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So, trying to make the most out of this situation... for me the good news is that the car will tell me when the battery needs attention.
Some time ago I was monitoring the battery voltage while driving on highway. I posted about this in a thread but can't remember the thread name now...
Anyway, it seems the car does not use alternator much at all as voltage stays at around 12.8 V when you go steady highway speed but voltage jumps up to 14.8 when the Distronic slows the car down or if I slow it down with brakes. It seems it works like a hybrid in this way taking advantage of the slow down drive cycle to use alternator for more charging.
But I also noticed a very interesting detail. When I turn the fog light ON (that rear left light) the voltage jumps up to 14.8 V and stays at it at all times regardless how I drive. Perhaps this fog light could be used as a charge booster for folks that drive little and suffer for battery going low...?
Some time ago I was monitoring the battery voltage while driving on highway. I posted about this in a thread but can't remember the thread name now...
Anyway, it seems the car does not use alternator much at all as voltage stays at around 12.8 V when you go steady highway speed but voltage jumps up to 14.8 when the Distronic slows the car down or if I slow it down with brakes. It seems it works like a hybrid in this way taking advantage of the slow down drive cycle to use alternator for more charging.
But I also noticed a very interesting detail. When I turn the fog light ON (that rear left light) the voltage jumps up to 14.8 V and stays at it at all times regardless how I drive. Perhaps this fog light could be used as a charge booster for folks that drive little and suffer for battery going low...?
get in, close door, press keyless go button once. Quickly press the answer button on one side of the wheel followed by pressing the OK button on the other side. Hold them until the menu appears. Then select vehicle data. You can then start the car and monitor the voltage.
I'd like to view battery charging stats while driving my 2016. But apparently that is not offered in the engineering menu in my 2016.
Yes, that is the thread. This is how my car behaves and perhaps it is different with newer models. But I can tell you that I get 25 - 26 actual calculated MPG on this car on highway driving 79 MPH. If I would drive 60 MPH I would probably get 30+MPG but I'm not patient enough to do that.
I can also get some odd hybrid displays thru settings in engineering but they are not connected to fuel usage to show graphs.
get in, close door, press keyless go button once. Quickly press the answer button on one side of the wheel followed by pressing the OK button on the other side. Hold them until the menu appears. Then select vehicle data. You can then start the car and monitor the voltage.
Welpers, I tried this procedure this morning. It doesn't work. I even held both buttons down for what seemed like 30-40 seconds, and it won't advance.
Thinking about this more, I now realize this "accept phone call" + "OK" button combination is the same routine used to enter the menus to reset the maintenance counter. I've done this twice already (when I've changed oil), but I recall it was finicky to get into the vehicle menu. I will have to try tthis some more...
Originally Posted by mtnman82
Very interested in getting to this menu myself. Is there a specific page we need to start from?
I think you have to be on the "Total Miles" ODO screen in the MFD, or at least you do to reset the maintenance counter. Let me know if you get this to work for you as I play more myself.
Just followed LILBENZ's instructions again it worked perfectly. I think I was pressing the 'end call' + 'OK' buttons before. Battery is sitting at ~12.2v and goes to 14+v after startup and while driving around.
I paged thru the menu and did not find 'dyno mode' like in the w203. I guess the tires are safe …
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