New Sprinter-minor glitches....

Greetings-at long last, my '14 Crew (144", high roof, V6) found its way to my driveway after a trip to the upfitter for its "work clothes." It's exceeded my expectations in all regards-what a pleasure to drive and to work out of! However, there are a couple of minor glitches, no doubt related to software, but I thought I'd throw them out here and see if anyone has any insights on them.

1) The on-screen menu (I have the steering-wheel buttons) includes a "SETTINGS" menu; under that heading, I should find, according to the user's manual, "INST. CLUSTER," "CLOCK/DATE," "LIGHTING," "VEHICLE," "HEATING," and "CONVENIENCE." The "vehicle" submenu is where the sensitivity of the rain-sensing wipers (which I have) is set, as well as certain radio functions. However, the "VEHICLE" submenu does not appear in the list, thus those functions cannot be accessed.

2) The vehicle, which has the bi-xenon headlamps, is also equipped with fog lights and with cornering lights. The cornering lights are supposed to come on when using the turn signals and/or turning at less than 25 mph, or when turning at over 25 mph (?). I have yet to see them function at all.

Any ideas on the above, or are these questions for the MB 800 number in N.J.?

Nice looking service van! Bet the back doesn't stay that pristine for long...

I ordered cornering lights on my 2007, only to find out they aren't physically built in Germany for the US-bound vehicles back then. I thought that had changed. I would bring this up with your sales person.

The menu: show your sales person the owners manual and demonstrate the gap between the document and the instrument cluster's programming.

-Jon

Turns out he's going to be vacationing on the Cape next week, and will meet with me out here.

chromisdesigns said:

Nice looking service van! Bet the back doesn't stay that pristine for long...

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Thanks-and I'm sure you're right. However, it will be a lot easier to keep clean and orderly than was my little Astro van. The Sprinter "hit the ground running" workwise, and so far, it still looks pretty nice inside...

I called the MB 800 number, curious about the cornering lights which don't come on. Evidently, the U.S.-configured vans don't have them programmed to come on-curious that they're installed anyway, complete with bulbs....

Nice service truck. Thanks for sharing the pics.
Where did you purchase the Ranger Design Cabinets from?
Did you do the installation yourself?
Thanks.

Guerrero said:

Nice service truck. Thanks for sharing the pics.
Where did you purchase the Ranger Design Cabinets from?
Did you do the installation yourself?
Thanks.

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The Ranger cabinets/shelves/workbench, partition, FanTastic vent fan and Webasto heater came from (and were installed by) AAA Worktrucks (American Automotive Aftermarket) in Billerica, Massachusetts.

Daybreak Express, nice looking van. Keep us updated on your findings with your new wheels.

I did notice one improvement that you can make. Add a "Hitch Step". I got mine from Amazon. Here is the Amazon name: "Go Rhino! 360B Black HitchStep for 2" Receivers by Go Rhino!" it was only $73 and well worth it.

One thing I found and have asked my sales rep about is the Aux Heater I have in my new 2014 Sprinter. The owners manual tells you to exercise/run the heater every month to keep it cleaned out and operational. Only problem is, the heater won't run if the temp is above 39 degrees. So, the only time you can run it is in the Winter time. So far I have not received an answer from MB on this. I think they are still scratching their head.

Another interesting quirk I have found is: If you try to start the van with the drivers door open the warning bell will continue to ring all day if you don't shut the van down. MB solution was to tell me to disconnect the battery. My solution was to shut the engine off, remove the key, and wait about 3 minutes for the ding'ing to stop and then put the key in and restart. Everything is fine after that.

Another interesting quirk, take a look at your headlight switch at night. Tell me if the switch position indicators around the dial light up at night. All the other indicators on my dash light up except the items around the headlight switch. Wierd. I don't know if this is a problem or it was designed that way. Maybe a glitch.

Keep us posted on your great van.

stew

Stew,
Do you have the full Bi-Xenon headlight package?
I checked my out for you, and the "Auto" "OFF" "Parking Lights" and "Full headlights" marks on the top of the bezel do not light up.
The high beam and low beam wide angle lights on the bottom of the bezel do light up if you pull the switch knob out to turn them on.
Roger

Roger,

Yes, I have the Bi-Xenon headlight package.

Then mine is just like yours, as you say, the "Auto" "OFF" "Parking Lights" and "Full headlights" marks on the top of the bezel do not light up. Mine don't light up either and when it's dark you just can't see where the switch is set to. I'm thinking this is an oversight on MB's design and it should be corrected.

The two indicators on the bottom for the "Front Fog Lights" and "Rear Fog Light" don't light up until you turn them on by first turning the headlight switch from "Auto" to "Full headlights" and then pull the switch out to the first stop for the "Front Fog Lights" and the 2nd stop for the "Rear Fog Light". Only then do these indicators light up.

MB's response on this is going to be interesting.

stew

Ivessm said:

Roger,

Yes, I have the Bi-Xenon headlight package.

Then mine is just like yours, as you say, the "Auto" "OFF" "Parking Lights" and "Full headlights" marks on the top of the bezel do not light up. Mine don't light up either and when it's dark you just can't see where the switch is set to. I'm thinking this is an oversight on MB's design and it should be corrected.

stew

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Mine is also like this. I agree 100% that this is not right. Everything else lights up but the light switch???

Ivessm said:

Another interesting quirk I have found is: If you try to start the van with the drivers door open the warning bell will continue to ring all day if you don't shut the van down. MB solution was to tell me to disconnect the battery. My solution was to shut the engine off, remove the key, and wait about 3 minutes for the ding'ing to stop and then put the key in and restart. Everything is fine after

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I have discovered this feature the hard way...one hour of listening to the chime has left me scarred. Van is in service to see if they can find a solution, as Don't want it to happen on upcoming road trips.

