WinterPark321

Hi all

I just noticed today, when the door of my 2013 GL550 is locked, either with the "Keyless Go" button on the door handle or simply the lock button on the fob, the lock pins, lock and go down. However, if someone were to break into the car, the car can be easily opened, simply by pulling on the handle, like you do in an unlocked car. However only difference is the alarm goes off. Does anyone elses GL class X166 do this??

Even with the loud audible alarm, it does not seem very safe since car is supposed to be locked but can be opened by anyone.

rominl

no, when ours is locked, pulling on the handle doesn't do anything, doors don't open

kombifan

DRTYLNDY

The answer is yes, the exact same thing happened to my 13 GL550. Mine is under CPO so I brought it to Benz here in Maine. It took them 4 visits to finally sort it all out.
I told them I was not angry with them just extremely disappointed and expected much more from a MB dealer.
They ended up replacing two door handles in total.
Johan

d0c

Nice to find an active thread for this because I'm getting yanked around at the dealership.

I have a 2015 GL550 with issues on the rear doors. I read the thread mentioned above https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-...ying-soon.html and give shouts to Lawrence Lane for the post in that thread.

My issues are:

• the rear door locks - they don't lock. kids pull the door open and the alarm goes off. sadly, this means that the car cannot be locked currently.
• KEYLESS GO - the keyfob is not recognized by the vehicle sometimes. i cannot unlock the car by placing hand on the driver's door handle, but the other 3 handles seem to work ok. further, the car cannot be started by the push button sometimes. my work-around for this is to press the unlock on the keyfob to "force" the car to recognize that the fob is present. sometimes, when either I or the wife leave the car with our keyfob and the other one stays, the dash will popup with keyfob not detected. I can clear that out as well by using the unlock button.

I took the car to local dealership and they took it a pre-service holding area. our service rep apparently didn't believe that the car didn't lock, so he had the guys drive the car back in so he could test it himself. he saw that it didn't lock. we got our loaner and left.

they called me back a few hours later and said that they changed my keyfob battery and the issue was fixed. he said that the technician couldn't find any issue and it was working fine. he told me that it CANNOT be a door lock actuator issue, because that would not happen on an intermittent basis, it would always happen. the car tested fine @ pickup and we left.

all problems were again present the next morning.

now i have to go back and show them videos of the the door lock problem and the Keyless Go problem
What sux is that I read, on these forums, that others are having the same lock problems and still i was pretty much blown off by the dealership. coming from infiniti and acura, I really expected more from MB service. my experience @ MB dealership is on par with Dodge/RAM in their service department.
I will post an update when the dealership figures out a solution, but i would appreciator any input from other members who have experienced similar issues. Armed with the video, I will return for service - hopefully next week.

as an aside, i LOVE this car! i love the options it has! I love the look of it! but I am too chicken-bleep to ever own one of these out of warranty. we did the 2 year extension of the CPO, giving us 3 years and unlimited miles. these seem very expensive to fix otherwise.

kombifan

SaniDel

Our 2015 GL550 locked us out when we pulled into a parking space and both got out of the car. I had to use my 'fob' to unlock so we could get in. Even then the car wouldn't start so we just locked it, walked away and had lunch ... by the time we returned all was well.

There were extenuating circumstances. We both carry our 'fobs' ... mine in a pocket and my wife's in her purse. Depending on my pants my fob can be close to my iPhone which may cause interference. Also, it was raining on this day ... rain changes the sensitivity of the door handles. Finally ... we were in a rush as we had a lunch appointment, we were opening umbrellas, we may have 'fumbled' the door handles, our fingers may have slipped on the wet door handles and we both we standing close to the vehicle to avoid getting wet.

Regardless ... our GL550 made the decision ... go away and try later!

NaviTimer1

I had the exact issue on my 15 GL550. They had to replace the handle mechanism on the driver door, original warranty covered it. Also, check all of your soft closing doors, I had one of them failed at the time of this issue.

d0c

I will check the soft close for sure. thanks.

I requested the original service associate because I feel like he should get a chance to redeem himself. I hoping that he sees this as - now he knows that I know that he knows there's a problem. I am still not confident that they will resolve the issues at my next appointment on 11-Sep, however. Based on their 1st attempt, my impression was that they didn't care to investigate any further once they got it to work. I hope the vids and description I gave on the service request form will compel them to look a bit deeper into this.

I have very, very limited knowledge of car repairs, but I am almost certain that there is a diagnostic tool that hooks up to the car and gives fault codes. If that assumption is correct, shouldn't they be able to diagnose the problem that way, or are those codes only given for engine type problems? I swear that the Ram dealership told me that I had "old codes" for my one touch window open/close not working and they "cleared them".

