Longroof45

The first time in May my car was towed in on Monday and I had it back on Friday. I believe the dealer had its hands on a new battery within two days. The second time in June, it took nine days to get the car back, so I'm guessing it took about a week for them to get a battery.

Mercedesfla007

You had the same issue twice with the 48V battery? What makes you think they fixed it the 2nd time? Unbelievable!

Neyugnct

dealers are advised to follow the repair bulletin for this the first time around which includes removing the paint from where the ground wire attaches etc before replacing the battery. Have to look at the original RO to see what was actually done

Longroof45

Nothing, really. The first battery saw a total of 196 miles (no doubt it was already sapped when it came off the boat) and the second a total of 535 miles. I'm well over 3,000 miles on the third battery but frankly I've changed plans to take a north coast to south coast road trip, and opted to fly instead because I haven't gotten my confidence back. I tried to push my dealer into giving me the battery with the new part number the last time to no avail. They said they had to install what MB sent them, and that was the old part number. I'm hoping that my present battery isn't one of the "bad batch" and that the software updates my dealer did will keep me running for a long time. But you know that Peanuts cartoon where Lucy is holding the football for Charlie Brown to kick, with that "you can trust me this time" look on her face?

Longroof45

My dealer did that but that didn't fix anything.

Longroof45

Mercedesfla007, I hope I didn't spook you on your upcoming road trip. Remember, my failures were relatively early (May and June) and I think MB may have figured some things out since then because I'm not seeing a lot of repeat battery replacement stories on this board. I'm just leery of taking a road trip with my wife and dog from the Great Lakes to South Florida in February, the worst month of the year. I monitor these 48 volt battery threads rigorously, hoping it will restore my confidence. I'm not seeing a lot of repeat failures, but we're seniors (other than the dog) and just can't risk it.

Neyugnct

Just curious, those with the 48v issue on the battery. What’s your driving habits like? Slow and steady, aggressive, light footed?

I know on my NSX if I plan to not drive the car for a few days I’ll throw it in sport+ to charge the battery before I park it. It does show me when it’s charging and when it’s being depleted also. But driving habit plays a huge role in how that battery charges/depletes.

So far on my GLS450 I have no issues, I do drive it spiritedly though cause I shoulda bought a 580/63 instead lol

Mercedesfla007

My latest update is so reassuring for an $87k+ car.
“Battery should be here some time next week”.
No words…..was originally told a couple days…

Mercedesfla007

Picked up my car today. They had it a week! New battery installed…. Will keep my fingers crossed and have positive thoughts that this is Mercedes and is higher quality!

Longroof45

That's the right attitude. Don't ruin the great experience of driving a great machine.

LNK

Seasons' Greeting! I am reporting this issue (48v battery malfunction) that happened with my 2020 GLS 450. It has almost 12k miles on it.
What to do?
I am in western New Hampshire.
What to do?

Mercedesfla007

You have to bring it in and assume you will have to get it towed in and hopefully they will order a new battery. It took them 7 days to get it in.

Longroof45

What's the status? Towed in?

LNK

In my driveway. I am calling MB Manchester, NH tomorrow, Monday morning.

LNK

Thank you for your advice.
I value it.
LNK

Longroof45

Please keep us posted. Hopefully, a software updat with do it. Maybe a new 48v battery. Let us knw.

marchgroupinc

Please report this like a few others have done, to the NHSTA so that it will become a recall. Mercedes know about this and so far hasn't issued a recall on their own. Maybe if enough instances are reported it will be an official recall. It also appears that it will happen multiple times for some and Mercedes need to be proactive on this instead of hiding this real safety issue. Next time it happens to someone while driving or other circumstances could result in an unfortunate catastrophe.

Longroof45

Most of the reported 48v battery issues have been on MY2021 vehicles. There have been very few on MY2020 and my recollection is that at least some of those have only required a software update. I hope that's all you require.

zimirza2003

the dealer found that the battery terminals were painted which resulted in intermittent no start issue
Cheers

9157

Well I had the 48v malfunction in July, towed to the the dealer and I was there for 3 weeks.
WELL, IT JUST HAPPENED AGAIN!!!
my service advisor said that MB really doesn’t have a fix yet and are shooting at straws trying to find a permanent fix.
not sure what to do. The last time MB send an engineer and his remedy was to sand down all the battery connections. They also offered an additional 1yr warranty or $3k off a new one. Not very comforting. Not sure what to do.

Longroof45

Sorry to hear. You're driving a GLS? What MY and how many miles, if I may ask? And did they replace the 48 volt in July?

9157

2020 GLS. First failure happened at 24k miles and it now has 31k miles.

9157

I had the 48v malfunction in July, towed to the the dealer and It was there for 2 weeks.
WELL, IT JUST HAPPENED AGAIN!!!
my service advisor said that MB really doesn’t have a fix yet and are shooting at straws trying to find a permanent fix.
not sure what to do. The last time MB send an engineer and his remedy was to sand down all the battery connections. Not sure what to do.

nc211

did they actually replace the battery last time? That seems to be a general fix for many. Or did they just tinker with the connectors?

trusting the comments of a MB dealer service advisor, is on par with assuming the Amazon delivery driver knows the engineering specs of the Blue Origin space rocket.

Longroof45

I'm curious as well. I'm wondering if anyone else sees a pattern here or whether I'm just stretching to find answers. It seems that the 48 volt battery issues, as well as MB's attempted fixes, have been different for MY2020 and MY2021. With MY2021, it seems the issue has generally arisen in very low mileage conditions (in my case, twice at under 1,000 miles); whereas, with MY2020 the failures have occurred much later in the life of the battery. Also, it seems that MB has acted fairly quickly in authorizing replacement of the 48 volt battery in MY2021 vehicles, but not so much with MY2020 vehicles, preferring to try other workarounds first. I don't know if that pattern is real or imagined.