Dudeman

uhhh.... What ?

Griffedi

Hmmm, my 2015 GLK still has original AGM battery (7 years) . I have never had a flooded battery last that long.

hceptj

That's incorrect because my 2010, that I bought while it was still in Germany, came with an AGM.

The factory AGM battery lasted 5 years, replaced it with a Duralast Platinum flooded which only lasted 1.5 years, went back in with a Advanced Auto AGM and it's going on 5 years with no issues.

Besides, you can go to Batteries Plus and get a Duracell AGM for $200 with a 5 year replacement warranty.

What would justify buying a flooded battery for the same price as an AGM?

I wont bother repeating what others have already said on this thread other than my personal experience shows that the AGM battery is needed unless you want to replace the battery every couple of years.

Bob338

Mine is an early '13 build, picked up at the factory in June, 2013. Still running the original battery.

andreigbs

As is mine, though an early 2014.

I use my NOCO battery tender on it since we're not driving it much lately.

John CC

Batteries are the new oil...

(Note: sometimes it's best to let old threads die...)

Odd Piggy

[QUOTE=kajtek1;8349322 AGM batteries were developed for upside down applications, so when you plan to use it that way, you might want to consider it.[/QUOTE]
The previous post not withstanding,
I thought that was the realm of the SLA battery. But the AGM will maintain power long enough for mBrace to call for help in a rollover.

insame1

I noticed no one hear mentioned that the OE Mercedes batteries are silver calcium. They are made from lead–calcium–silver alloy, instead of the traditional lead–antimony. You will not get a flood siclver calcium battery from an auto parts tore shelf. They are prove to last longer than traditional batteries and retain cranking power longer.

Odd Piggy

Interesting. I've seen Ford advertise this battery technology. But the MBUSA site just talks about AGM batteries and "German technology." Johnston Controls used to make Mercedes Benz batteries, but the also made many of the top selling brands, too. My GLK350 manual mentioned that it had a "battery designed for the life of the vehicle." It didn't. When I asked the dealer, I was told that it was a carbon-lithium battery. It wasn't and I replaced it with an off the shelf AGM battery. The battery in the GLK didn't have any special appearance, but it had a black case and not the translucent one that the Johnston Controls ones had. There was nothing on it to indicate the manufacturer. Maybe that "designed for life" was the indication that it was a bit different.

insame1

Varta Makes (or used to) MB batteries. Black ones are made in Germany and gray ones are made in Spain. Looks like they have been owned by Energizersince 2002.

John CC

My car didn't start yesterday (-15F) so I spent an hour or so researching batteries this morning.

AGM batteries consistently have a shorter warranty than an equivalent flooded cell battery from the same manufacturer, typically 3 years vs. 4.

Varta is owned by Johnson Controls, as are many other brands.

Bosch batteries are made by Exide, as are many other brands.

Most of the rest are made by East Penn, including NAPA, which only carry an 18 month warranty.

The same NAPA battery, under the O'Reilly name, carries a 3 year warranty but costs $10 more.

insame1

it is owned by Energizer. that is owned by Energizer holdings. look it up

Mmr1

AGM is what your mb was designed for , AGM are superior in many many ways.

1 . They last longer , easily 7 -9 years, mine was still fine at about 450cca when I replaced it at 8 years. I just didn’t want to go through -20f without assurances.

2 . They can be discharged to a much lower voltage without damage , unlike lead a acid. One full discharge can ruin a lead acid battery . No so with AGM.

3 . You don’t have to worry about corroded terminals or hydrogen gas , as they are dry and sealed.

4. They hold a charge longer than lead acid. They don’t self discharge as fast. This is needed for all the electronics you have.

5 it won’t leak if cracked in an accident.

It is a better battery, yes it costs more. Your mb was designed for it. That battery box cover will hold hydrogen gas from a lead acid , that will corrode your terminals. You don’t get corrosion with an AGM . Think of needing to clean your terminals every year or so because you didn’t get an AGM. My 8 year old terminals didn’t need cleaning. I don’t understand the warranty issue, but in real life they work better.

John CC

It? Varta? At least one of us is wrong...
https://www.johnsoncontrols.com/insi...-car-batteries

insame1

there doesn't seem to be any clear dataEnergizer Holdings, Inc. is an American manufacturer and one of the world's largest manufacturers of batteries, headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri.[3][4][5][6] It produces batteries under the Energizer, Ray-O-Vac, Varta, and Eveready brand names, and formerly owned a number of personal care businesses until it separated that side of the business into a new company called Edgewell Personal Care in 2015.

In January 2018, Energizer announced it was purchasing the global battery and lighting division from Spectrum Brands, which includes the Ray-O-Vac and Varta brands, for $2 billion in cash.[7] This acquisition was finalized in January 2019 after a lengthy regulatory approval process. In November 2018, Energizer also purchased the global auto care division from Spectrum (brands which include Armor All, STP, and A/C Pro) for $1.25 billion in cash and stock.
but then i see stuff from 2017 and 2020 that sayt JC owns it.

Maybe it is all one giant company that says they are many company's for legal reasons.

John CC

Companies with "Holdings" in their name are generally holding companies and don't actually manufacture anything; the companies they hold do the heavy lifting. (I know, semantics...)
Sounds like flashlight batteries, not automotive batteries. That would fit better with the "number of personal care businesses," too.

Johnson Controls automotive battery business was spun off in 2019 an now operates under the name "Clarios" and manufactures [the rest is pasted from Wikipedia] automotive batteries for passenger cars, heavy and light duty trucks, utility vehicles, motorcycles, golf carts and boats. It supplies more than one third of the world's lead-acid batteries to automakers and aftermarket retailers including Wal-Mart, Sears, Toyota, and BMW. Lead acid battery brands produced under this business unit include Continental, OPTIMA, Heliar, LTH, Delkor and VARTA automotive batteries

NYCGLK

I got whatever AGM battery was sold at local autozone (last MB battery didn't last too long). Have the same in my toyota for a few years now.
If not driving for prolonged periods (a week or more) or taking only short drives, use trickle charger.

John CC

Duralast H7-AGM manufactured by Johnson Controls

Glamgrrl

Well, maybe not forever but just replaced our 2013 battery, it lasted 10 years. Just replaced with another Mercedes battery. Curious on the lifespan of the auxiliary battery, and wouldn’t that keep all the electronics programmed when replacing the standard battery?

Odd Piggy

I don’t think the auxiliary battery does that on a GLK. I used a keeper plugged into the OBD port when I changed mine. The aux battery is there to run the transmission pump when the eco-stop is active.