I've had my E Class for months. I noticed today that the auto wipers don't wipe if the driver's door is open, presumably so that you don't get water thrown all over the inside of your door.
There's no mention of this in the owner's manual.
What have you discovered about your car months after purchase ?
(I also didn't know that I had a six disc changer on my first E Class until I was sat in traffic one day, fiddling with buttons and a panel slid open to reveal another CD slot)
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We had a golf that if you exited the vehicle and left the windows open ... you could close the windows by pressing twice and holding down the door lock button on the key fob. Usually I would have went back in started the vehicle and pushed the window up button.
The reverse is also true - if you hold down the unlock button all of the windows will drop. Most modern VAG group cars have it now as standard.Originally Posted by canuck
SBC Hold in my SL - press the brake twice and it holds the car automatically, allowing you to take your foot off the brake. Press the accelerator and it releases. Took me months to realise I had that facility.
You can press the brake pedal again to release it, too
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I didn’t know I could access the boot space in my 3-series estate until the rear wiper broke and I popped the rear window up whilst fiddling.
i didn’t know that M-sport seats had air filled bolsters controlled by a rocker switch by the base of the seat until SWMBO fell asleep in the passenger seat and depressed the button with her leg and inflated her seat until she was semi-squished.
I knew about the close thing, but not the open thing!
A previous boss of mine didn't know she had a cd auto changer in the boot of her Vauxhall company car until the day she returned it after 3 years when the lease guy went to check if she had left any CDs in it.
Cheers..
Jase
I bought a 523i from DaveE on here, and he was really happy to show that the sun visors had vanity mirrors (of course) with lights (of course) but that the lights only came on when the sun visors were angles so that you could see your face. If the visors were pushed away, towards the windscreen, with the mirror open, the light went out. Nice touch.
And a minor thing, but big shout-out to BMW for making their bulbs, front and rear, so easy to replace!
Those 5 series were beautifully over-engineered!
You could also open/close the windows from the fob by holding down the lock/unlock. Actually, even our Ford Mondeo does that these days.
Dave E
Skating away on the thin ice of a new day
Send me into liquidation
997 c2
On my wife’s Seat the windscreen washers don’t work unless the bonnet is fully latched, only found this out whilst doing the mot, it was failing until the apprentice shut the bonnet and tried them again, so you can’t scratch the paint with the wiper arms when the bonnet is open, clever but during an mot worrying.
On my Peugeot if you brake hard enough the hazard lights automatically come on.
I discovered this just recently whilst `testing` my ABS...
I thought it was a fluke so did it again and once again the hazards came on.
.
My friend did not realise for a while his skoda had a complimentary umbrella, until a passenger with a similar car used it one day, rather amusing conversation evolved
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Mondeos have done that since 1998 at least.
True enough!You can press the brake pedal again to release it, too
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I never knew my 2006 Mondeo could drive 260 miles non stop with a knackered wheel bearing with 3in of play, until I got home and had it looked at and replaced. I wondered why is was more noisy than usual.
Didn’t know my 991 911 had a brake light on the rear spoiler which extend when you go over 70mph until I manually lifted it when I was washing the car in May. I’ve owned the car 4.5 years.
Mrs had a seat Leon for a year before we realised it had power retractable mirrors. Had the mustang 3 months before someone showed me there is a button to release the boot outside, thought you could only open it with the key or dash button😊
I discovered that the automatic handbrake release on my Evoque only worked if you had your seat belt on,
fun facts:
my 2000 P38 range rover will happily let all the air out of its suspension overnight! this means that in the morning i have the pleasure of stepping down into it on the bump stops and waiting for the compressor to bring me back up to "lording it over" height. then, while im driving it will flash little orange lights at me to let me know how much of my earnings it will be wanting this month.
it did at one point supply me with fresh drinking water from the sun visors, it would take the rain water from the roof gutter and filter it down through body and into the cab finally using the roof liner as a micro-filter to drip fresh glacial water onto my dash for me to collect. i didn't like this feature so i put a stop to it but much to my surprise the P38 has a back up system where it waits for you to be travelling at cruising speed through the rain and somehow a sensor must activate which allows the rear windows to be automatically lowered to let all that glorious NZ rain into the rear of the vehicle. obviously not as convenient as my dash but im guessing the range rover engineers decided it would be a good idea to have an emergency deluge system.
the engine bay has a "its too cold in here" sensor too. when you are driving along and the engine decides its too chilly for its liking it has a tiny little plate at the air intake (made from tin foil i think) that lets coolant pointlessly mess about with the air temp because 'Alaskan winters'? but in the event of the engine feeling slightly chilly the tin foil plate acts as a bursting disc and lets go of all the annoying coolant that is making the bay too cold. highly efficient system as it takes only moments for you to see the temp needle shoot to the right telling you the engine is now nice and warm.
wondrous vehicles, simply wondrous :)
Last edited by deerworrier; 21st September 2019 at 22:17.
On my 3 series I recently discovered that a firmer push of the button to increase/decrease the speed when cruise is engaged increases/decreases the speed in 5mph increments.
I also discovered that a slight tug on the steering wheel restarts the engine if the stop/start has stopped the engine.
