W211 Battery Problems

[TheGrocer]

My E320 is having battery problems - New battery installed in 05 by mobilife due to breakdown at home. No problems since with regualr servicing by the MB stealership. Yesterday battery flat following a 200 mile run 24 hours prior. I have the extended Service Plus contract and called MB and the car was picked up and taken to the local MB dealer. A few observations:
1) The first thing the MB Service center tells me is that its standard prectice to take credit card details incase they have to charge me £180 call out charge if the breakdown is due to "user error"!!
Now Im thinking I should just jump start the car using my wifes battery and cancel the call out but then I think No I pay £88 a month for this contract and I havent made an error so come and look at the car.

2) "On Time" guy turns up and picks up the car and loads the car onto the trailer to take off to the local MB dealer. Mobilife not available as in the past Im thinking we just need a new battery and last time they had it on the truck and didnt need to wheel the car away. Nowdays its seems its cheaper to just pick it up and wheel it in to the nearest dealer.

3) Dealer calls today to inform me that no fault has been found, the battery has been recharged and is in good order! " Perhaps you left the lights on sir" he helpfully suggested. They are keeping the car for a further 24 hours to see if any battery drain occurs and then I get the car back

QUESTIONS

I have read all the threads on W211 battery problems, does any one know the details of the actual electrical recalls my car should have had - E320 CDI Avantgarde W211 March 04 - I would like to check that the regualr MB servicing has made these updates to my car.

I bet someone at the MB service center tries to charge me as no fault has been found. I know the Service Assist programme has been withdrawn due to MB losing money on the " Everything covered but tyres" statement made on the original contract leaflet.

I understand there are two batterys in my car, would they have checked both?

It seeme due to the ammount of problems people have had with 04/05 batterys that they just arent up to the job - Is there a bigger battery I can fit?

I just know Ill get it back and some cold windswept afternoon Ill be stuck with a dead car and very little come back - Losing faith in my cars electrics!

Any comments for anyone would be usefull

 

[jamesshipway]

I have a W211 E320 CDI with a similar spec to yours. I had to replace the battery about 3 months ago (the first change) and this was after a gradual detoriation of the battery with the usual 'consumer units switched off' message before it finally refused to start the engine.

It is the main battery in the boot that is used to start the engine so I would doubt that the smaller one in the engine is at fault.

If you haven't had any of these messages then it could be due to another fault as I would think it unlikely that the battery would just die - has the dealer checked everything else to make sure there isn't a drain on the battery or that it is getting charged correctly?

 

[TheGrocer]

I have a W211 E320 CDI with a similar spec to yours. I had to replace the battery about 3 months ago (the first change) and this was after a gradual detoriation of the battery with the usual 'consumer units switched off' message before it finally refused to start the engine.

It is the main battery in the boot that is used to start the engine so I would doubt that the smaller one in the engine is at fault.

If you haven't had any of these messages then it could be due to another fault as I would think it unlikely that the battery would just die - has the dealer checked everything else to make sure there isn't a drain on the battery or that it is getting charged correctly?

Thanks James
The alternator is working fine and the battery is holding charge. The car has now been at MB for 3 days and seems OK. I have had a few examples of the Consumer units temp unavailable but they soon come back again. The courtesy headlights are set to off, the ac is rarely on so the cabin pre-heat is off. I do use a few accessories such as sat nav and traffic master unit which turns off when the ignition is off.
Get the car back later today and will let you know how things go. I will also try keeping an eyo on the voltage as the previous post below advised


Yes, turn off the "welcome" lighting features. Another big source of current drain after start up is the electric cabin heater.If you turn the A/C off it also disables the heating matrix.(To show voltage, set the display to show speed when key is in position I then press the trip reset button three times. Will get a beep and voltage will be displayed when you put key to position II.) With the various pumps, fans, glow plugs, lights, electric heater etc running on and shortly after start up draw a lot of current. IMO the 70 Ah battery fitted to mine is simply not big enough

 

[GordonTarling]

Four years life from a replacement battery is reasonable - most are only guaranteed for 3 years. You haven't told us what make of battery was fitted last time, but it does seem to me to be worth paying a little extra for the premium brands. I think I'd be tempted to investigate what the highest capacity battery is that will fit in the battery tray, a 70Ah doesn't seem very large for that size of engine. It may also be worth checking all the connections thoroughly - it's a long run from the boot to the engine and there's plenty of potential(!) for voltage drop along the way.

 

[SargeBenz]

I have an '04 W211 with a heavy specification on. I too am on my second battery, and was experiencing many "consumers off" messages which return in a mile or so of driving.

However, I am only doing 12 miles a day at this present time, so my battery never gets a chance to fully recover. Even taking a 300 miles round trip did not fully recharge the battery. "Consumers off" returned the very next morning. I asked the dealer how long a journey I needed to take to fully charge the battery. Their answer was to get a battery charger ! I did this, and currently charge my battery once a week. I ought to add the charger has never displayed "full" in the 3 months I've had it

 

[smillion]

My 02 270 cdi had the smaller consumer battery changed @ £170 following regulat sight of the "consumer electrics switched off" - and this cured it. I was getting paranoid that i would get beck to the car and it would not start and so its worth the effort and cost to get it changed - having said that the dealer were able to do a test and see immediately that the battery was at fault.

