Poppa Z

The first was the second row drivers side captains chair that would not move either with the electronic button control or physically by the technicians
It spent a day in the shop and I can only hope it will work going forward

The second happened today with a 48 Volt malfunction so I brought it in at 7:40 this morning, they have had it all day and said they have to remove the interior to do the battery replace and testing
They dont know when I will get it back

Is there anyone out there that can comfort a new owner that he did not make a terrible mistake in buying a MB

Thank you for your thoughts especially if any of you had had similar malfunctions

EWL5

If your loaner was a GLC that worked, count yourself amongst the blessed!

nc211

Poppa, are you new to the MB world in general with this GLS?

First thing I am going to tell you, is don't physic yourself out over the brand. End of the day, it is just a car, and they've been making cars longer than anyone else. They're not perfect, but they're also not 1995 Land Rovers either. We've put on 65k on ours from new, and even though we've had some frustrations with the dealership network and MB parts availability, nothing major has gone wrong. Bad window track, bad seat covers, goofy camera, that sort of stuff. Annoying stuff. I think that is pretty remarkable considering the cutting edge of the car in general with the 48v system, a turbo, and a supercharger all strapped to a 3.0 i6 engine riding on air suspension. I knock MB around here (and rightfully so), but at the end of the day, we're not one bit sorry we bought our GLS.

But what you will need, if this is your first Mercedes, is patience with the dealership (a weakness of mine). Then I would suggest a strong Indi in your area to take over the fluid maintenance going forward. Again...just a car.

The battery... they do not have to take apart your interior. They have to remove the driver's seat, as that is where it lives. The battery has been known to be an issue on a few of them regardless of year. I had one of those battery malfunction messages too when I had about 2,500 miles on ours, but it somehow magically went away and has never been seen again. All in the parking lot of a grocery store in November 2020. Car ran, so I ran the **** out of it on my way home. It was off by the time I got home. But had the same feeling of panic that you're feeling. Let them replace the battery and just motor on. They've crossed this bridge a few times with this 48v setup. It's not a new item for any of them to deal with.

There hasn't been a car in my entire life that didn't have some sort of defect from the factory. From the fuel pump on my last GTI, to the tailgate alignment of our otherwise bulletproof 2013 Toyota Highlander that proceeded our GLS (fondly known as the "booger bucket" by the time we rolled that biohazard over to CarMax for $11k). It'll be alright, just annoying and irritating to say the least. They'll get it fixed.

Poppa Z

Thank you very much nc211
Yes, this is my first GLS, previous car was an X5

It is people like you that make our world a better place
Your thoughts are very informed and quite helpful
You have made my joining this MB World forum a win already

I will maintain my serenity with the malfunctions

If anyone has an Indi in Central Florida they recommend, please advise

jkaetz

The 48v battery is under/behind the passenger seat. The 12v battery is the one under the driver seat. Still will be a bit of disassembly to get to it and replace it but it shouldn't be a major issue either.

Scott Schmidt

I too have had problems with the 48V battery and a few other little annoyances. But at around 0330 the other morning after driving all night, the Active Lane Keeping Assist saved me from having a serious head-on collision at speed, and for that I forgive this fine automobile for all other faults, both past and present.

streborx

My last near-miss (why's it called that?) was nighttime driving when a large buck suddenly appeared in front of me. An evasive maneuver into the left lane across the centerline saved me. This was before ALKA, and it's my understanding that ALKA is supposed to defer to sudden moves such as the one I executed. I hope not to have an opportunity to report back on this.

streborx

Deleted

jkaetz

I turned off lane keeping assist within a week of owning our GLS as both my wife and I had incidents where the system tried to push us back into something we were avoiding by skirting a fog line.

streborx

I had a similar experience but it took me only 20 minutes after driving off the dealer's lot. I nearly took out two cyclists that I wanted to give plenty of space but the car wanted to mow down.

darlop

Lane keep assist is downright dangerous. Keep it off.

48v battery problems are a given with the GLS but I thought they would have fixed it for 2024.

Scott Schmidt

There is some truth to what you say. At first I did not like it very much either, but then I understood how it worked. It only engages if you’re going above 37 mph, and if you turn on your blinker, let’s say when you’re trying to pass a bicyclist, it will not activate. so everyone can decide for themselves, but now that I understand it, I leave it on, and in this particular case, it really saved my bacon.

streborx

I removed the LKA switch module and hacked it with a circuit that emulates pressing the disable button for the 3 seconds each time I start the car, so it's no longer an annoyance. I think there are coding methods that can do this also.

