C350e owners club

[wivenhoe]

Hi All,
Brief intro. Thinking of taking the plunge and getting a 2nd hand c350e estate. Had a 520 for 7 years before losing job (and Company car) 18 months ago. Wife would use car for commute (less than 5 miles each way) during week and I’d get to “play” with it at weekends.
Anyway, whilst a plug-in hybrid appeals greatly, I’m a little uncertain about the technology in general and longevity of the batteries in detail. So, I’m reading this thread from beginning to end. Currently on page 93 of 238 (summer 2016 I think).
I wondered if there’s anything that I’ve yet to read about that I should be concerned about? Any issues regarding the batteries? Any further problems re water ingress? Gearbox troubles continue?
Thanks for your thoughts,
J

I think there is only one member who’s battery failed. He did have great difficulty (to say the least) in getting MB to adhere to the hybrid warranty but won through (in the end). Hybrid warranty is 62k or 6 years. http://tools.mercedes-benz.co.uk/current/passenger-cars/pdfs/owners-area/HV-Battery-Warranty.pdf

The major grumble with the plug-in seems to be the vulnerability of the charging flap - if you break it, it’s a major job replacing it. There was an early problem with some looms but were replaced under a recall. Early cars didn’t display the external temperature so make sure it has had the update.

If you can, get a home charger as it is much more convenient and faster - they are not that expensive as you can get a grant of £ 500 which the installer knocks off the price, rather than you claiming it.

Be realistic about the mpg - 45mpg ish on mixed driving and electric range - as above, 10 miles is nearer the norm except if you drive like a vicar. Thing to bear in mind is that very few cars with a 0 - 60 of less than 6s return anything like 45mpg average.

Like all Mercedes - when the car becomes 3 years old you have to pay to renew the services such as pre-heat / cool, location tracking & map updates. The pre-heat & cooling on a timer is very useful and I think worth the money.

Enjoy the other 146 pages.

 

[JayCeeOhh]

I think there is only one member who’s battery failed. He did have great difficulty (to say the least) in getting MB to adhere to the hybrid warranty but won through (in the end). Hybrid warranty is 62k or 6 years. http://tools.mercedes-benz.co.uk/current/passenger-cars/pdfs/owners-area/HV-Battery-Warranty.pdf

The major grumble with the plug-in seems to be the vulnerability of the charging flap - if you break it, it’s a major job replacing it. There was an early problem with some looms but were replaced under a recall. Early cars didn’t display the external temperature so make sure it has had the update.

If you can, get a home charger as it is much more convenient and faster - they are not that expensive as you can get a grant of £ 500 which the installer knocks off the price, rather than you claiming it.

Be realistic about the mpg - 45mpg ish on mixed driving and electric range - as above, 10 miles is nearer the norm except if you drive like a vicar. Thing to bear in mind is that very few cars with a 0 - 60 of less than 6s return anything like 45mpg average.

Like all Mercedes - when the car becomes 3 years old you have to pay to renew the services such as pre-heat / cool, location tracking & map updates. The pre-heat & cooling on a timer is very useful and I think worth the money.

Enjoy the other 146 pages.

Thanks for the responses so far. Nice to know there isn’t a major fail that I’ve yet to come across.

Interested in the charge for some of the remote settings eg pre-heat. Cars I’m looking at will all be 3 years old at least. How much approx is that annual fee? Also, there’s no problems in transferring ownership for Mercedes me is there?

 

[wivenhoe]

Thanks for the responses so far. Nice to know there isn’t a major fail that I’ve yet to come across.

Interested in the charge for some of the remote settings eg pre-heat. Cars I’m looking at will all be 3 years old at least. How much approx is that annual fee? Also, there’s no problems in transferring ownership for Mercedes me is there?

