G580 drivetrain issues at less than 1,000 Miles
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2024
Posts: 39
Likes: 3
Recalls are not the same as software updates though. If they brush you off, it might be because they don't want your business, I mean, it is time consuming to install all those updates and they have to have a good reason to report back to MB so they can get paid the time. Tell them vehicle is doing all those things and your friend had it resolved with several module updates, although not sure which one, let them look into it. If they are not willing to help, try another MB dealership.
Agreed on the alternative dealership. Also aware of thresholds on recalls but given our sample size - I would say something statistically significant is going on.Tesla is also now answering recalls with software updates. The lines are blurring…
Newbie
Joined: Apr 2025
Posts: 5
Likes: 3
A few weeks ago, the service advisor scanned the car and confirmed there were no open recalls.
Fast forward to today: the car had been driven all day without any issues. It was about 100 degrees outside—not that I think that’s relevant—and the battery was at 59% charge. I parked, went into a store, and when I came back, the car wouldn’t start. The following messages were displayed:
Stop Switch Off Vehicle
Finally, after locking the car and waiting about 10 minutes, it cleared all error messages and started up as if nothing had happened. No strange noises or clicking. I drove around the parking lot to make sure everything felt normal, then decided to take it to Mercedes.
No one in service was available at the time, but they took the car and told me to come back on Monday.
At this point, I’m half-joking about calling a congressman and getting the NTSB on a three-way call. If this issue hasn’t happened to all the G580s yet, it seems like it’s only a matter of time.
Fast forward to today: the car had been driven all day without any issues. It was about 100 degrees outside—not that I think that’s relevant—and the battery was at 59% charge. I parked, went into a store, and when I came back, the car wouldn’t start. The following messages were displayed:
Stop Switch Off Vehicle
- Inoperative. See Operator’s Manual
- Performance Extremely Limited
Finally, after locking the car and waiting about 10 minutes, it cleared all error messages and started up as if nothing had happened. No strange noises or clicking. I drove around the parking lot to make sure everything felt normal, then decided to take it to Mercedes.
No one in service was available at the time, but they took the car and told me to come back on Monday.
At this point, I’m half-joking about calling a congressman and getting the NTSB on a three-way call. If this issue hasn’t happened to all the G580s yet, it seems like it’s only a matter of time.
Good luckMy service manager said it does seem like HQ is getting a number of these so they had relatively easy work to get it all updated
Next time I'm in there, I'll ask about the specific firmware / software patch
MBWorld God!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 31,484
Likes: 6,112
MBWorld God!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 31,484
Likes: 6,112
Most cars nowadays are computer on wheels so naturally lots of software updates needed.
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2024
Posts: 39
Likes: 3
“Hi Guys,
got my G580 a few weeks ago. I also experienced the issue of vehicle not starting, that's what brought me to this forum. Got out of the car, called my dealer, got back into car and like a miracle the car worked again.
So I drove to the workshop and left my car there for a check. When I got my G580 back (took quite some time) I talked to the mechanic. He gave me an interesting information that might be also interesting for some of you guys (if you ever experience this issue): According ot him MB told the mechanics at his workshop that this issue at starting the vehicle happens "sporadically"...obviously once in a few tousand startups caused by some software issue (somehow the four motors need to communicate with each other at startup and this communication is disturbed or something like this). Turning off the ignition, locking the car, waiting for 5 minutes and starting the car again solves the issue...according to him.
Description seems valid to me as that's what I experienced with my car: Worked again after I got out of the car and talked to the garage guy a few minutes on the phone.
Quite annoying since I had to wait for quite some time to get my car back just to get told that there is a software error which will be fixed in the future. So my car was there and they didn't even do anything. I'm always afraid that my car won't start (event though it never happened again). Sure, solution seems easy: Ignition off, getting out of the car, locking it, waiting for five minutes. Starting again and enjoying the 580-hp quad-motor. Still, quite annoying if you're in a hurry a run into this issue.”
post is from Jan 25’
MBWorld God!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 31,484
Likes: 6,112
Found this on another mb580 forum. It seems to track with what we are seeing here. Drive train issue, motor sync or comms issue. What’s interesting is this user was told by mb that the issue only occurs on startup.