Interesting about the GLS 48 volt system -- not unlike the experiences of some BMW owners. I commented on this in another thread, and it was not favorably received.
See post #7 at https://mbworld.org/forums/eqs/88650...y-battery.html

streborx

I became aware of LKA after having a chance to read the owner's manual (sales guy couldn't/wouldn't send me a pdf version prior to delivery). When I picked up the vehicle, the sales guy said nothing about LKA -- all he wanted to do was pair my phone with the car. So there I was driving calmly down the street, and then LKA kicked in without warning -- I thought the transmission had dropped out, it was such a severe jolt. I understand LKA's intent, but relying on the integrity of stripes painted on the highway exceeds the limit of my faith in technology.

jkaetz

Like speed limit adoption, it sounds good in theory, but I don't often signal when avoiding road trash or an unexpected car merging into my lane. I don't need the car fighting me during evasive action that will often cross or come very close to lane markers. I do still allow it to steer while cruise is active but IMO that's a different driving dynamic. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure the systems will get to the point of being better than a human, but until the manufacturers accept fault for crashes caused by their software and hardware I only trust them in certain situations.

streborx

My BMW has both lane keeping assist and steering assist. I've disabled its LKA, but surprisingly, I rather like the steering assist. It feels like nothing more than a gentle gravitational pull that maintains center of the lane position -- I never have to fight it. It does get confused on highways where a single lane transitions into and out of 2 lanes (passing lane) and the lane stripes are discontinuous. But otherwise it's OK and a bit helpful on some of the badly truck-rutted interstates.

darlop

You don't need coding to disable Lane keep.

streborx

We're all listening .....

darlop

Its in the settings...

jkaetz

LKA on ours was simply a quick settings button and it doesn't reset on startup. Also lets us keep active steer when cruise is active.

MDMercedesGuy

I guess I’m in the minority - I quite like the LKA and lane centering. The driver assist systems that Mercedes employs are some of the best in the business and consistently are some of the best rated in head to head tests.

LKA in particular is hardly “downright dangerous” 😅

nc211

I’m not a fan of any steering inputs other than my own, feels unnatural to me. Had a nee BMW X3 loaner last fall that nearly put me into the back of a stalled 18-wheeler trailer because of it. Didn’t realize the car the system, wasn’t expecting it, had to make an immediate evasive lane switch and the steering wheel fought me to stay in my lane because I didn’t have enough time to turn on the turn signal first. I don’t mind a system that alerts me to lane drift, but I do mind not being the only one who can control the steering wheel.

These 48v systems are new to the car industry in general, and like anything, they do have some bugs to work out. I would say that if the bug is mostly just the need for a battery swap, then we should consider ourselves lucky. My understanding is the battery supplier to MB was bought out by Tesla who in turn cancelled the deal with MB as a business maneuver to protect Tesla’s position in the EV space. This caused MB to start from scratch on building their own battery packs while they found another supplier in a pinch. I think all MB’s with this power plant have had a handful of bad batteries here and there, not just the GLS.

OP, what you find out about your GLS is that “software” is now a major component of the car, meaning several fixes will be addressed by little more than a software update. Bushings, mounts, gaskets, etc, are all extremely solid on this car. Mechanically, it’s a well built and well designed machine! And electronically it’s solid as well, but you can expect a visit or two to the dealership for a computer update along the way. In your settings menu you will see the option for “over the air” updates. Make sure that is turned on. It helps to keep everything up to date. Welcome to an iPhone with wheels!

Beyond all of the safety features and tech toys, at the end of the day, and a key reason why I pay the premium for MB, is that I appreciate the fact that they’re designed from the very start with the autobahn in mind. When you have a chance to walk away from skidding down the autobahn at 130mph on the roof, I’ll take it. I say the same for all of the German brands, and is why my 16 year old is learning to drive with a VW Tiquan right now. But that being said, I am waiting for Ford to deliver me my mid-life crisis car, a 2024 Bronco! Ha!!

streborx

Why not walk us who are less clever through the procedure? Or simply reference the owners manual pages?

streborx

Here in Colorado, black ice is a common winter phenomenon. A wet road surface can become ice nearly instantaneously. A slight loss of control resulting in crossing the centerline would lead to total loss of control if ALKA kicked in. Maybe there's a temperature input that disables ALKA at road freezing temps, but I'd rather not be the one to investigate this.

chassis

Sadly no such comfort is available.

MB is in a tailspin; swirling the drain.