The charges are here - Mercedes me connect United Kingdom
They have just issued new Mercedes Me T&C’s - if you go to page 39 onward you can see the services available for the model & year - https://www.mercedes-benz.com/wp-content/themes/mbcom/assets/communication/GB/EN/Mmc_ToU.pdf
The dealer should have terminated the previous Mercedes Me access and should have no problem setting it up for you. If the car is more than 3 years old ask if the previous owner renewed and if so how long - you’ll see you can renew for 1, 2 or 3 years, I’m not sure if you can cancel or transfer when you sell.

 

[Dodgy]

In response to the battery-drain subject from a few weeks ago, my car was left unplugged and unused for the last 10 days and maintained 100% charge.

 

[DominicW]

Things maybe looking up.

A well scripted email with the following statement “Under the consumer rights act 2015 the vehicle is not as described and not of satisfactory quality.” has got the desired response and the garage has asked for an alternative quote to the Mercedes one. A step in the right direction it seems.
Happy to share my whole letter/email if anyone if interested?

The garage who sold me a car with 4 different tyres, 3 of which were misshapen etc. has agreed to pay for 3 new ones. I’ll obviously get a 4th to match. Hankook Ventura S1 Evo 2’s K117B runflats have come up well on road noise, fuel and economy ratings so I’ll let you know how they work out - the current mixture of tyres are from Pirelli to some unpronounceable budget tyre - the Pirelli is the only good tyre.
They’re reviewing the alloy damage today and hopefully they’ll agree to replace that too as it’s worse than the tyres.

 

[Goldngin]

For those with keyless car entry.... I'm double clicking the lock button on the remote keys to disable the key fob and prevent car theft from signal relaying, when left outside. Also prevents the spare key fob battery from draining if like me you have it hidden away for the majority of the time. There are increasing incidences of cars being stolen by this method and it's been in the news recently of all new Fords with keyless entry will have an auto disable function facility introduced for their key fobs when they are still. At least with the Merc you can manually activate this with the double blip.

 

[Deleted member 126969]

We’ve been doing the double-tap since about a week after getting the car in late 2106 and seeing the early reports on relay thefts. Seems a better way to deal with it than a Faraday pouch/biscuit tin assuming the key supports it.

 

[Deleted member 126969]

Keep forgetting to say...

The missus has had trouble with the charge connector since we got the car. Finally(!) got round to giving the plug and socket al light misting with some GT85 (PTFE based lubricant/water dispersant) the other day - transformed it. The mouldings look to have quite a bit if glass fibre in them which makes them strong, but also quite abrasive. The PTFE seems to have helped - slips in a treat now (stop sniggering at the back)

 

[Nick Harper]

I have a C350e estate and got the attached recall notice today. It was bought new in Jan 2018. Anyone else had one? Is it c350e specific?

 

[wivenhoe]

I have a C350e estate and got the attached recall notice today. It was bought new in Jan 2018. Anyone else had one? Is it c350e specific?

Today I received the same recall for my Mar 2018 E350e

 

[Masterstein]

Hey guys, new here.

I was looking to go and buy a c350e today and the seller claims it has fsh. It was serviced at 16k miles, then 35k miles and now at 50k miles. It's a 16 reg.

The dealer says its 20k miles or 2 years what ever comes first but from research it appears its in fact 1 year or 10k miles? Can anyone confirm for me? I've done some digging in this forum too and most people's service plans are 3/services 3 year plan.

Cheers guys excited to join the club.

 

[raspy]

Hey guys, new here.

I was looking to go and buy a c350e today and the seller claims it has fsh. It was serviced at 16k miles, then 35k miles and now at 50k miles. It's a 16 reg.

The dealer says its 20k miles or 2 years what ever comes first but from research it appears its in fact 1 year or 10k miles? Can anyone confirm for me? I've done some digging in this forum too and most people's service plans are 3/services 3 year plan.

Cheers guys excited to join the club.

@Masterstein I have a 65 plate. Dealer told me mine is 12 months or 15k miles, whatever comes first.

