C350e owners club

[Dodgy]

Would people expect the tracker to work even if the engine isnt started?!

Had a bump in the works car park last Friday (or more accurately the guy driving the landrover doing the car park gritting slid into my parked car), and they picked it up yesterday afternoon on a low loader... sounds worse than it is, but I refused to drive it in the snow with lose panels.

But the location is still showing as my works car park

I've only used the tracker a handful of times, but it's always been accurate. Only once was the vehicle in use.



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[iRadiate]

Would people expect the tracker to work even if the engine isnt started?!

Had a bump in the works car park last Friday (or more accurately the guy driving the landrover doing the car park gritting slid into my parked car), and they picked it up yesterday afternoon on a low loader... sounds worse than it is, but I refused to drive it in the snow with lose panels.

But the location is still showing as my works car park

Odd

Normally I wouldn't expect the tracker to to work when the vehicle is not moving. Makes no sense since in theory the position won't change. However I guess that's a big assumption if a loader is used to move the car. I think for the rare situation where a loader might be used it probably makes sense not to keep sending position updates when the vehicle engine is off. Keeps the amount of GPS data that the mercedes servers have to process to a minimum.

 

[Pmg102]

so - I've checked again... and the battery level dropped from 47% to 42%, and the trip computer reset... I assume this was them taking it off the loader, and into the garage... but it still thinks the car is 'at work'.

I know that the data on the phone is actually from the Merc servers, rather than direct from your car... so I wouldn't expect it to update all the time... but over 12 hours I'd expect it to update the location, especially if the ignition was started and then turned off.

I guess the lease company could have asked for it to be disabled?

Or the damage to the front of the car has disabled the GPS?

Or the garage has a thick roof?

 

[CaptainChaos]

Interesting and not very scientific fact:

Last night I forgot to set my "pre-entry climate control" (or "defroster" as the wife calls it). It was about 4 degrees when I left this morning, so the windows weren't iced up, but it was still chilly. I used 10% more battery for exactly the same journey.

So, my question is does the pre-entry warm up the battery pack as well as the car interior? I can't believe I used 10% more power in just warming the interior. I didn;t suddenly whack the heating up to max or anything. In fact I didn't adjust the temp from my usual 20, plus heated seat.

I really wish they would allow the pre-entry to be set Mon-Fri. I'm sure many owners leave the house at a similar time each day during the week.

Anyway, there you go. Save power - use your defroster!!

 

[JP350e]

Interesting and not very scientific fact:

Last night I forgot to set my "pre-entry climate control" (or "defroster" as the wife calls it). It was about 4 degrees when I left this morning, so the windows weren't iced up, but it was still chilly. I used 10% more battery for exactly the same journey.

So, my question is does the pre-entry warm up the battery pack as well as the car interior? I can't believe I used 10% more power in just warming the interior. I didn;t suddenly whack the heating up to max or anything. In fact I didn't adjust the temp from my usual 20, plus heated seat.

I really wish they would allow the pre-entry to be set Mon-Fri. I'm sure many owners leave the house at a similar time each day during the week.

Anyway, there you go. Save power - use your defroster!!

I'm not at all surprised by the extra energy usage (in fact I'd of expected it to be worse than you advise) and you're lucky it wasn't too cold! I imagine your fuel economy for the journey was also slightly worse than normal, assuming you used the petrol engine at some points also as the engine probably put some charge back into the battery pack?

I'm not aware that the pre-entry control warms the battery pack as well and would be surprised if it did as this would be a fair bit of energy wasted. 10% of circa 5kWh battery is 500Wh or half of a one bar heater (in old money!) running from the battery rather than the mains which isn't much at all.

Totally agree re. the daily schedule. Massive error there by Mercedes in not including it - even my wife's Nissan Leaf can do it!

 

[derekthetree]

I had a record number of spots yesterday. Top floor of Doncaster railway station carpark and there were four other 350e in the space of probably 40 cars!

I'd imagine there is going to be a huge glut of 65/16/66 plates then, when the new new tax comes in, they'll drop away again!

 

[Deleted member 126969]

If the car is plugged in, it'll draw power for pre heat from the mains supply so that could explain what you saw. I've seen that behaviour myself, a big difference in battery charge depending on if it was plugged in or not when using pre heat or simply not using pre heat and just driving away. The net result is the same I think.

 

[JonH]

Hi all, new to the forum, getting my c350e Sport estate in march. Just getting the night package so a pretty basic setup.

I was going to fit an aftermarket tow bar to carry a few bikes - no actual towing needed.

I've been reading this thread and it seems merc will only fit a tow bar on 18 inch rims. Is that right?

Does anyone know if you actually CAN fit a tow bar on 17s? I'm wondering if the fitment points were still there

Surely carrying a few bikes wouldn't cause an issue - I understand the concerns if you had a caravan or something.

TIA!
Jon

 

[Deleted member 126969]

The configurator only allows a tow bar along with the 18" wheels so you may end up fighting with the rules and regulations police there. MB may well only certify the use of a bar with 18" wheels so fitting aftermarket might not be that simple?

