I have my 2002 e55 parked for a few months and the battery went dead. Yesterday, I just put a new battery in it. Car starts up no problem. When I tried to shift it to drive, it will not shift. I turn the fob off and turn it back on and it still will not shift. So I turn off the car and pull the fob out. I thought if I put the fob back in again, it might start. To my dismay, the fob is also stuck in the key hole. So i move the steering left and right and finally got the fob out. Now I am afraid to put the fob back in again. Please help!!! I think a few months ago, I have this problem with the fob key.

 

I know its new but what is the voltage of the battery and number two do you have a spare fob, but would not insert until I knew the battery voltage was at least 12v

 

Did you really buy a new battery and put it in or did you just recharge the battery and called it a new? Only reason why I'm asking is because when people say battery is dead, there are two scenarios. One is battery called dead because the battery does not have enough juice to crank over the starter, in which case you can recharge it and still be useful, and there is dead, I mean dead battery that went under 11v. Now, us MB drivers, I really don't think we buy those el-cheapo battery, but difference between good (called expensive) battery and cheap battery is just that. Ability to hold charges. Normally, you have one of them cheap battery and it goes under 11v, no matter how many times and how long you put the battery on charger, battery is dead. You have one good battery, you may be able to salvage it. Also, if you have one, load test your battery with battery tester will tell you if the battery is still good. I usually buy batteries from NAPA only because they're plentiful. You can pretty much find them anywhere. And they do have good batteries (their expensive ones. Their cheap one are just as bad).

Now, if you indeed put in a new battery, then you need to find why it's not holding charges. In modern fuel-injection cars, you may be surprise to find that battery won't last too long, usually in matter of few minutes, that it goes below 12v. When engine is running, you need to test for voltage AT battery, to have at least 14v. If you do find that voltage is between 12-13.5 volts, you may suspect alternator or something related. Now, with most modern alternator, it does have regulator or at least it's controlled by ECU, but if your battery is low on juice, you should see around 14v. Or at least 13.8 or so AT battery. BTW, normal battery voltage is around 12.5-12.8v at stand still. 12.3 at lowest but I'm not sure if that will turn the starter over. Anything below, you'll hear the click from starter relay.

Just my two cent. And as always, my experience are from different brand and model, so it may not apply to our beloved MB.

 

I called AAA and they come out to replace the battery. The old battery is from AAA. I was doing a research on the shifter stuck in park problem and someone mention about the brake light switch under the dash board panel. I'll get one order and will replace the original switch. Hopefully that is the problem. It's a cheap and easy fix and I am going to start from there.