When the battery is under the passenger seat

[Vil_Riker]

So the battery in my Mercedes Benz GL550 died. My booster didn't have enough power to turn the V8 engine even though it was the largest available in the local stores. It was also impossible to charge it back up - the charger insisted on "repairing" before charging and the car didn't allow it. So the next best thing was to charge the battery itself. But...

In order to reach the battery, you have to remove the seat.
In order to remove the seat, you need to unbolt it.
In order to unbolt it, you need to move the seat to expose the bolts.
In order to move the seat, you need battery.

A very frustrating problem. Fortunately, the booster had enough capacity to keep the car powered up for me to move the seat to expose the bolts.

No wonder dealers charge their customers up the wazoo. I think these cars are specifically designed to be a pain in the rare.

And don't get me started on the auxiliary battery in the trunk.

 

[Tdbo]

Absolutely. Over engineering can be a pain in the rump!

 

[PandaBear]

Absolutely. Over engineering can be a pain in the rump!

This is not over engineering. This is typical German Engineering removing all safety margin because they expect everything else outside their projects would work perfectly: the road, the customers, the parts, the people servicing the car, the sellers (being honest), the regulator, etc.

I used to work for a German engineering company, it is always someone else's fault for not providing the perfect environment for their products to work in. Their mentality is almost the exact opposite of US and Japan.

 

[Chris142]

Euro cars are especially hard to work on. But the rest are following closely

 

[wemay]

And this is just a door latch.

 

[SeaJay]

This is not over engineering. This is typical German Engineering removing all safety margin because they expect everything else outside their projects would work perfectly: the road, the customers, the parts, the people servicing the car, the sellers (being honest), the regulator, etc.

I used to work for a German engineering company, it is always someone else's fault for not providing the perfect environment for their products to work in. Their mentality is almost the exact opposite of US and Japan.

When the Germans have a choice to either make it easier to repair or to make it with more elegant engineering design, the latter is often the choice.

 

[Kestas]

If Germans can complicate something, they will!

 

[loneryder]

You don’t need to remove the seat. Put it all the way forward and tilt the back forward. The battery compartment is exposed. It’s a pain because the batteries are big and heavy. Don’t forget to hook up the vent hose.

 

[John105]

My wife’s GM also has it under rear right passenger’s feet. I would expect that if I connected the power supply to the under hood terminals, the power pass seat would operate. The GM was made in Michigan so in this case imho being German has nothing to do with it.
My 02 ymmv

I did notice in a buddy’s 2023 version of this SUV the battery was under the hood. Cost I think. Cabling and tubing for the gassing but imho the battery is heavy and ideally not at the front of a vehicle

 

[atikovi]

And don't get me started on the auxiliary battery in the trunk.

You know which battery is which? On my S550, the small starting battery is under the hood and the big battery in the trunk.

 

[z71bill]

I promised my daughter a new car if she graduated from college a year early - she did and after looking at many decided a 2010 VW Jetta with the 5 cylinder was the one.

Her finishing a year earlier saved me more than the cost of the car.

I had always heard VW has lots of problems but that was not the case.

She kept that car until after she was married with 2 kids in 2019.

Oil changes, tires, battery plus two light bulbs.

One side marker and one rear tail light.

A warning light on the dash indicated a light bulb was burned out but it did not say which one. I spent about an hour trying to figure it out. I then thought it was some phantom VW electrical problem and the warning light was false.

After dark I checked the lights again and one taillight was a little dim.

So I bought a replacement bulb - expecting to pay $1 it was way more like $8.

While replacing it I discovered 2010 VW Jetta taillights have double elements so even after one burns out the light still works. Which is a nice safety feature.

That is my example of German engineering.

 

[97prizm]

So the battery in my Mercedes Benz GL550 died. My booster didn't have enough power to turn the V8 engine even though it was the largest available in the local stores. It was also impossible to charge it back up - the charger insisted on "repairing" before charging and the car didn't allow it. So the next best thing was to charge the battery itself. But...

In order to reach the battery, you have to remove the seat.
In order to remove the seat, you need to unbolt it.
In order to unbolt it, you need to move the seat to expose the bolts.
In order to move the seat, you need battery.