I find it staggering that some have the need to charge the battery manually ..... they really should not need this and the battery clearly has a fault surely ?

 

[TheGrocer]

My 02 270 cdi had the smaller consumer battery changed @ £170 following regulat sight of the "consumer electrics switched off" - and this cured it. I was getting paranoid that i would get beck to the car and it would not start and so its worth the effort and cost to get it changed - having said that the dealer were able to do a test and see immediately that the battery was at fault.

I find it staggering that some have the need to charge the battery manually ..... they really should not need this and the battery clearly has a fault surely ?

I tend to agree with you, why should such a sophisticated modern car require the user to charge the battery on a regualr (weekly basis) Im wondering whether the original battery supplied by MB for this model of car is fit for purpose? Its not like I drive lots of short trips 3 times a week 150 miles to my office.
I get the car back later today and I will confirm the make and model of battery.
So whats is the best make and model for W211 E320 - Looking for longevity and abilty to handle the cars electrics.

 

[prprandall51]

Following the advice on how to check the battery voltage (though I found that it only works with the temperature displayed whilst the key is in position 1, not the speed reading), I get a voltage of 11.8V prior to starting the car - despite it having been used for a long journey only yesterday. I get the "consumers off" message every day now (4 year old E320Cdi).

I would be very grateful if someone with a known, healthy battery could tell me what a normal voltage would be - I was expecting around 12.6V....

Philip

 

[TheGrocer]

Car now back from the MB dealer and all appears OK. Battery has been fully charged and is not losing power at the moment. I checked the battery and the following info is on it.
MB Logo
570901076
760A
70AH
12V
Im assuming this is a 70A battery and as its now 4 years old I assume will slowly start to get worse.


Is it worth getting one of those power charge units that the breakdown guys use that put power into a dead battery just to get me home should it happen again (as I know it will)

Yes I know I should just go and buy a new battery but its covered under the service contract which I pay £88 a month for.

Whats the best type of battery for the E Class? Do they make 80 or 100 Amp batterys?

 

[McBiter]

Batteries

I have a slightly earlier E320CDi Estate and following the usual consumer warnings had a new battery installed recently. No further problems.

I have had a mixed response from the MB dealers in Kent and would suggest that some are significantly better than others.

This might solve your problem.

 

[Baron_Samedi]

Following the advice on how to check the battery voltage (though I found that it only works with the temperature displayed whilst the key is in position 1, not the speed reading), I get a voltage of 11.8V prior to starting the car - despite it having been used for a long journey only yesterday. I get the "consumers off" message every day now (4 year old E320Cdi).

I would be very grateful if someone with a known, healthy battery could tell me what a normal voltage would be - I was expecting around 12.6V....

Philip

Reckon 11.8V is a tad low.

My car (when questioned via the cluster) returns 12.3V with the ignition off and around 13.8V with the engine running.

 

[GordonTarling]

Bosch or Varta are good makes to buy. What I did was to check dimensions of existing battery, then comb through the specifications to find the highest capacity/best spec that would fit. Found it on Euro Car Parts website and ordered it through my local branch. I'm afraid I can't give specific help, because mine's a W210 and the battery isn't the same.

BTW - If a resting battery is down to 12V or less, it's considered flat. Should be around 13.8V when fully charged, with engine running.

 

[splitpin]

Reckon 11.8V is a tad low.

My car (when questioned via the cluster) returns 12.3V with the ignition off and around 13.8V with the engine running.

Ditto with my car W211 E320cdi but I am getting occasional "consumer" warnings with a 5 year old battery.
This will now be changed for a Varta 595 901 085 B512 (95AH) Start Stop Plus, which Varta specify as being the correct battery for the car and locally retailing for 150 pounds

Splitpin.

 

[splitpin]

Ditto with my car W211 E320cdi but I am getting occasional "consumer" warnings with a 5 year old battery.
This will now be changed for a Varta 595 901 085 B512 (95AH) Start Stop Plus, which Varta specify as being the correct battery for the car and locally retailing for 150 pounds

Splitpin.

Have just seen these comments by Jaymanek:-

On winter days those small batterys seem to run down overnight and hence this message.. nothing really to worry about as it should charge up within minutes and you should get a message saying "consumer electrics now available"

Of course there is a chance that the small battery is on its way

It is normal to have the "consumer electrics..." for a few seconds.. especially at this time of year.

So I will check the small consumer electrics battery as well !

Splitpin

 

[timskemp]

7 yrs and 170k miles old and mine was on the original batteries, but second alternator...

 

[Gareth]

Mine warns about the lack of consumer electrics (I don't think it actually says that?) but whatever it does say it's what your talking about. It only ever does it when it's really cold and like everyone says once you've driven a few miles the function is restored, mine has been like that for about 2 years now.

 

[Mavster]

How do you check via the instrument cluster what the battery charge is please?