C350e owners club

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My 350e is 19 months old with 33k and I just got 'Auxiliary Battery Malfunction' message, it's a lease car so got AA to take it to dealers, service dept. say the hybrid battery pack has failed and they are awaiting a new one from Germany which should arrive next week. The dealer had no courtesy cars available (need to book 2 weeks in advance!) so Leasplan got me a Toyota CHR hire car which is a bit of fun. Rather a short life expectancy on my battery could start costing the manufacturers a lot of money if they prove to be unreliable?
Gosh. That's very surprising. Shame they couldn't provide a courtesy car given that the battery pack has failed.

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Anyone else tried using Google or Alexa to speak to their C350e? Limited functionality it seems. I was able to find out fuel range, that's all. Screenshot_20180728-174642_Google.jpeg

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Going to take the C350e on it’s first camping trip tomorrow. The big old diesel bus doesn’t get used very much at the moment and I discovered last night that the screen washer pump has failed.

The campsite has 16A hookups, so they should be fine if I set the max charge rate to 8A. I guess I need to check with the site owners though. Any idea how much power a caravan can pull when it’s all lit up?
 
Going to take the C350e on it’s first camping trip tomorrow. The big old diesel bus doesn’t get used very much at the moment and I discovered last night that the screen washer pump has failed.

The campsite has 16A hookups, so they should be fine if I set the max charge rate to 8A. I guess I need to check with the site owners though. Any idea how much power a caravan can pull when it’s all lit up?

Not sure how much a caravan takes, but what I can tell you is that you cannot charge the car and boil a kettle the same time without tripping the 10A RCD! Apart from that, it was fine.
 
Not sure how much a caravan takes, but what I can tell you is that you cannot charge the car and boil a kettle the same time without tripping the 10A RCD! Apart from that, it was fine.

Well the answer came back quickly: over night would be fine and a separate hook-up would be available if necessary. Thumbs up!
 
Today, the MB dealer fitted acoustic glass side windows after I went in a few weeks ago complaining of wind noise from driver's door on the motorway that sounded like the driver's window was slightly open. Apparently, there is a bulletin from MB HQ that says fit acoustic glass if customer complains of excessive wind nose at high speed. They agreed that it was excessive. That was done under warranty.

That problem is now gone. They are slightly thicker glass and look like they are double glazed.

Also, they managed to apply the software update to enable the external temperature to be displayed on the dashboard. I can't believe this was their 3rd attempt (not their fault, the software has to download from Germany each time and it can be unreliable when downloading), and it literally took most of the day for them to wait as the download happened. I really hope the car industry as a whole moves to the Tesla model where they do over the air software updates, which get done whilst your car is at home.

I've always had cars from other manufacturers where the external temp is displayed on the dash all the time (in the centre so passengers can view too) - it's odd how you can only see it when the total mileage screen is on, but when you have the other screens on, it disappears!
 
So after 10 months of waiting c350e was delivered today and I am over the moon, quick trip to Scotland tomorrow to stretch her legs.

I forgot to request the PHEV identifiers were removed so was expecting blue calipers, blue hues on lights etc but the only id is the new EQ Power badge on the front wing, in my opinion much nicer than the old style but not what I was expecting:

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Whats the normal life span of the battery pack ?

Given they warranty the battery against failure (Note, NOT for performance) for 6 years or 63k miles, I'd guess at "normal life" being 6 years 1 day, or 63001 miles.

Cynicism aside, other than the odd outlier or crib death, I think you should reasonably expect the battery pack to function normally, with a modest loss of capacity for a good deal longer than the warranty period. The MB battery pack appears to have good temperature control, which is pretty vital to long life with these things. No idea about the other aspects like charge/discharge control though.

It is pretty pointless comparing to other makes & models, sadly, so citing Tesla battery life isn't worth the bother I don't think. That said, in general, it is fair to say that most manufacturers have been more than surprised at how much better than their predictions the packs are holding up.

There also has to be an element, at least in the early days, where manufacturers will want to create a good impression of the battery life, so they can sell more cars. If that is true, we can only hope they will be sympathetic if a problem does occur. Yep, hopelessly naive, I know.
 
For those with long memories....

The Motor Ombudsman appears to think my bitch about the hybrid warranty was worthy of an adjudication. They have notified me of same and are contacting MB.

I'm glad for the obvious reason of course, but also because I hate to waste people's time....and the fact they are making an adjudication says they don't think it was a waste of their time...which is nice.

You'll know when I do.....
 
