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Mercedes ML Electric Window, Mirror Switch Replacement. |
The window, mirror switch control panel in the centre console is quite prone to failure and a very common fault especially on the earlier Mercedes ML models. The problem may start with a single side window not coming up when put all the way down. This will then spread to the other windows until all 4 will stop working eventually.
One way to check if it is actually the switch that’s gone is to try and listen for a clicking sort of noise when you try to operate the faulty window. If there is a slight noise as if the window wants to work but is being stopped by something, it most likely means that the switch panel is faulty. If there’s no noise, you may want to check the fuses to make sure that fuse No. 29 and No. 30 as shown in the pic are not blown. These 2 fuses control the 4 electric windows.
Once you have positively identified the cause to be the faulty switch, its time to replace it. Fortunately, you don’t need to fork out too much in labour charges as its quite a simple affair and easily done in 15 min or so.
Firstly, its best to disconnect the negative terminal from the battery to ensure you don’t get the shock treatment or blow something else up by mistake when removing the old unit and connecting the new one. Now, you can start removing the faulty unit by first opening the storage compartment lid and unscrewing 2 cross head screws at the base of the box on the inside. The storage box then comes out of the compartment as shown in the pics.
Remove the plastic trim surrounding the gear stick by just using your fingers to pull it up from the base and it will come off. Next, put one hand into the now empty storage compartment and gently push the window, mirror switch panel side up. You need to push the side that’s closer to the storage box side upwards and at the same time be pulling the gear stick side of the wood panel towards the storage box.
The wood panel should now be loose and ready to come off the base. Put one foot on the brake pedal and move the gear stick back gently to remove the wood panel off the gear stick and tilt it to one side to reveal the underneath of the switch panel. Leave all the wires connected at the moment as you don’t want to confuse yourself with which wire goes where.
There should be 4 cross head screws holding the switch panel onto the underside of the wooden panel. Before unscrewing the screws, it’s better to start switching the wires over from the old panel onto the new one. Once all the wires have been switched over, you can test the new units operation by connecting the negative terminal on the car battery and operating all the switches.
Once all the windows, mirror, door switches have been confirmed to be operational, you can unscrew the old unit off and screw the new unit in its place. Fitting the wood panel with the new window, mirror switch panel is the opposite of the steps you took to remove everything in the beginning.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 20th, 2007 and is filed under DIY Guides, Mercedes DIY. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I had the same trouble with my Merc ML320. I put the driver side window down and it just wouldn’t come back up. We had really nasty, rainy weather in those days here in the North of England and I was looking like a fool driving about with my window all the way down.
Thank GOD for the Air Con!!
I wasn’t prepared to go to the Mercedes Dealership to get skinned alive so I went to my local auto electrician instead. I had already opened the whole electric switch unit up as mentioned above in the post so the electrician just had to bypass the window switch and put the window up using a simple circuit tester type of thing.
Now I had all the windows fully up and I left the wires disconnected under the switch panel so no body puts the windows down again by accident. Guess what the weather was like the next day?? boiling hot
Just made use of the top article on removal/replacement of centre console control unit. Having removed it due to broken drivers window switch, would not close, got a quote from merc for replacement unit of £99.
As I was on a role with nothing to loss I decided to take the unit apart as follows.
1/ Remove all switches. These are just clipped on so be gentle.
2/ The main unit can then be taken apart by pushing in the eight small clips, two on each side, this is somewhat fiddley and you need four pairs of hands. Driven on by the £99 I persisted. having opened the unit you can remove each of the plastis switch units. These are obviously designed to brake after some years of use, the offending broken piece of plastic from the drivers side switch was found drifting about within. I then swopped the broken switch for the rear passenger window switch as this is rarely used from the front console, for good measure I super glued the broken switch back together.
3/ Put all the switch units back in place and clip the main unit back together
4/ Replace all the switches and thats it.
I reconnected the units electrical connections and who would of thought it £99 saved. I also found that unlike the above article the unit was secured to the underside of the console wood trim by 4 clips and not screwed.
One up for the customer!!!
Glad to hear the DIY section is helping some people out there. We’re hoping to add a lot of material to this section soon and make it a more valuable, free resource for every one to benefit.
Thx for posting this. I have the SAME problem and your directions were awesome. I will leave feedback to let others know how it went, hopefully I’ll be able to post some good info too.
I too took the window unit apart. Unlike the previous person, the plastic rocker on the drivers window was just a bit worn. The contacts on the switches look pretty good quality, so its likely that this common fault is just caused by the plastic part of the rocker switch failing. Like Ian above, I just swapped this plastic rocker part with one of the rear passenger windows, and it works fine. Lets face it there’s a switch right behind you for the passengers, so if the rear window gets stuck down, just have to reach a few inches behind you to operate the window.
