Live Oak

"MB's are meant to be driven, not sitting in the garage."

That's an excuse, not a rational reason.

Pure MB engineering failure.

Tonycpa

They need to compete better than this.

Exactly. If MB is selling batteries that die after 2 years that's shameful

They should be taken to the woodshed

Dema

This is not truly MB problem. I had E430 purchased in 2002 and for 10 years I didn't have any single battery problem. I even didn't know where a battery is in the car. MB do not produce battery, it looks like they selected some wrong supplier. Another theory can be some bad electronics design consuming too much energy, although I do not think it is an actual problem.

Regarding Japanese cars I do not know, I owned couple Lexuses and all time I was happy going back to German cars, so I stopped consider them.

Tonycpa

^^^That's the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. Of course MB is at fault. Who do you think built the vehicle?

Since they didn't produce the battery but they selected a vendor with an inferior product to put in the Benz, they should not be held accountable? Preposterous!

El Cid

It is MB's problem because they selected the supplier and accepted the products for installation in their vehicles. They also provided the supplier with the specifications for the batteries. It's MB's name on the battery.
If Advance Auto, Sears, Autozone, etc. can sell a battery with a 4-6 year warranty, why can't MB for twice the price?
Incidentally I can go to Toyota (Lexus) or Nissan (Acura) and get batteries for my other vehicles that will cost 1/2 what a battery for my MB does and be warranted for 4 or 5 years.

thefisch

Most of my driving is under 20 minutes as I have a short commute and most stores I frequent are within 10 minutes. While exploring my occasional battery issues (fixed with replacing the almost 5 year old original battery), I started to use a external battery charger and take regular voltage readings to monitor the state of charge. I found that a full SOC would only last a couple of days and then the car would maintain itself at about 50-60%. I would always check in the morning after leaving the hood unlatched overnight to avoid using any batter power to open the door to release it. I was charging every few weeks and even took it out of the car to charge/recondition once but threw in the towel after that wasn't enough to keep it going.

After I got a new Bosch battery from Pep Boys (4 year warranty), I continued to use my charger and take readings. Even with a brand new battery, the car still maintains the battery at a 50-60% SOC. I have found that to be the case even after long drives as well as my regular routine.

When I started having MB battery issues, I started to monitor the battery in my wife's Honda for comparison sake. She drives shorter trips with most less than 5 minutes and starts her car probably twice as much as I do during a normal day. The Honda maintains an 80-90% SOC on a 2 year old battery (similar capacity but non AGM). Whenever I charge mine, I charge hers right after and her car is able to maintain the 100% for weeks.

So, based on my experience, I'm pointing my finger at MB for the design flaw they chose to save fuel or whatever reason rather than the battery itself. Now I admit that my experiment was not scientific and I am not an engineer, but I feel like I cannot trust my car to maintain the battery like the Honda can. So I continue to charge them both every few weeks in the hopes of avoiding a problem sooner than expected.

Tonycpa

Dat MB tax tho

aaacsdai

All cars are negative ground systems, open loops that must be closed to connect-draw power from the battery, therefore something is grounding out-staying closed, it could be the "ECU Battery Feed & Power Grounds" problem, check all main electrical connections (battery +, battery -, battery ground), including your aux post under the hood and your starter main connection, at times the starter loop stays closed and no one knows it-car starts until there battery is on its death bed-sounds like an ECU issue to me.

El Cid

My OEM battery lasted 4 years and 1 week. Since out of warranty by one week, I had to pay full price ($300+) for a new MB battery. As I said earlier, the MB warranty on their battery is only two years. It may last longer than that, but zero warranty if it doesn't.
To me it is either MB batteries or the electrical systems MB designed for their vehicles. Why else would they have such an inferior warranty?

aaacsdai

Dema, did you every check out the TB's with Konigstiger for your VIN, I would have to agree with others that it could be a poor Monday or Friday build with only a few, 10-20 E-350's built that day having this same type of problem, sort of sounds that way, even may be that the battery manufacturer had a bad run of batteries as well-QA out for lunch or the window. But MB should always replace it free if they cannot find the problem-but that is implying they are professionals at that dealership, any way good luck.

