Have a minor quirk but a quirk no less: When the temperature drops below a certain point, the rear defrost and front heated windshield automatically turn on. Is there a way to disable this "auto-on" feature??? I have exhausted all programmable options, which are in reality few and far between... Thank you.

 

Please add Model and Year information to your forum Signature. It is important with questions like this.

On your 2013 X351, the screen heaters are set to switch on automatically in cold ambient temperatures when the engine is started. There is not an owner option to disable this function. They will also activate automatically at temperatures below 5 deg C (41 deg F).

The sensors which trigger this function also control the AC so can't just be disconnected. It is possible (but I think unlikely) that a Dealer or Independent with equivalent diagnostics could disable the feature with the SDD diagnostics tool.

Graham

 

Thank you Graham. Quite surprised with the lack of customization available (or rather not available) to the owner. It does what it does well, but I would like to have the ability to personalize many of these features. One size fits all is a stretch for an $80,000 car.

 

Initially I too had this concern but have now gotten use to manually turning off this feature once I start up the car.

 

Yup-what he said....except I thought I was losing it the first few times it turned itself on.

 

What is the concern here? Does it damage the element or something?

 

I had the same question. Mine's been turning both front and rear heaters on since the car was new in 2003- causes no harm.

 

When the car is covered in snow, I really appreciate the nanny turning on the elements for me - so I don't forget. I don't like the nanny doing so when the windscreen and rear window are dry - I keep thinking it will wear them out prematurely. It isn't that big of a deal to me to turn them off, if I happen to glance down and see they're on.

 

Thanks all for the responses. I guess we commit to muscle memory: Start car, turn off 'eco feature', turn off front and rear screen heaters, turn on seat and wheel heaters. Would be nice to have these features customizable, like my niece's $24,000 Altima.... And my 2006 Cadillac STS. I'm just sayin...

 

Wonder if this might become a feature on either the 2015 or 2016 models.