C350e owners club

[Tekky]

Was there a green light at the socket on the car? It should light orange when you first plug in and then change to green in a few seconds once you have switched on at the mains. The charger should have two solid green lights and two or four flashing green lights depending on the current draw setting which you can change with the button on the charger block.


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Just tried charging for an hour at home on slow ( 2 lights) and yes the all is you say ( except I dont recall seeing any orange on the car socket ) - am I right in saying the charge light at the car socket glows ( rather than flashes ) green when charging ? what does it do when its finished ? is it much different ?

After an hour the car now reports 3 miles battery range - am i being extremely impatient or is okay ? I think I got a dud battery

 

[Tekky]

Just tried charging for an hour at home on slow ( 2 lights) and yes the all is you say ( except I dont recall seeing any orange on the car socket ) - am I right in saying the charge light at the car socket glows ( rather than flashes ) green when charging ? what does it do when its finished ? is it much different ?

After an hour the car now reports 3 miles battery range - am i being extremely impatient or is okay ? I think I got a dud battery

but at least it's the 2017 model and has the blue calipers and front headlight surrounds - looks nice against brilliant blue, even there's a outside temp gauge on one of the menus

 

[ryeltep]

Just tried charging for an hour at home on slow ( 2 lights) and yes the all is you say ( except I dont recall seeing any orange on the car socket ) - am I right in saying the charge light at the car socket glows ( rather than flashes ) green when charging ? what does it do when its finished ? is it much different ?

After an hour the car now reports 3 miles battery range - am i being extremely impatient or is okay ? I think I got a dud battery

At 8amps which is the low setting it will take about 3.5 hours to charge fully from empty. So assuming 1hr of charging and a "normal" reported range of about 13-15 miles you aren't far off. A better place to look than the range is the battery page of the Trip computer which shows the %charge in the battery. As others have said, zero miles is actually 20% charged. You can use the 20% to get another few miles if you put the car into E-mode instead of hybrid.

The green light at the socket goes out when fully charged.

The battery will also condition in time as will the reported range after a few charging cycles and trips. My range varies between 12 and 16 miles depending on ambient temperature (the hotter the better) and how I have driven the car. If I drive never exceeding 30mph the range goes up but my normal commute involves some 40mph and 50mph urban dual carriageways which reduce range.


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[quonker]

On Wednesday when I parked at the station I had 23 miles range when I got back from the station later that day I got a message saying insufficient fuel E-Mode only please fill immediately. Managed to get about 2 miles to the petrol station with no electric range either.


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I've had this before and switched to Sports mode makes the engine kick back in, did this and then back to comfort.

 

[TheCorm]

You shouldn't have to wipe anything.
I for one will not stand in the rain whilst I wipe the cap which should have had a better design in the first place.

I do agree it's a design flaw, the Mitsubishi Outlander has a side flap which exposes it much less than on the merc, the estate is also tilted even more up the saloon so wondering if estates are even more prone to it.

 

[TheCorm]

From a post quite a while back I have also gone past the flashing last bar on the petrol gauge and had it disappear! I was on the M6 with 45 miles left according to the display before disappeared (extremely annoying) and 16 miles to services so figured 30ish should be fine being left in the tank... The bar started flashing and then went for about 3 miles before I reached the services. Filling up I squeezed in only 47.22 litres but was relieved to have made the services "just in case", don't know if I dare take it any further!

Anyone else had a play with the range?

It's been nearly 5 weeks since last fillup and I have done around 800 miles, tank is now at 23% and i'd like to take it down to <10% before I fillup, i'll be able to provide some mpg stats then too!

 

[JP350e]

From a post quite a while back I have also gone past the flashing last bar on the petrol gauge and had it disappear! I was on the M6 with 45 miles left according to the display before disappeared (extremely annoying) and 16 miles to services so figured 30ish should be fine being left in the tank... The bar started flashing and then went for about 3 miles before I reached the services. Filling up I squeezed in only 47.22 litres but was relieved to have made the services "just in case", don't know if I dare take it any further!

Anyone else had a play with the range?

I managed to get 48.50 litres in a week or so ago. That was around 30 miles from when the remaining range display disappeared and I seem to remember thinking I should of had around 15 to 20 miles left in it based on the remaining miles earlier in the journey! The spec's quote a 50 litre tank, of which 7 litre's are reserve so I'm assuming the low fuel light comes on when you have 7 litres left?

 

[Vailmale]

TDi Chip

Hi Quonker.....

The TDi c350e page originally showed a 4.9 second 0-60 as opposed to 5.9 for the standard car. Interestingly, that claim has now gone!

I guess you could just set your phone up somewhere it could see the speedo, start the video and floor the throttle. We'd be able to see on video what your 0-60 was and could compare it with standard car (there's actually one on Youtube)?

I'm 90% sure I want the TDi whip - but a nice 0-60 demo would seal the deal!

 

[Tekky]

At 8amps which is the low setting it will take about 3.5 hours to charge fully from empty. So assuming 1hr of charging and a "normal" reported range of about 13-15 miles you aren't far off. A better place to look than the range is the battery page of the Trip computer which shows the %charge in the battery. As others have said, zero miles is actually 20% charged. You can use the 20% to get another few miles if you put the car into E-mode instead of hybrid.

The green light at the socket goes out when fully charged.

The battery will also condition in time as will the reported range after a few charging cycles and trips. My range varies between 12 and 16 miles depending on ambient temperature (the hotter the better) and how I have driven the car. If I drive never exceeding 30mph the range goes up but my normal commute involves some 40mph and 50mph urban dual carriageways which reduce range.


