C350e owners club

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Yes. Sounds OK inside the car, but not great outside, especially at cold start up.

It's not fair comparing anything to an Alfa V6 though. šŸ˜Ž
 
Hi everyone. Zombie member here.

Good to see the post count still increasing at a rate. Itā€™s been a while since I browsed the forum, so apologies for not defending my Model 3 against @raspyā€™s disrespect sooner. šŸ˜‰

Shockingly, nothing has fallen off, broken, died or otherwise failed on my budget American sedan. Itā€™s handled a couple of decent road-trips without incident, although most of the tiny amount of driving weā€™ve done has been local. Iā€™m still happy with the switch to Tesla. There are a handful of things the MB beats it at, but nothing major:
  • MB rear seats more comfortable, but they are the best Iā€™ve had
  • MB door close has that solid quality feel. Iā€™m not sure if itā€™s due to heavier doors or better sound engineering
  • MB switch gear is better quality, but there are only 8 buttons in the Tesla (four seat adjusters, wash-wipe, hazard warnings and two button/scroll wheels on the steering wheel), so itā€™s not a big deal
  • MB range between fuelling, obviously
For the Tesla:
  • Pre-heat is so fast (10 minutes from freezing to 20C), remembers personalised settings and is adjustable
  • Battery range is 150-250 miles, depending on weather and speed šŸ˜€
  • No gears = very smooth urban driving
  • Infotainment is modern, keeps getting updated and has a truly massive touchscreen
@Chris-S, interested to hear about your switch to Octopus. I applied for Aglie a year ago, but the smart meter fitting took until December so Iā€™ve only just had the invitation to accept the terms and conditions. Have you seen the prices this week? šŸ˜± I believe that Tesla offers an API to allow manual control of the charging and Octopus offers a weird Tesla tariff. Now Iā€™m WAY off topic...

Take care everyone. May your suspension compressors remain dry and your batteries be replaced under warranty!
 
Hi @Dodgy good to hear your experiences on the TM3. I still want one! :)

I did look at the Tesla tariff on Octopus but went with ā€˜Goā€™ for now. 5p units for 4 hours at night and so far, since switching, Iā€™m only using power at that rate, the Powerwall is holding itā€™s own during the other 20 hours of the 24.

Iā€™ve made my Rolec charger slightly smarter by putting a WiFi controlled switch in it that means I can schedule when it charges, so the car gets charged on 5p units at night as well now. Just a cheap SonOff WiFi that I reprogrammed to work on Apple Home. You could leave it stock and use ITTT, but as I already use Home, went that way with it. Just used it to control the mains to the ā€˜commsā€˜ unit in the Rolec so it only switches vey low power.

I quite like the idea of the Tesla tariff as itā€™s a true ā€˜netā€™ arrangement, which might work well....but thought Iā€™d try ā€˜goā€™ first. Quick and easy to switch anyway I think....

I was lucky with the smart meter by the way. Already had one installed a few years ago by EON (I think) and initially Octopus said it wouldnā€™t work...but it did, so Iā€™ve not had to wait for a new install.
 
Hi @Dodgy good to hear your experiences on the TM3. I still want one! :)

I did look at the Tesla tariff on Octopus but went with ā€˜Goā€™ for now. 5p units for 4 hours at night and so far, since switching, Iā€™m only using power at that rate, the Powerwall is holding itā€™s own during the other 20 hours of the 24.

Iā€™ve made my Rolec charger slightly smarter by putting a WiFi controlled switch in it that means I can schedule when it charges, so the car gets charged on 5p units at night as well now. Just a cheap SonOff WiFi that I reprogrammed to work on Apple Home. You could leave it stock and use ITTT, but as I already use Home, went that way with it. Just used it to control the mains to the ā€˜commsā€˜ unit in the Rolec so it only switches vey low power.

I quite like the idea of the Tesla tariff as itā€™s a true ā€˜netā€™ arrangement, which might work well....but thought Iā€™d try ā€˜goā€™ first. Quick and easy to switch anyway I think....

