Drove the car to work today. Drove it fine for lunch. Went to start this afternoon and nothing! No clock, no power locks, no sounds. Is this simply a dead battery? The temperature at lunch was upper 20's, when I went to start it, it was 15.

I know I did not leave the lights on...they turn off automatically.

Thanks.

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ARVY

1999 E430
1999 C230 Kompressor
1992 300E (write-off)
1984 190D 2.2 (sold)

Same thing happened to me, and in my case the problem was a loose battery cable. The nut holding it on had simply backed off.

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'90 300SE 298k
-300K and it gets put into retirement.
'80 300D 255k Purchased new by family in 1980.

Had a:
1973 220 (gas)
1980 300SD
1992 400E

Assuming it's not the cable, sounds like the battery. Although, when mine gave out a couple of years ago, I could tell by the slow crank and the drop in battery voltage. It did go pretty fast after that though, I could barely get the car started on my way home the day I bought a new battery.

You may also want to check and see if the charging system is working properly. With the engine off, battery voltage should be around 12.5-13v, with the engine on around 13-14v (from memory).

Thanks for your replies. It was the battery. Gave it a boost and it started promptly. Have not had a problem since. I stated that the lights turn off automatically (DRL's). However, I totally forgot that I had used the fog lights when I took the car out during lunch. It started snowing heavily. I was in such a rush to get back in the office that I left the fogs on. Took 2 hrs. to drain the battery. Came back from lunch at 1:30, the clock died at 3:30.

__________________
ARVY

1999 E430
1999 C230 Kompressor
1992 300E (write-off)
1984 190D 2.2 (sold)