“Hi Guys,
got my G580 a few weeks ago. I also experienced the issue of vehicle not starting, that's what brought me to this forum. Got out of the car, called my dealer, got back into car and like a miracle the car worked again.
So I drove to the workshop and left my car there for a check. When I got my G580 back (took quite some time) I talked to the mechanic. He gave me an interesting information that might be also interesting for some of you guys (if you ever experience this issue): According ot him MB told the mechanics at his workshop that this issue at starting the vehicle happens "sporadically"...obviously once in a few tousand startups caused by some software issue (somehow the four motors need to communicate with each other at startup and this communication is disturbed or something like this). Turning off the ignition, locking the car, waiting for 5 minutes and starting the car again solves the issue...according to him.
Description seems valid to me as that's what I experienced with my car: Worked again after I got out of the car and talked to the garage guy a few minutes on the phone.
Quite annoying since I had to wait for quite some time to get my car back just to get told that there is a software error which will be fixed in the future. So my car was there and they didn't even do anything. I'm always afraid that my car won't start (event though it never happened again). Sure, solution seems easy: Ignition off, getting out of the car, locking it, waiting for five minutes. Starting again and enjoying the 580-hp quad-motor. Still, quite annoying if you're in a hurry a run into this issue.”
post is from Jan 25’
“Hi Guys,
got my G580 a few weeks ago. I also experienced the issue of vehicle not starting, that's what brought me to this forum. Got out of the car, called my dealer, got back into car and like a miracle the car worked again.
So I drove to the workshop and left my car there for a check. When I got my G580 back (took quite some time) I talked to the mechanic. He gave me an interesting information that might be also interesting for some of you guys (if you ever experience this issue): According ot him MB told the mechanics at his workshop that this issue at starting the vehicle happens "sporadically"...obviously once in a few tousand startups caused by some software issue (somehow the four motors need to communicate with each other at startup and this communication is disturbed or something like this). Turning off the ignition, locking the car, waiting for 5 minutes and starting the car again solves the issue...according to him.
Description seems valid to me as that's what I experienced with my car: Worked again after I got out of the car and talked to the garage guy a few minutes on the phone.
Quite annoying since I had to wait for quite some time to get my car back just to get told that there is a software error which will be fixed in the future. So my car was there and they didn't even do anything. I'm always afraid that my car won't start (event though it never happened again). Sure, solution seems easy: Ignition off, getting out of the car, locking it, waiting for five minutes. Starting again and enjoying the 580-hp quad-motor. Still, quite annoying if you're in a hurry a run into this issue.”
post is from Jan 25’
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2024
Posts: 39
Likes: 3
Sorry that was from Nov. 24. Things could have changed in 4 months? At this point I think users are having dramatically different experiences with mb service centers. I’ll check out two centers before the end of this!
MBWorld God!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 31,484
Likes: 6,112
Hope it works out, I thought you said the post was from Jan 25' (25 assuming this year?)
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2024
Posts: 39
Likes: 3
MBWorld God!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 31,484
Likes: 6,112
MBWorld God!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 31,484
Likes: 6,112
When you mean the end of this does that mean you are going to be initiating buyback? Or do you mean you will be buying a different vehicle? Hopefully neither and that the dealership makes you whole instead.
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2024
Posts: 39
Likes: 3
Not sure we are "there" yet - more than two weeks in the shop and I'll give it some thought. Great car, seems like a software fix. No one should own an "edition one" of a vehicle and expect perfection. The tech is on the bleeding edge, but it's clear attention is needed.
No worries. *starts to side eye a 992* ;-)
No worries. *starts to side eye a 992* ;-)
MBWorld God!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 31,484
Likes: 6,112
Not sure we are "there" yet - more than two weeks in the shop and I'll give it some thought. Great car, seems like a software fix. No one should own an "edition one" of a vehicle and expect perfection. The tech is on the bleeding edge, but it's clear attention is needed.
