I just got back from a 10 day vacation only to find my battery dead... Not even the hazards were working. I know for sure that no lights were left on. MB brought out a new battery to my house which was fine but, the service tech's explination was "the E55 just has electrical problems" Not to reassuring after you buy a car with a sticker price in the upper 80K range 3 months ago. Has anyone else had a simillar problem?

 

I know my battery will drain while sitting for a while. I use a trickle charger when ever I don't use the car for a week. My battery has never gone dead though.

 

had to jump start my CLS las nite...didnt drive it since sunday...and i dont think i left on any interior lights or anything of that sort. I always check before i close her up. Then again i went away for a week and a half 3 weeks ago and she started up fine.

 

That is a bull**** explaination from the MB guy....no matter what...they should figure it out for you. May car has sat over a week wth no problems. I think someone posted about this becoming a problem after he had some work done or a reflash . I am sure there is some juice being used to keep everything going but a week !!! Thats ridiculous...I would complain loudly...

 

Steve, do you have a MB phone? If so the charger may not be turning off causing your battery to be drained. A new Telephone module is what MB recommends.

I have also had a bad battery from the factory in an 03 E500. It was changed out and had no further problems.

 

No MB phone in my car....I have left my audi A4 for 3 weeks and it started right up. The whole thing about the trickle charges is horse crap. I should be able to leave a car like the E55 for a few weeks without a problem....

 

i store mine every winter and do not put it on a trickle charge. i usually start it every month or so, and only had i problem last winter when it was extremely cold for a few weeks, but the car started fine, just the message about turning of electrical items was displayed....

 

Today when I was driving I got a "Low voltage conv. items will not be assessible" warning in the main display. It went away after I restarted but came back later, I then revved the car and it again went away.

I checked the voltage on the main and accessory batteries with a multimeter and both read 12v. I then hooked up an ancient Sears battery charger. The accessory battery in the hood was full. The big battery in the trunk was way drained, took 5A and is now down to 1-2A after 2-3 hours. Had I ignored or not noticed the warning message I would have been stuck with a dead battery the next few days. Funny thing is that there were no problems starting the car, just the steering wheel controls stopped working!

The last few days the car was not driven much because I had a bent wheel that I need to get straightened. So something must be slowly draining the battery, and it became depleted when not driven a lot for a few days. I have wired in a few aftermarket things:

1. illuminated sills and shift knob -- both go out with the car off, sills only on with the footwell lights. doubt these have anything to do with the problem.

2. trunk DVD changer with headrest LCDs -- possible culprit. The LCDs obviously go off with the car, but there is some constant draw by the changer as the electronic magazine ejection works even with the car off.

3. euro COMAND unit -- sometimes when I open a door I hear it starting to spin the disc even with no key in the ignition, but the screen and sound do go off with the car.

Anyway I'm going to see if the battery holds charge. If so, I'll just start hooking it up to a trickle charger overnight every once in a while.

Otherwise time to start searching for gremlins -- car is only six months old so should have a dead battery yet even here in the desert. I can unplug the power to the changer to see if it is the problem. Otherwise, I guess the dealer will have to look for it.

Rich, what was the problem with your battery ?

 

Both of my SL's and my S55 had the problem. Just wait 'till you can't get in the car one cold night and when you finally use the manual key the alarm goes off but the ignition won't work so the alarm won't stop. The neighbor was impressed and I feel like the check I wrote to buy the car should have bounced just like the dealer who simply says "Of course" the car needs to be driven more frequently or it won't work anymore. Anyone find this information in the rather overcooked owners manual? Oh yes, the towing was free and my neighbor took me to dinner in her Lexus.

 

Not sure if this applies for your car, but, I got the same message accompanied by the red battery, visit workshop message in my 211 E55. Had the car towed to the dealer as suggested. It turned out to be a faulty voltage regulator? It was replaced as part of an open service/recall campaign.