C350e anyone considering one?

[RatCatcher]

....... not so good that the electrics are corroding after 6 weeks!!

Totally agree - that is concerning! Have they worked out how, or where, the water has ingressed? Have you charged in the rain at all?

 

[JP350e]

Totally agree - that is concerning! Have they worked out how, or where, the water has ingressed? Have you charged in the rain at all?

I've set it to charge every night since having it so yes, it's been in the rain regularly!

I would hope when they designed it they considered it may possibly rain and build in simple things like drain holes, corrosion resistant materials, IP rated connections etc as the charge port is directly down and will get wet if it rains!

My wife has Nissan Leaf - the charge port cover provides some protection against the rain when charging. Had it for getting on for a year and never had a problem with charging (good thing really as it's 100% electric so no engine to get you home if the EV isn't working!).

I wonder if there's going to be a recall / modification some time soon to fix it as there seem to be a few people getting charge problems.

 

[famousgrouse]

Totally agree - that is concerning! Have they worked out how, or where, the water has ingressed? Have you charged in the rain at all?

I've charged in the rain multiple times, in fact- it's always plugged in when I'm not using it, and you know how much rain there's been!
See if anything goes wrong I suppose.... Had a couple of instances of red lights on the charging brick and not charging at work. Unplug, replug- and it's been fine since. Hasn't happened in the last week at all.

 

[derekthetree]

Update, the garage think they've found the problem. Corrosion in the charge port of the car and down through the cable. Also faulty charge control module, possibly also due to the corrosion.
Part ordered, new charge socket, cabling and module. Nil stock in Mercedes, unknown how long it will take to get said parts!
Good news I think that it appears they've worked out what the problem is, not so good that the electrics are corroding after 6 weeks!!

Wow, as said above, if this is rain related, then huge error by Mercedes
I was concerned over charging in the rain, but figured that the collar on the plug would cover the port, perhaps some sort of umbrella/tent arrangement is needed!

Glad you've got a potential solution pending.

Without trawling back, did your have any warning signs (charging behaviour?) the rest of us can look out for?

 

[Hogfather]

New owner! Finally took receipt 3 days ago. Now got a malfunction message on the hybrid system and told not to drive it.
Second 350e I know about that's had this within 3 days of receipt.
Anyone else had hybrid issues? Wondering if the uk have received a bad batch of cars from Mercedes!

 

[Driver15]

Hello,

Lad who i work with also had a C350e on order, he got his just before Christmas.

I have pointed him in the direction of this thread to post up his issues etc..

but in short, between XMAS and New Year he had issues with charging, it wont charge via the charge port or even via the in car method. Its states some error messages relating to Hybrid error he said.

Car is currently in Merc at the moment and he's now got the most basic Kia Ceed hire car. (that Is the "class" of car his maintenance package offers in the event of repair if a dealer cant offer a car).

He has been advised at present that the car issue is under investigation and it will be at least another 7 working days but then subject to part availability if required. (which basically means it will need parts as they operate a unscrew and replace policy.)

To say he's not impressed is an understatement.

 

[B33fy]

Yep - I got quoted £800 after the £700 grant had been taken off and this was for the standard 16A. I needed a small consumer unit in my garage to replace the one there and the cable around 6 metres from it. I could not work out how that all came to £1500!!

I have decided to wait for the car and then will likely fit an outdoor 13A socket from my existing supply. The delay in charge time should not cause me a huge issue and I only have the car for 2 years so to me £1500 is just not worth it.

You can get a lot of fuel for £1500 especially at current prices lol.

£305 to pay for mine, bloke said its one of the easiest he'd have done, he'll be gone by lunchtime..

 

[paulhx]

£305 to pay for mine, bloke said its one of the easiest he'd have done, he'll be gone by lunchtime..

What device type and which installer have you gone for? And how long did they take to respond / survey? I enquired directly to Rolec who referred me to a local installer who hasn't responded as yet. That was 3 days ago.

 

[B33fy]

What device type and which installer have you gone for? And how long did they take to respond / survey? I enquired directly to Rolec who referred me to a local installer who hasn't responded as yet. That was 3 days ago.

Rolec tethered cable 32 amp version. Enquiry sent Sunday, came round Thursday.