NaviTimer1

In my case, the car did not have any fault codes, they said it was harder to diagnose. I also had to video record the incident, I got the impression that they don't really take the time to replicate or diagnose the incident.

kombifan

chriswit1

I have the identical problem.

d0c

the soft close on all doors is functioning. thanks.

dealership called me today and told me that they have no loaners for the rest of the week. they rescheduled me for Tues, 18-Sep. i told them it was no big deal, I'll just leave the car unlocked until then. my sarcasm was 100% lost on her.

WinterPark321

So I brought the '13 GL550 to the dealer to fix. Extended warranty covered some of it. They found that the rear right lock actuator was faulty. However when I tested it, it was BOTH the right and left rear. Sometimes it was even the front. Anyways, total was $495 to fix one actuator. $200 deductible for my extended warranty. They also told me "keyless go" was "fixed" after a "firmware update" they did...... Pending on picking up the GL to test today or tomorrow.....

d0c

ummmmm... just go the GL back from dealership. wife had no intention on going to pick it up because of the engine issues we had (another post). here's how it went down...

same smarmy, smug service advisor i had on my 1st visit was the only one there. he avoided eye contact as i went to the cashier. no bill, all warranty. "they will pull your car around."

i wait.

where i'm waiting there is a random salesman chain smoking in the rain, just outside of the service pickup area. i know need to recruit people to be on my side here..just in case, so i wait until he is done with his cig. i ask him to hold my keyfobs for me, but to go back out to where he was smoking (in the light rain). he is great and obliges me.

i start on the front passenger door. give the handle a few pulls. nothing. rear passenger. same.
rear driver's door = alarms going off. BOOM!!!! i got em!!

i then go back in to seethe lone service advisor still there 30 mins before closing to tell him that it still won't lock and i just set the alarm off with the salesman holding the fobs. he reluctantly comes outside to see if for himself.

now i can't open it. scheiße!!

the salesman comes up with a theory that it opened because i was going door to door, like someone who was trying to break in, and the keyfob was just close enough to read it. right. like the benzo is thinking on the go now. he's as technical as i. i like this guy. the alarm wouldn't have gone off if the fobs were close enough to be read by the car.

the kind salesman then asked the service advisor to hold the keyfob while i try again. service advisor refuses and actually says, "I'm not touching it. It's working right now."

damn!!! i had to jet though. i need to get home to do my kids' home work for them and this will give them the dealership the magical 3rd chance at fixing it.

so, is it working???


what do you think about this?

d0c

so, I couldn't wait for the wife to get home from work today. i had some tests that needed to be done and, as you know, my local dealer is certainly not going to investigate anything that doesn't have a code. off i went. anything to avoid doing paperwork today.

here's what i found out...

the left rear door does indeed have a locking problem. the other doors do not. further, i now know how to repeat it.

1. wife pulled into my parking lot. she locked the car using the driver's door handle/keyless. horn sounded. lights flashed. mirrors folded in. she took her fob into the office. on my 2nd pull of the left rear door handle, it opened and the alarm sounded.
2. wife heard alarm, came out and shut it off with fob.
3. i then took her fob and locked her car again, this time using the fob's lock button. horn sounded. lights flashed. mirrors folded in. she took her fob into the office. this time, that same door would not unlock with multiple pulls.
4. i then got her fob and took it into the car with me and started the engine. i let it run for a few seconds and then shut it off.
5. as i walked back to the office, to give her the fob to take inside, i locked the car with the keyfob's lock button. horn sounded. lights flashed. mirrors folded in. she took her fob into the office. on my 2nd pull of the left rear door handle, it opened and the alarm sounded.
6. wife heard alarm, came out and shut it off with fob.
7. i repeated the steps above to see if they were repeatable; this time without the wife though. they were.

i called the dealership again and spoke to the SA (SA#2) that logged my issues at last (2nd fix attempt) drop off. i explained the problem and expressed my displeasure with how the original (1st fix attempt) SA (the same guy who didn't want to touch it last night) treated me last night. SA #2 was apologetic that the problem was not fixed and how SA #1 acted. he apologized for my inconvenience as well.

he wants to have me bring the car back in, but not until next week. i jokingly told him that i would just leave the car unlocked with the windows open until then. i told him that doing so would prevent the alarm from running down the battery if someone breaks into it. i apologized for my sarcasm and anger. he was cool about it.

the reason for waiting until next week is because the shop foreman or someone that works closely with him ("Dan") is out until then. I will be meeting with SA #2 and Dan on Tuesday, 9-Oct.

They have to be able to fix it now, right?? What am i missing??

thanks

NaviTimer1

d0c I feel your pain, I went thru the same process.

I had to escalate the issue to the service manager at my dealer, nobody wanted to diagnose the issue since no codes were reported and the issue was a hit or miss. The service manager himself started to work on the issue and he bounced a few theories regarding the door issue. He explained the car has a few antennas around the car that search for the key fob and one of them could be faulty, whenever someone tries to open the door the faulty antenna allows the door to open while the car is fully locked. They need to test you proximity antennas, be sure to bring both keys, I had to drive back home and get the 2nd key since they neglected to tell me at first.

