Our vehicle has refused to start for the first time ever!!! Big, big red warning light stating that 'braking distance might be increased' 'Start engine immediately!'

Stupid thing will not start. The car is in our garage, the bonnet is under an alcove, so the technician will have some fun if he needs to get access to it. The wife has had to use my 'stretched limo' to take our daughter to school.

It is now 9-30am, I have called roadside assistance, so we will see how long they take to get here. Just to add salt to the wound, the house opposite is having a large hot-tub craned into their rear garden. The huge crane is completely blocking the road, but luckily not our driveway. (next doors is blocked completely )


Regards,
John
A beautiful sunny morning in Torquay

Nice to hear from you John, but not so good about your car!

Mine has just started coming up 950 kms to next service so that will be interesting some time in the next few months.

It sounds as though yours has a fault in the SBC system somewhere, can't pressurize the hydraulics or something, although I don't see why that would stop it from starting unless the main battery is flat and the secondary just has enough juice to spread despondency and alarm, but not enough to do anything about it. Pointless speculating really, let us know what it actually was.

At least your daughter will still be dropped off by an MB!

Good morning John,
You were spot on with your second comment. Wife used the car to go to church yesterday (must have upset someone on high )

When I saw the warning I immediately thought of the very latest recall, but it looks like a pure coincidence. The technician arrived at 10-35am, took one look at the warning and decided a new battery was required. Luckily the battery is located in the rear of the vehicle so he replaced it straight away, took the car out of the garage and then spent thirty minutes going over the vehicle making sure there were no other underlying problems. At present he is taking the car for a quick 'spin' to re-calibrate the tyre pressure monitors.

I have always given credit, where credit is due, car batteries wear out (but surely NOT after just 14 months??) The service I have received to remedy the fault is excellent, they could have just jump started the vehicle, they could have simply replaced the battery. They have however been very deligent and carried out an excellent repair.

The mechanic that is dealing with this incident was employed by our previous dealer before Mercedes-Benz took the franchise away, so this is the type of service I am used to. It is disturbing though to read of other peoples experiences.

He has just told me that his old foreman went to work for Toyota (Lexus) after he lost his previous job, but has now returned back to Mercedes-Benz at the new dealership in Exeter. The reason for moving jobs is a lack of challenging work. The Lexus very rarely breaks down and his days consist solely of carrying out services, with the odd oil leak!!! That speaks volumes. One day Lexus might open a franchise in South Devon, that might prove very interesting.


Nice hearing from you and take care,
John

Sorry to hear about the trouble, John.

I was hoping more owners would be able to report having trouble free W211s.

Sounds like the service response was top notch, though.

The wifey and I were out looking at the new GS Lexus over the weekend. I like it but don't really love it so we'll have to wait and see how the new IS turns out.

Our Lexus has remained trouble-free for many years and 160K miles so far.

Hi Lig,
I certainly cannot defend the indefensible, a modern battery should last longer than fourteen months. I must in all fairness though point out that our vehicle has for the last month or so been used solely on very short journeys. These journeys might not have been long enough to put back into the battery what was taken out??? Most journeys have been approximately three miles in length, twice a day.

The technician did not attempt to carry out any checks on the battery, so a good charge might restore it??? The vehicle was connected to the diagnostic computer and the vehicle was given a complete health check.

I wonder though when we eventually get our second recall..... will I get a new battery

Lexus are not a popular vehicle here in South Devon, not even a dealership! I have read nothing but good reports concerning their reliability though and I would not criticise anyone for deciding to buy one of these vehicles. (Just not for me)

Regards,
John

Adam and Eve Verb. Believe. Coqueney rhyming slang. E.g."I don't Adam and Eve it, it's not true!"

http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/a.htm

'Coqueney'????? I suppose that's a posh name for ****ney slang!

Adam and Eve = believe

When I was a very young child we lived in Nlorth London and ****ney sland was just the normal way of speaking. Similar I suppose to 'Hi dude' is an American way of saying hello, or g'day bruce!!!

I simply do not believe that those warning lights would come on only days after finding out about the SBC recall. Talk about coincidence.

I am just relieved that there was not a problem with the braking system. All of us that have spoken to Germany have been assured that there is NOT a problem with the actual braking system. That warning light simply caused me concern. In a way I was relieved that it was 'just' a defective main battery.

John

Edit: Just noticed that my slang termology has been censored

It should be the male chicken with ney on the end..

just had similar problem, but no lights or warnings, just a key that won't start or lock/unlock the car. see my post

Hey John, same thing happened to me and my car was even less than 14 months old! Battery needed to be jumped and haven't had any problems with it since. Kind of interesting that is says "start engine immediately" when the battery is dead!

Now I know why I never see a Mercedes broke down on the side of the road..... They convieniently break down in the comfort of it's own garage
John Sorry to hear of your little glitch. Sounds like your dealership is "top notch" and got you back on the road quickly

lig....
You know most people come here to snivel about the problems with their cars rather than praise them..... Its human nature.

But for the record, my car with over 17,000 miles on it has been absolutly trouble free and a dream to drive and own....

