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I've attached a GF doc that has some basic function info on the energy management, if any of you technical guys are interested. It's from an early 212 but the logic is the same on every modern MB.
Wish it would tell me how much gas this is really saving. Thanks for sharing though. At least I know I should be decelerating more to charge my battery.
That's the coolest pdf I've seen on mbworld so far! I'd owe you a case of beer if you could produce one that describes what's going on in the brain of the airmatic and adaptive damping control unit.
Wish it would tell me how much gas this is really saving. Thanks for sharing though. At least I know I should be decelerating more to charge my battery.
Negligible. It's part of the "Blue Efficiency" thing, that labeling was cars that used more than 3 energy saving technologies (eco-start, sailing mode, etc), and regen braking was one of them. This was considered a type of regen, even though it was so slight.
Perfect! Thanks Joe!
The blue efficiency stuff is a bunch of BS, especially when installed on a big V8 or V6. Trying to please Greenpeace has left owners with half baked technologies that are unreliable and end up costing more in the long term. If I have to replace the battery every 3 years instead of the usual 6 to 9, isn't that going to cost more in terms of CO2 emissions due to manufacturing, shipping and handling of the replacement batteries?
I personally blame the tree hugging hippies who want to see us drive horse buggies and eat our sandals. They've cried so much that the government had to give in to their silly demands and made it impossible for car people to enjoy anything fun these days. Every new car now has the Eco Nanny on board, and I'm certain it's next mission is to axe V8s and V6s. End of rant.
I personally blame the tree hugging hippies who want to see us drive horse buggies and eat our sandals. They've cried so much that the government had to give in to their silly demands and made it impossible for car people to enjoy anything fun these days. Every new car now has the Eco Nanny on board, and I'm certain it's next mission is to axe V8s and V6s. End of rant.
Couldn't agree more Oda. They did the same thing to Formula One racing when they mandated the cars reach some arbitrary miles per gallon efficiency on track. Meanwhile you''ve got tens of thousands of people driving their own vehicles untold distances to get to the event and countless celebrities, drivers, team owners, officials etc. flying their private jets. Makes zero sense.
Couldn't agree more Oda. They did the same thing to Formula One racing when they mandated the cars reach some arbitrary miles per gallon efficiency on track. Meanwhile you''ve got tens of thousands of people driving their own vehicles untold distances to get to the event and countless celebrities, drivers, team owners, officials etc. flying their private jets. Makes zero sense.
They should have let the F1 engines the way they were and made all the rich people attending the races use Priuses, that would have made more sense. I can see how the idea behind the F1 fuel efficiency strategy was to lead the way ideologically and let everyone know that F1 is all about the environment now. Instead of beating the environment with a 10ft bat, now we've downsized to a 9.95ft one, that's what they achieved with that rule. And it gives them an opportunity to get on their high horse and brag about doing their part in saving the environment. Meanwhile, all the auxiliary vehicles doing all the background work in F1 are still heavy, old diesel puffers and they won't even hint at doing anything about those. The amount of hypocrisy is insane with these shot callers.
Well after almost 3 trouble free years since installing a replacement battery, I have had two instances weeks apart in the last few months where the car would not start and needed a jump. Car has started fine all the other days. Going to have to keep an eye on it. Given our Honda goes through conventional batteries every 2.5-3 years (just installed it's 4th battery before its 8th year anniversary) in this FL heat, maybe these AGM batteries won't last that long either for me down here. Still have a year left on the Bosch warranty so I'll get a replacement if it keeps failing. By the way, I bought a portable jump start pack after my Honda's battery failed on vacation a few months back and they are great. This 600A one fired up my 5.5l V8 both times without an issue.
Just to update this post, I replaced my battery last week with a warranty swap. When I would jump the car and drive it over, Pep Boys kept saying the battery was still good according to their tester and wouldn't replace it. So the next time it wouldn't start (and wouldn't run accessories even), I just pulled the battery and drove over in my other car. They bench tested the battery after charging for 30 minutes and finally agreed it was bad.
