E class gets cold but is not really great in really hot weather, particularly if direct sunlight is beaming into the cabin. In the same conditions suspect it would be possible to experience mild hypothermia in the Land Cruiser.

 

[Birdman]

There's no problem with the airflow in my car - it's only 18mths old (20K miles) and the a/c performance seemed inadequate even during last summer (when it was only a few mths old). The air in my car simply doesn't get icy cold - which other people have said is typical of MB systems.

I agree - but to get the cabin temperature down quickly it helps IMO to get rid of the 'greenhouse effect' air first, by opening the windows etc and then set the air to cabin recirculation. It goes back to fresh air automatically after a while. Set set the blower controls to whatever the manual and your experience suggests. I just wish the aircon was as powerful as the engine...

 

[PeterE320Cdi]

The air con in mine gets nice and cold.

It was originally ordered by a dealer in Yemen, I dont know if that makes a difference?

 

[Dieselman]

There can be a big difference between aircon systems in terms of the heat exchanger. On my E class I have what can only be described as a loop of metal tubing in front of the radiator. There is no finned heat exchanger device that I can see.

That's the gearbox oil cooler.
The aircon has a proper condenser as normal.

 

[Satch]

That's the gearbox oil cooler.
The aircon has a proper condenser as normal.

Not looking hard enough amongst the maze of pipes. There are indeed two heat exchangers mounted back to back.

But now I am a bit confused. Since one of the problems described on other posts is water/glycol contamination of transmission fluid on W211's, there must be a "wet" section in the cooling process?

Edit: had a further peer into the depths and could be that the loop leads back to the power steering pump. Feature of parametric steering?