Mercedes Me battery report

[bc100]

Mercedes Me is reporting a critical battery condition and has also sent me an email to that affect. However the car display is not showing a problem as it did correctly on a previous occasion. Voltages are good, the battery is 2 1/2 years old and I have been doing long journeys. (Lake district and back last week).
Also the doors locked has been wrong.

Anyone else seeing these problems?

 

[jimbg]

It seems to be over sensitive for me. What voltage is the battery showing when at rest?

 

[Blobcat]

The Mercedes Me is using up your battery to tell you the battery is low…

 

[bc100]

It seems to be over sensitive for me. What voltage is the battery showing when at rest?

12.13V having been left overnight (and 14.16 V from alternator). The car started all through winter without hesitation even after a week and only 11.6V on the battery, so I'm sure it's definitely not the battery.

 

[anyweb]

Modern batteries aren't great and are made in a way to make adding new distilled water almost destructive, the chances are it's low on distilled water, your voltages sound low (12.4 to 12.6 at rest is ok, 12.6 is more desirable), my car is approx 4 years old and i too get the battery warnings in winter months, the fact that you are getting them in summer would hint towards a duff battery, get it replaced (or refilled with distilled water) before the winter. But before doing this, try and rule out any electric being consumed while the car is powered off, something could be draining the battery faster than it should be.

 

[jimbg]

 

[daveenty]

Mine was like this all the time when I had my W213. Constant emails telling me that the battery was critical, false positives on door and window locking and lots of other irrelevant stuff as well. I just ended up ignoring it in the end though this sort of defeats the object of it in the first place.

If it's of any consolation, it seems to have improved substantially on my current car (C217) which gets identical usage yet few if any warnings, so maybe the sensitivity can be tweaked by your Mercedes dealer, or even someone from ME themselves (contact details below)?

Phone: 00800 9777 7777/+44 207 660 9993

E-mail: mercedes_me_connect@cac.mercedes-benz.com

 

[jimbg]

He has taken actual voltage readings from the battery and it is definitely low.

Not an issue with the app.

 

[Tony Dyson]

Modern batteries aren't great and are made in a way to make adding new distilled water almost destructive, the chances are it's low on distilled water, your voltages sound low (12.4 to 12.6 at rest is ok, 12.6 is more desirable), my car is approx 4 years old and i too get the battery warnings in winter months, the fact that you are getting them in summer would hint towards a duff battery, get it replaced (or refilled with distilled water) before the winter. But before doing this, try and rule out any electric being consumed while the car is powered off, something could be draining the battery faster than it should be.

Some good advice above but I would add a cautionary note about adding distilled water to a modern battery, commercial grade distilled water will remove (some) of the damaging minerals from domestic water supplies but will leave behind most of the mineral, solid and organic contaminants, using De-ionised water will remove (Most) of the mineral, solid and organic contaminants and is more suitable for addition to a modern battery.

 

[bc100]

I'm not sure if a multimeter reading is a reliable way of indicating battery health on an AGM battery. I was so surprised at the winter reading, I got a second meter which was only 20mV different, yet the car started and ran flawlessly in zero temperatures.
It didn't remain that low for long after a decent run but hadn't flagged up on the App.

The car had an MOT and A/C service yesterday and the technician said that the battery was fine in his opinion as it started several times.

Does anyone know the menu to measure the voltage on this model?

 

[Tony Dyson]

There are two types of maintenance policies utilised by Maintenance Planners designing maintenance procedures and both have their Strengths and their Weaknesses, sometimes external influences will dictate which type of Preventative or Breakdown Maintenance is prescribed. Mercedes Me appears to be warning you of an impending failure with a resting battery voltage indicating a charge level of between 50-60%. Breakdown maintenance policy here would prescribe to keep using the existing battery while it continues to start your car until such a time as one fine morning when it doesn't, then replace the battery. Preventative Maintenance policy has already been indicated by Mercedes Me, change it now to avoid being left stranded with a car and a failed battery, the choice is yours?

The chances are that your battery is currently in a recoverable state and just low on electrolyte levels as indicated above, so by changing it now you would probably be able to repair your existing battery and use it as a spare or re-task it for some other use, using it until it dies completely would give you less chance of recovery. There isn’t a right or wrong way to deal with a failing battery, it’s simply a matter of personal choice.

 

[bc100]

Mine was like this all the time when I had my W213. Constant emails telling me that the battery was critical, false positives on door and window locking and lots of other irrelevant stuff as well. I just ended up ignoring it in the end though this sort of defeats the object of it in the first place.

If it's of any consolation, it seems to have improved substantially on my current car (C217) which gets identical usage yet few if any warnings, so maybe the sensitivity can be tweaked by your Mercedes dealer, or even someone from ME themselves (contact details below)?

Phone: 00800 9777 7777/+44 207 660 9993

E-mail: mercedes_me_connect@cac.mercedes-benz.com

I called the number and have had a very good response from them. They have remotely reset the communication module and said I needed to go for a 15 minute drive to complete the process. Just what I needed, a perfect excuse to drive round glorious Devon.
The battery warning has gone but I now have two errors. a) Parking brake not engaged (it is) and b) Ignition on (it isn't).
Oh well, progress of sorts. I will wait and see.

 

[bc100]

Well an hour or two later all error messages have gone so I was a bit previous in complaining. As far as I know this was without further intervention from support. All is still well this morning.
So as daveenty implys, the system seems a bit flaky.