stephen4785

I took my car in Mon cause after a battery replacment on Sun(4) it went dead again on thur. I drove it Mon and Tue.Let it sit Wed cause of ice on the roads and went to start it up Thu and it was dead. Took the car to the dealer and they kept the car for a week. They eventually called me up and said that both Control Units under the front seats are staying energized to long and draind the battery. For the recommended reapirs it would cost 1400$. The full price of the control units are about 750$. They charged me 2.4 hr to remove both seats and test with new control units. They told me to fix install them it would take 6 hrs . I dont think both control units would go out at the same time and them charging 2.4 hr to R&R the control untis for testing but 6 hr to install new ones.
Anyone got any ideas?

MHPHOCKEY

you may want to go to another dealer to get another opinion. I would try and definetly argue the time.

D_TECH

why dont you get an amp clamp and test the draw yourself, then you could see how much the draws drops by pulling one or both of the control units (their not hard to access the connectors), the c classes dont draw much amperage as they dont have a lot of consumers to worry about like the 220s.

advans

I agree, get the car back and do a draw test yourself, if not get a stabilizer

MB-BOB

Like you, I question how it's possible that both units would go bad at the same time, unless there is some master electrical connection between them that is the problem. Sounds to me like they're too lazy to isolate the cause down to the exact unit and want to replace both... an experiment at your expense.

I would tell them that given all the electrical problems with these 2001 models, you would like to know if there are any campaign bulletins on these units so they could be written off by MB (in or out of warranty) as good will. They can do that if they really want.

Shopping another dealer to compare prices is also an option. Or shopping a good (non dealer) Mercedes mechanic shop.

revstriker

If I had a car out of warranty, this would be my option!

D_TECH

There arent any DTBs or campaigns regarding the seats (at least their control units having draw issues.)

electromethod

ditto..... I wouldn't take it back to the dealer if it was out of warranty. There are good MB shops in areas... you just have to find them..... When I lived up north, I used to take my old mb to a good shop in maryland.... used to drive up to 2.5 hours just to get there. He did great work and was far more efficient at repairs than the dealers.

SUNILP

very common problem. You can change the seat control modules out yourself. I may have some if you need.