A very frustrating problem. Fortunately, the booster had enough capacity to keep the car powered up for me to move the seat to expose the bolts.

No wonder dealers charge their customers up the wazoo. I think these cars are specifically designed to be a pain in the rare.

And don't get me started on the auxiliary battery in the trunk.

Tesla is similar to this. If your Tesla battery dies it's a huge pain to get power to it to charge it. Even James May mentioned this and he likes his Model S. The Audi Q7 battery is under the driver's seat with one in the rear. It's the biggest vehicle battery I've ever seen.

 

[nomas]

My grandson works in a shop that specializes in high end cars . He said people get sticker shock when they realize the cost of maintaining and repairing these cars . This ain't your Dad's Buick .....

 

[wings&wheels]

I'm an outlier but my experience is that German vehicles' designs usually make sense, with agreement that overcomplication is occasionally associated. I will say that the attention paid to access and serviceability is usually very good; belts and filters on a Boxster, etc.

 

[Passport1]

When I was a young naive, factory trained VW mechanic, most all the cars I worked on (except for the transporters) had the battery under the back seat. Accessing and changing one was a snap. Remarkable how far primative German engineering has evolved.

 

[short]

I promised my daughter a new car if she graduated from college a year early - she did and after looking at many decided a 2010 VW Jetta with the 5 cylinder was the one.

Her finishing a year earlier saved me more than the cost of the car.

I had always heard VW has lots of problems but that was not the case.

She kept that car until after she was married with 2 kids in 2019.

Oil changes, tires, battery plus two light bulbs.

One side marker and one rear tail light.

A warning light on the dash indicated a light bulb was burned out but it did not say which one. I spent about an hour trying to figure it out. I then thought it was some phantom VW electrical problem and the warning light was false.

After dark I checked the lights again and one taillight was a little dim.

So I bought a replacement bulb - expecting to pay $1 it was way more like $8.

While replacing it I discovered 2010 VW Jetta taillights have double elements so even after one burns out the light still works. Which is a nice safety feature.

That is my example of German engineering.

Don’t the colleges charge per credit?

 

[John105]

What’s interesting about the thread is it evolved into a German not good engineering theme. Not sure if it’s still taught in engineering school but they were superior in my dad’s time. Who made the protractors, compasses, rulers, and slide rules etc. Staetdler. Dunno why but they remind me of Michigan State. Who designed the Brooklyn Bridge. Roebling. Do these names sound Japanese or American? Not to me they don’t.

At any rate the battery placement was for weight. If they put it anywhere they’d locate it under the hood adding to unsprung weight forward of the front axle line. For all we know they do that now or on cheaper models.

Germans go to the length of having 2 piece rotors to save 7 lbs of unsprung weight per corner. Bet when a diy’er sees it they complain too

It’s all good but also fascinating to not only not appreciate extra effort, but to trash it

 

[edyvw]

So the battery in my Mercedes Benz GL550 died. My booster didn't have enough power to turn the V8 engine even though it was the largest available in the local stores. It was also impossible to charge it back up - the charger insisted on "repairing" before charging and the car didn't allow it. So the next best thing was to charge the battery itself. But...

In order to reach the battery, you have to remove the seat.
In order to remove the seat, you need to unbolt it.
In order to unbolt it, you need to move the seat to expose the bolts.
In order to move the seat, you need battery.

A very frustrating problem. Fortunately, the booster had enough capacity to keep the car powered up for me to move the seat to expose the bolts.

No wonder dealers charge their customers up the wazoo. I think these cars are specifically designed to be a pain in the rare.

And don't get me started on the auxiliary battery in the trunk.

You don't need to remove the seat!
There are numerous advantages to a battery being there or in the back, mostly because of the weight distribution.
You bought a Mercedes because it drives well, etc. There is a reason for that. It is not because engineers hold their fingers crossed hard enough.

 

[edyvw]

And this is just a door latch.

So, he works for a company that could not make a vehicle like that, complaining about the company that could make it?

 

[harbor]

Battery for wife’s 2024 Grand Cherokee is under pass front seat.