Tony.mustang

If u plan to leave your vehicle idle for some time u should disconnect your negative cable . When I are ready to go reconnect the negative and your car will start right up. If u use a trickle charger and u are away u don’t know electrically could happen.

danbir1 Loc: North Potomac, MD

I have NEVER (in 30 years in the car repair business) seen a battery that lasted 14 years.
I think you might have replaced it after, say, 7 years and forgot all about it.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Auto Zone when I was in the Valley of the Sun had batteries warrantied for 5 years. This was great as the heat destroyed them in about 3 years on average. So every 3 years or so I got a new heavily discounted battery. Here in the mild climate of PA my batteries seem to last forever.

danbir1 Loc: North Potomac, MD

This is actually good, not a lifetime though.
Auto Zone wanted to keep you coming back and maybe buying additional stuff and maybe recommending them to your friends, seen that many times.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Perhaps so.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Nope (and I haven’t either, but true). I have owned the car since new, have all service records and have been a serious “car guy” all my life - rebuilt my first (of many) engines 60 years ago, been an SCCA racer, worked on and modified everything from fuel injection to suspension to transaxles, etc. I do ALL my own maintenance and have for 60 years. My point is I don’t make mistakes about things like that. If you’d like to see the proof, I will photograph the battery. The battery is in the trunk, so stays cool, same LARGE battery as the diesel version of the car, and as I said previously, has a low voltage cut off so it will not discharge past a certain point before being disconnected from the electrical system. A replacement from MB is a little over $300, but when it does fail, you can bet it will be another OEM MB battery

The car (which has 130K) also has the original belts, hoses and water pump and leaks NOTHING. Maintenance by the book except more frequent oil and fluid changes (including coolant and brake). The ONLY other maintenance has been brake pads (original rotors), tires, front suspension lower ball joints, one tie rod end and an HID headlight conversion from Halogen. Car has always been garaged, only driven by me, and looks and drives like new - not even a door ding. I’m going to drive it until the wheels fall off 😎.

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

I replaced the batteries in my ‘04 Dodge Ram 3500 p/u last year for the first time. Granted, it has 2 batteries each weighing a ton. Changed because it sat all winter and I had to jump it in the spring and figured it was probably a good idea although it started fine once charged up. It also went 85k miles on the first set of tires. I would have driven another 6 months on them but winter snow was on its way.

danbir1 Loc: North Potomac, MD

A few remarks if I may, first I realize you have vast experience and, people like you are my best customers because we can communicate as do we.
Check the date code on your battery and see if it really is that old, I don't doubt your sincerity, but I catch myself not remembering some old stuff...it does happen.
If, again, you really have your original belts and hoses, replace them at once, hoses may not show wear on the outside, but, man, are they done and gone on the inside, and it does not take 130,000 miles to happen.
P.S. I am very familiar with the Mercedes and BMW batteries located in the trunk, but, for your information, Mercedes does NOT make batteries, they are made for them by a battery manufacturer, so in all likelihood you are not going to get the same battery again.
But, I am really glad you got a good one from Mercedes since I see a ton of them with so many problems.
I wish you all the best and continuing enjoyment with your Mercedes.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I’m sure MB doesn’t make batteries (Bosch maybe?), and I dread having to change it, because it will probably not be by the same mfg. it is my first experience with an AGM battery. As a contrast, my wife’s 2008 ES350 Lexus goes through batteries every 3-5 years. I just replaced the last one with an Interstate, so we’ll see.

Btw, I keep an extra serpentine belt and one each of the large water hoses in my trunk along with a small tool kit. With any other car, I would have changed everything at 100K, and perhaps I should go ahead, but I just drive it around town now, so not worried about being left on the side of the road.

