W211 Dead Battery

[drdolittle]

Hi,

I am new to this forum but have been lurking for a while

Before I get into my car's problem I just wanted to say:

"What a great site and a big thank you to all the members who have helped other members with their problems."

Now onto my problem. I have a 2005 pre-facelift E320 Diesel. After leaving my car for 2 weeks I have come back from holiday to find the battery is now flat. Whatever little charge remained in the battery was utilised by the central locking to at least let me into the car. However, nothing else now works including the central locking. The REAL problem is I do not have the blade section of the key so I am unable to access the boot manually and check/charge/remove/replace the battery. I do not think the car has folding rear seats so I can not access the boot without unbolting the rear seats.

So my questions are:

(1) Can I remove the rear seats without access from the boot or are the rear seat uppers/backs only removable through the boot?

(2) Is there any other way of opening the boot without the key blade? Drilling the lock etc?

(3) Can I get a blank key blade from Ebay and have this cut to my lock? If so, how much should the cutting process cost?

(4) Finally, what potential damage to the remaining systems will a flat battery have caused? And if I am able to replace the battery then is there anything I should do before starting the car to protect other systems etc?

Thank you for reading and thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

 

[donubenz]

Hi,
folk are always cautious on this site regarding how to get into cars for obvious reasons.
There is a way to power up the car if you search the threads or get a dealer to sort it for you, cheaper than drilling the lock!
Good luck with this.

 

[drdolittle]

Hi donubenz,

Thanks for the swift reply. I completely understand your point about car security, however I already have all the car doors and the bonnet open but am unable to get into the boot.

Do you have any links to the threads about powering up the car?

Thanks again

 

[umedc]

are u aa or rac member ?

 

[drdolittle]

Hi umedc,

Sorry no AA or RAC cover

 

[Deleted member 37751]

If you have a handbook, it will show you the that there are charging points under the bonnet.

 

[camerafodder]

Its very unusual not to have the blade section on your key. Are you sure its missing?

 

[drdolittle]

As I feared the battery is totally dead so I can not even turn the key in the ignition - will this affect using the cigarette lighter charging method?

Also does anybody know exactly where the charging points are under the bonnet?

Thanks again folks.

 

[drdolittle]

Its very unusual not to have the blade section on your key. Are you sure its missing?

I have looked absolutely everywhere for the blade when I lost it originally - so yeah I am sure it is missing.

Thanks

 

[corned]

I don't think we're going to give too much away by stating that there is a +ve point under a flap next to the cabin filter housing on the rear passenger side of the engine compartment.

 

[drdolittle]

I don't think we're going to give too much away by stating that there is a +ve point under a flap next to the cabin filter housing on the rear passenger side of the engine compartment.

Thanks for this suggestion. However, when I opened the bonnet and looked in this corner I saw absolutely nothing that matches your description????????????

However, after completely removing the cabin filter with the housing, I discovered a little 12V battery - is the positive terminal on this battery the charge point you mentioned?

The manual does not mention anything about charge points????????????? By the way the car is a straight-six diesel not the V6 diesel (not sure if that helps or is the charge point in the same place on all W211s?)

Once again thanks to all for your help thus far

 

[corned]

It the picture above (of my engine bay) you can just see the terminal box peeping out between the cabin filter assembly (top right) and the plastic cover just to the right of the shiny wiper arm pivot nut. It is mostly obscured by the hefty bulkhead seal. It's a flat-topped black plastic box. The flat top lifts off to reveal the +ve terminal.

Out of interest, the grounding terminal is the brass post you see on the n/s strut turret.

Earlier 211s apparently didn't have these terminals, but yours is the same age as mine (near enough) so it should have them.

 

[drdolittle]

HI All,

WOO-HOO WOO-HOO success at last!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've got the boot open and I have successfully removed the battery

A MASSIVE thank you to everyone who else helped with my problem and especially "Corned" - you my friend are a real superstar

 

[corned]

Awwww - shucks...

Glad you're sorted!

 

[Rory]

I have looked absolutely everywhere for the blade when I lost it originally - so yeah I am sure it is missing.

Thanks

It's the blade that attaches the key to a keyring - so pretty tough to lose! Do you just carry the key around on its own?