 

[KSD63]

Ive had the Rolec 32A tethered fitted which would have been £195 for a standard installation, which the installer stated was typically10m from my consumer unit. However mine needed an extra 2 upgraded rcds in 2 separate linked consumer units, about 20m of cabling through my loft space to a connection box then with 25m of armoured cabling run down the outside from the loft and across my garden. In total was the grant plus additional £604 incl vat., so that just over £400 more than a standard installation. Work took 2 guys just over half a day. Not too bad I thought, as my house to garage wiring probably wasnt capable of handling a simple weatherproof extension at 13A.

 

[S111dpc]

Having a Rolec 32A tethered unit installed in February at £315, £195 for the unit and the extra is to run a cable to my fuse box across the length of the house lifting the carpets and Floor boards on our 1st floor landing. Didn't think that was too bad considering.

 

[N_Jepson]

I'm about 1 months away from delivery and I'm really worried about the number of issues being reported here especially with the low number of cars delivered so far.

Just luck I guess whether you get a good one or one with issues ... but not impressed so far by these reports

 

[flango]

I'm about 1 months away from delivery and I'm really worried about the number of issues being reported here especially with the low number of cars delivered so far.

Just luck I guess whether you get a good one or one with issues ... but not impressed so far by these reports

If you jump over on the EV forum there are loads of them failing early MB don't have this technology sorted yet.

 

[ASnowman]

I'm about 1 months away from delivery and I'm really worried about the number of issues being reported here especially with the low number of cars delivered so far.

Stop worrying to much, the car is sold widely in other European country’s that has real low tax on them, there are many of them out there.
And most don’t have any problems.
Except from heavy foot on gas pedal that is.

 

[ASnowman]

Find it a bit strange that people buy dedicated chargers for their c350´s
The time for a full charge in normal outlet vs a charger seems not really relevant in everyday use.
Do you see any other benefits except from saving 1,5 hrs on a charge? The cost is to high in my opinion unless there is other benefits I don’t se here?

 

[ASnowman]

Find it a bit strange that people buy dedicated chargers for their c350´s
The time for a full charge in normal outlet vs a charger seems not really relevant in everyday use.
Do you see any other benefits except from saving 1,5 hrs on a charge? The cost is to high in my opinion unless there is other benefits I don’t se here?

 

[JP350e]

Wow, as said above, if this is rain related, then huge error by Mercedes
I was concerned over charging in the rain, but figured that the collar on the plug would cover the port, perhaps some sort of umbrella/tent arrangement is needed!

Glad you've got a potential solution pending.

Without trawling back, did your have any warning signs (charging behaviour?) the rest of us can look out for?

For a week or two before it stopped charging when plugged in, I was occasionally get in a "malfunction" message when I stopped / switched off and opened the door. Everything worked though, garage didn't find anything of concern initially and then all of a sudden, just before Christmas it wouldn't charge and had a red light in the charge port where it would normally be green!

 

[fields5069]

Find it a bit strange that people buy dedicated chargers for their c350´s
The time for a full charge in normal outlet vs a charger seems not really relevant in everyday use.
Do you see any other benefits except from saving 1,5 hrs on a charge? The cost is to high in my opinion unless there is other benefits I don’t se here?

The domestic plug gets rather warm when I use the 13A option, so I guess they're interested in as fast a charge as possible, as little depletion of the battery when charging with pre-entry climate control, and of course electrics which are guaranteed to handle the current.

 

[JP350e]

New owner! Finally took receipt 3 days ago. Now got a malfunction message on the hybrid system and told not to drive it.
Second 350e I know about that's had this within 3 days of receipt.
Anyone else had hybrid issues? Wondering if the uk have received a bad batch of cars from Mercedes!

If that's the malfunction message with a battery symbol then that's exactly how my problems started...

 

[JP350e]

I'm about 1 months away from delivery and I'm really worried about the number of issues being reported here especially with the low number of cars delivered so far.

Just luck I guess whether you get a good one or one with issues ... but not impressed so far by these reports

I wouldn't worry too much. Mine is one that stopped working a few weeks after taking delivery and I'm still waiting for it to come back but I don't mind too much as I love the car!! These things happen with new technology, Mercedes will find out what's wrong and they will introduce a fix at some point!

I've seen a few people complain about the car their lease provider has given them whilst theirs is in the garage. This is why I didn't go via Lex and went directly to my local garage - lex only really need to book scheduled maintenance or chargeable repairs, for warranty if you go directly to the dealer they'll give you a loan car that's a much better standard. At least that's my experience!