Not sure if he was blowing smoke up - the you know what - but something worth mentioning to you.

Keep us posted!
Best of luck!

d0c

thanks. it's sad, but i feel like i need to recite technical stuff or they'll keep writing me off as just another P.I.T.A. customer.

that's good advice about bringing both fobs to anyone else reading this who has a similar problem.

i forgot the wife's fob at my last drop off. i had to drive back to the dealership again that night to drop it off. lesson learned

WinterPark321

Picked up the '13 GL550 today after it was at the dealer for an entire week. Apparently they said the only problematic door was the "right rear door actuator", so that was replaced. I did also complain of Keyless Go "intermittently" not working, so they told me they found a "Software update" available for Keyless go on the car and went ahead and updated it. Drove the car home and all locks seem to stay locked. We'll see how long this lasts....

d0c

Tek,

It seems that our cars are equally cursed. that sux, but it's also nice to know that we are each not alone in this.

d0c

so i dropped off the car @ the dealership today. 3rd attempt on the locks. I met with both SA #2 (from my previous post) and Dan, who is the shop foreman. i confirmed this on their website i didn't want to quote my other post because it was a long one. i updated SA #2 briefly about the locks still not working. he is familiar with what we spoke about last week on the phone. i also told him about a new problem; a hiss coming from the center of the dash intermittently since we last picked it up . he noted it in the computer, phoned dan and asked me to wait in reception area for dan.

Dan and I went outside and went through my issues. We 1st talked about the hissing.

I told him that the hissing started after my last pickup. i mentioned that i thought it was coming from the AC's evaporator valve. i got that from another thread on this site. he agreed that it was probably low on freon. when i told him that they drained and charged the AC during my last service "after they pulled out the engine", he seemed to be hearing this for the 1st time. that sux that he @ least wasn't consulted on the ridiculous amount of work that they did last time. he thumbed through the paperwork and brought himself up to speed.

i demonstrated that the rear doors don't lock and the alarm goes off. he held the fobs. i showed him my videos. he said that he has seen that before and that he would order new rear door lock actuators. i told him about the steps that i went through to test it and make it repeatable. i asked him to please personally test this before i am called and and told that it's ready, not just that the codes are cleared. he said that he would test it and make sure it was functioning properly. i did mention to him that i had previously been told by SA#1 that it can't be the lock actuators because they would either work all of the time, or none of the time.

i showed him my unposted video of the keyless entry still not working. i shot this one over the last weekend showing that i still can't lock/unlock the doors via the handle consistently. i told him that this problem is intermittent and i was not interested in trouble shooting it myself. he thanked me for the video, especially since we couldn't replicate the problem today and said he would take care of that for me as well.

off to the loaner desk. i was told they did not have a GLE, my usual loaner, despite the fact that i walked by one on my way back in with Dan. i was offered E class sedan. i explained my issue with hockey bags not fitting in a sedan, and then it happened....

this was a 'dear diary' type of moment for me.

the loaner girl told me that the GLS450, the only full size loaner they have @ this dealership was available, but that she would have to get permission from the service manager. here's the kicker. the effin service manager was the same "smug, smarmy service advisor" that i had previously dealt with. i previously referred to him as SA#1. i almost crapped myself. can't be true!!! this effin dude is the service manager??!! he was so unhelpful and unwilling to even try to help before.

all i could think about was kombifan's advice...

the 'service manager' graciously granted permission for me to have this most coveted of all of the loaners. thanks. i do appreciate it. but all i can think about it is, how is this guy the service manager?? i am shocked!! #smh

BOSGL550

Hey everyone, first time caller, long time listener...
I just picked up a used 14 GL550 and I have the same issue. The passenger rear door won't lock. Tek, would you mind sharing how much the repair cost (parts vs labor)? I'm getting conflicting answers from other posts and threads. Some say over $1k and others says $500 per door.
I'm wondering if I can repair this myself if I just order the actuator. Or you think this it would be a bad idea for me to tinker with it?

v6pwr

This happened to mine as well, rear pass. door, and it was fixed under warranty. Now (out of warranty), the rear driver side is the same way. I also found out the soft-close doesn't work on the rear pass any more. If I close the door gently, it would make the motorized sound , but it's not grabbing the door closed...like the gear is stripped or something.
I'm going to try to replace it myself, and asking for help...if there's a part number on the service printout, or if anyone has access to parts information, can I please get the numbers to the lock actuator and also whatever part for the soft close. I'd greatly appreciate it.
​​​​

WinterPark321

Here is how much mine was. I paid $200 because the rest was covered under extended warranty. Attached.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1efw...ew?usp=sharing


Here is how to remove the rear door panel:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n44...ew?usp=sharing

BOSGL550

Hey Tek,

Thanks for the reply and the added info. This helps a bunch. I'll investigate this to see if it's an easy fix. I can't believe there's no TSB for something like this.