There are plenty of expensive repair stories with MB, but not in the league with Volvo, Jaguar, etc. and they seem to be more robust than the BMWs I’ve owned. This is my 3rd (and last) Merc as I’m now retired and no longer have a car allowance, without which, I would have never spent the $ for the MB. Of the last two, I sold one with 248K and the other with 259K miles. Both were C class cars and not as reliable as this E350 - both had A/C compressor failures, probably because I redlined the engine multiple of times per day, something I just don’t need to do with the E350. The straight DOHC six was an excellent engine (and easy to work on) and much simpler than this quad cam V6 of the E which has both variable cam timing and variable inlet tract length. The result is a torque curve that looks like a ruler from about 1800-4000 RPM, but you pay the price with complexity - each of those 4 cams has both an actuator to change the cam timing plus a sensor. In my personal opinion, Toyota/Lexus is making some of the most reliable automobiles today. My wife’s ES350, has had ZERO issues since new, but it only has 60K miles after 12 years. It will ultimately be reliability-limited as the rubber seals, hoses and boots fail. It’s the 3rd Lexus we have owned since 1993, and when it needs to be replaced, it will be another Lexus (NOT a MB). Their customer service and reliability has made me a dedicated Lexus owner.

danbir1 Loc: North Potomac, MD

Interstate makes a good battery for the MB
If I bought a newer car today, the only German car will be the Audi, unfortunately the way they build BMW and Mercedes today is aimed to compete in the market and as such they take a lot of short cuts, they are not made like they have been made in the past, they are too complex and too sophisticated for their own good.
Stick with the one you have.
Lexus, mostly, is a good luxury car, for much less and much more reliable than a new Mercedes.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

Agree completely (although the only Audi I ever owned was a dog, and I swore never to buy another car from VOA). Mercedes and BMW have both gone the ultra complex route, which is making self service more and more difficult unless you have a dedicated Mercedes (or SnapOn) diagnostic tool. When you combine extreme complexity with even excellent engineering, you still end up with just average reliability. Combine that with high depreciation (mostly because buyers know how expensive a used Merc can be to maintain) and generally expensive parts, I just wouldn’t go that way again, even if I could afford it in retirement. Having said that, I will have to say, that even after 14 years, I still smile when I walk up to the car, and some of the older pre Blu Tec Diesels are just about indestructible - you see them used all over Europe as taxis, often with over 500,000 KM on them.

clint f. Loc: Priest Lake Idaho, Spokane Wa

I think the days of DIY maintenance or repair are long gone for the majority of cars. When fuel injection became an option on Harley’s a friend said he was going with a carb because he could fix it “by the side of the road” if something went wrong. I asked when he last did that. Crickets. Carbs aren’t even an option now.

danbir1 Loc: North Potomac, MD

The old 300D was superb (except the diesel distribution unit), you must have gotten a bad model of Audi, today they are vastly improved and I wouldn't hesitate to get one, their handling and luxury are very good for the price and the 2.0L turbo engine is a gem at 225-295 HP).
I also smile at my 2000 Passat (which produces around 300 HP after remapping the fuel chart) especially when a $100K car is trying to pass me...

danbir1 Loc: North Potomac, MD

You are quite right, and you need more than just the proper diagnostic tools, you HAVE to know how to navigate the complexity of the design if you want to repair it.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

The Audi was a LONG time ago (74), and after a zillion problems including the paint peeling off on a one year old car, it eventually self-destructed. The final failure was the pointed contact ceramic fuse (remember those?) for the cooling fan that failed due to a very small (and unnoticed) windshield leak that slightly corroded the contact. By the time the temp gauge moved off normal (or so my then wife said), the engine overheated. I took it down, and the top compression ring had seized on every cylinder and broken, destroying every piston and gouging every cylinder wall. Fortunately, there was enough wall left to bore out the cylinders and fit oversized pistons. Had a long talk with Volkswagen of America before tearing it down since the car was still under warranty. They told me to piss off, so I sold the POS and swore I would never do business with them again. Wronged consumers have a LONG memory. Anyway, sorry to take the thread so far off track, but enjoyed the conversation...