austin814

Recently the audio output through the speakers in my car (2012 W212 E550) started skipping. It doesn't matter the source, (Radio, SDCard, CD, Blutooth or the voice prompts) It also seems to respond differently related to temperature. I'll explain the "skipping" in detail. Its as though every other word in a sentence isn't audible. So for instance if I'm listening to the radio and what is broadcast is "You're listening to 90 point 1 W-F-Y-I National Public Radio" Instead what I hear is: "Your're (silent) to 90 (silent) W-F-Y (silent) tional (silent) blic (silent) dio"

More details:
If I start the car after its been sitting outside and its cold (below 35F) It will work for 5 to 10 minutes without skipping, then starts to skip. If its 50F or warmer I might get 1 or two minutes then it starts to skip. Yesterday it was 72 and I got no audio at all.

All of the Command, Navigation, Radio, CD, DVD, SD Card, Bluetooth and Night View Assist all display and operate normally on the screen. Its just the audio from everything skips and I sometimes hear a very slight pop/crack through the speakers when its happening.

I have searched the forums and only found a similar problem on the 2008 S class but in that case the command buttons / menu's weren't working and the voice control button on the steering wheel also wasn't working. All those features are working as they should in my car.

Any help would be appreciated. I fear if I take it to the dealer without some information they will just start replacing all the command modules until something resolves it and I'm sure that will be a hefty bill.

CLSMOOTH

Do you have aftermarket stereo equipment in there?

In my experience (customization) when you have an install done there could be a loose connection somewhere. This may happen with factory installed stuff also, but its more common when you install aftermarket equipment.

austin814

There is nothing aftermarket on/in the car, everything is stock. It has the HK 7.1 Surround system.






Its hard to imagine it being a loose connection since it seems to work ok for a few minutes then starts skipping, and the skipping is perfectly timed about one second both on and off on/off/on/off/on/off. I can even start the car and let it idle without moving it and it will work for a few minutes without skipping then start skipping after it warms up so it isn't acting like a bump in the road is causing a loose connection to come further apart or back together.






Any other thoughts on how to isolate where the problem is?

CLSMOOTH

The temperature issue leads me to believe that something is overheating for some reason (the receiver or amplifier). You're saying it is fine when it's cold .. but as temperatures rise, no sound at all. My only other guess would be a loose connection somewhere along the lines. Without actually being able to have my hands on it and troubleshoot it would be hard to tell.

I'll put some more thought into it this evening...

jbondox

software update should fix it. seen it before.

Also seen it when the HK amp was bad and when the active noise cancelling mics were acting weird but the later was fixed with software

austin814

The dealer finally contacted me last week and said they had received approval for the software update on my unit. Based on what they were telling me MB HQ did not want them to update the software as it had damaged some units and dealers had been told to stop doing the update. So they took the car yesterday for the update.


The short version is they have done the software update and said it did not resolve the problem with the skipping and they have diagnosed it to be the Media Interface, and the cost is $1,605 to replace. I've not been able to find much information on the Media Interface but would like any feedback on if this sounds reasonable or if this is the dealer replacing the whole unit because they don't know what is wrong? $1,605 sounds pretty steep to me.


Thanks again for all your feedback already.

jbondox

I would see what they would do under warranty, call the MB USA customer care, it isn't something that should break, plus being a 2012... you might get it fixed for free, also let them know that you had to wait from the first diagnosis to the software, to the new diagnosis...