Dema

My battery was replaced for free. When I couldn't start car and called road side assistance, the technician immediately started replacing the battery, he even didn't check anything, he already knew the problem.

It is why I won't buy any electric Mercedes car, because they do not do battery. I gladly will buy Tesla, when they will have all newest technical things as MB have. I need to set priorities. If dead battery isn't acceptable for me, I will chose any other car where no such problems. However I value some other features more, no one other car maker can offer for now.

mnje350

In the second year of ownership my battery died. Litterally while at the dealer for some other service. The dealer replaced the battery free of charged and updated the software that controls the charging system. I drive the car very infrequently so the battery rarely gets a good charge after starting. For this reason, I put a battery tender on the car when I am gone for a week or more. The current battery is now more than three years old. I have had zero problems. I can't imagine wanting to drive a Tesla because three years ago my battery died on a gasoline powered car. For me there is no issue with the car, the battery, or the electrical system in general.

BeachBunny

The W212 definitely has battery & electrical problems.

My '15 needed new batteries within its first year of life. Just yesterday I dropped my E off for service and the '16 E loaner they gave me threw up an Auxiliary Battery Malfunction error before I even got the car out off the dealer's property! I immediately brought it back to the service drive.

Just like my '15, when the dealer went to turn the car on, no error codes found! BUT, this is where it gets funny: The alarm starts going off on the '16 loaner...and no matter what they did, it wouldn't shut off. It was still sounding when I loaded my stuff into the '17 GLC loaner. (GLK was a better car).

My 2004 M45 and 1994 Q45's batteries were royally abused by me (additional AC, electronics, car PC, and 110v inverters added to each, often left running on battery-only for long periods of time) and I still got 3-4 years out of a battery in Florida.

pschiller

I had the same issue on my 2013 E350. Then a few months later battery died on my 2013 GLK350. I was told it is a known problem with that era battery. you would think if it was a known problem Mercedes would issue a recall?

BeachBunny

@pschiller: From my experience (Mercedes, Infiniti), auto manufacturers are VERY reluctant to issue recalls, even for known design flaws. At best, you might be lucky enough to see an unannounced "service campaign", which konigstiger does a great job of keeping track of them in his Bulletins threads.

A few things to keep in mind:
* Recalls are only for imminent safety issues. (ie: will cause the car to catch fire, someone to be killed/injured)

* Recalls are expensive. Both in dealing with the regulators and sending notices out to everyone and keeping track of which cars have been repaired and which haven't been.

* Recalls mean the offending parts / software must be re-engineered and *proven* to fix the problem permanently. Just replacing the part with a newer version of the same part isn't good enough. Expensive.

* Recalls mean the manufacturer must fix EVERY car made with the offending parts/software, even if it isn't exhibiting the failure. Again, very expensive.

* Even when something warrants the level of a recall, manufacturers will avoid responsibility. My M45 had multiple issues but only 2 full-on recalls. Ironically, the airbags not working never made it to the level of a recall, but eventually showed up as a "service campaign." The fuel gauge reading incorrectly did turn out to be a full recall. Go figure. Even with the recall, I and the local dealership had to fight Nissan to pay for it.

El Cid

Was at Sam's club yesterday and wandered over to the battery section. A Duracell battery with same specs as my MB batteryand a 4 year full warranty costs $160 plus tax and fees compared to over $300 for one with a two year warranty from MB.
On th plus side, my "2 year battery" from MB is into its 30th month.

BeachBunny

I don't think the issue is with the battery itself, rather the charging/discharging of the battery.

It's been awhile since I've played with battery technology, but IIRC, lead-acid batteries prefer to be fully charged and you don't want to get them below ~50-60% of charge. At least that's the way we used to design solar buildings.

