[sokoloff]

Started the annual service today on my cabriolet. I posted the four page service tasks in the sticky's above. There are four pages and I did about half of the stuff in an hour. So much is "check this, inspect that, etc." I love the ease of DIY service on these cars. As little as I drive my car, I am going to go on a two year service interval unless something pops up. I'll probably do the battery test every six months or so, since that's free and so easy and important to be aware of.

Changed the desiccant cartridge - that's about a ten minute job including finding the 14 mm allen. I did use a factory part, because I still have two years left on the four year factory warranty and I don't want there to be any wiggle room if I have issues down the road. Might consider the replacement beads next time.

Checked the cabin air filter - it was really clean yet, so I didn't change that. I rarely turn on the climate control. Did the battery test last month. Checked the 12v battery today and it read 12.69v and the compartment was nice and dry.

Hardest thing I have left to do might be resetting the maintenance indicator.

I will still pull all the wheels to check brakes and do the brake fluid, but nothing else that an average DIY'er can't do.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 18,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 12,000 miles

 

[Johannesl]

I need to change my desiccant filter on my ED. Just haven’t found a torx bit yet. So a 14mm Allen key works too? That I may already have.

 

[jimsokoloff]

If you don't have a 14mm hex key, you can double-nut a JIS M10 bolt (14mm head).
Or, if you want to go one step further down the chain, double-nut an SAE 3/8" bolt (9/16" head, which is close enough to 14mm, which is basically a 14mm hex key, which is close enough to fit the T90 recess... )

 

[sokoloff]

Yep, 14mm allen fits and works perfectly. Someone on here made the called for T90 torx on a 3D printer.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 18,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 12,000 miles

 

[sokoloff]

Well I finished the annual service today and I was right about resetting the maintenance indicator being the hardest part of the job. Took me about 15 tries until it finally reset. There have been other times when it was one try and done. Today I finished flushing the brake fluid, checked brakes, tires and inspected this and that. Interesting that I not only have the rear tires down to 3/32nds in spots, but same thing is happening on the fronts. Got to keep an eye on them. Might end up buying a complete set of the same brand. I likely won't bother going with the same size tire all around unless I stumble onto some wheels.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 18,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 12,000 miles

 

[billgordon66]

Hi, where did you order the cartridge? I'm out of warranty, so do you know where I can order a less expensive non-factory version? I was just quoted $560 for service maintenance on a 2015 Smart Fortwo Electric Drive with 14,300 miles. Changing the cartridge seems to be the biggest part of the service...

 

[MB DNA]

Hi, where did you order the cartridge? I'm out of warranty, so do you know where I can order a less expensive non-factory version? I was just quoted $560 for service maintenance on a 2015 Smart Fortwo Electric Drive with 14,300 miles. Changing the cartridge seems to be the biggest part of the service...

Might try this, $36.80 . . .

https://www.mbonlineparts.com/oem-p...yMDE1JnQ9ZWxlY3RyaWMtZHJpdmUmZT1lbGVjdHJpYw==

 

[billgordon66]

Might try this, $36.80 . . .

https://www.mbonlineparts.com/oem-p...yMDE1JnQ9ZWxlY3RyaWMtZHJpdmUmZT1lbGVjdHJpYw==

Much obliged! Thank you!

 

[sokoloff]

Bill - I bought mine at Amazon for $58 with "free" shipping. I see now the price has gone up to $63 and I just bought mine a few weeks ago. The part is a genuine Mercedes part and came from a dealer in Florida.

https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Mercedes-Benz-Air-Drier-789-340-33-00/dp/B07H3GW4S9

I think I tried using the source MB DNA posted, but that price they posted turned out to not be correct and they really nail you with shipping cost, but so many of the online sources do the same. List price for the part is about $73 or so, so wholesale is about $60. That $36 price from mbpartsonline just doesn't seem right. Pretty good if it is correct or good for you if it's priced incorrectly - snap one up.

Another source for addressing it is to just change the beads in your old unit. Easy and cheap - probably less than five bucks. There is a thread or two in the forum about doing it that way.

Here are the main items that will cost you a few bucks at the annual service:
Desiccant cartridge, cabin air filter if needed, brake fluid flush, battery test

Len
2014 EV Coupe 18,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 12,000 miles

 

[billgordon66]

Bill - I bought mine at Amazon for $58 with "free" shipping. I see now the price has gone up to $63 and I just bought mine a few weeks ago. The part is a genuine Mercedes part and came from a dealer in Florida.

https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Mercedes-Benz-Air-Drier-789-340-33-00/dp/B07H3GW4S9

I think I tried using the source MB DNA posted, but that price they posted turned out to not be correct and they really nail you with shipping cost, but so many of the online sources do the same. List price for the part is about $73 or so, so wholesale is about $60. That $36 price from mbpartsonline just doesn't seem right. Pretty good if it is correct or good for you if it's priced incorrectly - snap one up.

Another source for addressing it is to just change the beads in your old unit. Easy and cheap - probably less than five bucks. There is a thread or two in the forum about doing it that way.

Here are the main items that will cost you a few bucks at the annual service:
Desiccant cartridge, cabin air filter if needed, brake fluid flush, battery test

Len
2014 EV Coupe 18,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 12,000 miles

Thank you SO MUCH! and, by battery test, I assume you mean the high voltage battery?

 

[sokoloff]

Thank you SO MUCH! and, by battery test, I assume you mean the high voltage battery?

Yes on the high voltage battery. If you have a dealer do it, my guess is they will charge you close to $100 for it. I would insist that they provide the printout of the results. Don't want to sound like I'm pushing the tester my son and I sell, but a number of guys here on the forum have one and I haven't heard any complaints. Very simple to use and you can test your battery every day for free if you want to after buying the unit.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 18,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 12,000 miles

 

[billgordon66]

Yes on the high voltage battery. If you have a dealer do it, my guess is they will charge you close to $100 for it. I would insist that they provide the printout of the results. Don't want to sound like I'm pushing the tester my son and I sell, but a number of guys here on the forum have one and I haven't heard any complaints. Very simple to use and you can test your battery every day for free if you want to after buying the unit.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 18,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 12,000 miles

Okay, Len, what's the link to your unit? Thanks!

 

[sokoloff]

Okay, Len, what's the link to your unit? Thanks!

Battery Management System Interface for smart Electric Drive | Battery Health Check Tool for smart Electric Drive (model 451)

There are a number of threads on the forum discussing the units and giving examples of the data you can get, so you may want to read them.

I'm sending you a PM too.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 18,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 12,000 miles

 

[MB DNA]

. . . and they really nail you with shipping cost, but so many of the online sources do the same.

Shipping PA to SC is showing as $16.18??? :shrug:

 

[Yinzer]

Hi, where did you order the cartridge? I'm out of warranty, so do you know where I can order a less expensive non-factory version? I was just quoted $560 for service maintenance on a 2015 Smart Fortwo Electric Drive with 14,300 miles. Changing the cartridge seems to be the biggest part of the service...

Just remove the cartridge and replace the silica gel beads only for a cost of less than a dollar See the sticky at the top of this forum about it.