Vlad_Tony

Hello gentlemen. I have a 2004 W203 180 Kompressor. In the past 4 years I had it, it randomly completely shutdown while driving. After 10-15 minutes, it starts right back up like nothing happened. This happened to me maybe 5-6 times, at low speeds, while slowly braking. Last week, while doing maybe 15kph, it completely died and would not start at all. Below are all the details, I have to mention the battery is good, I've tested it, and about 6 months ago I went for a yearly check and all the diagnostics came out perfect. The car ran perfectly besides randomly shuting down while driving.

What do I mean by COMPLETELY SHUTDOWN? While driving, the engine dies, power steering gone, but the wheel is not locked, no dashboard, no hazard lights, not a single button works. When I take the key out of ignition to try and restart the car, the key just wont turn (it doesn't make the noise that the key has been recognized. The key doesn't unlock or lock the car either. When I try to unlock it, the headlights come on, the reading lights inside the car come on, the trunk and fuel door lock and unlock, and the radio works. The doors don't unlock or lock, I have to use the physical key to get in the car. When I get in the car, the whole dashboard (cluster) is completely dead (it usually turned on the display when you opened the door). It's been 5 days since it dies and nothing works.

What I've done to the car:

-2 years ago I went to a guy that said he knows what the problem is (after it dies 2 times) and he said he changed something regarding the ignition system to make the car recognise the key (but won't tell me exactly what he did, and also at that time the car ran).
-I took the circuit board out of the key, cleaned the IR sensor and changed the batteries for both keys, still nothing.
-I checked the battery and the fuses, all seem fine and dry

THE WEIRD THING is that when it dies, the dashboard gets stuck to the moment it shut down. I will attach a picture so you can see what I mean.

It seems the car just froze in time, Since I can't turn the key or do anything really, I don't know where to start. I've seen some people say it's the fuel pump (I'm on half a tank currently), the CPS, or battery lines. All valid, but it still doesn't explain WHY it dies WHILE DRIVING.

I don't think it's the key, clearly it's something electric, I hope it's not the EIS and if someone can help I would be so so thankful. I will answer any questions if anybody is kind enough to read all this. Thank you.

Link to video where I show you the current state of the car:
Dashboard stuck in the position it was in when it shutdown