Need help getting my 2003 CL500 to start
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Joined: Mar 2025
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Need help getting my 2003 CL500 to start
Hey everyone, thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
I recently had my EIS fail. Now that the weather is nicer, I have swapped in a working EIS, ESM, ECU, and key. I managed to get the car to start after jumping the starter relay (apparently that also failed). Since jumping the relay, the key turns in the EIS like it should to all positions, but now the dash lights do not come on with the key and a start signal is not being sent. This is a bit of an issue since I cant scan to see what codes may have triggered. When the car fired up the first time, I had drive auth on all modules. Car stayed running until I shut it off and didn't throw codes. I have checked all the fuses related to ECU, EIS, and instrument cluster - all appear to be good. I checked for power at the main battery fuse under the passenger front carpet - have battery voltage (12.7V) on all connections there. I am stumped and don't know what to check next. Someone was saying the cluster is also vin coded? Not sure if this is true or not. From what I understood, it was just the EIS, ECU, ESM, and key that needed to be replaced. Those 4 came from a running and driving CL500. This issue now only started after jumping the starter relay. Please help!
I recently had my EIS fail. Now that the weather is nicer, I have swapped in a working EIS, ESM, ECU, and key. I managed to get the car to start after jumping the starter relay (apparently that also failed). Since jumping the relay, the key turns in the EIS like it should to all positions, but now the dash lights do not come on with the key and a start signal is not being sent. This is a bit of an issue since I cant scan to see what codes may have triggered. When the car fired up the first time, I had drive auth on all modules. Car stayed running until I shut it off and didn't throw codes. I have checked all the fuses related to ECU, EIS, and instrument cluster - all appear to be good. I checked for power at the main battery fuse under the passenger front carpet - have battery voltage (12.7V) on all connections there. I am stumped and don't know what to check next. Someone was saying the cluster is also vin coded? Not sure if this is true or not. From what I understood, it was just the EIS, ECU, ESM, and key that needed to be replaced. Those 4 came from a running and driving CL500. This issue now only started after jumping the starter relay. Please help!
Member
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 227
Likes: 55
CL500, W212 e350 mega-spec
I don't know about the CL but I'm pretty sure the W211 e-class of this similar era includes the instrument cluster as part of the coded items. i.e. if it was an e-class you would have to change the cluster as well.
I once replaced the e-class ECU and moved the security chip from the old ECU to the replacement ECU which meant I only needed a cheap second-hand ECU to fix that problem, all the rest of the coded parts and the keys are the existing ones. The details are on this forum somewhere.
I once replaced the e-class ECU and moved the security chip from the old ECU to the replacement ECU which meant I only needed a cheap second-hand ECU to fix that problem, all the rest of the coded parts and the keys are the existing ones. The details are on this forum somewhere.