 

[Masterstein]

@Masterstein I have a 65 plate. Dealer told me mine is 12 months or 15k miles, whatever comes first.

Cheers for the info. I called Mercedes and told them what it's had done and the also said the same with the 15k or 1 year but then said because its had 3 services in 3 years, they would class that as fsh.
Cheers
Deposit has been placed, excited.

 

[raspy]

It's been almost a year since I bought my C350e, mostly urban driving in London with motorway trips once a week. Travelling a lot out of the UK these days, so got the service and MOT done a few weeks early. The car is at 39k miles. I bought it with 27k miles.

B service cost £367. Note that there were two dealers near me, on the MB website, one was coming at £437 + £50 for loan car, the other at £367 + £15 for loan car. When I called the expensive one and told them that another MB dealer was cheaper, they put me on hold for 2 mins, and then matched the service price and reduced the price of the loan car to zero.

Turns out the car needed no other work, everything is in good condition, and it passed MOT no problems, which was a pleasant surprise as I keep hearing horror stories about running costs on MBs, and expensive repairs being needed.

The visual health check they did told me the front brakes were 10% worn, rear brakes 30% worn. I mostly drive in Eco mode, and I avoid heavy last minute braking. When I bought the car in May 2018, the MB dealer gave it an A service. Not sure if they changed the pads.

What's weird is that the visual health check this time, contradicted the visual health check done a few months ago, when the car went into the same dealer for a software update. At that time, the technician said the rear pads were 70% worn, and recommended changing them, but I didn't change them at the time. I thought I would wait until this B service.

Turns out the previous technician had English as his 2nd language and so it could be that when he reported 70% worn, he got mixed up, and meant to say 70% remaining life of the pad. Well that's what the senior technician who did the service this time told the service advisor when I asked about the contradictory information. This doesn't inspire confidence in the visual health checks or the servicing!

Picked up loan car, it was a 3 week old A250 AMG Line. Despite having 221bhp, and 258 lb⋅ft, and 0-60 being just 0.3 seconds slower than my C350e, it really felt much more sluggish in the real world, as it it wasn't as effortless to overtake.

I put it down to the much lower torque of the petrol engine alone, versus the combined torque of the engine and electric motor in our cars.

Car is leaps ahead of the earlier gen A class, but still felt quite lacking compared to C350e. Even though the A250 has multi link rear suspension vs torsion beam that lower A classes have, the ride was awful bumpy unless you were on a smooth road. I didn't realise that Airmatic on C350e is THAT good. Handling was much more go kart style in Sport mode.

Road and wind noise were higher than C350e. I've also got acoustic glass fitted on my front side windows of my C350e, that could also explain the difference. Economy was not great. I was driving gently and got 25mpg in urban use. When I added 40 miles on M25 cruising in Eco at 50-60mph, the average MPG for the entire day stood at 31mpg.

The key advantage of the A class over the C350e was the MBUX interior tech. Gorgeous dual screens and voice interface. I was driving at 60mph, said "Hey Mercedes, I feel cold" and it put the heating up by 1C from 20C to 21C. When I said "Hey Mercedes, I want mexican food", it brought up a list of the nearest Mexican restaurants on the screen"

I will be thankful to get back into my C350e.

 

[Nick Harper]

I have a C350e estate and got the attached recall notice today. It was bought new in Jan 2018. Anyone else had one? Is it c350e specific?

Booked in on 29th May. No parts at the dealership to do it before then.

 

[Goldngin]

It's been almost a year since I bought my C350e, mostly urban driving in London with motorway trips once a week. Travelling a lot out of the UK these days, so got the service and MOT done a few weeks early. The car is at 39k miles. I bought it with 27k miles.

B service cost £367. Note that there were two dealers near me, on the MB website, one was coming at £437 + £50 for loan car, the other at £367 + £15 for loan car. When I called the expensive one and told them that another MB dealer was cheaper, they put me on hold for 2 mins, and then matched the service price and reduced the price of the loan car to zero.

