FCO

In the process of hard wiring my V1, I accidently shorted things. I blew a fuse immediately. Started looking for the blown fuse. They all looked good (the ones by the passenger door, the ones in the engine compartment, the ones on rear cargo area), so I started to look for the battery. Guess where they put it? Under the passenger seat. You have to cut the carpet, remove the rear foot vent and guess what, there are more fuses by the battery. Found my blown fuse. 30 amp fuse, but what a pain to get to the fuses and battery. I gave up on the V1, I'll let the dealer install it.

FCO

jpeardm

Kinda like working on the Space Shuttle.

FCO

You better instructions on a shuttle with pictures and the manual is in English.

stlduckhunter

How are you supposed to jump the car if the battery is dead?

jpeardm

There are positive and negative connection posts under the hood on the passenger side fenderwall.

SFML320

Maybe there was already too much weight under the hood. The rear was already full, so under the passenger seat it was. It's probably the least clustered area in the car.

StevethePilot

Hotel Foxtrot Sierra! How very "don't you dare try to service it yourself" of them!

BTW, what's a V1?

STP

FCO

Valentine Rader Detector ( http://www.valentine1.com/ )

BeanCounter

Thanks for the post. I was wandering where it was. Now I know. I really hate when car manufacturers put batteries somewhere else than under the hood. Gives me that warm fuzzy feeling knowing that all that acid and what not is riding shotgun with me.............

HoustonRider

i know the sedans, the battery used to be under the rear seat... in BMW as well..

I don't know about the new ones... its weight distribution for sure... those things weigh 40-50 pounds..

lkchris

Been years since Mercedes has put a battery under the hood.

WordSmith

My 2005 SL500 has one under the hood and one in the trunk to run the retractable hardtop. Both are easily accessable. This under-the-seat position is a real shocker.

Newbie_2_MB

Man, am I glad I read this. Being the blonde that I am, I would have probably spent an hour looking under the hood thinking, "Where the heck is the battery?" Even though I didn't see it, I'd still keep looking. I've never owned a car that doesn't have the battery under the hood.

Actually, I'd call Tele-Aid or Auto Club and have them come jump the battery...I'm not risking a nail trying to hook up jumper cables

oknish

I went through something similar recently when my wife's Volvo needed a jump start. When I couldn't find the battery under the hood, I pulled out the manual and looked up battery location. In that car, it was in the trunk next to the spare tire with a nice flat metal cover on top. I cursed and then went looking for tools to take the cover off to jump start. Decided to look in manual to see what it said about jump starts and sure enough there are two connection points under the hood clearly labeled + & - for jump starts. Was able to jump start without any issue.

And, now glad to know that same will work for GL also.

MKW

Why would one have to cut the carpet to access the battery ? Shouldn't there have been a " pre-cut " formed into it ? It seems MBZ is asking for trouble having dealer service tech ,owner or local AAA mobile battery replacement guy " go at it " blindly with a blade . I suspect factory service guide has the tech remove the sill plate and then lift that section of carpet . Seems to me that cutting the carpet could introduce tire/susp/running gear noise through the floor pan .

SFML320

MBUSA is crossing their fingers that the battery will last the life of the car. (being less than 10 yrs that is)

Even though I'm being sarcastic, a battery will last just as long as it's not being drained all the time.

Pfaelzer

Better weight distribution/lower CG and keep it in a dryer environment than under the hood.

WordSmith

I agree. There has to be a better (MB approved) way to access the battery than cutting the carpet. I don't have my GL550 yet, but it will be the first items I look for in the manual when (and if) I take delivery.

lkchris

There is indeed a precut.

SUNILP

You must have shorted pretty bad. Those fuses under the carpet usually never blow unless a heavy draw was placed. Also, cutting the carpet is not required. Just remove the seat.