From what people are posting, the car might not be charging the batteries properly, which would lead to shortened lifespan.

listerone

My Bluetec's battery (stronger than the gasser's) was still going strong at 3 years when I traded.In fact,just before I traded I spent a night in a town well north of Montreal and my Bluetec started after sitting 12 hours in -35F to -40F.But,being a bit obsessive,I regularly hooked it up to a tricke charger and 95% of my miles were interstate miles at 70MPH.

fosterelli

Man, a lot of battery drama. People need to remember the battery life has a ton if influencing factors, including driving habits, the vehicle's electrical demands (which grow every year), quality of the alternator, and most certainly the climate of operation. Not even accounting for manufacturing defects, inferior components within the battery, etc. Too many variables to list. But just look at the Range Rover to show how sensitive vehicles can be to battery charge levels...that was a learning lesson for us!

Since moving to Texas seven years ago, we found out very quickly that our batteries die MUCH faster than they did in Portland, Oregon...so we now replace every three years regardless of performance - because being stranded for an inexpensive replacement part is unacceptable to us.

BeachBunny

@listerone: The 2011 E-Class has a very different electrical system & battery setup than 2014+. Starting in 2014, the cars started shipping with 3 separate batteries in the car. Main/cranking, "aux" for transmission & critical safety systems, and a "house" battery which runs the cabin and other systems when ECO Start/Stop shuts off the engine.

@fosterelli: My 2015 E350 didn't even make it a whole year before the battery croaked. The 2016 E350 loaner I got this week had a similar story -- less than a year and the battery was bad. I've also experienced electronic weirdness in other E350 loaners I've driven. It's definitely NOT the batteries themselves, rather it's the way the car is (ab)using them.

fosterelli

Strange yours didn't last a year. Can't say much about the loaner because a lot of people use it (and abuse it). But like I said before, so many variables, including the car and its electronics & charging system...and of course there's going to be bad batteries in the mix with any brands. There's no way of knowing if the loaner was a bad battery or something wrong with the car. As for your 2015, your battery didn't last one year...how long has the replacement lasted?

Happy to report my OEM battery is still going strong, although the three year mark is approaching, so I'll be purchasing a new one before I face any issues.

listerone

I've seen it written more than once that,everything else being equal,hot weather is tougher on car batteries than colder weather.Having never studied chemistry I'm sure a trained chemist could explain it....but,if true,it comes as a surprise to me at least.

fosterelli

From Popular Mechanics:

The thing that kills batteries is heat, because it boils off the water in the electrolyte and hastens the sulfation process. That's when some of the lead on the plates of a partially discharged battery oxidizes into lead sulfate. The lead sulfate interferes with the normal charge-discharge chemistry of the battery, reducing capacity until finally you can't start your car.

Although most of the damage is done in the summer, the batteries customarily fail in colder weather. That's because cold oil is thicker than warm oil, and therefore demands more from the starter motor. Similarly, your car's electrical demands are higher in winter because you're running lights and window defrosters and windshield wipers more frequently.

BeachBunny

Keep in mind the car has 3 batteries in it. Most of the failures I've (and the dealership) have seen are the auxiliary batteries, not the main/cranking battery. Unfortunately, when this battery starts to act up, the entire car starts acting up. This may happen before the car realizes there's a problem with the aux battery. I'm wondering how much in warranty $ MB has paid for unnecessary repairs that were really just the aux batteries dying.

As for my current battery, I believe I'm on my 3rd one, and this one was replaced about 3 months ago. As for the loaner, IIRC it's about 9 months old. As people abusing loaners, I'm sure it happens, but it shouldn't affect the way batteries are or are not charged.

drgk

Just received my new battery charger. Works pretty well, charged up to 100% on my 2010 E350 4M original battery.
I'm not sure if it is an AGM battery or not, so just used 'standard battery' mode charging. Left it on for over 15 hrs.
Highly recommend this newer MXS 5 model as the unit doesn't get very hot even over a long charging period.

CTEK MXS 5.0 Battery Charger # 40-206 , 12 Volt...