Is there perhaps something out there that is specifically for carrying bikes? Not a proper tow bar as such? Not something I've ever looked into myself.

 

[Pmg102]

Could you not just go for one of these?

https://www.thule.com/en-gb/gb/bike-rack/trunk-bike-racks/thule-raceway-992-_-991002

 

[JonH]

Oh thank you for that - it may just be perfect! I've tried the normal rear bike racks - too many cables and damage to the car. Was going to try a roof rack holder but see too many bikes shaking in the wind on the motorway... don't fancy being liable if one falls off!

I have seen some aftermarket tow bars claiming they're suitable for 'all' W205 estates (I think that's the new model, right?) so thought I'd asked the question.

Thanks again. There's some really good info on this thread alone, I'm sure this won't be my last post.

 

[Pmg102]

Quick disclaimer - that's the bike carrier I am thinking of buying, but I don't have it yet

I've had roof mounted before - but after a cold January cycle a few yeArs ago when my hands were frozen, and I dropped the bike on the roof (3 big dents) I'm more in favour of a back carrier, if it's secure and easy

Let us know what you end up with!

 

[paulhx]

so - I've checked again... and the battery level dropped from 47% to 42%, and the trip computer reset... I assume this was them taking it off the loader, and into the garage... but it still thinks the car is 'at work'.

I know that the data on the phone is actually from the Merc servers, rather than direct from your car... so I wouldn't expect it to update all the time... but over 12 hours I'd expect it to update the location, especially if the ignition was started and then turned off.

I guess the lease company could have asked for it to be disabled?

Or the damage to the front of the car has disabled the GPS?

Or the garage has a thick roof?

I recall a change in T&Cs a while back concerning privacy, which effectively stopped you from seeing where your car is - once it moves beyond a certain distance.

It's a nuisance because it also impacted the Geo-fencing I had set up on the app, when I left my car with the 'meet and greet' service at Manchester Airport to head to the States. I wanted to know if my car had moved but alas no longer possible. :fail

 

[paulhx]

Recall at service A

I've had my c350e estate for a year now and took it in earlier in the week for its first service.

I was advised that my car was subject to a recall related to charging and it's going back in soon for 1/2 a days work to complete.

On an unrelated note, I have been so impressed with the performance, refinement and technology that I am getting very close to ordering an E350e as a company car and handing over custody of the C to my wife.

 

[paulhx]

Rolec tethered charger unit cable length

I had a tethered charger unit installed a year ago for use with my c350e. The cable length is around 5m which is more than enough distance for charging the car but not long enough if another EV was parked alongside it.

Has anyone replaced their cable or come up against this challenge? I know I can just swap the cars around on the drive but that will become a faff.

Grateful for any suggestions.

 

[TheCorm]

Interesting and not very scientific fact:

Last night I forgot to set my "pre-entry climate control" (or "defroster" as the wife calls it). It was about 4 degrees when I left this morning, so the windows weren't iced up, but it was still chilly. I used 10% more battery for exactly the same journey.

So, my question is does the pre-entry warm up the battery pack as well as the car interior? I can't believe I used 10% more power in just warming the interior. I didn;t suddenly whack the heating up to max or anything. In fact I didn't adjust the temp from my usual 20, plus heated seat.

I really wish they would allow the pre-entry to be set Mon-Fri. I'm sure many owners leave the house at a similar time each day during the week.

Anyway, there you go. Save power - use your defroster!!

This morning it was -4c outside, I commenced charging at 06:55 at 13A.(battery was fully charged from the night before).

At the same time I activated the climate control using the button and turned off the heated passenger seat.

I departed 1 hour later and had a warm car, all defrosted but battery was at 90%, so that's quite a bit of energy used!

 

[CaptainChaos]

Certainly is a lot isn't it?

Can you not just leave it plugged in all the time? I leave mine plugged in over night and set my timer from my phone so I don't have to go out in the cold!

 

[JAT350e]

This morning it was -4c outside, I commenced charging at 06:55 at 13A.(battery was fully charged from the night before).

At the same time I activated the climate control using the button and turned off the heated passenger seat.

I departed 1 hour later and had a warm car, all defrosted but battery was at 90%, so that's quite a bit of energy used!

I used to have the same issue, what I did was change the settings on the charger to fast charge the day before for the full charge. So it will charge up faster after pre-heat. Then it was down to 30-40 mins to be back to full charge.

 

[TheCorm]

I used to have the same issue, what I did was change the settings on the charger to fast charge the day before for the full charge. So it will charge up faster after pre-heat. Then it was down to 30-40 mins to be back to full charge.

Yeah if I had left it anoter 15 mins it would have been up to 100% but have to get to work, I can't leave mine plugged in overnight so I have to get up and plug in, but it's worth it....only just!

 

[Weller]

As I have points I'm a very cautious driver and it's pretty much motorway at 70-75mph for the majority of my miles. Just had a service at 27,000 and there's still about 4-5mm left on the ORIGINAL Hankkok tyres! Had the car since May and my old C250 coupe used to burn through the continentals even with the same driving style. Wow.