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My W121 E63 5.5 has developed an odd and occasional Parktronic problem:
When you first start the car and put it in gear the front sensors beep and then the two inner amber lights come on, on both sides (four in total), but not the red ones that when researching the problem seem to be more frequent.
If you switch the car off and then back on again, the problem goes away. It's only occasional and seems to be (so far) only at the first start up in the morning.
Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Last edited by Duke_Thrust; Jan 4, 2021 at 09:47 AM.
Reason: Solution found
My W121 E63 5.5 has developed an odd and occasional Parktronic problem:
When you first start the car and put it in gear the front sensors beep and then the two inner amber lights come on, on both sides (four in total), but not the red ones that when researching the problem seem to be more frequent.
If you switch the car off and then back on again, the problem goes away. It's only occasional and seems to be (so far) only at the first start up in the morning.
My car is always garaged, but on startup the sensors will self test and beep because I am usually close to the side wall. Happens every time I start. If you keep getting a false beep with nothing around, you may have a bad sensor. If you get lights and beeps and then the system automatically shuts off, you definitely have a bad sensor. This can be diagnosed very easily at the dealer and the bad sensor replaced. Heavy rain and snow/ice wreaks havoc on the sensors and system.
There's also the partronic button that turns it on and off. No need to shut the car off, just turn it on and off again. Those sensors do go bad once in a while. I park mine outside also and unless it's a particular bit of snow/ice on the sensor, don't get any errors. You could probably have it scanned to see if there are any errors. A scanner that does MB error codes will tell you which sensor is bad if there is one.
When you first start the car and put it in gear the front sensors beep and then the two inner amber lights come on, on both sides (four in total), but not the red ones that when researching the problem seem to be more frequent.
If you switch the car off and then back on again, the problem goes away. It's only occasional and seems to be (so far) only at the first start up in the morning.
I'm with KEY08 on this one. My car is garaged overnight, and I always get sensor beeps on (cold) start-up. At first, I thought it was due to the confines of the garage. But the lack of beeps on start up in parking lots had me concluding it was self-testing.
Thanks guys, I'll keep an eye on it and see what MB can tell me regarding any duff sensors should it persist.
I have trouble with mine when I wax them by accident, try cleaning them if you waxed recently, Mine is garaged and does the same thing, the only times it turns off is after I wax and forget to clean the sensors thoroughly. Yours may be bad but this is a good place to start. I just clean them with washer fluid on a towel and the issue goes away.
I have trouble with mine when I wax them by accident, try cleaning them if you waxed recently, Mine is garaged and does the same thing, the only times it turns off is after I wax and forget to clean the sensors thoroughly. Yours may be bad but this is a good place to start. I just clean them with washer fluid on a towel and the issue goes away.
You might be onto something there, it had just been waxed when the problem started, will clean the sensors and see how it goes
Yes for me in my eight years of ownership, I have had to clean them three times after they stopped working, usually I remember to clean them after each wax, which I do every six weeks. also I found if the car has sat for a few weeks, It's best if I start it without stuff in front of the car in the garage, in particular for example, it doesn't like having nothing but garage wall on the right while my backpack blower is on the floor front left. seems the self-test likes equal distances for calibration? I don't know for sure , but it seems happier if I move the backpack out from directly in front of the left corner, same thing with the snowblower in winter.
Found the problem, it was not getting enough power when starting: If I paused for a second or two after turning the key to position 2 (just before engaging the starter) it'd work perfectly. Presumably it does some sort of pre-check which was being interrupted by the power draw of the starter motor.
Changed the battery and all is functioning perfectly again - I've noticed stop/start is engaging a lot more now too, which makes sense.
Found the problem, it was not getting enough power when starting: If I paused for a second or two after turning the key to position 2 (just before engaging the starter) it'd work perfectly. Presumably it does some sort of pre-check which was being interrupted by the power draw of the starter motor.
Changed the battery and all is functioning perfectly again - I've noticed stop/start is engaging a lot more now too, which makes sense.
Yep, battery. Time and time again on here a weak battery will cause these cars to play mind games. Start with the simple fix always; a new battery or battery disconnect/reboot.
Found an interesting setting in Xentry, it may be possible to change the audible tone setting... haven't tried it. Default is only audible when red LEDs are lit. Volume and frequency are adjustable as well.
Found an interesting setting in Xentry, it may be possible to change the audible tone setting... haven't tried it. Default is only audible when red LEDs are lit. Volume and frequency are adjustable as well.
Yes, I heard this was available from MBHouse in Toronto, I believe it was a 50 dollar option.Makes me wonder if one looked, we might be able to turn on the euro headlight option and the sport-eco button to stay as set instead of reverting to eco at start up. Very interesting find!
Yes, I heard this was available from MBHouse in Toronto, I believe it was a 50 dollar option.Makes me wonder if one looked, we might be able to turn on the euro headlight option and the sport-eco button to stay as set instead of reverting to eco at start up. Very interesting find!
You referring to ILS? Judging that the parking beep is $50 and how easy it might be, and the ILS is $500... I suspect it is not a simple toggle in the settings. Likely requires coding, as there's more than a single module involved and without going thru MB (online), then its offline in Vediamo for example. Vediamo I'd compare to writing c code vs. changing settings in MS control panel. Obviously MB online would require login and since the feature is not allowed in the US, I cant imagine a reputable shop would due it. Even if they "could" I wouldn't be surprised if there's some mechanism in MB software blocking due to US vs. ROW in the vehicles settings.
Last edited by bmwpowere36m3; Feb 5, 2021 at 11:03 AM.
You referring to ILS? Judging that the parking beep is $50 and how easy it might be, and the ILS is $500... I suspect it is not a simple toggle in the settings. Likely requires coding, as there's more than a single module involved and without going thru MB (online), then its offline in Vediamo for example. Vediamo I'd compare to writing c code vs. changing settings in MS control panel. Obviously MB online would require login and since the feature is not allowed in the US, I cant imagine a reputable shop would due it. Even if they "could" I wouldn't be surprised if there's some mechanism in MB software blocking due to US vs. ROW in the vehicles settings.
Could very well be, MBH is in Canada, so things might be different for them, I think they've only done one car conversion to ILS. I also would imagine MB would not look to fondly on US dealers or indy's doing this conversion on Xentry
I apologize for bringing up this old thread. I had a similar issue with my vehicle recently; the Mercedes Parking Assist is not working properly, as I thoroughly checked the issue, I found out that I had a bad grounding issue in the system, I perfectly tight the grounding points to fix the issue. I came across an in-depth article that may be worth reading. Search for "Troubleshooting Mercedes Parking Sensor Parktronic Problems on YOUCANIC" and you will see an article that goes over common causes and possible fixes. You can read about it yourself. I hope this information can assist someone else with a similar issue.
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