Most BMW drivers don’t realise their vehicles are fitted with indicators.
The new shape A-Class I had as a loaner while mine was being worked on would automatically drop the fan speed of the A/C when making or answering a call on the hands-free system. Helpful for making call quality a little clearer!
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Cost me money for repairs that had nothing to do with me driving it.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
In the xc90 I've been driving, if you finally find a clear piece of motorway (Brum toll road) and plonk the accelerator to the floor, it pushes all the way to 140 before struggling.
I've never managed it before because, living in Manchester, I've never seen a long stretch of motorway without a 50mph limit.
because, living in Manchester, I've never seen a long stretch of motorway without a 50mph limit.
That I could select Drive from Park by pulling the right hand gearshift paddle rather than use the gear lever.
On the flip side of this conversation, my car has Park Assist but I’ve been too chicken to try it.
My lexus GS430 used to do that along with press the open button and hold to put all the windows down in the hot weather. Useful in the summer.
B
'Tunnel mode' in my C class is rather useful.. but more so, when about to drive through smoke or you're behind a smoky car/lorry.
Press and hold the cabin air recycle button and the windows will all shut whilst the car goes into recycle mode for the air.
After you've driven through the smoke/ tunnel, long press again and the windows all go back to the exact position they were originally in.
Suspect that works on all recent Mercedes models.
VW?
My 2011 touran park assist works wonderfully well, especially in tight spots
That my alloy wheels only get scuffed when my wife is driving the car...
Is that on a BMW? Didn’t know that, will give it a try.
After 6 years of ownership I decided to change the pollen filter on our BMW 330D touring rather than let the dealer charge me a fortune for a simple task. Found simple instructions on You-tube and was amazed to find there is a power socket hidden in the passenger footwell!
Discovered after 2 years of ownership that my VW Transporter with poverty spec audio system had DAB radio.
Pete
Merc B Class. i wouldn’t even let the salesman try it out on the demo.
My Golf has a built in 'hidden' mobile phone/SIM card, that it uses for 'stuff'.
Slightly off topic - things that you don't know why the car is doing it (or how to stop it)!
My old BMW 3 series coupe started setting my iphone 6 music player going when I start up. No idea why it started doing that - no recent software update to either car or phone!
No, it's an Alfa Giulia Veloce. You can select Neutral by pulling both paddles together too.
That’s a useful feature and even better is that it’s automatic if you’re using satnav and you drive into a tunnel. It also puts the recycle air option on rather than take it from outside.
On my old F30 3 series I eventually discovered that you could programme the 'radio preset' buttons to do all sorts of things, like bring up the tone controls or other stuff not related to the radio. I also found that if you hovered a finger over the buttons without touching them the main screen told you what the button was programmed to do.
I did also find, much to my surprise, that when I chopped the BMW in for a white Audi I didn't immediately start driving like a total pillock - I didn't know that was possible in an Audi.
True, I was slightly surprised to learn when I got my first BMW that it had indicators fitted as standard, and that they worked in the normal manner.
Dave E
Skating away on the thin ice of a new day
I friend had to take his Audi in the garage last week as it was running a bit rough.
I let him borrow our family runaround so that he could get a lift back from his Au Pair after dropping it off.
She was apparently surprised to find that a car had 4th, 5th and 6th gear.
After many years and 3 SAABs I discovered that I can adjust steering wheel also front-back, not only up or down. Deep inside I knew I had this option, but didn't bothered myself to find it.
Evo X,
At "full fun" the tank could drain money out my wallet faster than the missus could, who knew.
Changes had to be made, now driving an IS-F, and the new GF loves the V8, it makes her "happy" so all good in the end
Technically not a 'could do' feature, but...
... all VAG products come with pre-installed software features like 'follow me home' headlights etc.
However, the list of features is available (and I think even online) and you can ask your dealer for an upgrade. It's known as VCDS or VAGCOM. They can upload various features that don't come standard. Mind you, not all VAG products have the same lenghty list. Dutch VAG specialists' (not the dealer) prices for that work won't break the bank.
Menno
Here's a link: https://www.totalcardiagnostics.com/...using-vag-com/
Well, I have just entered the vehicular 21st century via a Peugeot van.
The on-board computer is absolutely awesome. The things it can detect!
The first time Gangsta Granny Gatherer travelled in it, she came out of the house and as she entered the van a message flashed up on the vdu "left front door open". I went back to the house to check - and she had!! How did it know that?
Funnily enough having owned 3 Saabs before I'm now considering buying a classic 900 five door again.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
Do it! Do you know where to look for pitfalls / hidden problems?
I have too many cars. (My wife doesn't mind my car-related hobbies, but even she has drawn a line...), but a proper classic 900 would be a great addition to the herd! Or a proper 99EMS/Turbo. Although I'm on the fence when it comes to chose the version with the boot or the Combi Coupe!)
We've had two classic 900's and a 9000, superb hatchbacks with tons of space, if you have any pointers regarding what to look out for please let me know as it's about 20 year's since we had a 900.
This is the sort of thing I'm thinking about
Last edited by number2; 23rd September 2019 at 15:18.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
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