C350e owners club

[Deleted member 126969]

Specific common issues seem to be starter motor, fuel rail across engine bay behind engine and air suspension pump connector. The HV battery seems generally OK. A 3 year old car won’t be subejct to the charge socket issues earlier cars had.

I’d want to get a feel for the battery capacity though, and the only real way to do that is to see how far you get on a full charge (put it in EV mode and drive within the limit of EV power) or measure how much energy you have to put in to charge a flat battery. Don’t rely on the guessOmeter, it lies. That said, if it shows 100% battery and says range is 6 miles...walk way, or demand the battery is tested for capacity.

Lower miles better of course, bear in mind the HV system warranty is 6 years or 100,000km and covers HV battery, motor and “power electronics”

 

[seekay]

Anyone else has a jerk when you start up the car and start driving in E-mode? Only the first few yards there is a jerky gear change, (clutch maybe?) then drives fine for rest of the journey. Only in the first few yards, when starting the car in E-Mode. Is it the one we talked about before, the clutch between the gearbox and the electric motor, so a normal behaviour?

 

[Deleted member 126969]

E mode should be smooth. The clutch will be ‘open’ as the ICE isn’t running and all the motive power will be coming from the electric motor. Sounds like a gearbox thing?

The clutch is between the ICE and everything else, the electric motor is permanently connected to the gearbox through the torque converter.

Flywheel - wet clutch - electric motor - torque converter - gearbox

 

[seekay]

E mode should be smooth. The clutch will be ‘open’ as the ICE isn’t running and all the motive power will be coming from the electric motor. Sounds like a gearbox thing?

The clutch is between the ICE and everything else, the electric motor is permanently connected to the gearbox through the torque converter.

Flywheel - wet clutch - electric motor - torque converter - gearbox

Need to correct myself, wouldn’t really say it’s jerking, it’s more like a harder gear change than normally. Only in E-Mode and only the first few yards after started up the car. After that it’s very smooth, very seamless gear changes. If I turn off the ignition then turn it back on and start driving, after the first few yards I can also feel the harder gear change and then it becomes completely seamless. It’s been like that since bought the car in August, never thought that as an actual fault just wanted to make sure if anyone else experienced something similar.

 

[Deleted member 126969]

Never noticed that on ours. Only harsh shift that seems to happen is when moving slowly, braking then accelerating again, sort of thing you do at a roundabout for example. Only does it rarely. Happens regardless of mode it’s in I think.

Moving off from rest is always smooth no matter what mode or how hard the throttle is hit.

I forget, how many miles on your car? Has it had a gearbox oil change yet? Just grasping at straws really.

 

[seekay]

Never noticed that on ours. Only harsh shift that seems to happen is when moving slowly, braking then accelerating again, sort of thing you do at a roundabout for example. Only does it rarely. Happens regardless of mode it’s in I think.

Moving off from rest is always smooth no matter what mode or how hard the throttle is hit.

I forget, how many miles on your car? Has it had a gearbox oil change yet? Just grasping at straws really.

That’s the next thing is due, the car has 80000 miles and based on the service history and what the main dealer told me, the gearbox oil hasn’t been changed yet. The car has had 6 services within 3 years due to the higher annual miles, and as far as I know the oil should have been changed at 75000 miles however Mercedes never advised this. Asked them earlier if there is any service due, they checked their system and said everything was up to date. Then asked about the gearbox, they looked into it a bit deeper and turned out its oil has never been changed. I’ll book the car in soon, let’s see what happens.

 

[Deleted member 126969]

The gearbox oil on theses seems to be a bit of a mystery as far as the service schedule goes. If it was a normal 7g+ then yes, 75k or 5 years no question, but others have had issues getting the oil done on the C350e for some reason - as you found, it just doesn't appear on the schedule. Almost as if the person that created the schedule didn't realise it has a gearbox....

When booking a service recently for mine, I asked specifically about this issue as mine is 5 years old at the service next year, and before renewing the service contract, I wanted to make sure it would be included. The response was a bit vague TBH.

 

[seekay]

The gearbox oil on theses seems to be a bit of a mystery as far as the service schedule goes. If it was a normal 7g+ then yes, 75k or 5 years no question, but others have had issues getting the oil done on the C350e for some reason - as you found, it just doesn't appear on the schedule. Almost as if the person that created the schedule didn't realise it has a gearbox....