I also have a rattle coming from the sliding door, like it's not completely latched. Door has been adjusted a couple times at dealer, but it still rattles at certain times. In at dealer to see if they can better adjust it.

Yesterday I must have been a bit daf in the brain. I started the Sprinter 3 times with the drivers door open and got the continual chimes. Each time I had to stop, shutdown, key out of ignition, and wait about 3 minutes for the dinging to stop.

You would figure MB would have released a service bulletin on this by now. It's nothing new. There are mentions of this back a few months.

Anybody have access to service bulletins that might see if the Mother Ship has released one on this "Feature"?

stew

2007 & 2008 Sprinters could be ordered with “code LM2 Bi-xenon headlamps with cornering light function”. In 2009 Sprinters could be ordered with “code LM2 Bi-xenon headlamps with automatic aiming adjustment” or “code LM3 Bi-xenon headlamps with automatic aiming adjustment and cornering function”. With my 2008, the LM2 Bi-xenon headlamps with cornering light function was included in the $1,960 Customer Preferred Package 22A.

The story has been that cornering lamps are not legal in the US. Since when? Some jurisdictions actually require that all lamps on a motor vehicle must function.

I thought that, at some point, this issue had been resolved and later Sprinter models actually had functional cornering lamps. Perhaps I was misinformed.

Now, with the new 2014 Sprinters, the cornering lamps still don’t work? … or, again don’t work?

With 2014 Sprinters, if you have Bi-xenon headlamps, the lower bulb is a cornering lamp. According to the Operator’s Manual “the cornering lamps improve the illumination of the road over a wide angle in the direction you are turning, enabling better visibility in tight bends, for example. The cornering light function switches on automatically , if … you are traveling at a speed or less than 25 mph and you switch on a turn signal or turn the steering wheel … [or] you are traveling at speeds of between 25 mph and 43 mph and turn the steering wheel. The cornering lamp may remain lit for a short time, but is automatically switched off after no more than 3 minutes. If reverse gear is engaged the lamp on the opposite side of the vehicle switches on instead.”

Do the cornering lamps function on US MY2014 Sprinters with Bi-xenon lamps?

wmlog,
I'm pretty sure the answer is an emphatic NO!
Why the cornering lights don't work on USA spec'd Sprinters is a real mystery.
I'll ask about it at my upcoming 2nd "A" service.
I will say that the wide angle lights really do work well. I see so much more out the sides in front of me.
Since Bambi and I have such a history, I find the wide angle lights to be really beneficial.
I, for sure will never go back to regular headlights after driving 30k miles with the Bi-Xenons.
Roger

Ivessm said:

Daybreak Express, nice looking van. Keep us updated on your findings with your new wheels.

I did notice one improvement that you can make. Add a "Hitch Step". I got mine from Amazon. Here is the Amazon name: "Go Rhino! 360B Black HitchStep for 2" Receivers by Go Rhino!" it was only $73 and well worth it.

One thing I found and have asked my sales rep about is the Aux Heater I have in my new 2014 Sprinter. The owners manual tells you to exercise/run the heater every month to keep it cleaned out and operational. Only problem is, the heater won't run if the temp is above 39 degrees. So, the only time you can run it is in the Winter time. So far I have not received an answer from MB on this. I think they are still scratching their head.

Another interesting quirk I have found is: If you try to start the van with the drivers door open the warning bell will continue to ring all day if you don't shut the van down. MB solution was to tell me to disconnect the battery. My solution was to shut the engine off, remove the key, and wait about 3 minutes for the ding'ing to stop and then put the key in and restart. Everything is fine after that.

Another interesting quirk, take a look at your headlight switch at night. Tell me if the switch position indicators around the dial light up at night. All the other indicators on my dash light up except the items around the headlight switch. Wierd. I don't know if this is a problem or it was designed that way. Maybe a glitch.

Keep us posted on your great van.

stew

Click to expand...

Thanks, Stew, for the tip about the hitch-step; I plan to order one soon, it would be a great help to my 62-year-old knees!

While waiting for my van, I did indeed raise questions about the H12 auxiliary coolant heater I ordered; I too found it puzzling that MB would recommend running it once a month while at the same time programming it to not work if the temp was above 39ºF. I contacted the MB help line in N.J.-they've been very helpful-and they said that the instructions have been modified to eliminate the monthly maintenance run suggestion. I very much doubt that the heater has been modified to make this unnecessary, and MB could be opening themselves up to some warranty repair issues. The Webasto air heater, which I had installed aftermarket for the work area, automatically warns me once a month to turn it on-and it uses exactly the same technology as the Eberspacher (MB) coolant heater. I plan to take this up with the mechanic when I come in for its first service; perhaps he can "un-program" the temperature lock-out, at the same time as I ask him to "un-program" the non-functioning cornering lights...

Now that you mention it, the bezel for the headlight control does not light up when the lights are on-strange (except for the front/rear fog light icons, which light up if you turn them on). I'll ask about that, too.

I, too, have experienced the irritation of the "gong show" resulting from inserting the key with the door open. Usually it stops when I shut the door or remove the key, but on two or three occasions, it persisted for several minutes. In one case, with the van running, I shut it down and got out; it timed out after a few minutes.

The last item on my "glitch" list is the failure of the "VEHICLE" submenu to show up on the "SETTINGS" menu. This will wait until the first service, since it seems to be a minor issue and not worth a two-hour drive to the dealer through legendary Boston traffic.

All in all, given the considerable complexity of these vehicles, I've had little to complain about in the way of "bugs-" and those relatively minor. Still, for a vehicle this expensive.....