My salesman and the sales manager both cautioned that the app can really drain your battery, so I have avoided using it for things like engine start/stop, lock/unlock, etc., and just use it for informational purposes other than in an emergency. e55phil, if your name dates you, what bout mine lol😃!

It had been about 12 hours overnight when we had the issue. One thing that I had was a Progressive Insurance Snapshot in the OBD port. I truly believe this was a contributing factor as the car probably puts itself in a diagnostic mode whenever something is plugged in the port. I will not use that anymore and forgo the discount. My wife is retired and I work remotely so we only have the one car. We also live in the boondocks. The dealer loaded a loaner (Toyota RAV4) on the tow and drove it an hour and a half to our house. The batteries were completely dead. Tow driver had a jump pack and we got it in neutral and on the flatbed. Still waiting on confirmation of the issue.

Yes, that is probably the cause of the battery drain. I had a similar situation with a device plugged into the port -- seems like it was some add-on feature of the Valentine 1 radar detector, but I don't recall for sure. In any case, I'd occasionally, maybe once a week, connect a home charger and make sure the 12 volt battery is always charged. If you only do short trips, it likely will not get charged completely. Hope you get an AOK from the shop.

I found out the car was built 7/21. I have attached the repair information, looks like they only replaced the 48 volt battery. Maybe the software update was done during the build. Anyway, it has been doing fine the past week or so. I have been monitoring the 12 volt battery voltage to make sure it is getting charged when the car is running. I am not quite as complimentary as some of MB, they may have some good engineers, but they screwed this thing up pretty good. Like you, I am not planning any trips in it anytime soon. The dealer has been good about bringing the loaner and taking/returning the car, but if they had mentioned this problem earlier, probably would not have bought it. Let me know how your car is doing, will keep my fingers crossed. Take care

I would delete that PDF if I were you, your information is still visible in the address and phone.

It looks like they gave you what's been called the "old" battery part number (note the 68). That's what they gave me as well -- twice. Some people have been getting what we thought was the "new" battery number (67 instead of 68). There appears to be no method to the madness when it comes the the 48 volt battery part number. My latest has gone over 3,000 miles so maybe it's something other than the actual battery part number. I hope you have good luck.

Thanks for the reply, guess all we can do at this point is hope for the best. I reattached the repair info, think I got the personal info blanked out okay.

Good luck to all of us with the '21 E450:).

48V BATTERY MALFUNTION
 

2022 E450 2,000 miles driving through the EZ Pass, the car wouldn't not accelerate. 48V malfunction appeared and we had to pull over. Thankfully there was shoulder where we were able to do so. Shut the car off and waited a few seconds. Car started and we were able to continue our trip. A bit nervous driving my brand new car on trips now.

Hopefully that's something that can just be remedied with a software update or something. Most likely, it's not the 48 volt battery itself or you wouldn't have been able to re-start the car. Good luck in getting it resolved. Please keep us posted.

On a Positive Note
 

Just to be more upbeat and positive on this thread about the 48-volt EQ systems -- I have 18,000 miles on my '19 CLS53 and 3,000 miles on my '22 GLE53 with absolutely no problem. I know, "Knock on Wood" but these vehicles have been absolutely rock solid with zero problems and are a total delight to drive.

Battery problems are one of the most common among these machines.

Sorry, what two things are you referring to?

Probably a spam bot. Recent join date and check the other posts.

Yep, I see what you mean.

Hi,

I just got this problem after sending my E200 to the workshop for the first oil change after the first 1000 km here. The workshop said the car was ready for me and there I saw this error after starting the engine and ready to go.

I got the car in Oct 2021. Never seen this error before sending this to the workshop for oil change. The technician did not find any physical issue and reset the error. I drove it back home safely and hope the error will not happen again. The workshop advise me to arrange and send in the car for latest software updates and told me to pay for the updates. They told me that warranty does not cover updates. Is this true?

Also, it is a bit odd that I got my car in Oct 2021 and yet the software version is still 2020. It is brand new car imported from UK. Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks,
Lsaint

It doesn't sound right to me that you should have to pay for the updates. My car was taken in twice, and received two new 48 volt batteries and two software updates. I didn't have to pay anything.

Thanks for the info. Even when I did not get the car from the local authorised dealer, I think it should still be covered by the manufacturer warranty.