When booking a service recently for mine, I asked specifically about this issue as mine is 5 years old at the service next year, and before renewing the service contract, I wanted to make sure it would be included. The response was a bit vague TBH.

Yes, read about that in the previous comments. What did they actually say when you brought up this issue?

 

[Deleted member 126969]

Yes, read about that in the previous comments. What did they actually say when you brought up this issue?

Can’t recall the exact words but it was to the effect of ”yes, that should be done at 5 years”. I’ll make sure to bring it up well in advance when I come to book the actual year 5 service too of course, and get it in writing before the event. I don’t plan on relying on the word of someone on the phone who will no doubt not be available on the day of the service should it not go to plan.

 

[seekay]

Can’t recall the exact words but it was to the effect of ”yes, that should be done at 5 years”. I’ll make sure to bring it up well in advance when I come to book the actual year 5 service too of course, and get it in writing before the event. I don’t plan on relying on the word of someone on the phone who will no doubt not be available on the day of the service should it not go to plan.

Yes definitely, need to get it in writing. Wouldn’t be surprised if their service plan suddenly wouldn’t cover the gearbox oil change if it doesn’t come up in their system.

One more thing, regarding to the air suspension:
Is it normal to hear a slight hissing for about 1-2 minutes after the engine turned off? And of course when start the car, the compressor turns on for a few seconds. Is that normal or a healthy air suspension should never lose any air pressure?

 

[seekay]

Yes definitely, need to get it in writing. Wouldn’t be surprised if their service plan suddenly wouldn’t cover the gearbox oil change if it doesn’t come up in their system.

One more thing, regarding to the air suspension:
Is it normal to hear a slight hissing for about 1-2 minutes after the engine turned off? And of course when start the car, the compressor turns on for a few seconds. Is that normal or a healthy air suspension should never lose any air pressure?

Correction, only 10-15 seconds hissing. The suspension won’t drop even after 2 weeks of parking.

 

[Deleted member 126969]

Never heard any hissing on mine. Do very occasionally hear the compressor run but it is a very rare happening. I can provoke it by selecting the raised ride height.

There are assorted noises after switch-off though, mostly pumps whirring and a bit of gurgling coolant round the battery coolant circuit I think.

 

[Deleted member 126969]

Apropos of nothing much, took mine for an MOT today. Last year (its first MOT) was done by MB at the service, but their prices were way up this year so I took it to the chap I normally use for the other cars. All good, but being a more laid-back kind of venue, despite all the Covid-secure (ugh!) precautions, I could at least see what was going on. Despite trying to warm it up before arriving by driving in Sport and E-Save modes, it was still cooled off by the time it got to the emissions test...and at first, it was shocking! Incredibly rich, and red across the board. Like, seriously rich. CO was over 4 at one point, HC I can't remember but it was stupid high. It warmed up pretty smartly and readings came back down to what you'd expect for an 8000 mile car whose engine has probably only done half that.

 

[aitchmarsh]

Hello, Has any 350e owner practically achieved 19 miles in EV mode from the 6.4 kWh battery. At 80% of capacity and 250 watt hours per mile it should be possible. Mine says 11 miles but if careful it will drive 2-3 miles after the e range has fallen to the last 1 mile so have achieved around 13 driving like a snail. Replies appreciated. Thanks

 

[Deleted member 126969]

Like yourself, 13-14 is the best I ever achieved. After 4 years and an embarrassingly small mileage of just over 8000 it still gets very close to that in summer.

I think the overheads are just too significant for it to do any better in the real world. I suspect the regen efficiency is poor as well, compared to a pure EV, which won't help.

19 miles is the stuff of legend, lies and official MPG tables.

 

[seekay]

Never heard any hissing on mine. Do very occasionally hear the compressor run but it is a very rare happening. I can provoke it by selecting the raised ride height.

There are assorted noises after switch-off though, mostly pumps whirring and a bit of gurgling coolant round the battery coolant circuit I think.