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Thanks for the feedback. It turned out to be a case of bad luck ( my charging at work tripped all our outside charge points, hence no charge for me ), inexperience ( day 1 ), and impatience - thankfully all looks good now.

 

[B33fy]

Picked up the car from the dealers, water ingress problem with the high voltage cables in the end. All replaced. I've also ended up in emode due to lack of fuel when I thought there was a reasonable range left in the car. I'll try the sports mode trick next time.

 

[Tekky]

Picked up the car from the dealers, water ingress problem with the high voltage cables in the end. All replaced. I've also ended up in emode due to lack of fuel when I thought there was a reasonable range left in the car. I'll try the sports mode trick next time.

B33fy : i'm trying to work out whether there is any pattern to such ingress problems ( so as to avoid if possible ), do you have any views ?

 

[B33fy]

B33fy : i'm trying to work out whether there is any pattern to such ingress problems ( so as to avoid if possible ), do you have any views ?

Only the obvious.. Charging outside in the rain. If you want to avoid charge in the dry. IMO it shouldn't happen regardless.. The car should be able to cope with charging at outside stations in all conditions. MB aren't likely to do a recall and are hoping that the problem won't occur too often whilst the car is in warranty. I pity the subsequent owners when the warranty has expired and MB wash their hands of the issue. Hopefully they have sorted the problem on later cars

 

[Spuddey]

My C350e is due in two weeks - ordered in early Feb (before the drop in grant). I am trying to decide if it is actually worth installing anything other than an external 13amp socket for charging - what are peoples experiences - is a 'proper' charge point worthwhile?

 

[Dodgy]

My C350e is due in two weeks - ordered in early Feb (before the drop in grant). I am trying to decide if it is actually worth installing anything other than an external 13amp socket for charging - what are peoples experiences - is a 'proper' charge point worthwhile?

Hi,

I'm using a standard 13A socket at the moment with the charger set to kick out a low current, which I think is 8A. I only charge overnight because I don't have solar electric and I have an economy 7 tariff, so speed isn't important.

It's a bit of a pain running the cable from the garage - but I probably only waste a minute a day plugging in and unplugging. And if I wanted to top-up the charge in a short gap between trips the extra rate of charge might make a difference, but that rarely happens.


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[Weller]

I managed to get 48.50 litres in a week or so ago. That was around 30 miles from when the remaining range display disappeared and I seem to remember thinking I should of had around 15 to 20 miles left in it based on the remaining miles earlier in the journey! The spec's quote a 50 litre tank, of which 7 litre's are reserve so I'm assuming the low fuel light comes on when you have 7 litres left?

Sounds about right to me, I don't think I'd push it any further unless I had some decent charge but I've never actually plugged mine in so usually hover around 20% in hybrid mode. And as it's mainly motorway miles I do the next set of services is usually too much of a challenge!

 

[Dodgy]

B33fy : i'm trying to work out whether there is any pattern to such ingress problems ( so as to avoid if possible ), do you have any views ?

I've only had the car for two weeks. I charge in any weather, but I take a lot of care not to get water on the electrics when I unplug and shut the cap. The cap is often soaking wet and there's no way I'd get that much water on a live electrical connection. Of course, if water is getting in during charging I'm stuffed, so I've no idea if I'll continue to be lucky.


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[derekthetree]

Only the obvious.. Charging outside in the rain. If you want to avoid charge in the dry. IMO it shouldn't happen regardless.. The car should be able to cope with charging at outside stations in all conditions. MB aren't likely to do a recall and are hoping that the problem won't occur too often whilst the car is in warranty. I pity the subsequent owners when the warranty has expired and MB wash their hands of the issue. Hopefully they have sorted the problem on later cars

Judging by earlier comments (and my experience with the charging fault) the corrosion is deep in the bowls of the system, not near the socket.

 

[mbboyracer]

My C350e is due in two weeks - ordered in early Feb (before the drop in grant). I am trying to decide if it is actually worth installing anything other than an external 13amp socket for charging - what are peoples experiences - is a 'proper' charge point worthwhile?

Hardly! But I have both. The domestic charge point is quite adequate for everyday use and will charge the car in two hours at the high rate (that's four green lights on the "brick"). I've measured the current flow at 12amps.

My reason for getting the 32 amp Charge Pod was to take advantage of the grant to "future proof" the house for eventual sale.

The car cannot take advantage of 32 amp charging and is limited to 16 amp (if you're lucky - mine is a bit less because the cable run is so long that it drops the voltage at the Pod).

You'll pay a bit extra for a Pod installation but if you shop around it may not be much more than £300. But if you don't want to do that, you'll be fine with the domestic socket solution.

 

[wivenhoe]

Only the obvious.. Charging outside in the rain. If you want to avoid charge in the dry. IMO it shouldn't happen regardless.. The car should be able to cope with charging at outside stations in all conditions. MB aren't likely to do a recall and are hoping that the problem won't occur too often whilst the car is in warranty. I pity the subsequent owners when the warranty has expired and MB wash their hands of the issue. Hopefully they have sorted the problem on later cars

The warranty is for 5 years as it is part of the hybrid system. If a fault doesn't show by then I would say that it couldn't be a major design fault. I have had no charging problems and I always connect at home in the dry or torrential rain. I am more concerned over the chance of a minor parking 'nudge' by someone causing untold damage to the socket etc.

 

[MaxHybrid]

Why do you put it in park at the lights? Just a firm press on the brake when you are stopped puts it into hold then move off by pressing the accelerator.


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Rather than driving off from HOLD, I tend to prefer tapping the brake pedal again which deactivates hold. I think this gives a smoother take off, however, when I want to take off quickly I will go straight to the accelerator