No worries. *starts to side eye a 992* ;-)
No worries. *starts to side eye a 992* ;-)
MBWorld God!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 31,484
Likes: 6,112
It is quite a development for sure. People said electric is the future and to keep the icon going, they had to come up with this. I am glad they did but give it some time.
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2024
Posts: 39
Likes: 3
The Service Manager seemed genuinely committed to resolving the issue. He outlined a process that includes reviewing the "G580 Maintenance Notes and Tips" and stated that any recommended updates would be applied immediately. He mentioned that only two technicians are currently authorized to work on G580s. I made it clear that I expected more detail and transparency about which updates were being applied. He also noted that they wouldn’t escalate to MB Engineering (Deutschland ) until all updates were attempted. If necessary, tickets to the engineering team in Germany would be the next step.
The challenge with intermittent issues is that if a simple restart temporarily clears the fault, it’s hard to know whether the root cause has been addressed. So for now—the saga continues.
MBWorld God!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 31,484
Likes: 6,112
Agreed.
The Service Manager seemed genuinely committed to resolving the issue. He outlined a process that includes reviewing the "G580 Maintenance Notes and Tips" and stated that any recommended updates would be applied immediately. He mentioned that only two technicians are currently authorized to work on G580s. I made it clear that I expected more detail and transparency about which updates were being applied. He also noted that they wouldn’t escalate to MB Engineering (Deutschland ) until all updates were attempted. If necessary, tickets to the engineering team in Germany would be the next step.
The challenge with intermittent issues is that if a simple restart temporarily clears the fault, it’s hard to know whether the root cause has been addressed. So for now—the saga continues.
The Service Manager seemed genuinely committed to resolving the issue. He outlined a process that includes reviewing the "G580 Maintenance Notes and Tips" and stated that any recommended updates would be applied immediately. He mentioned that only two technicians are currently authorized to work on G580s. I made it clear that I expected more detail and transparency about which updates were being applied. He also noted that they wouldn’t escalate to MB Engineering (Deutschland ) until all updates were attempted. If necessary, tickets to the engineering team in Germany would be the next step.
The challenge with intermittent issues is that if a simple restart temporarily clears the fault, it’s hard to know whether the root cause has been addressed. So for now—the saga continues.
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 2024
Posts: 39
Likes: 3
Got the car back today. They updated 15 modules. Including one they think maybe or related to the issue. Communication error related to a failed terminated diagnostic mode that causes the vehicle to display all three of the messages we are seeing. (Updates for this were applied to the power electronic control units) I was able to read all the "tips" related to other issues with EQE,EQS and G, which was also interesting. After some conversation, I was able to convince the service manager to update an additional 11 modules. Essentially all updates for the G through 3/25/25. Always fun to do a "sudo apt full-upgrade".
Service managers says Engineering escalation to follow if the issue reoccurs. Car seems great so far! Was also able to get various information on the OSes, and platforms running this thing. I'll post more later - I need to get home and get a console cable.
Service managers says Engineering escalation to follow if the issue reoccurs. Car seems great so far! Was also able to get various information on the OSes, and platforms running this thing. I'll post more later - I need to get home and get a console cable.
MBWorld God!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 31,484
Likes: 6,112
Got the car back today. They updated 15 modules. Including one they think maybe or related to the issue. Communication error related to a failed terminated diagnostic mode that causes the vehicle to display all three of the messages we are seeing. (Updates for this were applied to the power electronic control units) I was able to read all the "tips" related to other issues with EQE,EQS and G, which was also interesting. After some conversation, I was able to convince the service manager to update an additional 11 modules. Essentially all updates for the G through 3/25/25. Always fun to do a "sudo apt full-upgrade".
Service managers says Engineering escalation to follow if the issue reoccurs. Car seems great so far! Was also able to get various information on the OSes, and platforms running this thing. I'll post more later - I need to get home and get a console cable.
Service managers says Engineering escalation to follow if the issue reoccurs. Car seems great so far! Was also able to get various information on the OSes, and platforms running this thing. I'll post more later - I need to get home and get a console cable.
