MBE550

I'm pretty pissed a reputable shop I have been using for a long time with fair pricing in the past charged me $240 just for labor for changing aux battery.
The owner quoted $160 over the phone and when I dropped the car.
The mechanic who worked on the car claimed it took him 1.5 hrs so the labor came out to $240.
There was even a shop fee (junk fee) added.
Total part + labor for an aux battery replacement came out to $420.

I changed both batteries for my E350 just last year myself.
For ML350, I didn't want to deal with removing carpet and trim.
I am definitely, changing the main battery myself next year.

I know it takes some time to take out the trim pieces to get to the battery but this is a highway robbery.
The mechanic even tried to claim that there is programing and clearing code, etc which is bunch of BS.
In Northern Virginia, there aren't any good honest shops left any more.
Let me know if you know any good shop in Fairfax, Virginia area.
Thanks.

tonyl13

Do not know where you are at but 6mo ago had both battery replace at Battery Plus in Tucson for $325

kalali

just cut the carpet on that pocket and replace the aux battery in 15 min. No carpet or trim removal needed. After done, not even see the cut.

BlownV8

Not the case for some 166's. Was an absolute pain on my GL 63. It is in the back of the car the right of the spare tire behind some panels. Interior trim pieces had to come out to access. Definitely not a plug and play like the main battery.

rapidoxidation

As buried in the rear corner of the floor as the aux battery is in the W166 platform, 1.5h of labor isn't unreasonable to do it correctly (without cutting carpet and sheet metal brackets).
1h if you've done it recently and know what to do.
I probably should've employed the "while I'm in there" method of thinking while I was replacing the airmatic rear shocks last summer, but my battery shows no sign of failing yet.

MBE550

It should not take over an hour for a shop who ONLY work on Mercedes for over 40 yrs. The owner is hand-on guy and he quoted 1 hr but the mechnic came back with 1.5 hr of charge. If it really takes one full hour to get this done right as you said, I feel it was worth the money I paid. I was thinking this was more like 30 min job in reality.

imtheking

Finding a good shop is a challenge. Even some of the "good shops" I have visited seemed a little incompetent. These were shops that specialize in european vehicles, specificaly Mercedes with 5 star google reviews.

I spend a lot of time researching vehicles before and during my ownership so I have somewhat of an idea of what I'm getting myself into and have some upfront knowledge regarding issues so I won't get ripped off by these shops. For example, one specialty shop, the tech didn't know the R230 doesn't have sway bars and that they are electronic- yea I told him that.

I've also been looking into purchasing a W164 or W166 and water intrusion is a big problem on these cars. Yea, they were not aware of that either. I had to tell them about the seals around the taillights etc....

Stuff like this scares the hell out of me. I'm a regular guy who follows message boards and follows YT channels and here I am telling you about how these cars work and what you must do to troubleshoot. Most of these shops hate me because I challenge them. Sorry, you're not going to replace my entire intake manifold when a replacement of a plastic flap is all that's needed.

Anyway, enough venting. I don't know any shops in fairfax but MB Auto Inc in Rockville is pretty good.

OnlyGerman

I changed it, was pretty tricky though. I do remember cussing out the engineers who decided to hide it there.

MBE550

I hope the main battery under the passenger seat is not as difficult to change.

rapidoxidation

Again, there's the "right" way and the "quick" way. The right way involves removing the passenger seat, IIRC. The quick way involves cutting the carpet to make a hole.

vinceC

See the instruction attached. You do not have to remove the seat. Conceptually it is easy. I reality it is a bit of a wrestling match to get the battery out of the recess. It's heavy and hard to grip.

BlownV8

It's a breeze in comparison to the auxiliary battery.