My new E500 was completely dead yesterday morning. Could not unlock with keyless go or the key. Opened the driver's door with the mechanical key, stuck the key in the slot, it wouldn't turn. I could hear a faint "hissing" sound from behind the radio/CD changer area. Called Mercedes Emergency Roadside Service. They came and found the battery completely drained. They gave me a new battery but told me to take it in to check what drained the battery. Have been driving the car almost everyday except for the one day just before the incident. Has anybody experience the same problem ?

 

I had the exact same thing.

I had parked it for four days while I was out of town.
When I got back, the battery was nearly gone.

Advised by dealer to call roadside assistance and they came out to look.

The RA guy was very helpful and friendly and immediately replaced the battery and made the recommendation to have the dealer check for parasitic draws outside of normal.

Since then, have had no problems, but the process of replacing it, along with reseating some of the fuses in the front panel, restored my 6CDindash changer. Go figure.

 

I left my car parked in the garage during a 10 day Christmas vacation with no noticable drain on the battery.

 

And have several times left the car fo r2 weeks, no problem.

The other day I accidentally left the headlights on all evening (2-3 hours) and no problem.

 

I was told by RA that there is a chance that some cars get bad batteries which can not charge back fully.

yes, you cannot turn your key (it is locked) for safe reason (brake by wire).

after you call RA, he replaces a new battery for free and you should be ok. but before your brake gets reset by service center, you have to drive slowly, less than 55 mph, and press brake pedal harder.

do you install some not mb stuffs, e.g. lo-jack, radar detector, etc. ?



mwillems,

I thought it turns off automatically.

otto

 

The RA kindly reset everything for me by going through the procedure of full turn right/left of the steering wheel etc.

He had never been in this model before, and asked how to open the PANO roof.

Overall, I was very impressed with the service provided by this guy who seemed to work for Laurel MB which is part of the same auto group that owns my purchase dealership.

As for bad battery, he also mentioned that and I certainly agree that it seems likely to be a bad batch, just unfortunate it is in a car that should cost so much.

In the end though, MB ERS is extremely helpful should you run into a side of the road situation.

 

I guess only if you are in the car.

MW

 

jabo, Dannyalh,

could you tell me the average mileage you drive everyday?

i drive less than 10 miles a day but my wife and i switch cars every other day. my wife drives 50 miles a day which helps battery being charged fully.

if you drive a short trip daily, it is possible that you drain your battery slowly because you may use more power than it can be charged. for example, i have to turn on lights for both morning and evening drive during the winter time, i enjoy my heated wheel and heated seat with hk sound, plus i use alarm while i park but i only drive it 10 miles in the city roads (low rpm) which may not provide my battery to get the power back in a good shape. if i keep using my car in this way, my battery is going to be drained.

the solution is you have to give it 20 to 30 minutes highway drive every 2 week (see another thread for battery) or install a trickle charger which saves you a 20 minute drive.

both my new mb and my old bmw are electricity hogs, i have to "walk them" (walk dogs?) twice a month. i bought "dog food" (trickle charger) for my bimmer but not for my new e so my wife has to walk this hog for me.

 

otto, in the manual it shows how to save gas somewhere. a very good thing to do is when you start up the car, leave it in park for about a minute, this will get everything oily of whatever happens in an engine, im in a hurry, sorry, i cant think of any words.. but hopefully that should help, i hope you dont have a problem on your hands, but i know its in there in the manual

 

Otto,

I drive quite a bit, mostly freeway here in LA. My lease is for 20,000 miles a year. I hope the problem is a bad battery and replacing it can solve the problem. I am afraid it might be a parasitic drain from a malfunction. I shall keep you posted once they have checked it out.