I was lucky with the smart meter by the way. Already had one installed a few years ago by EON (I think) and initially Octopus said it wouldnā€™t work...but it did, so Iā€™ve not had to wait for a new install.
Impressive that your battery can get you through the day @5p. Weā€™ve only done that once this year so far. Iā€™m going to try the ā€œGo Fasterā€œ option with 5p from 02:30 to 06:30 for the next month, but I expect Iā€™ll switch to Agile as soon as the crazy wholesale electricity prices have subsided.

Nice work on the home automation. Iā€™d like to set it up so that the battery is linked to half-hour electricity prices, but I doubt it would make much difference over just charging for four hours overnight in the typically cheap window.

Anyway, I need to take the car out tomorrow for a 20 mile drive. First time for a while and there might be snow by the looks of the forecast. Should be fun in a rocket-powered RWD with summer tyres!
 
How's things?

No, it was spot on when I bought it. No issues for the first few months. Then started off as an intermittent problem but quickly became every time the petrol engine kicked in. It un-driveable in comfort/eco mode at the minute so I have it in sport until I get it sorted.

Where in Dublin did you pick up your car. Got mine up there aswell, an ex-lease car from the UK
I have the same problem as yours I brought it in to Dennis o mahoney (MB) to check but they said they can't find any problem when they put it in their diagnostic test, I paid 140euro for nothing and that still my problem up to now
 
I have the same problem as yours I brought it in to Dennis o mahoney (MB) to check but they said they can't find any problem when they put it in their diagnostic test, I paid 140euro for nothing and that still my problem up to now
If you have a look at Seekay's posts (9 Jan 2020), the issue you have would appear to be resolved by putting in a new starter and relay. Would have thought that Denis Mahony MB could do better than computer says no and that will be 140 euro. 20 minutes of research on here should have at least given them some ideas. Was planning on using them for servicing but your experience has put me right of. I have heard good things in general about Mulligan's garage (independent Merc specialists) in Dublin 8. Not sure what they are like with hybrids though.
 
More and more there seems to be this assumption that every single problem can be ā€œdiagnosedā€ by reading the answer off a computer screen. It would be nice to think that a competent mechanic would understand that sometimes they need to earn their living :(

Itā€™s not limited to car repairs though, there have been generations now who think that a computer program can fix anything.

Given a new starter isnā€™t that expensive, and there is a fair amount of evidence to suggest that the starter is the culprit, maybe just take a punt and get one fitted. Even if it turns out that doesnā€™t fix it, itā€™s looking like the starter is almost a service item on these anyway. From day 1 Iā€™ve had concerns about the hammering the starter takes on these, such a shame they couldnā€™t have used the main EV motor for starting the ICE and done away with the old-school starter completely.
 
Can you guys please check the pre-conditioning settings in the infotainment screen? There are three options, entire vehicle, driver only and off.
For some reason every time when I try to scroll onto the ā€˜entire vehicleā€™ it always pops back to the ā€˜driver onlyā€™, donā€™t know why.
The other weird thing is, even on the ā€˜driver side onlyā€™ setting I can still feel the air vents blowing warm air on the passenger side as well. How is this supposed to work in ideal circumstances?
 
When you scroll on to entire vehicle you need to press down to select it.

Driver's side means it will switch on the driver's heated seat only. It sends warm air out of all the vents as surely you want all the windows de-icing?! :D Below a certain temperature it will also switch on the heated rear screen.
 
More and more there seems to be this assumption that every single problem can be ā€œdiagnosedā€ by reading the answer off a computer screen. It would be nice to think that a competent mechanic would understand that sometimes they need to earn their living :(

Itā€™s not limited to car repairs though, there have been generations now who think that a computer program can fix anything.

Given a new starter isnā€™t that expensive, and there is a fair amount of evidence to suggest that the starter is the culprit, maybe just take a punt and get one fitted. Even if it turns out that doesnā€™t fix it, itā€™s looking like the starter is almost a service item on these anyway. From day 1 Iā€™ve had concerns about the hammering the starter takes on these, such a shame they couldnā€™t have used the main EV motor for starting the ICE and done away with the old-school starter completely.
Agreed.
This is how they used to do it...
Old school.jpg
 
When you scroll on to entire vehicle you need to press down to select it.

Driver's side means it will switch on the driver's heated seat only. It sends warm air out of all the vents as surely you want all the windows de-icing?! :D Below a certain temperature it will also switch on the heated rear screen.
I did press it down and still popped back but Iā€™ll have a look again. Iā€™m pretty sure on the driver side only setting also switched on the passenger seat heating. Iā€™ll check this one as well.
 
