Despite working normally in the past, for some weeks or months now my Mercedes Me always incorrectly reports that "Engine has already been started manually" or "Ignition on, The command could not be executed because the ignition is switched on" whenever I try to do any remote operations (close or open windows, locks, etc).. 2019 E300 sedan in Malaysia... anyone have a clue what might cause this ?

At the top of the screen it should say when the information you are seeing was updated as shown in the screenshot below. Is yours recent or old? If it wasn't updated recently, then your car is failing to communicate its status. That could be due to an issue with the communications module in the car.

Very recent...like exactly the time I last switched off the car and no updates after that

You can delete your profile in the car and add it back. Or you can sync the app back to the car and wait until the app says that it's completed

I tried importing my profile from the server and thus overwriting the profile in the car...but still no luck..
I think it's just not synchronising after the car is switched off... the mercedes me app always shows the last update occured just before I switched off the engine...

Yes, there should be updates after that. For example when I took the screenshot above on June 8, I last drove the car on June 7, so the vehicle status was last updated over 24 hours after I turned off the engine. I mostly drive my car on weekends, but the vehicle status gets updated periodically while the car is off. At a minimum it updates when I lock or unlock it. Does the lock status correctly reflect in the app? Assuming the car is locked now, unlock it and then lock it again. Does the engine status update when you do that? Does the last updated date change when you do that?

Status looks correct except for Ignition and I cannot unlock or perform any other remote function

That to me looks like an old status. Your parking brake status is not correct, either, as it automatically sets when the car is parked and engine turned off, so it shouldn't be released. If you go and unlock the car physically does it show in the app that the car is unlocked? So far it looks to me like your car is no longer communicating with the servers. Your communication module may have to be reset. This has happened to a few other people.

I agree, some reported that in the past

ok, thanks for all your replies and suggestions

... so i tried unlocking manually and leaving it unlocked...no updates, also tried leaving a window open, no updates... so i tried resetting comand multimedia system and recreating profiles and reconnecting mercedes me to the car profiles ... still the same... is there some other technique to reset the communications module ?

ok i have confirmed that the status does not change if unlock the car manually ... i also tried leaving a window open and its the same..no update of the vehicle status... i next tried resetting the COMAND system, created new profiles, and connected the new profiles to mercedes me app.... still no change in status... Is there some other technique to reset the communications module in these cars? again mine is a 2019 E300 W2130836L028788 in Malaysia ... thanks again to all those who have taken the time to reply and give suggestions...

You'll have to bring it in. There's no technique from within the vehicle to reset it, although there's one thing you can try which worked for me when after a long software update my COMAND system lost its connection. In the connection settings turn off Wi-Fi, then turn it back on. This reestablished the connection for the COMAND system in my case. However, the telematics and vehicle status stuff doesn't go through the Infotainment system, so if the communications module is locked/bricked, it has to be reset with external tools.

Thanks Guys, I'VE SOLVED IT !... Your observations that the vehicle status was old, despite the time stamp shown in the mercedes me app caused me to realize that it was not just the ignition status that was not updating... in fact, nothing except the vehicle location was being updated... this led me to google for "mercedes me app not updating status" which led me to this reddit discussion

https://www.reddit.com/r/mercedes_be...ing_trip_data/

in which a person said they successfully restored updates by going into "MANAGE DIGITAL EXTRAS" on the owners mercedes me app and deactivating and reactivating the Vehicle Status service.

In my version of the app (which seems like a work in progress)... there was something called "Remote Retrieval of Vehicle Status" but deactivating and reactivating didnt help...

BUT deactivating ALL the digital extras and reactivating ALL did do the trick! the app said it could take up to 24 hours to restore everything and it did take several hours (i left it overnight before i checked it again)... but it is all working now... Thanks very Much to all for your time and responses...

That's great. Glad you got it sorted.