Code readers... what to buy?

[TheBoy]

I've got an icarsoft MBII for the Merc, does everything I need.

I suspect, Mr AA, the dashboard alone does all you need

Seeing as you CBA to change the battery

When you get to my age sonny, you will have difficulty lifting out a battery from the back of the engine

What a silly place to put it. But them MB got rid of all their designers back in the 1980s

[Kevin Wood]

I've got an icarsoft MBII for the Merc, does everything I need.

I suspect, Mr AA, the dashboard alone does all you need

Seeing as you CBA to change the battery

When you get to my age sonny, you will have difficulty lifting out a battery from the back of the engine

What a silly place to put it. But them MB got rid of all their designers back in the 1980s

Trying to figure out why a car needs a battery from a fizzy, presumably in addition to one that's actually useful for starting the engine.

Then I remembered. German engineers.

[Auto Addict]

I've got an icarsoft MBII for the Merc, does everything I need.

I suspect, Mr AA, the dashboard alone does all you need

Seeing as you CBA to change the battery

When you get to my age sonny, you will have difficulty lifting out a battery from the back of the engine

What a silly place to put it. But them MB got rid of all their designers back in the 1980s

I should have said, nearside rear of the engine bay, could have done it myself, but as you said CBA!

Main service items, oil filter, fuel filter and air filter are all readily accessible and visible in the engine bay without having to glaze any knuckles trying to change them.

One of the easiest cars I've owned to do a service on - so there

[aaronjb]

What a silly place to put it. But them MB got rid of all their designers back in the 1980s

Well .. it's a reasonable place to put it when you don't have to touch it for 10 years. You know, most people don't have to charge their cars up every week like you do for some reason 

[Diamond Black Geezer]

Would love to make a cocky comment about the Merc.... but erm my Omega failed to start this morning! So best keep shtum! 

[Auto Addict]

What a silly place to put it. But them MB got rid of all their designers back in the 1980s

Well .. it's a reasonable place to put it when you don't have to touch it for 10 years. You know, most people don't have to charge their cars up every week like you do for some reason 

[Andy B]

....

Trying to figure out why a car needs a battery from a fizzy, presumably in addition to one that's actually useful for starting the engine.

.....

Beats me too 

[Doctor Gollum]

The W211 uses it to run the SBC (brake) pump...

Presumably the smaller battery supplies various systems that simply don't require the current of a bigger battery but do require a reliable source of volts

[Andy B]

The W211 uses it to run the SBC (brake) pump...

Presumably the smaller battery supplies various systems that simply don't require the current of a bigger battery but do require a reliable source of volts

Google suggests its related to the stop/start .... 

[Doctor Gollum]

Might be on yours being newer. Principle is the same though as it would act as a boost/buffer during restarts...

Must be there for a reason or they wouldn't have wasted time/effort fitting it.

[Kevin Wood]

Might be on yours being newer. Principle is the same though as it would act as a boost/buffer during restarts...

Must be there for a reason or they wouldn't have wasted time/effort fitting it.

I'm guessing it's a kludge that most car manufacturers have used their ingenuity to avoid - by powering sensitive systems through a boost-buck regulator, for example.

[TD]

I would assume the two batteries are one for starting and the other for running all the electric bits an bobbins.
So that you play to your hearts content with the gadgets with engine off and flatten one battery and you will still be able to start the car

[aaronjb]

I would assume the two batteries are one for starting and the other for running all the electric bits an bobbins.
So that you play to your hearts content with the gadgets with engine off and flatten one battery and you will still be able to start the car

Lots of cities (incl. London) have banned stationary cars from being left idling for extended periods, and City Slicker in the back of his chauffeur driven Merc doesn't like not being able to listen to Radio Four?

[TheBoy]

I would assume the two batteries are one for starting and the other for running all the electric bits an bobbins.
So that you play to your hearts content with the gadgets with engine off and flatten one battery and you will still be able to start the car

Lots of cities (incl. London) have banned stationary cars from being left idling for extended periods, and City Slicker in the back of his chauffeur driven Merc doesn't like not being able to listen to Radio Four?

If I could afford a driver, I could afford never to have to go to that shithole...

[TheBoy]

What a silly place to put it. But them MB got rid of all their designers back in the 1980s

Well .. it's a reasonable place to put it when you don't have to touch it for 10 years. You know, most people don't have to charge their cars up every week like you do for some reason 

I know letting a batt go even a 3rd flat buggers it, and will never regain full capacity, so I like to keep mine topped up

And because I don't drive nowadays, it means at least 2 or them can be left for weeks/months unused