Neicey59

Yep - that's right. A cup of coffee from Burger King cost me $1500 after it splashed from the Mercedes designed cup holders down into the gear shift area. The car automatically locked up and wouldn't move out of gear - the windows started going up and down involuntarily.

The parts were darn expensive and the labor at the stealership was ridiculous - I finally had the car towed to an independent Mercedes shop who fixed it for a couple hundered bucks cheaper than the dealer's quote.

The shop owner and the stealership both told me that they could nearly retire off the amount of fixes done due to spills into that shift area. The independent said there was once talk of a class action lawsuit due to the design flaw. Who in da hell would put a cup holder in a area that cannot withstand moisture????? the older Benz's did not have this design.

My question is - has anyone heard of this lawsuit - where can I sign up?!

blume

good luck. i think you should go for it if possible and see how far you can get.

mainroman

When I just bought my car I was reading whole bunch of similar stories here on MBworld - one guy spent 7k or smth to fix his car.
My cupholder is broken so I just threw it away and I'm not buying new one!!
I only put sun glasses in there or properly closed water bottle.
This flaw sucks big time, especially for USA users.

Air Marshall Eldritch

I once saw a guy spill his coffee there too, but he calmly dismantled the center console and wiped down all the switches. All worked fine in a few mins. Maybe he got very lucky.

I usually enjoy a $1000 cup of coffee whenever I visit the dealer for service, and it's that nasty machine-made stuff in the dixie cup.

RobertG

That's a hell of a price to pay for drinking and driving

Neicey59

the MB tech told me that he advised his wife not to drink ANYTHING in their car - he says it only takes 30cc (1 oz) of liquid in that gear shift area to start problems. My coffee actually had a sip top tightly secured on it - the splash occured during braking and the rest is history. The tech at MB told me that tech's all over the USA have sent feedback to MB of North America regardig the problem, and that MB is very much aware that owners are pissed. btw my extended warranty wouldn't cover it because it was a coffee spill that caused the problem <sigh>

Franasia

I have prevented that from happening by using this:

http://www.ultimatecupholders.com/containers.html

I am not affiliated with them in any way and can recommend Mike.
Both his customer care and products are awesome.

Hope it helps.

E55Cent

These work great, I had them in my BMW 540i and moved them to my E55. I can slide around a corner and not worry. One of the best mods I have done yet.
My buddy just spent $700 because of his 32oz Pepsi. He said the mechanic turned som stuff upside down in case it ever happend again.
Mario

cragigotgame

Great now Im gonna be paranoid to ever use my cupholder again. Also in that link I didnt see a cupholder for our cars. Which one will work??

AMG_Fred

The older benz's has cupholders?! Lol, My 300e sure doesn't have them, and i haven't heard of that lawsuit...

ruffrob

There's one sure fire way to avoid this,and I've done it up to yesterday: Pull down the center armrest in the back seat,and use those cup holders....

Arnie

Why not sue Burger King for not placing some sort of disclaimer on the cup. You now, something like "not for use inside Mercedes Benz automobiles".

Neicey59

HUH? How can the back seat cup holders assist the driver?

TA-9FF

IMO, it doesn't. I tried doing that with some water, and it spilled onto the backseat when I took a turn; it wasn't even a sharp or hard turn and the thing spilled. Luckily it was just water........

Best way to avoid this IMO is to just drink water in a bottle with a screw-cap, or buy a good tumbler that allows you to close the opening when you're not drinking out of it. I got an MB stainless steel tumbler for my morning coffee, and it works great. It's designed to fit snugly in the MB cupholder and resists spilling, no matter how hard or sharp the turn. $35 for a tumbler is a good investment over spending $1k+ for spillage-repairs......

debbjess

ok so I spilled my water which was in the cup holder with a lid on it which is located above the gear shift.. the car locked up I called a tow company the top driver poped the wood off and out my car back in gear I drove about 1/4 mile pulled over car never shifted called tow truck drive again towed me they replaced the gear shift 1000.00 and are telling me I blew the transmission? anybody have anything like this ..?? Help please

renault12ts

Lesson learnt.

Not sure how your trans can be blown though.

hyperion667

this is one hell of a necro bump jesus christ

Plutoe

Wow that is a leap of faith---water---gear shifter---limp mode--new shifter assy--blown transmission--did you have your palm read by the top driver before or after the tow-----in any event I would take the car to a responsible tranny shop that understands your transmision!!

W210Scot

This wasn't really a problem back in the days when MBZ's used a mechanical shift linkage. But I agree that they should have either relocated the cupholder or done a better job of sealing the shifter.

W210Scot

Don't drink and drive - you might hit a bump and spill your drink. And if it spills into your Benz's shifter, it will cost you.

MJ50

ouch...

raymond g-

well known weakness in design with the w210s. spill water on the shift console
and you will either be damn lucky (fans, hair dryer, etc $0), or a transmission
control unit replacement which can reach $1k.