Battery w/Run Down Protection
 

When I checked my VIN with the VIN decoder, I see that my CLS53 and CLS53 have a "Battery w/Run Down Protection." I assume this is standard software code that shuts down the electrical system if a low battery is detected. This reinforces the idea that we must keep the charge up with a trickle charger or periodically with a full-size battery charger.

VIN Decoder: https://mbworld.org/forums/vindecoder.php

48 volt woes...car won't start. MBUSA roadside assist... double plus ungood
 

OK I'm in total love of my 2021 E450 custom ordered. Had a little problem when my hyperscreen or whatever it's called went out. The dealer replaced it promptly with a day or two wait... Ok worrisome, but no big deal in the scheme of things. Last night after going out to dinner, in a gentrifying, trendy part of town that can get dicey late at night... my car wouldn't start. Plenty of juice for the auxiliary things like radio, lights and other functions... but it was a dead parrot. MBUSA roadside assist was a pain. Took over an hour to dispatch a tow and said tow brought the wrong truck. Couldn't fit in the underground garage where I was. Might be MBUSA roadside assist negligence or the tow company's. Not going to get in a blame game, but I was left stranded in a not safe place for far too long. OK, I called the dealer this morning who bent over back wards to help. Major league impressed. They had hoped they could start it. Couldn't. We got the cockamamie tow company to come and the van the dealership brought got my car out of the underground garage for my tow back to the dealer. The very knowledgeable service manager who came to help, muttered under his breath that he was pretty sure it was the 48 volt mild hybrid system battery. I did a lot of reading before I special ordered this car. I am only now reading that the 48 volt battery system might be a lemon. Theoretically if it can be fixed by next Monday (I doubt it from what I'm reading) I was going to take the car on a 1,000 business trip. Even if fixed after what I'm reading about repeated problems with the 48 volt system on new cars (I only have 3,700 mile on it after 9 months) and the wipe out of the hyperscreen... I'm not feeling very confident to take it on a long trip. Do any of you have experience with this???
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11

I have experience in not taking a trip because of "battery apprehension", having had not one but two 48 volts die on me before the car hit 1,000 miles. I decided to fly rather than take a 2,400 Ohio/Florida round trip last winter. The thought of being stuck somewhere in the middle of nowhere was daunting, especially in February -- very "up the creek without a paddle". As it turns out, I could have made that round-trip twice by now without any kind of a problem. But who knew!? My confidence in the mild hybrid system has grown on account of 6,000 miles of uneventful travel and also because the reports of breakdowns on this forum have diminished greatly over the past year. A good sign? Maybe, but once burned (let alone twice) . . . well, you know. I would feel a lot more confident if the problem was one that Roadside could fix on the spot, or even if it were possible to get a 24-hour turnaround after being towed to a dealership. The problem is that, even today at a time when MB is better prepared to deal wit this issue expeditiously, any turnaround is likely to take days if not longer. (Historically, it was much worse. Early reports from '20 and '21 had some dealerships waiting for weeks for new batteries to shipped in from Germany.)

So at this point I just try to take it in stride, hope for the best and avoid taking any long trips through the hinterlands. And I monitor the battery and make sure the car is driven enough to keep it charged or, if it isn't being driven, put it on a battery tender. That said, aside from that apprehension, I absolutely love my '21 E450 wagon. When it's not in the shop, it's a superb driving machine.

What was the situation prior to this incident? Did you have the car on a battery trickle charger or had you been making short trips?

48 V
 

New to this forum, but have been reading for months now. I have a 2021 GLS580 and experienced our first 48 volt battery problem 2 months ago. Pulled into driveway (luckily) and ran inside for something, came back and would not start. Message indicating " Stop Vehicle See operators Manual". Had no idea what had happened and plugged in battery charger for two days and it indicated full charge. Still wouldn't start. Contacted dealer and was picked up by flatbed and taken in. Said it was a "major" software update necessary. 1 week later I receive the vehicle. Driving apprehensively two weeks later, traveling 50 mph, and sudden immediate loss of power and battery warning light flashed on display. Slowed to 10 mph and luckily no one was behind me. But suddenly light went off and power resumed. Towed again and another small software update and returned two days later. Scared to death to take this on any trip with pets, grandchildren etc.

Sorry to hear. For the price charged for “the S-Class of SUVs” it makes one wonder whether MB is in control of their business faculties.