It appears that BMW is having 48V battery problems also. I don't think the BMWs are disabled by the failure though.

 

BMW was caught in the same Tesla scam purchase of their supplier/co-developer as Mercedes. Then Musk refused to honor the long-term contract for that development and supply. Don't know if they also stole the IP.

 

If you aren't going to be far away from home, I think it might be OK to drive it until the part comes in. Or if they gave you a loaner, then just keep that until yours gets fixed.

 

Everyone's tolerance for risk is different, of course but, if it were me, I take a loaner if you can get one (which seems to be getting harder these days thanks to the chip shortage) and leave the car with MB. Otherwise, I'd drive the car so long as I'm reasonably close to the dealership. I certainly wouldn't want to go on any long trips.

 

My 2019 CLS450 was not starting recently and I was getting a message of “48V battery”. After trying again the car would start. I was also getting an occasional strange message.
My car has been with the dealer now for 10 days. They had to consult with MB engineers.
Below is the latest update text I received from MB service department.

We ordered a grounding cable the other day that is scheduled to arrive monday AM. We are re-sealing an elctronics unit as of right now that is located underneath the primary catalytic convertor and all of its requisite heat shields. Wont be ready til Monday - Tuesday at the earliest. There was a real problem in your 48V system. Reply STOP to OptOut.

 

I see you have had your CLS for a while.
There was a tech bulletin about a year ago about grounding on GLEs - I don't think it was a recall. I think it solved the problems people were having.
Sounds like they are doing a complete job.

 

So I have finally gotten some news back about my issue. It was confirmed it was the 48V batter for mine and not the software update to the control module for mine. I did have a lengthy conversation with the Service Manager about my vehicle and he stated that currently the "shop's" are not being allowed at least in my area to order them which is a policy I guess that was placed by Mercedes itself. He said this was done to prevent dealerships from stockpiling the batteries since they are aware of the issue. He then told me he had a GLS 450 that was in the service center with the same exact issue and was just being finished and it only had taken the battery 3 days of shipping to get in once ordered. Obviously that depends on the order date and what the means of transportation is but he seems confident it wouldn't be long. He did also states they had ramped production up because of this issue.

I did get a loaner since I live in an area that there is basically no public transportation and it's even costly for UBER which to me is not really acceptable but I'm surprised they never offered to even find a rental. I digress as that has been sorted though and honestly dealing with my dealership has been really good and I've been generally happy with their communication and service....Roadside assistance on the other hand....well I probably could have done better pulling my car to the dealership with a riding lawnmower faster than dealing with them. It took 3 tow truck drivers to get the thing towed cause nobody could figure out how to get it in neutral (cant go into neutral if the 48V batter is not working) and since it is 4matic they didn't want to damage the car. It took about 8 hours of my day to eventually get it towed from within my garage which I guess is on the towing company. Hope this gives a bit of insight on my issue and a little bit more info.

 

I was lucky enough that I knew that they couldn’t jump start the car, that it was locked in Park and that it required skids to pull it out of the garage. I confirmed that with Mercedes Roadside Assistance person when I called about the battery failure. She was aware of the Tow Truck requirements so you must have contacted an inexperienced support person. Absent that information from Mercedes, they might first assume that a jump start is all that’s needed…but then why did they get it wrong the next time??? A Tow Co guy called me before heading out to confirm that they needed a Flat Bed with Skids and to make sure that I had enough room for a Flat Bed.
Edit- If you have a painted Garage Floor or Stamped Concrete it’s a good idea to take cardboard to place under the skids. Skids are hard plastic and not very smooth unless you are lucky enough to get new ones. The cardboard minimizes the possible damage.

 

Just a note here on not being able to get the car into neutral: do not give up right away. While I was unable to do it, the Roadside person (who seemed to have a lot of experience) managed to get it in neutral by repeatedly moving the gear shift up and down until somehow the "N" appeared. While it took him a few minutes to to do it, it enabled Roadside to move my car out of the garage and into position for loading onto the flatbed without the use of skids. A second note: Once the car is in neutral, the door cannot be opened without the gears reverting to park. So basically, it took two people to get the car onto the flatbed -- one to sit in the car, keep it in neutral, and steer as well a possible, and a second to operate the winch.

