Well, my wife's GL 450 with 12,000 miles has been in the shop for over a week and the dealer has no idea what's wrong with it.

The problem manifested itself in a way that I can best describe as what seems like a computer meltdown. All of a sudden, all gauges, including RPM, Speedo, etc... stopped working. About every error that you could think of rolled onto the screen as if it was just going through a list of every sensor in the vehicle. More alarming though was that the power steering failed to operate. Pushing the on/off button would not turn off the vehicle. In order to stop the engine, we have to hold in the start button for about 10 seconds. Similar to to what you might have to do with a computer that is locked up.

At first, we were able to restart the engine and have the steering work for a while, but only just for a few minutes.

Fast forward to today and the dealer rep tells me that they (the dealer and Mercedes) have never heard of this happening. He says tech is guessing it's the instrument cluster, but I can't imagine it causing the power steering to go out?

Any ideas?

If you guys want to guess at what the problem ends up being, I'll come back on here and let you know who guessed it when the problem is resolved.

In the meanwhile, we'll be the folks driving a tiny Volkswagen Touareg and learning to really appreciate all that the GL had to offer in comparison. Seems that they would put you in a comparable car?

 

I'm gonna take a guess that your car got hacked remotely through Mbrace or something in the telematics. They changed your code and they will need to replace your car.

 

While JTSE has an intriguing answer given today's news headlines, my guess is the main computer module bit the dust in one glorious bang. I think our cars have electric steering so the steering would be affected as well. Good luck with the diagnosis and repair. Warranty is a good thing. Unless of course you drilled through a wiring harness putting in an aftermarket stereo or something!!

 

Does sound like the BCM is toast! ....drilled

 

I hope I am wrong, and I was semi-joking. BUT, do u think that MBUSA and the dealer would have never ever saw main computers modules biting the dust?

 

I don't know - it seems more often than not when I go in for an issue I hear something like "I've not seen that before" or similar. Sometimes I think they are trained to say that so that you don't start thinking ALL of that type of vehicle have that problem. I hope I am wrong. I would think a hacker would want to "publicize" their efforts on more than just one car.

 

My vote is with blittle, main computer has an issue.

As a 'chip guy' by profession, I would guess that the chip failure is pretty rare. Most industrial use (e.g. automobiles) chips have fairly rigorous test and reliability measures because of their critical dependence on the safe operation of the vehicle. I think a field failure rate would be measured in parts per million, so it could be a very rare event.

 

I guess it's a good thing I held off on any mods. I'm sure that would be the focus point if I had.

I'm with you guys. I called it in as a computer issue, but as of now, they are still thinking it's in the instrument cluster... I think the problem with instrumentation goes back to the saying, "garbage in, garbage out."

 

UPDATE:
Service rep called this afternoon. Stated that they have found a connector that was not completely clicked together somewhere in the instrument cluster. Wants to keep it a few days to ensure that's it.

On a side note, I have the illuminated star (because that's what was available at the time). I have read where some people have stated that there is an update that allows it to stay on longer than just opening the door. I communicated this to the service rep, but he said that he'd have to check. Then, he came back and said that the update was only for factory installed stars. I told him to look on my sticker, it was ordered and came that way. Then he backtracked to, "I'll have to look into it some more."

Does anyone know for sure if there is an update that allows the star to stay on or not?

Thanks;
Scott

 

yes there is an update. my 2014 GL 450 came with the star which lights up when the lights come on.

 

I have seen the same "symptoms" on a customers GL550 that came up - in that case the customer had a "friend" with a car stereo shop get into the cluster to install a radar detector interface kit - installer got cold feet after the kit did not match the car exactly - backed out of the install but left one of the main connectors not fully re-snapped. I am not saying that is the situation here - I am just saying that is the other case I have personally seen, and the one and only.

On the Illuminated Star - the NHTSB has to approve the use of "running light". When the Star was introduced - it was "flash" only and the Fed's required MB that it could not be "hacked" for illegal use as running light - so the factory harness at that time did not allow software/slip-connect change to running light - once the NHTSB approved the running light feature - the factory harness changed - and so did the function of the Star going forward.

That said - the "new" factory harness is not available as a separate part - so a "new" Star full kit has to be ordered - depending on model (GL is not the only model that went "flash" to "running" - so did CLA and others) - kit about $630 for the components - fortunate thing the "new" Star takes only 45-60 min for shop install where the "old" kit told about 2hrs+. You end up with a extra Star LED light ring

Keep the beat !