ESL Emulator 2003 E500
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 19
Likes: 0
From: Florida
2003 E500
ESL Emulator 2003 E500
Hi all,
Two months ago, I bought a beautiful 2003 E500 with 50k miles on it. It is immaculate and has all the extras. I love the car and hope to keep it for many, many years.
Last week, with no prior warning, the key refused to turn in the ignition. I came onto the forum and checked out what might possibly be wrong. I then called the prior owner and he told me that six months ago the same thing happened and the dealership replaced the battery, EIS and ESL for $2400. I called the dealership and they said that they only replaced the battery and EIS and not the ESL. They said there was no warranty on the work because the vehicle had changed hands, but if I would bring it in they would see what was wrong. No thanks. I thought I would first focus on the ESL since it hadn’t been replaced. Also, a mechanic friend who has worked on cars for many years said that in his experience it was almost always bad motor brushes in the ESL when the key refused to turn in the ignition.
Luckily, it had refused to crank in our driveway. Unluckily, the ESL was locked. I pulled the steering column and bought a Julie Universal emulator. I removed the ESL and pulled the guts out of it. I placed the emulator inside the motor housing and hooked it up the male connector. I followed the instructions for the Mercedes ESL on the W211 carefully. I soldered the J2, J5 and J6 connections inside the emulator and connected the red wire to power input (#2 pin), the blue wire to ground (#3 pin) and the green code wire to the #5 pin. I then put the motor housing back into place with the emulator inside instead of the motor itself. All I had to do was connect the EIS back to the ESL and it was ready to go.
The emulator was delayed in shipping (inspected by the FBI in Langley and customs in NY) and the car’s main battery was unhooked for one week. (Could this cause a problem?)
After I placed the emulator, I hooked up the car’s battery and the key instantly turned. However, the starter won’t turn over at all. Everything is working but the starter. It shows absolutely no malfunctions, the engine just won’t turn over. All of the electronics work, the air suspension kicks in, but the starter just won’t engage.
If the emulator needed programming, wouldn’t the key not turn in the ignition? And from all I’ve read, the emulator should simply bypass the lock’s electronics and send a start signal back to the ECU. Am I correct in thinking this?
I’m not seeing any ESP codes of any kind, but I did have the entire steering column out and had to reinsert the splined end. Could I be off in any direction with the steering wheel? Would it cause this problem? I marked it and tried to be careful, but it's always possible it could be off a bit.
Am I missing something? Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.
I love this car and look forward to driving it for a long time. Thanks is advance.
Jim
Two months ago, I bought a beautiful 2003 E500 with 50k miles on it. It is immaculate and has all the extras. I love the car and hope to keep it for many, many years.
Last week, with no prior warning, the key refused to turn in the ignition. I came onto the forum and checked out what might possibly be wrong. I then called the prior owner and he told me that six months ago the same thing happened and the dealership replaced the battery, EIS and ESL for $2400. I called the dealership and they said that they only replaced the battery and EIS and not the ESL. They said there was no warranty on the work because the vehicle had changed hands, but if I would bring it in they would see what was wrong. No thanks. I thought I would first focus on the ESL since it hadn’t been replaced. Also, a mechanic friend who has worked on cars for many years said that in his experience it was almost always bad motor brushes in the ESL when the key refused to turn in the ignition.
Luckily, it had refused to crank in our driveway. Unluckily, the ESL was locked. I pulled the steering column and bought a Julie Universal emulator. I removed the ESL and pulled the guts out of it. I placed the emulator inside the motor housing and hooked it up the male connector. I followed the instructions for the Mercedes ESL on the W211 carefully. I soldered the J2, J5 and J6 connections inside the emulator and connected the red wire to power input (#2 pin), the blue wire to ground (#3 pin) and the green code wire to the #5 pin. I then put the motor housing back into place with the emulator inside instead of the motor itself. All I had to do was connect the EIS back to the ESL and it was ready to go.
The emulator was delayed in shipping (inspected by the FBI in Langley and customs in NY) and the car’s main battery was unhooked for one week. (Could this cause a problem?)
After I placed the emulator, I hooked up the car’s battery and the key instantly turned. However, the starter won’t turn over at all. Everything is working but the starter. It shows absolutely no malfunctions, the engine just won’t turn over. All of the electronics work, the air suspension kicks in, but the starter just won’t engage.
If the emulator needed programming, wouldn’t the key not turn in the ignition? And from all I’ve read, the emulator should simply bypass the lock’s electronics and send a start signal back to the ECU. Am I correct in thinking this?
I’m not seeing any ESP codes of any kind, but I did have the entire steering column out and had to reinsert the splined end. Could I be off in any direction with the steering wheel? Would it cause this problem? I marked it and tried to be careful, but it's always possible it could be off a bit.
Am I missing something? Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.
I love this car and look forward to driving it for a long time. Thanks is advance.
Jim
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 19
Likes: 0
From: Florida
2003 E500
Did I offend anyone with my question by rambling on or in some other way or did I mess up by trying to use an ESL emulator?
I have a 2003 E500, I live in Florida, the auxiliary and main batteries are six months old, without warning the key stopped turning, The ESL was locked, both it and the EIS were supposedly replaced six months ago, the car was unhooked form the main battery for one week, I replaced the ESL with a properly wired Julie emulator, the key now turns but the starter won't engage (I assume the car is immobilized), the car states there are no malfunctions, the starter relay and fuse are fine... is there anything I can do to "unimmobilize" the car or is it time for the shop?
Thanks in advance...
I have a 2003 E500, I live in Florida, the auxiliary and main batteries are six months old, without warning the key stopped turning, The ESL was locked, both it and the EIS were supposedly replaced six months ago, the car was unhooked form the main battery for one week, I replaced the ESL with a properly wired Julie emulator, the key now turns but the starter won't engage (I assume the car is immobilized), the car states there are no malfunctions, the starter relay and fuse are fine... is there anything I can do to "unimmobilize" the car or is it time for the shop?
Thanks in advance...
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 3,969
Likes: 1,317
From: Republic of Texas
'99 and '05 E55 AMG
You really need to hook the car to a STAR system for a readout of all parameters. Steering wheel being off to one side or the other shouldn't cause a problem. It appears the ESL must be coded to the car using a workshop key. I conjecture that would indicate the emulator is not recognized as valid even though it unlocks the steering wheel.
Here's the flow chart to the start sequence:
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ml#post7417807
Here's the flow chart to the start sequence:
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...ml#post7417807
Last edited by bbirdwell; Jun 27, 2018 at 03:05 PM.