Turns out the car needed no other work, everything is in good condition, and it passed MOT no problems, which was a pleasant surprise as I keep hearing horror stories about running costs on MBs, and expensive repairs being needed.

The visual health check they did told me the front brakes were 10% worn, rear brakes 30% worn. I mostly drive in Eco mode, and I avoid heavy last minute braking. When I bought the car in May 2018, the MB dealer gave it an A service. Not sure if they changed the pads.

What's weird is that the visual health check this time, contradicted the visual health check done a few months ago, when the car went into the same dealer for a software update. At that time, the technician said the rear pads were 70% worn, and recommended changing them, but I didn't change them at the time. I thought I would wait until this B service.

Turns out the previous technician had English as his 2nd language and so it could be that when he reported 70% worn, he got mixed up, and meant to say 70% remaining life of the pad. Well that's what the senior technician who did the service this time told the service advisor when I asked about the contradictory information. This doesn't inspire confidence in the visual health checks or the servicing!

Picked up loan car, it was a 3 week old A250 AMG Line. Despite having 221bhp, and 258 lb⋅ft, and 0-60 being just 0.3 seconds slower than my C350e, it really felt much more sluggish in the real world, as it it wasn't as effortless to overtake.

I put it down to the much lower torque of the petrol engine alone, versus the combined torque of the engine and electric motor in our cars.

Car is leaps ahead of the earlier gen A class, but still felt quite lacking compared to C350e. Even though the A250 has multi link rear suspension vs torsion beam that lower A classes have, the ride was awful bumpy unless you were on a smooth road. I didn't realise that Airmatic on C350e is THAT good. Handling was much more go kart style in Sport mode.

Road and wind noise were higher than C350e. I've also got acoustic glass fitted on my front side windows of my C350e, that could also explain the difference. Economy was not great. I was driving gently and got 25mpg in urban use. When I added 40 miles on M25 cruising in Eco at 50-60mph, the average MPG for the entire day stood at 31mpg.

The key advantage of the A class over the C350e was the MBUX interior tech. Gorgeous dual screens and voice interface. I was driving at 60mph, said "Hey Mercedes, I feel cold" and it put the heating up by 1C from 20C to 21C. When I said "Hey Mercedes, I want mexican food", it brought up a list of the nearest Mexican restaurants on the screen"

I will be thankful to get back into my C350e.

They will be the original front disc pads Raspy. My readings were similar with 36k on clock since new. The rear pads wear quicker if you're not a heavy braker due to the hold function/ handbrake. Every time it releases there is a little friction and brake wear. Btw that service price sounds brill compared to MB Caterham where I live! Also interesting comparison re: A class loaner. I think we would all miss the airmatic suspension of the 350e and that includes me that has it in the sport mode all the time along with the steering weight in my independent vehicle settings.

 

[Runlmc]

Rear air suspension has failed and resting on the wheels. Has anyone else had this and how was it resolved? Car is out of warranty.

 

[Goldngin]

Rear air suspension has failed and resting on the wheels. Has anyone else had this and how was it resolved? Car is out of warranty.

Sounds like an air leak if the car has dropped on all 4 corners potentially. I know a chap with a high mileage E class that has had a number of faults with the air suspension, have all been fixed at relatively modest cost at an Independent MB specialist in Reading, (location not much use to you though). I've just read this: You are being redirected...

 

[CaptainChaos]

Rear air suspension has failed and resting on the wheels. Has anyone else had this and how was it resolved? Car is out of warranty.

Ouch. Does it pump up when you start the engine?

 

[dasachmo]

Just had a quick question and not sure if it's the right place but my old 05 c320 is on its way out and I'm looking to upgrade to the 350e.
When I spoke to a guy at my local garage he seems to be recommending to wait for the new version as they have discontinued the 350e.
I had a brief read and am I right in assuming it's a jump in generation of hybrid tech and does it affect any warranty / parts availability with the 350e ?