I found this site mercedesmedic.com and it has some great instructions on how to change the battery in your E-class. They even give you instructions on how to sync the new battery, which includes syncing the windows, sunroof, and calibrating the wheel if your ESP warning light is ON. Click here to go directly to the Battery Replacement page for the W212.
I haven't had any issues with my battery in my E550. It's original to my car and the label says it was made in Sept. 2011, so it's been 7 years, but when I took it in for an oil change and inspection they ran a test and said the CCA was only around 500. It needs to be at least 800. I told them I would replace the battery myself.
Consumer reports tested car batteries 2 years ago and they rated the Bosch batteries as one of the worst. The Duracell Platinum AGM was rated high and my local Sam's Club had it for $180. Sam's will install your battery for free, but I chose to do it myself. I watched the video in my previous post and followed the instructions. The Duracell is slightly wider than the original battery, but it fits fine. For some reason, I had a hard time removing the positive cable from the original battery. It helps having a second person to hold the positive cable out of the way while you put the new battery in. If the positive cable touches anything metal it can ruin your car.
The new battery is working fine. I only had to reset the clock.
Often the terminals are clamped on pretty tight, if you loosen the nut and use a small screwdriver or pick to spread the terminal open where it's split, it will lift off easily.
Remove the negative terminal first, then the positive one can go anywhere without an issue. Supposed to start and finish with the negative side anyway, reduces the chance of a voltage spike/spark that can cause damage.
Dealer quoted over $500 for battery replacement. Heck no batman! Quick question for you guys about battery tender/charger/jump starter. While looking through mercedesmedic.com, it recommends NOCO GB40 (1000 amp, 12v). Is this really necessary or can I use anything that's 12V? Basically, what would be the minimum requirement to look for in a charger?
Dealer quoted over $500 for battery replacement. Heck no batman! Quick question for you guys about battery tender/charger/jump starter. While looking through mercedesmedic.com, it recommends NOCO GB40 (1000 amp, 12v). Is this really necessary or can I use anything that's 12V? Basically, what would be the minimum requirement to look for in a charger?
Well the jump starter part of it boosts the price. Basically anything that does 12 volts and is ok with AGM batteries should be fine. Anything 10 amps and under is fine, a slower rate of charge is better for the battery than a rapid one. I even have a 2 amp charger. Used that once for about 6 hours to charge up a dead battery. I was surprised it had a decent charge after that 6 hours. 2 amp chargers are in the $20 range, I picked up an 8 amp charger for around $30. They're normally in the $20-$50 range.
Dealer quoted over $500 for battery replacement. Heck no batman! Quick question for you guys about battery tender/charger/jump starter. While looking through mercedesmedic.com, it recommends NOCO GB40 (1000 amp, 12v). Is this really necessary or can I use anything that's 12V? Basically, what would be the minimum requirement to look for in a charger?
My original Mercedes battery lasted 7 years and I used the Battery Tender Plus a few times a year to fully charge the battery, especially before I went on vacation. It's
Cetialpha5 and Jumpman726. Thanks for the suggestions!
Basically, the dealer said the battery didn't past the "test" and it might die in the winter so they were suggesting the battery be replaced. My car is 4 years old with only 23K miles on it. Is it normal for the battery to be so worn out already?
all the major autoparts stores will change your battery out for free if you get a new one from them. i bought mine at autozone and they swapped it out in 5 mins. no loss data
I have the jumper posts that I was planning to use if I change the battery myself, i.e. connect battery from the other car to these posts when I remove the battery from the trunk. Keeps car powered up and no need for resetting anything at all.
Has anyone connected a battery charger to the posts while swapping out the batteries? It's 12 volts and low current. Should work right?
Has anyone connected a battery charger to the posts while swapping out the batteries? It's 12 volts and low current. Should work right?