 

yes that is possible my dealership had an AMG tech come to my house to do that for the tow truck driver
because for some reason the dollies for the rear tires to tow it in park would not fit on my 23 inch AMG wheels on Gls63

 

That’s a nice fix for getting it out of Park. When mine failed in May it wasn’t known by my Dealer Shop Foreman or the Mercedes Roadside Assistance lady I talked with. I specifically asked if there was any ‘workaround”. Standard wheel dollies wouldn’t fit my AMG 21’s.

 

Just got my brand new 2021

1 Happy-Finally here!

2 Uh oh

3 Damn-too good to be true!
S580 Thursday afternoon. Within 24 hours I received an email from the car/MercedesMe that the 12V was critically low. I called the dealer and he said to just drive it for 30 min or an hour and everything should be ok and that I didn't have to do it right then. Within two hours, the car was completely dead and could only be opened with Key. A couple of times enough power came on to tell me there was a 12V and a 48V battery problem and to place the key fob in the appropriate place. The next morning I got to see my new beautiful baby carted off on a flatbed back to the dealer. :-(

 

Good luck!

 

OMG. That stinks man.
Hope they can get it back to you soon!

 

I feel your pain. I've been through this twice but I think I've finally got a good battery. Hopefully, the dealer can its hands on a replacement battery for you quickly.

 

That sucks man, sorry to hear of this. Until supply chains get fully restored this will continue to be an inconvenience for many owners of 48V systems I'm afraid. I'm sure your dealer will take care of you. Beautiful car BTW.

 

Congrats on your new car, sorry to hear that it has to go back to the dealership already, I am surprised they are even putting these faulty batteries in the W223. I am worried that they are taking their chances with the old batteries because of supply issues on top of the chip shortage by hoping the issue doesn't pop up on the car. I am hoping that isn't the case, and the 48V battery is simply discharged (and not part of the defective batch), as for the 12V battery, there are no known defects so likely just discharged.
Good luck with the fix! Please keep us posted.

 

Not sure if this has been posted... If that's true, that's sad that MB knew but still sold the cars.

 

Questionable source - Ambulance Chasers trying to recruit plaintiffs.
From the same source (Gasp!) https://considertheconsumer.com/cons...-are-unhealthy

 

It looks more like the car sat too long and its battery(s) ran down.
It's a lesson for all - if your car, your email, your app and the dealer all say "drive your car to charge it," don't ignore the warnings.

We let our GLC (no 48v) sit for three weeks while traveling, right after it was delivered. The app went from "partially charged" to "critically low" in that time.
It took a few days of "30 minute drives" to get it fully charged, and we haven't been warned since.
The GLE53 hasn't sat still long enough to gather dust, but if we leave either one for more than a week I'll attach a Battery Tender to keep it up. As I do with every 12v battery.

I'm not sure this could be called a 48v battery problem.

 

Well if it happens in cars with 48's but not in cars that lack these amazing batteries wouldn't it be a 48v issue? My cars often sit three weeks or more and don't have these issues.

 

I travel and leave my car at the airports over three weeks quite often without an issue. They should last over a month without an issue imo.

 

Yes, they should. Unless you started with a battery that had been sitting in a car, all parasitic draws active, waiting for a part for several months prior, starting but never recharging, which might be the case with @JTodd above.

The fact that the car warned him of a Critical Battery indicates that there ARE parasitic draws on these new cars. You can locate them, too, showing that they are "listening."

 

Has anyone been able to find or activate "Standby mode" . According to the manual this is available to preserve the starting battery and I assume reduce parasitic draws. I cannot find it and neither can my dealer. IMO the system may not be operating as it should overall and could put more stresses on the battery causing some of the failures. I cannot understand why the battery gage monitors the 12v accessory battery and doesn't monitor the crucial 48V battery. Does MB ever check this forum?

 

Wait, your dealer told you this? It’s right on the manual. Took me 15 seconds to find it (wether your model supports it or not is s different story, but they should know this already).
If so, then you need to find another dealer.