I posted that mostly because I do a lot of whining here :p

Totally agree,

Sorry for the cheeky addition to your post

Nice points,
Have a nice day,
John

A very nice sunny, cool morning in Torquay

Hi,
Just read your post, I must confess though that our remote control worked fine and the car unlocked, but.....

Our cars are 'stuffed to the gills' with electronic wizardry and I wonder if there is a connection!

Are all your journeys in excess of say 20 miles, or 40 mile round trip? I am asking this solely in an attempt to discover any common denominator? We have gone away and left the car in the garage (take note Harley), THE garage and it has started perfectly on our return. Our car does however do a lot of very short journeys. The message I got was very clear and in RED

Reduced braking effect Start engine!

Longer stopping distance Start engine!

I have now dived into my manual and there on page 360!!!!! I mean everyone knows that the answer can be found on page 360???

The possible cause/Consequence
The battery has insufficient voltage and cannot supply sufficient power to the SBC brake system.

So at a guess the battery might have had just enough charge to function, but when my wife unlocked the car, that activates the SBC system. The battery might well then have not had sufficient voltage to carry out all the SBC procedures and hence the warning. Unfortunately there was also not enough power to start the engine!! Just a guess.

Regards,
John

I had been driving the car on a regular basis, daily trips 20-30 miles each day, car running normal. I think when the transmitter did not work and I unlocked the car manually, the alarm went off. The car was never disarmed so the ignition was locked and I was stuck. Still no word from my dealer, though. Ended up being stranded (not in my garage) for over 3 hours

Being stuck for three hours is no joke. Regarding the 20 - 30 miles that you do each day, is that each way, or is it a 10 - 15 mile single journey twice a day?

I have absolutely no idea how long it would take for the battery to be recharged after starting........

The SBC activates before the engine starts
Shuts down after the engine stops.
We have our lights on 'Auto' so when the doors are unlocked the lights come on, before the engine starts.
Likewise when the engine is switched off the headlights come on (the car is in the garage and the car thinks it needs the headlights on Harley are you reading this??? )...........
Likewise before strating our diesel engine we wait for the diesel glow plug light to go out.....

As I am typing this I am convincing myself to get 'she that must be obeyed' to switch off the automatic headlight option.

Hell-ona-Vespa might have accidentally stumbled onto a very valid point

I am starting to understand perhaps why our car battery failed. It is easy to blame the car and not give a thought to the 'Why'

Please, please do not think for one moment that I am suggesting this might be the cause of your problem. I am simply puzzled as to why my battery 'died' and typing my thoughts onto the forum so that others might correct my theories.

Good luck with your problem,
John

its more like 2-3 trips daily, total of 15-30 miles each day. But in my case, its definately not the battery. They are now replacing the ignition control module, so I hope this solves the problem. The dealer had to tow the car into the garage, lol

Good luck and thanks for the very prompt reply.

Bye for now,
John

no problem. one question: what did u mean by "adam and eve it"?? ? i've never heard that expression b4

Adam and eve = believe
Apple and Pears = Stairs

These are just a few of the rhyming slang colloquialisms that were used in the area that I grew up in.

Just remembered another power drainer!! Easy Exit\Entrance seats
Electronic tailgate
Electronic sliding floor

It's a wonder our car ever managed to start

Have a nice day,
John

I hope I'm not jinxing myself here: Two years - 29K+ miles and counting.

The car has always started.

I believe I know the reason why now... I only have a one car garage and the W211 has always slept outdoors. No power sapping garage for me.

That does it!!!!! Me and this car of ours are off for a vist behind the bicycle shed for a 'man to man' discussion. The thing has been spoilt. Living in a nice warm double garage with a soft carpet to keep its tyres nice and warm!!!

From now on, one step out of line and it's outside into the cold night air. Then we'll see how it behaves.


Take care,
John

OK, now I have to put my two cents in. I always park my cars in the garage. Since October (when I bought my E new) the car has not spent more than 20 days outside. It only parks outside when I am traveling to places that don't have a garage.

Yes, when I start the car the lights turn on because it is dark in the garage. My floor is not carpeted, but the garages are heated to a nice 50 degrees F. I have never had any problems with the battery (yet). However, since I sometimes don't drive the car for two weeks straight, I do use a battery maintainer.

The maintainer only charges at a 1-amp rate, until the battery reaches 13 volts, then it stops the charge until the voltage hit 12 or 11.8 volts. I have noticed that the maintainer is usually charging the battery, but I do see the green "charged" LED on occasion which means that the battery is fully charged.

I suspect that there is a problem with some if not all the W211s, hence the recall. I say this because most reports of batteries going flat are within 24 hours of last use. Under normal situations, the alternator can more than keep up with the charge requirements of the batteries even if the car is only driven for 3 miles. There is no logical reason why a car’s battery should go dead overnight if nothing has been left on.

I think that we will stop hearing or having these problems after the recall is taken car of. On this subject . . . I called my dealer last week and my SA told me that they had not even gotten the official word of the recall yet and would only do the recall when I get the letter. I called MB USA and they said that the recall notice was not started yet.

Great to see you back and posting John, I am sorry it is about a problem though,

Steve