Just picked up my 2005 E55 w/ 98k miles on it.

First thing I noticed was that the belts are very squeaky. After a bit of searching around I found that this wasn't that uncommon of a problem. New belts have been ordered and should be here soon.

My question is:

I notice that at idle with the engine on the car idles a little bit rougher than I would imagine and the interior lights flicker. I can also feel the car "jolt" a little bit when coming to a stop at low RPM.

I was able to check the voltage and with the car on at idle I'm right around the 14V range.

Is this looking like an alternator failure or could it be that the belt is not tight enough around the alternator?

I will be putting new belts on as soon as they show up and hope that does the trick.

Any input is greatly appreciated!

 

14V with just engine on? No accessories? Sounds good to me. The light flicker I dunno about that buddy.

These cars idle a bit rough its not uncommon. have the plugs and wires been changed?

 

Flicker like a night club or flicker like a bed side candle?

 

A bedside candle. Like if you were to raise and lower a dimmer switch.

 

You talking dome lights? Or dash lights. If it's the dome or over head lights try changing the setting through the dash menue under lighting. I guess it's possible the dimmer could be going out causing that. Not sure

 

in many cases i've heard, changing the voltage regulator has solved this. I dont know why but its "solved" that in couple of cars. Not that they had been replaced bc of that flicker but just noticed afterwards.

 

Do you know if the voltage regulator get it's readings from the alternator or from the battery?

The voltage checked in around ~14V at idle

 

The other thing I've noticed is that the AC only works sporadically. For example, I turned on the front and rear defog but nothing happened. After a few minutes it kicked on and was fine.

 

I had the flickering issue. It wasn't really a flicker, but rather a constant dim and bright type deal. Replacing the voltage regulator resolved the issue. Although, a few months after I replaced the regulator, the alternator took a dump and I ended up replacing the entire unit.

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...ml#post6446539

 

Good to know. Thanks!

 

Did you get the problem solved ?
Mine is 07-E350 at 100,000 miles did the same thing with RED Battery sign on cluster, along with the 14.2V displays while driving.
Thanks in advance for your reply.
By the way, the battery is 2 years old, I had the car at Autozone for Battery-Load-Test, and it is fine, the OBD2 pull no codes.
Thanks