[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by amit

Also, the winter part is beyond me. Mercedes comes from a cold continent like Europe and their cars are tested in heavy Swedish winters. What can Belgaum winter do that a Swedish one can't?!

But is the battery used the same way in European winters? I am now facing some pretty cold temperatures. After my Octavia first gave a warning about the state of charge of the battery, I now leave the charger plugged in while in office every 2-3 days or so. I'm sure my battery would not survive European winter without charging.

Also, 2hrs of music must be a big drain on the battery. Don't cars usually shut off the music system after 20mins or so if the engine isn't running?

[amit]

Originally Posted by StarrySky

But is the battery used the same way in European winters? I am now facing some pretty cold temperatures. After my Octavia first gave a warning about the state of charge of the battery, I now leave the charger plugged in while in office every 2-3 days or so. I'm sure my battery would not survive European winter without charging.

Also, 2hrs of music must be a big drain on the battery. Don't cars usually shut off the music system after 20mins or so if the engine isn't running?

Belgaum winter is more like European autumn season. Even if they are using a different battery for India, the problem shouldn't happen.

The 2 hours of music was a rhetorical question - a kind of worse case scenario one.

If these are things that need to be cared about then customers need to be told during delivery of the car. Why didn't the sales guy tell us not to use start/stop in city conditions in winter?

Here is another one. During a service of the car, a complaint was made about squeaky brakes. The technician said don't splash water in the wheels while cleaning the car. And Mercedes showcases the wading depth of the M class with pride.

[lamborghini]

Originally Posted by amit

The first time it happened when the car was in Mahalakshmi. It was driven on a sunday morning and in the afternoon it refused to start. All warning lights were coming on but it was not cranking. Mercedes sent a recovery van and they put a got the car running without having to take it to the service centre. I am not sure if they put in a new battery.

Interesting - this happened to a friend's W212.
We went for dinner to Bandra, and upon coming back, the car was just not starting!
Could it be something to do with the Alternator?

In the past, while in the US, I have left my car covered in snow for over a month on a weak battery. It still started up the second I got back to campus. No fancy german, just an old Mitsubishi.

In comparison, the battery on the BMW E60 in Mumbai dies every couple of years without warning and needs to be replaced.

[Aroy]

The problem may be due to heavy drain in city traffic and correspondingly lower charging, which will ultimately result in a flat battery. The only way to check this is to put an ammeter in series with the power line from the battery (as was done in the ambassador and other older vehicles). If the meter shows discharge most of the time, then you know the problem.

[stanjohn123]

Originally Posted by amit

This is a bit off topic but twice the battery of our ML 250 has given way in past 6 months. It's a 2 year old car with about 30K on the odo.

Hi Amit. How is your ML 250 doing now ? Do you have any idea about the 2015 ML 250 , what are the updates it got compared to your model. Thanks.

Most importantly how is Mercedes after sales service ?

[amit]

Originally Posted by stanjohn123

Hi Amit. How is your ML 250 doing now ? Do you have any idea about the 2015 ML 250 , what are the updates it got compared to your model. Thanks.

Most importantly how is Mercedes after sales service ?

The ML is doing fine since the last problem in Belgaum. Till now there have only been 3 glitches in the car. The first was a rattling boot which was traced to faulty boot locks which ended up in a recall of a certain batch of ML's as per the dealer. The other two were the battery issues which I have mentioned here.

Besides these glitches the car has done very well in the little over 2 years that its been there in the family, although I have to say it has been sparingly used.

Service is fine. I ended up connecting with an old friend at Shaman Mercedes in Nerul so he takes good care of the car although honestly it has required nothing more then routine service when it has gone for it's maintenance.