I would never do that. Charger output is not pure DC and could do harm to your car. If you want to keep it energized during battery swapp use another battery, which does not need to be big at all as you just power the computers to hold the memory.
No AMG unfortunately, and we'll just leave it as that
Originally Posted by Arrie
I would never do that. Charger output is not pure DC and could do harm to your car. If you want to keep it energized during battery swapp use another battery, which does not need to be big at all as you just power the computers to hold the memory.
Not necessarily. Some trickle chargers, such as the 7002 model from Ctek, have a “power supply” mode that is intended for this purpose.
Based on experience, I recommend the Ctek trickle chargers. The lower end models (e.g., MUS4.3) are relatively affordable if you shop around, and they seem to be better built than the typical trickle chargers (including the associated accessories). Certainly, many exotic car manufacturers, such as Ferrari, agree, as they offer rebranded Ctek chargers as standard accessories (probably because most exotic cars don’t get driven much).
My previous post mentioned how I installed a new Duracell battery in SEPT 2018. I had bought the battery at Sam's Club and it had a 3 year warranty.
Yesterday I took my E550 for Service A and they recommended a battery replacement because their test was showing that my battery was bad. I found it hard to believe since it's been less than 2 years, plus I do a good amount of long highway driving. I told them that I would handle it on my own. I thought maybe the service shop was just trying to sell me a new battery.
I hooked the car up to a battery tender overnight and this morning it still wasn't charged. It didn't even reach 70%, so I knew something was wrong based on past experience. I found my receipt from 2018 and drove to my nearest Sam's Club. I told them that I think I have a bad battery. They tested it and verified the CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) were below what they should be and it wasn't holding enough charge, so they gave me a new Duracell battery for free (pictured below) and I installed it myself. Hopefully, this one lasts longer.
My previous post mentioned how I installed a new Duracell battery in SEPT 2018. I had bought the battery at Sam's Club and it had a 3 year warranty.
Yesterday I took my E550 for Service A and they recommended a battery replacement because their test was showing that my battery was bad. I found it hard to believe since it's been less than 2 years, plus I do a good amount of long highway driving. I told them that I would handle it on my own. I thought maybe the service shop was just trying to sell me a new battery.
I hooked the car up to a battery tender overnight and this morning it still wasn't charged. It didn't even reach 70%, so I knew something was wrong based on past experience. I found my receipt from 2018 and drove to my nearest Sam's Club. I told them that I think I have a bad battery. They tested it and verified the CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) were below what they should be and it wasn't holding enough charge, so they gave me a new Duracell battery for free (pictured below) and I installed it myself. Hopefully, this one lasts longer.
Interesting. There's only a few battery manufacturers out there, East Penn, JCI and Exide. Of the 3, Exide is usually considered the worse, East Penn supposedly has a better rep that JCI, but JCI was the OEM maker of the Varta brand of batteries that Mercedes uses. You might have just gotten a bad one. Otherwise, the Champion AGM from Pepboys is also considered a good battery and that's made by JCI and comes with a 4 year warranty. Usually it's pretty competitive in price to Duracell, they normally have some discount going on online and they've been doing a $40 rebate for a while, but I think they're having some problem with their rebates right now even though their site says there's one til 7/31. It's $150 now and with the rebate should be $110. My Varta battery in my 2008 is original and is 12+ years old at this point. Batteries don't seem to last that long in a W212 though, the one in the 2011 was already replaced when I bought it over 4 years ago so at least I've gotten 4+ year out of a replacement battery.
If you don't reset the battery life on the newer cars it won't charge the new battery fully. I don't think your 2012 has that system yet though.
This is the first I am hearing of registering a battery to a W212. Is there a scan tool that can do this other than STAR? I’m assuming the 2016s have this? Dealer did not mention it when they replaced the battery under warranty 7 months ago
05-31-2018, 06:02 PM