Overall job took about an hour as a novice ( less than the time to get to Mercedes and back! )
Oh when removing switch covers, you will need to remove child lock and mirror covers too. plus inner white covers on c/locking and rear heater swiches to get the window unit apart. Bit fiddly but not too bad.
Thank you for the input Clive. As for reaching a few inches further back and operating the rear window switches for the rear passengers instead of the front ones, I believe most Mercedes owners would prefer getting the front switches fixed quickly before any one notices a faulty switch on their prized Merc.
Having said that, most Merc owners would also go straight to the Merc Dealership to get problems fixed, so it’s a tough one.
Does anyone know where I can buy a completely new pannel. I now have 2 windows not working and the mirrors control has packed up too!!
Just done it as Ian Comber suggested - BRILL Thankyou
Yeah, I dived in before reading up and eventually ended up looking at one semi-sealed unit that contains 6 switches, hate to think what that would cost to replace cheeky devils. Always bad news opening up something like that. Usually a bunch of springs leap at you from all directions and unless your an octopus there’s no way to get them held back in place, close the lid at the same time as jostling with a roll of electricians tape because you previously destroyed the plastic click knobs that formally held the whole thing together. So, sealed unit in hand stamped made in Mexico I considered my options. What did I have to loose, it’s fu broken anyway so I gave it a go and I’m happy I did, even though I’ve removed limpets from rocks with my bare hands with more ease. Once open I located a little bit of white plastic with a jagged edge roaming about inside and he had no passport. Anyway, easy enough to put right, obviously it was the drivers side window that wouldn’t go up so once apart I swapped the passenger switch for the drivers switch and it works fine.
My problem was that the front window would go down but not back up! So I had to have the lovely back bag style cover, as it was raining really heavy at the time. I have for the time being, switched the two switches over, from front to back as mentioned above and YES, the window is back up again. Thanks for the advise. Eva
Any one have problems removing the console? I must have tried for like 2 hours with no luck. It feels like the console is about to break! I press upwards and pull towards the rear seat…. Do I have to use any tools to loosen the clips or do I just yank harder? Any help would be great.. I just want to get this console in and put the new switch unit in.
Thanks
Have you managed to get the gear stick surround up and off OK? If thats been removed, te console should lift up easily. Try using a straight headed screwdriver on the front section in front of the gear stick surround, thats where the 2 clips are which sort of wedge the console under the front fixed piece.
The other thing could be that perhaps the previous owner had some issues with the console and they either glued it down or used some screws somewhere to hold it in place. Try looking inside the storage compartment for clues.
Let us know how you got on.
I did not need to swap out switches. Just needed to bend the contacts back up. After years of use, they had bent down so far the switch did not close the the circuit all the way.
I wish I saw this page before going to the mechanic. The window on the driver side didn’t go up. The mechanic replaced the motor for the window and also replaced the control panel. I don’t know if both replacements are really necessary. The worst part is now the power door lock doesn’t work on the driver side where had the window problem. The mechanic denied his fault. Please help!!!
remember never to rush in and pay a mechanic to do the job without doing some research online first. Its FREE and you always learn something new. I doubt there was any need for the mechanic to replace the motor as this is a common fault with the ML. There is mechanics out there who will always prey on their customers who have little knowledge of how these things work and make a little extra money whereever they can.
Did the mechanic give you the invoice for the new control panel in the centre console? The power lock is part of the same unit so seems like the mechanic messed something up and now just not owning up to it
Thanks for your reply, Automotive. I am feeling so stupid for this incident. Anyways, the mechanic opened up the door panel and showed me the power door lock is located in a different area from the window motor. He claimed he never touched the power lock area, so he denied to repair the lock. Say if it’s possible that once any electrical circuit in that unit is disconnected by whatever reason, the other circuits will have to reset in order for the others to work properly?
The location for central locking unit is indeed in a different place inside the door panel but the problem may well be inside the central console unit which controls the windows + doors + heated screen etc. From past experience, after having replaced a few of these units, we didn’t have to res-set anything to get all the features to work.
You may need to consult an electrician who can pin point what the fault area is. If he says it’s the central console unit, you can confront the mechanic who did the job for you originally or replace the central console unit yourself.
Thanks for your input!
Great advise here folks. Someone asked where to purchase said switch, I have just got one from ebay at $115 incl tax and free shipping. Better than MB which was $179 excl tax