They have the best price with a 4 year replacement and free installation. I mean apart from the odd location everything else is the same as a normal battery install, right? Should I be concerned? Any of you had batteries installed by them?

 

No…. I’m sorry I just cannot trust them. I would pay a little bit more and have a shop do it for piece of mind.

 

If you care about your car, do NOT let anyone not familiar with MB touch anything with the electrics/electronics of your vehicle.

Sad story: lady comes out of a party, MB (GLK 350) battery discharged ask for help from other guests and someone helped jump the car. A little spark while they attempted to jump it, the car never started and she got a ride home. The dealer repaired the car, and all was well after the $4000 repair, and the car was in the dealer for a month waiting for parts (during the pandemic). A $40 Uber, and calling the dealer or an Indy would have cost her not much more than $500 if a new battery was needed. DO NOT save pennies when risking thousands.

For example, I know some employees at BatteryPlus that are NOT allowed to change MB/BMW batteries for any customer. Take it or leave it policy since they never know if it was their fault or the car already had a problem. And those guys have changed tens of batteries for other vehicles.

You can do it yourself

 

"Free installation" means popping the hood and replacing a regular honda civic battery. I've done the install, I wouldn't let some high school kid working at Walmart replace the battery on the ML...

 

Nope, I vote no also. There are several YouTube videos out there showing how to do it yourself (little trick took me a while to figure out...keep pushing the seat forward button and the seat will go all of the way forward and lift a bit to provide better access). If you have rear HVAC, there is another duct back there you have to remove to get to the battery too. I've done mine (with the rear HVAC) and it isn't too hard, just takes a little time and patience. There is a sensor/part on one of the leads that is sensitive to short that you want to make sure to protect while removing (Walmart probably won't). Id be nervous in their haste to perform a non-normal battery replacement, they would zap something that will cost you $$ and time at dealer. Also, I wouldn't use a Walmart sourced battery. I would only use a Bosch or Interstate (AGM only, not the normal lead acid flooded battery!) . I actually replaced mine with an OE Mercedes brand battery (Bosch) that had the correct vent tube, cost me like $10 more than an aftermarket battery. ALSO, if you are replacing your main battery, time to also replace your rear Aux battery that is normally in the well just under your right side tail-light. The Aux is a little more difficult to replace, mainly because you need to take apart the rear trim to get to it. Not hard, just take your time and do it right. Videos on that on YouTube also. Think that one took me little over 1 hour to do. Main battery under passenger seat took about an hour also, mainly because it is tight to get to, and I didn't have the seat all of the way forward in the service position (mentioned above).

Also, I got 9 years out of my OE battery, so the Bosch/Mercedes batteries hold up well. 4 years warranty on the WalMart battery is less than 1/2 the life of the OE (and I'm guessing it isn't AGM). AGM is also important because the battery is inside the cabin, and you don't want that extra off-gassing going on inside your cabin!!! Interesting side note. I happened to show up at the dealer to get my new batteries (Main and Aux) just as they were being delivered to them...in the Interstate Batteries Truck! So at least around here, the Mercedes Branded Batteries (Bosch) are supplied by the Interstate Battery distributor. You MIGHT be able to contact them directly to source one.

 

Took a gamble and had it installed by them… battery is AGM battery with 4 year free replacement — he also was able to install without cutting the carpet but most likely made his job harder (installed it in about 30min)