500E battery replacement
 

Well, the battery on my '93 500E has finally decided to go south. It appears to be the original! A search of the archives didn't turn up any suggestions for replacement.

Is there an aftermarket battery which is the preferred replacement? Or if I go OEM, any recommended sources outside of the dealer? (can batteries be shipped?).

I know I could just start looking for an Interstate or Optima, or just hit the NTB store, but I'd like to hear the wisdom of the list first!

TIA,
Chris W.

Interstate
 

I have an Interstate in all my cars. There are 2 and I went for the one that was just a little bit more(~5-$10 ). Great battery and great Warranty. All these guys make are batteries. That's their business and they're pretty good at it

Right on...Interstate is probably one of the best out there other than OEM.

Optimas are great too but pricey.

All decent products in my experience w/ stock vehicles:

>E500: OEM- a very big bodied battery!
>E320 Coupe: Sears Diehard International Gold
>300E: Optima (Red top)

best regards
-fad

Chris:

Placo1 (Afshin) recently put a new battery in his 92 500E ... I think it was a OE battery. Check with him.

Norm is almost right, my battery was replaced a year before I bought the car. It is OE and cost $128 I believe. This was a couple of years ago.

Optima makes great batteries, if you live in a cold climate the deep cycle battery really comes in handy.

Some of the techs and independent shop owners have posted that they believe Interstate actually makes OEM MB batteries.

The two Mercedes independent shops that I have visited are owned by former dealer techs, and they both stock Interstate in their shops.

I tried fitting an Interstate MTP-93 battery into the W124 E420, which has the same trunk battery setup as the W124 500E/E500...the battery is not the same size as the original OE battery...the battery is 0.75" shorter in height than the OE battery, and my positive terminal could not reach it...I ended up returning it...I don't know if it was some weird goof from the factory just on my car, but you should double check beforehand...I ended up with the OE Mercedes-Benz battery for around $170CAD...

Yep, it's always good advice to check fitment, first.

Like they say in wood working, measure twice, cut once.:)

Oh yeah, just as a side note for further reference, I think the comment regarding that Interstate makes the OE Mercedes-Benz battery MAY be true...but I am not 100% sure...if you look at your OE battery, you will notice that on top, printed in big blue letters is "Made In Germany"...this particular battery I bought from the parts shop in the M-B dealership...I thought Interstate was based in the US? However, when I drove down to the Interstate distributor in Langley, BC to return my battery that didn't fit, the man there had an OE battery sitting there to compare with the Interstate battery I brought back, and he said they recondition all the M-B OE batteries that are returned...oh well, who knows...

Anyhow, I don't see the point of buying an aftermarket battery for the V8 W124's...although Interstate's pro-rated warranty is pretty good, the performance between the OE battery and the Interstate battery is probably nil...I mean, the OE battery already has at least 850CCA, and is already the biggest battery or probably among one of the top three biggest battery out there in the industry...if I had a Honda with a smaller battery, I would think of moving to an Interstate model with a higher capacity...but for the M-B...I would just stick with OE...you get perfect fitment and peace of mind...although the 1 year warranty sucks...but I guess you can't get everything...

IB is not a manufacturer. I saw a list somewhere at sometime that listed out who manufactures the batteries for various companies like Diehard, etc. Could probably just search for it.

"Interstate Batteries is a leader in battery marketing and distribution..." check out their website.

http://www.ibsa.com/www_2001/content/about_us/default_aboutus.asp?js=1

Randy
'94 E500

Here's what I bought...
 

Well, I wound up buying the MB battery. After measuring my original (dead) OEM battery, I was concerned about the dimensions of the Interstate and the recommended Die Hard from NTB. The MB battery (BTW, mine said made in the USA. and in fact it was not the original - the date stamp was from January 1997 - not bad life on a battery, all things considered) measures slightly narrower and shorter than either the Interstate or the Die Hard. (I did not compare the heights.)

Both of those batteries were listed at about $100. I called the local dealer and they had one for $131, so I forked over the extra and felt more comfortable about the size, etc.

Rgds,
Chris W.
high voltage now!

the black one
 

You want a great battery for your car. I installed a CL600. Its a black battery mercedesw benz sells. It will fit right in your 500. Its the same demension as all our big batteries. Its a deep cycle. It has 850 CCA. I let this thing discahrge so many times from working on my car. Jump started fires right up no charging. I have had this battery for a few yrs now. It came out of a 140 chasis. Mercedes benz has 2 batteries the big one and small one for all the early generations MB's. Now the new tech stuff.
They take different sizes since there are so many more complicated control units, antenna etc...




My 2cents



Guido

FYI: Optima does not make a W124-036 battery
 

-----Original Message-----
From: questions@optimabatteries.com [mailto:questions@optimabatteries.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2002 12:54 PM
To: Scott M. Shell
Subject: RE: please advise


Scott,

Sorry for the initial delay in getting back to your question. We experienced some major problems with our website and the delivery of the mail generated from it.

As far as your battery is concerned, I can appreciate your frustration. According to my records it seems that over the years as Mercedes has used three (3) batteries types in their vehicles. In all of the makes and models over the years they've only used 3 battery group sizes, 47,48, and 49. Optima does make a fit for a Group 47, its our 75/35, unfortunately though we're come up short on the 48 and 49. While you may see Optima's in vehicles that normally requires a 48 or 49, its my guess that they've done some sort of modification to their car. Again, sorry we couldn't get an Optima into your vehicle.

Thank you for your interest and support of Optima Batteries.

Optima Batteries
Customer Service
1800 292-4359





To: questions@optimabatteries.com
That is at once disappointing and confusing; I know at least 25 Mercedes owners who claim to be using Optima batteries here (state-side) and in Europe.

Thank you for your (somewhat late but nonetheless appreciated) reply.

- s/m/s





-----Original Message-----
From: questions@optimabatteries.com [mailto:questions@optimabatteries.com]
Sent: Monday, December 02, 2002 11:12 AM
To: Scott M. Shell
Subject: Re: please advise


Sorry to report to you Scott that Optima does not make a battery that will fit your Mercedes. Your car requires a Group 49 battery and again Optima does not make such a unit.

Thank you for your interest in Optima Batteries.

Optima Batteries
Customer Service
1800 292-4359





To: questions@optimabatteries.com
Subject: please advise

What Optima battery best suits my application, please?

I have a 1993 Mercedes-Benz 500E (W124) with extensive ICE (audio/video) components, and I need a replacement for my substandard/weak/overpriced/underpowered OEM Mercedes-Benz battery.

Please advise, ASAP;_ thank you, in advance.

Kind regards,

Scott M. Shell (CNE, MCSE+I, CCDP, CCNP)

run.exe,

Have you looked at any Hawker Odyssey batteries? This was the battery I found that most closely matched the OE Mercedes-Benz battery in terms of size...MAYBE it will work...the dimensions are still a little small though...There is also Dual Pro...

http://www.batterymart.com/battery.mv?p=ODY-PC1700MJT