Was digging a little bit online about the air suspensions and found several questions with the same symptoms I wrote above. It seems like a completely normal thing, it’s not an air leak, can auto-levels time-to time, especially on uneven road surface or when weight significantly changes. You wouldn’t really notice it, unless crouching by the wheels. Eg. when everybody gets out, there will be a lot less weight in the car therefore the suspension will go up, simply physics. Won’t need as much air as it was so the car let’s out some air to restore the normal level of the suspension. I have now tested a couple of times since read this feature, and seems like it’s true. When everybody gets out, turn the engine off and shut all the doors, after a few seconds I can hear a valve click from the wheel archs, then a slight hiss for a few seconds the suspension drops but only a few mm-s. Seems like a controlled feature rather than a fault. After this if I don’t touch the car for 2-3 weeks won’t drop from its current height at all, won’t go any lower.
I believe an air leak should be a more permanent sort of thing and shouldn’t really be accompanied with a valve click.
So hopefully at least there is something which isn’t faulty on my recent purchase.

 

[seekay]

I had my usual 10.6 miles commuting today, 5.3 miles each way. Usually I just manage to make the whole journey in EV mode (only 10-15% left by end of my trip )but since we bought the car, never turned on the heating in EV mode. The time had come today, finally tried out how it performs with the heater on. Started with 100% charge, only had heating in the morning, on the way back didn’t turn it on. Unfortunately didn’t make it fully electric this time, in the last half a mile on my return journey the ICE cut in. The route includes 30 mph local roads and 50 mph dual carriageways with lot of roundabouts and a little up and downhill as well. Always try to be gentle on the throttle and plan forward, even on a dual carriageway don’t exceed 40 mph, ECO mode on, really like a big blue tortoise. It was about 9-10 degrees in the morning and around 14 when came back.
So wasn’t even extreme cold. I’m a little disappointed. Is this a ‘normal’ range in this condition?

 

[Deleted member 126969]

Yep, that's about it. Heating really nails the range, such as it is. The PTC heater plus other loads has to be about 4kW I think, run it for 30 minutes and there's 2kWh gone, which is 40% or so of useable capacity. With heating on, we are lucky to manage an 8 mile trip in winter.

Heated seats are more efficient than heating the cabin, but they do nothing to demist a screen. Briefly running the A/C clears misting fast though, so may be more efficient.

 

[seekay]

Yep, that's about it. Heating really nails the range, such as it is. The PTC heater plus other loads has to be about 4kW I think, run it for 30 minutes and there's 2kWh gone, which is 40% or so of useable capacity. With heating on, we are lucky to manage an 8 mile trip in winter.

Heated seats are more efficient than heating the cabin, but they do nothing to demist a screen. Briefly running the A/C clears misting fast though, so may be more efficient.

That’s sad. I don’t know why Mercedes put such a small battery into this car. In the house comparison, the Mercedes GLE plug-in hybrid has a 27 kWh battery.

 

[Deleted member 126969]

It was only their second stab at a hybrid. The first go had a battery with under 1kWh capacity. The S class hybrid and the C300h and E300h had that setup.

As owners of the C350e we pay the price of early adopters. Always the way with these things. TBH, I suspect it’s only legislation that made them fit a bigger battery in the newer cars so they qualify for the tax breaks and could be used to offset fleet emissions much as the C350e was very much aimed at the rules as they were back when it was designed.

It would be good if a bigger capacity battery could be retro-fitted to our cars, but I suspect the chances of that are zero, MB only want to sell new cars, not have old ones refreshed/upgraded and competing for sales.

There are signs that some EVs will be getting battery upgrades, the early Leaf for example can have a new, bigger pack fitted, and at a sensible price too, but I doubt anyone will bother trying to develop an upgrade for the C350e. Too few of them, too complicated and you can bet MB wouldn’t be forthcoming with information to aid the process either.

I’ve said it before and will no doubt repeat it many times, I should have held my water and waited for the Tesla 3 rather than buying the C350e when I did. I’ll stick with it now and keep it until I can face the depreciation. I tend to keep cars a long time and I always intended keeping this one, my thinking being my very low mileage use would help stretch the life of the thing. I guess when it reaches 10 years or so I’ll be old enough to have forgotten what I paid for it and won’t mind trading it in for some second hand EV, or just taking it to the nearest tat yard. Going by use so far, it’ll have about 20k on the clock by then. Very expensive per mile.....