Mmm.....

Missus got back from shopping, car working as normal, no errors, no warnings. Plug in the Rolec Type 3 to charge, cable locks in, "battery' lamp briefly glows orange then goes dark, assorted clunks from under the boot floor, battery cooling pump running as normal, no charge. Tried unplugging/re plugging a few times - same results. Next did the same with the 'brick'. Brick status LEDs looked as they should, but symptoms on car the same, still no charge. Again, tried unplugging/plugging, getting in the car switching on, switching off getting out etc etc...still no joy.

At this point, has an indicated 3 miles of hybrid range left. Moved car a few feet, tried again. Still no joy.

Rang Mobilo, they suggested taking it to the dealer. Was about to do that but decided to try one more time with the Type 3 charger...everything now normal. 'Battery' indicator cycles from orange to green to pulsing green, charging as normal.

So, a one-off software glitch or a sign of troubles ahead I wonder. Car still only done just over 4500 miles.

OR, have "they" found out about my Motor Ombudsman case and are messing with me by remote control???? (I do jest....)
 
That's what happened to mine a few months ago, now it's refusing to charge. MB had it for a day and said there was a cable lock fault logged but no actual problem and it's charging normally - except it isn't. They've now ordered a replacement connector and cable, which will be fitted in a couple of weeks.
 
That's what happened to mine a few months ago, now it's refusing to charge. MB had it for a day and said there was a cable lock fault logged but no actual problem and it's charging normally - except it isn't. They've now ordered a replacement connector and cable, which will be fitted in a couple of weeks.

Ah, thanks for that info. Next time mine does it I’ll get it to the dealer to try and get things moving along. If it does turn out to be that issue, that’s pretty poor for an 18 month old low mileage car I think. Can’t help having a bad feeling about this purchase.
 
Ah, thanks for that info. Next time mine does it I’ll get it to the dealer to try and get things moving along. If it does turn out to be that issue, that’s pretty poor for an 18 month old low mileage car I think. Can’t help having a bad feeling about this purchase.

I’ve just clocked up 13k miles after 2 years with the only problem being the three pin charging lead falling apart. Hybrid has been unavailable a couple of times and it confused itself about what was petrol and what was battery, but nothing that didn’t fix itself magically.

MB really shouldn’t be messing around with the warranty on these - if they’re planning to sell a lot of plug-ins from next year onwards, people who already bought one from them and been looked after are surely the best target market...
 
Just back from my 10 day, 1000 mile camping trip to Cornwall. Lots of 6A trickle charging via the three-pin cable. 46mpg with my wife at the wheel for the 600 miles of motorway there and back, which usually isn’t great for the fuel economy.

I was lucky that the campsite had upgraded their electrics after an incident a few years ago, so the cables were new and the hookups were all 16A.

I thought the windy lanes and hills would kill the economy, but regeneration was pretty impressive, often gaining 5% or more on the long downhill sections. We did about 5 days on pure electric for trips to the nearest towns and beaches.

And it was smugness-inducing to waft silently through the campsite in contrast to the diesel vans. [emoji106]

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Very nice!

If you do go for the extra horses, please report back in a year when said horses are serviced. I'd like to know if you just get raised eyebrows or something less friendly. Another forum member had an aftermarket upgrade. Although it was removed for the service, it was still spotted. I don't think there were any repercussions.


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Quick update following my first service yesterday... no mention of finding any extra horses under the bonnet.
No issues to date, and running like a dream (touches wood).
 
Quick update following my first service yesterday... no mention of finding any extra horses under the bonnet.
No issues to date, and running like a dream (touches wood).
Hi db.
Where did you get the extra horses? I wouldn't mind a couple more myself...
 
Hi db.
Where did you get the extra horses? I wouldn't mind a couple more myself...

I had a remap/rolling road from Celtic Tuning, from memory it came out at 347bhp and 312lb/ft, seems to keep up with most things.
Never had any issue and has been MB serviced twice since it was done.
 
Hi db.
Where did you get the extra horses? I wouldn't mind a couple more myself...

DMS Automotive in Southampton do all our fleet cars, and they come to you if want (which is handy because we're on Norfolk/Suffolk border).
Never had any issues with any of our cars being remapped with the dealers either.

Like Jontybutts said; It does keep up with most things and surprises quite a few too! :)
My quoted figures were 340bhp and 680Nm (500lb/ft)
 
My car had the honour of being a wedding car recently.

Gave it the most intense clean it's ever had, shame it rained most of the day!

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