RNajarian

I’m cross posting this thread from the general W204 Forum to increase visibility;

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...estarting.html

Basically, all of a sudden the Command Head Unit cycles on/off every 10 minutes or so. In addition, sometimes when it is on, the buttons do not respond (preset stations, changing audio source, and the round selector near the gear selector).

Anyone have any ideas what’s wrong? I’m considering swapping for an aftermarket head unit, but hate to lose the backup camera, and steering wheel controls.

thanks for your help

EDIT: Correction, currently it is cycling On/off every 3-4 minutes...

Are there any aftermarket head units that incorporate all the features of the OEM headunit?

Blade Canyon

This happened to many forum members simultaneously, including me. I've tried everything. Obviously it has to be something global, such as a GPS fault or system software upgrade, or we just hit a magic date that causes an error.

jarrettwestfall

My 2012 C63 started doing it yesterday around noon.Same thing Freezes, shut down and reboots itself every 5 minutes or so and works fine for another 5 minutes and does it again. Called my local dealer. my service tech said he had 60 voicemails about it by 10:30 CST this morning. Hopefully this gets resolved quickly.

ygmn

kinda crappy if a GPS issue causes your car radio to go wonky....and reboot all the time...

What happens if you are in a long tunnel? or underdeck on ferry or on a car train?

jarrettwestfall

UPDATE!!!!
Called a dealer this morning in Massachusetts because a member posted about them. Mercedes of Westwood. They just called me back and said that the problem is Sirius XM related. I was told that they submitted an updated yesterday and it did not download correctly causing the system to act incorrectly.

RNajarian

INTERESTING!

Does the error occur with the CD player, regular radio or music stored on hard drive ?

I’m at work, I’ll see what happens on the drive home

jarrettwestfall

They did not say what was directly affected

RNajarian

I called my dealer and got voicemail. Two hours later no call back yet .

I had the rather clever idea to send a refresh signal to my car, which I did.

I sat in the car for 10 minutes listening to Sirius and it did not reset. Prior to that it was resetting every 3-4 minutes. The only difference is that the car was not running...

Fingers crossed . . .

JKwentzville

This just started happening to me a few days ago. THE FIX: Tightened the cables that go to the main battery.
The electronics in these cars are sensitive. A weak battery will also cause strange issues. I replaced the battery about 1 year ago so I know that wasn't it.

The cables appeared tight. But I was able to get about another turn out of them. I didn't believe this would fix the issue but I tried it anyway. When for a short drive to see if the problem would come back, it didn't so I drove a lot longer. Problem solved.

Again: Electronics is the MB's are sensitive. Make sure your main battery cables are tight and make sure you have a good battery. When I had strange problems last year the battery would start the car just fine and had no apparent issues with the lights, horn etc. But I did have a problem with the HOLD function while at a stoplight - the new battery fixed this problem.

RNajarian

According to a member in the general W204 forum Sirius sent a patch out and apparently everything is fixed. Some members report everything is working normally now. I will see in 1 1/2 hours when I go home

JKwentzville

Now what would the coincidence be that I tightned the battery cable, which i didn't t think was it at first, then just happned to catch the XM / Cirrus updatae.. HA HA.. Had me fooled! I really thought the cable was it..

RNajarian

When my radio started acting up I replaced my Battery. It was on my list of things to do. It was tightened properly but the problem persisted.

However, you are correct. Bad batteries wreak havoc in our cars. Almost like they are haunted

RNajarian

Looks like Sirius/XM sent out a patch. . . no problems on the way home for me.