hello, i am in desperate need of your help

my car does not start. even worse, it now does not even accept any of my keys and i cannot turn the key to any power settings whatsoever! here's the story:

1) i got bixenons and hid fogs a little while ago, maybe 2 weeks ago. maybe five days later, my car does not start. when i put the key in, it was fine. i could turn on the radio, and my COMAND said something very close to "battery voltage too low. start engine or battery will die within 3 minutes". so i jumped it and drove it a bit, and it worked fine. it died the next day. i jumped it again, and drove it a bit, and it worked fine. again it died the next day...as a side note, the lcd dash looked and illuminated fine, but now the temperature reading in the bottom left said "+ 185F", which i thought was unusually high temperature!

2) so i called Roadside Assistance, who came in 1/2 an hour to my house and i saw the guy replace the whole new battery. he got a fresh one from his E-wagon and i saw him replace the whole unit. the car worked normally for maybe 4 days or so. but i know it's less than a week. lcd dash is bright, stereo works fine, and car feels and operates normal.

3) then the car dies again! i decide to jump it again, so it put the key in, put the gear selector to "Neutral" and then took off the parking brake, and pushed the car out of my garage. my garage is cramped so i can't park a car next to it and jump it. but i am able to roll the car out of my garage while it is off and jump it. the car works for fine. i drive it a lot, several hours. it works the next day...i guess the alternator was recharged when driving a long time. however, i did not drive it for one day, and now it does not start!

4) now it does not start, but it is even worse than before. it does not even recognize my key when i put it in; i cannot turn it! therefore, i cannot put the gear selector to "Neutral" to even push the car out! it is stuck in park, yet i cannot jump it in the garage cause it's too cramped.

*few things to note:

- car is a 2002 C32 AMG
- in total it has been maybe fewer than 10 days since my new battery.
- it is now worse than before as power is even more drained, yet the interval between driving the car has not changed...
- car operates fine if driven for long time the day before
- i just got aftermarket (but OEM) bixenons, but no ECU reflashed: not yet set to "xenons present" (haven't had time to go get it flashed at place yet)

long story short: my car battery died. i jumped it a few times, yet it still died. Roadside Assistance replaced a whole new battery at my house. the car worked fine for a few days, but it died again. it seems to have lost even more power, and it cannot even accept my key or turn on the radio or any lights!

please help me out and offer any expertise or experience with this or similar issues. i would really appreciate it! my car is completely stuck and i can't even put it into Neutral. i am hesitant to have Roadside Assistance bring it to the dealer, for fear of voiding my electronic warranty. do you guys think my warranty will be voided if they find out i have HID's and bixenons? thanks!

kevin

 

sounds like there is an open circuit draining the battery, i doubt its the alternator because a malfunction would have appeared. maybe when you added the xenons a short appeared. try finding someone to set the xenon to present, dont know if that would help, but it wont hurt. Also i was talking to my father and he said that jumping a benz is a major NO NO. YOu can fry a computer, the ignition switch, and even the key. My pops said that you should either change the battery to a new one or charge the battery. Then if you still have the same problems you are in a big poop hole. If the car starts back up then try to find the short with a voltage meter that has an ohm gauge.

 

Jumping any car these days is asking for it. Buy a good battery charger, or a booster- its cheap. Also, when you have a dead battery, driving around for " a bit" isn't enough to fully charge it. I agree with the previous poster, you shorted something to get your Bix to work, and likely the source of the constant drain on the battery. Either that or you fried the alternator jumping it.

 

ahhhhh hope i didn't mess up the ability to start by jumping it


i will take it to get Xenons present. also, what kind of charger should i get? i will buy one and maybe that is safer than jumping it....but i need power so i can drive to get the Xenons present setting. so, any recommendations as to what type of accessories to get? thanks

 

For about 50 bucks you can get a decent enough one. Just disconect the battery from the car while you charge. Call roadside assistance again. Push it out to the curb...now your on the roadside

 

I have a Schumacher 2/10/50 charger that I purchased some years ago at SAMS for about $35.00. The numbers mean: 2 Amps for Trickle (overnight) Charge, 10 Amps for Fast Charge and 50 Amps for Engine Start.

This last number should be between 50-75 since it will allow you to "jump" start the car without any problems. Just hook up the cables observing the correct polarity and the switch the unit on. I've used it with my wife's 2002 BMW 5-Series and my son's 2001 Passat without any problems.

The unit is a little bit larger than a shoe box and weighs about 5 lbs. I think that you may be also able to find it at Western Auto and Pep Boys but probably a little bit more expensive at these places.

Personally I think that every household should have one of these unit as they may help to "refresh" a low charge battery and jump start a car without another vehicle or where, as you, tight spaces are an issue.

Hope this helps...

 

I hate to reserect an old thread, but this is exactly what my car is doing, and there is no resolution here. Does anyone have any suggestions? SAomeone has alreaqdy suggested I disconnect the power to the memeory seats to see if this removes the battery draw.
My car is a 2002 C240, owned it since new, completely stock, except for the new Optma battery it keeps killing.

Thanks
Ken