Jennifer_A

Hi all

The radio on the C63 turns off after 5 minutes when engine is off. Command dispays message "start engine or radio will turn off in 3 minutes". Even when turning ignition on and off it does not help. How can I set the radio to stay on indefinitely or for a longer time?

Thank you for reading,

Jennifer

bhamg

I'm taking another car to my installer on Fri for a Focal speaker transplant. I'll ask him about it then...I'd like to know also.

jerryt

Change the car battery. Check it out, it most likely has low open cell voltage...

Mine was shutting off every 90 seconds...

bhamg

My battery is new and anytime I'm not driving the C63 I put a Battery Tender on it so my battery is ALWAYS at full voltage, but I get the same message as JA.

Jennifer_A

Hi thank you I appreciate it

Jennifer_A

Must say it is really annoying

kimeran

Yeah I'm also keen to find that out. It is really frustrating to keep the car on just for the radio to stay on!

rage2

You don't need to keep the engine on, but you need to keep accessories on to keep COMAND from shutting itself down.

abcut973

There is nothing wrong with your cars. Every car has it. It is more a feature to prevent your battery from discharging knowing the number of on board electronics.
As mentioned above you would need to put the key into ACC in order to have the radio constantly playing.

bhamg

It happens in ACC also for me though automated the timing may differ. In defense of the apparent failsafe shutdown mode though I'm amazed at the power consumption of say, a 20 min listening session in the garage when I want to check out a new playlist I've put together. It'll take the Tender 24+ hours to go from red to green.

Jennifer_A

Thank you everyone for your input, I have not yet turned the ignition to ACC position to monitor if the radio still deactivates. I will try that. I am just wondering what else is on when the ignition is in ACC mode as I would like only the radio to be on and nothing else. I can go to a dealer and enquire its just a bit cumbersome as I live far away from the dealer, am at work during the week and over weekends the dealer is closed

kimeran

My radio still switches off in every mode other than engine turned on

Jennifer_A

I suspected this much :| I did not expect the ignition position to make a difference

PanzerLehr

If I shut the car off completely and open the driver door the radio turns off. If I'm in my garage I roll down all the windows and just turn the radio on by pressing the "off" button. No key in the ignition but leaving the car unlocked. The radio comes on and stays on with a full hour timer. I have done about six hours straight (turning it on equal times) with zero issues.
Maybe I am misunderstanding the problem but if not try it out.

Jennifer_A

Mine turns off regardless if I open any doors or not with key in or not. The radio used to stay on longer but due to idiots in parking areas I took the C to a panelbeater to repair various small dents and scratches and after that episode the issue with the radio manifested. I suspect something to do with disconnecting the battery maybe. The C now stays in the garage 95% of the time and I only take it for a maintenance drive every two weeks and never leave it in parking areas

jvanbrecht

With the key, I have no issues when in ACC in my 09, in my wife's Infiniti, even when in ACC, after 30 min that turns off as well (push button start).

Really annoying when at the Drive In (yes, we have one of those in MD, and they play new movies like every other theater, in fact, they do triple new features over long weekends, for like $8 a person)

roadtalontsi

1st world problems.... my radio turns off to keep my battery from dyeing so the car will restart and doesnt leave me stranded. I hate that...

bhamg

True dat. But the weird thing is that if you leave the key in the ignition in the run (on) position. your battery will be so dead in under 10 hours that the solenoid won't even click. I've done that twice while tuning the subwoofer. I actually think it only takes 7-8 hours to drain a healthy battery that way. So it makes no sense to me the failsafe doesn't actuate under those conditions and leave you with starting voltage.

Jennifer - My install was postponed until Tues a week from now so I have no answer yet. But I'll find out...

Jennifer_A

Hi bhamg and everyone

Thank you for your input it seems many owners are having this problem. bhamg thank you I will wait to hear what you have learned from your installer,

Kind Regards everyone

Jennifer

Jennifer_A

Hi everyone

I visited the closest dealer to me just now, one of the people there told me they have to remove the radio and send it in for repair if it does that and it takes a week between corresponding with MB Europe and receiving the radio back. I told the person its fine I will just live with it so that is that. Unfortunately I do not have a lot of confidence in the abilities and workmanship as they have let me down in the past by not even changing engine oil when its due to be replaced with new oil and not topping up power steering fluid that I noticed is low and asked them to top up.

Kind Regards

Jennifer

kimeran

Is it not weird that almost everyone on this forum is having the same issue?
I don't think its a fault but rather just the way its programmed to save the battery, as mentioned

Jennifer_A

Well I guess it could have been worse like then engine turning off by itself lol. I just find the C63 not a very user friendly car, the car does what it wants or was programmed to do and there is no flexibility for the user/owner to adjust the car to his/her preference eg adjust radio to stay on longer which is disappointing. I mean in car entertainment is an important part of the user experience. The user certainly do not want to keep the engine running to be able to listen to the radio or start the engine every 3 minutes to prevent the radio from turning off. Anyway, that is how it is, I guess every brand will have its faults/defects/irritations. I will buy a small pocket radio and use that in the car when the engine is off.

kimeran

I agree though, it isn't the most user friendly car on the market

Jennifer_A

he he that is quite funny now that I read it again lol

kimeran

Hahaha it did give me a good laugh to end off my day

I see you are from South Africa as well, no wonder the dealer gave you some random story!
If you are interested, we are trying to get a South African thing going.
You can pm me for more details if you are interested