So I had noticed that my '12 C63 Black Series has decided that it doesn't want to start when pushing the push start button, but will when using the key. I called Mercedes and was advised that the battery in my car is probably original, and needs replaced, which makes sense. They said when using the push button the amount of energy needed to start the car is more than when using the key (he explained this in detail, but I won't bore you with the whole technical part), so I just need to replace my battery in the car.

Now, here is the question. Can I just do this myself, or is it like one some of the other AMGs and BMWs that I have had where they need to basically reprogram the car when replacing the battery? I really don't want to pay someone $150 - $200 to do something I can do unless there is a genuine technical or performance reason for it.

Thoughts?

open up the trunk and look inside the spare wheel/tire area, battery looks pretty straight forward to remove/replace; i didn't bother to do it myself since the car was in service already for the usual service a/b stuff, just had it replaced by the local MB a few month ago.

My 13' coupe died on me last week out in the boondocks when I was taking a drive in the mountains. The battery didn't have enough juice to crank the engine, but had sufficient to make all the lights work like normal. I had to wait three hours for the road services how arrived with a low bed tow truck, just in case the starter had died or something else which wouldn't make the engine start again. The repair man connected his battery booster pack to the terminals in the engine bay and the vehicle started first time. It wouldn't start when using jumper cables directly on the battery. Battery was from 12/12 so guess it had lived it's life.

Drove to the local dealer who installed a new battery, and it starts so much easier now. They did say that with the battery change some programming was necessary, so I guess it's not so much a DIY job anymore...

I don't see how the BS car would be any different than a regular C63 for battery change. I did my '14 in about 20 minutes. I bought a battery at the discount auto parts with the same specs. The trunk change was soo much easier than the W203 cars. I fired up the car after, no issues a year later. No radio code needed either. IMHO the dealer batteries are a rip off. The dealer will tell you whatever the feel they need to so they can justify an hour plus of labor to change the battery.

Changed it myself and no issues. I only asked because with one of my previous AMGs and my M4 Competition Package, when the battery was changed the cars needed hooked back up to their computers because they were not fully working. So I was trying to avoid that.

Please bore me with the whole technical part of this dealer BS. Pushing a button and turning the key both complete a circuit which energizes the starter. Are you sure your key battery isn't also dead?

+1 to this, the push-to-start in my C63BS wasn't working either when i first got it, so were the buttons on my keys - dead giveaway being the key battery, which was actually free to change at the local MB dealership; all good to go after that.