The 9th generation E Class executive car—the W212—was made available to prospective buyers in 2010, carrying the torch of a lineage that dates back to the 1950s, when the E Class was first released. One of the most common frustrations with the W212 concerns erratic window switch problems.
Among W212 owners, there is a classic and maddening window problem. Usually affecting only the front windows, they have a tendency to act up when the window lever is pulled up all the way. They may begin to rise, but then they will stop and drop all the way down at the bottom of their track. This is especially aggravating in poor weather, when such behavior means that the unfortunate person sitting next to the window will become covered in snow or rain. To make things worse, the issue seems far more prevalent in colder or cooler weather, precisely when you do not want window difficulties.
Although the problem could lie with a faulty switch, it most likely is the result of the window’s safety feature malfunctioning. This feature was designed to halt and reverse the window’s rise if/when the window encountered any sort of resistance (thus saving any stray fingers from being broken and protecting the window’s motor from trying to crunch its way through something other than air). Unfortunately, when it starts acting up, the window appears to have a mind of its own. Some owners say that the sensor is being tripped by a too-tight window seal, thick tinting, or windows that are simply too large, but it could be any one or a combination of all things.
Taking your W212 over to a local German import maintenance garage is the safest bet for getting the problem taken care of. The men and women working in such a shop can narrow down the list of possible problems to discover the exact cause, and you can once again feel safe from the snow and rain.
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