@Chris-S, do you know if the new C300e has the same set up using the ICE starter?
One would expect that they would have resolved this problem after it being such a common issue with the C350e.
The reason I am asking is that if they have fitted a more durable starter in the C300e then this might also fit a C350e. Of course they may not have resolved this at all or else found a more sophisticated solution.
 
No worries @Chris-S. I will save that question for the mechanics when I inevitably have to get a replacement starter. I understand that it is the same ICE used in the C300e so there is a good chance that if they are using an upgraded starter it would be compatible with the C350e.

Plan to report back on this in due course unless someone else gets there before me.
 
I did press it down and still popped back but Iā€™ll have a look again. Iā€™m pretty sure on the driver side only setting also switched on the passenger seat heating. Iā€™ll check this one as well.
Tried again, driver side only setting and both the driver and passenger seat heating turned on.
If I start the pre-heat via the phone app, does it override the infotainment systemā€™s pre-condition settings? Looks like...
 
Hi Everyone.
I just wanted a bit of advice and this seems to be the thread to ask on!
Im about to bite the bullet and buy a c350e. I really wanted the AMG pack as the interior looks great but it seems the 18 inch rims push the emissions over 50g CO2 which wont meet my tax requirements.
Anyway, just before i sign i just wanted to know a bit of general feedback if possible. It seems theres a lot of issues with starter motors and leaking as well but are these common - it seems that no ones actually happy with their car the more i read through the thread! Its kinda giving me second thoughts but the c300e doesnt seem to be in my price range and not keep on leasing
 
If you have a look at Seekay's posts (9 Jan 2020), the issue you have would appear to be resolved by putting in a new starter and relay. Would have thought that Denis Mahony MB could do better than computer says no and that will be 140 euro. 20 minutes of research on here should have at least given them some ideas. Was planning on using them for servicing but your experience has put me right of. I have heard good things in general about Mulligan's garage (independent Merc specialists) in Dublin 8. Not sure what they are like with hybrids though.
I seems there is no problem with the starter it works fine the only problem with my car it won't works now with hybrid/ electric it only works now with petrol. So now what's the point of buying PHEV car that hybrid/elctric that doesn't work.
 
Hi Everyone.
I just wanted a bit of advice and this seems to be the thread to ask on!
Im about to bite the bullet and buy a c350e. I really wanted the AMG pack as the interior looks great but it seems the 18 inch rims push the emissions over 50g CO2 which wont meet my tax requirements.
Anyway, just before i sign i just wanted to know a bit of general feedback if possible. It seems theres a lot of issues with starter motors and leaking as well but are these common - it seems that no ones actually happy with their car the more i read through the thread! Its kinda giving me second thoughts but the c300e doesnt seem to be in my price range and not keep on leasing
As youā€™ve probably seen on this thread, the common problems so far seem to be starter issues at higher miles, air suspension compressor wiring and a potentially dodgy fuel pipe. TBH, none of these are hugely worrying as such, especially if you have a warranty. Common is maybe a strong word for them but they do seem to pop up. Weā€™ve not seen many battery issues as such, beyond the fact itā€™s too damned small!

Donā€™t expect anything like the published battery range, this time of year with heat on, 6 to 8 is about the limit, and thatā€™s taking it easy.

Only you can decide if you should buy, but do make sure to have a good test drive before you decide.
 
@Glennambas, are you certain there is no issue with the starter? I don't have first hand experience of the issue but from what I have read, while the starter will start the car (the ICE), the car's computer has detected a problem/weakness with the starter and in order to save it, it will not allow the car switch to hybrid mode as the constant movement between ev and ICE means that the starter needs to be engaged multiple times during a journey. Whereas, when just using the ICE the car only uses the starter once in a journey. Someone with more experience of these will correct me if I am wrong here.
Totally agree that it is frustrating and pretty pointless to have a PHEV and not being able to use it while having to carry 200kg odd of battery around.

Have you considered bringing it somewhere other than Denis Mahony's? Apart from Mulligans, Baskin Motors in Swords and Baker's in Santry are also reputed to be good MB independent specialists. They all have Star diagnostics.
 

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