Crispin

So here's the deal.

Key fob in pocket. Walk up to SUV. Barely breathe on the door handle, door(s) unlock. Working like a champ right? Not so fast.

Get out of SUV. Key fob still in pocket. Touch door handle..., nothing. Touch little indentation on door handle..., nothing. Wipe finger, wipe door handle... try again..., nothing.

Eventually, after enough chants, incantations and standing on one foot while facing the moon, the door will lock. No rhyme or reason why it doesn't work every time. (This is on ALL door handles, not just driver's door)

Ugh...

Any suggestions?

Like new, 5000 miles. So yes it is going in to the dealer, but you KNOW it is going to work every time for them...

ItalianJoe1

Aside from it working well at the dealer, MB's stance on these types of issues is "it must be outside interference". We open cases, engineering tells us that. All we can realistically do at the dealership level is check for any actual fault codes, update software, and release. We aren't authorized to just replace things for fun if the system "works", and keyless go and other related systems are very hard to condemn. It's also possible, if the vehicle is as you say, reluctant to lock, that even if you replaced every single part, the inductive sensors, handles, keys, KG module, etc, nothing would change. The bulletins usually say something like "normal characteristics of the vehicle"

It's just as frustrating for the techs as the customers, at the end of the day we want to fix your car, and when the german engineers tell us "this is as good as it gets", that's just often not an acceptable answer, but there's little more we can do.

phoenixone

ItalianJoe1,

What is the deal with the tailgate closing distance? In order to close the tailgate using the keyfob, I have to be RIGHT NEXT to the vehicle in order for it to close. I can open the tailgate from a distance of 40 ft or more. If i'm bringing in groceries with both hands full, I have to come back outside to close it. They told me this is by design so no one would be "accidentally crushed" by the the tailgate.
Can you verify this?

P.s, sorry for hijacking your thread Crispin. :-)

GLE43_Sube

First thing to suspect in any battery powered device is the "battery" itself. If you have a button cell battery tester, test the battery in the SmartKey. If you don't have a battery tester, try replacing the battery. Could have been a weak battery from the start and now it's too weak to work properly.

To eliminate the possibility of electrical interference, try using the SmartKey in an open air setting, like an empty parking lot. If it works there but not in your garage, there's your answer.

GLE43_Sube

I haven't tested it at 40 ft., but I don't have to be right next to the vehicle for mine to work. I've closed it from 20 ft. with no problems, and I don't even know if that was the maximum range.

cadman_ks

HOLY COW!!! I didn't even know until today that it was POSSIBLE to lock the doors by just touching the handle.

After learning of this, I played with a little bit, and it was a little bit touchy, but did work. I think part of the issue may have been that we had both my wife and my key close to the vehicle at the same time.

Will experiment more with it, when only one key is present to see how it works.

This is one thing that I personally don't like about Keyless go. It's an "extra" step to lock the doors now. With conventional keys, I have them in my hand, I lock the doors, and then I put the keys away. With KeyLess Go, I have to pull them out of my pocket to lock, or do this door handle trick that I just learned of!!!

RA112623

first, crispin: have you tried all the other cabin and lift-gate doors to see if the problem is everywhere?

phoenixone, they do indicate a distance for safety sake. i also can't remember if the key has to be in a certain "vector" to close the lift-gate remotely, eg, key can't be in front of vehicle. i will check mine out later. ron

Tbone8771

It took me a little to get used to at first, so used to just grabbing the door handle that I would sometimes lock the door instead of unlocking it and vise versa. After getting used to it, I find it to be very convenient, so much so, that I find myself touching the door handle on my wife's car and she doesn't have that type of locking system. hahaha

Crispin

Yeah, unlocking works great. Locking seems hit or miss on ALL doors. You would think that if the capacitive touch thing is working for unlock, it would be exactly as sensitive for lock? Maybe since it is all doors, it points to programming?

For the liftgate, I always use the hard button and it unlocks even if locked.

Our Nissan Pathfinder Platinum we just traded did the same thing but had an actual button instead of the capacitive deal. I wish the MB had one too. Sometimes when you are too clever, you outsmart yourself...

RA112623

just checked. i have a paddle on my liftgate, not a touch (2 push buttons inside).

key location does not matter (front, side, rear). i can unlock the liftgate from about 15 or so feet away, but i cannot lock it. key must be closer. hope it helps, ron

ItalianJoe1

Never tried to use the remote, i'm usually working in the cars so I just touch the closing button inside the hatch/trunk and let it close. Makes sense for the auto close though, same reason you have to actively press down the buttons for comfort closing on windows, even though there's a reversing limit, you'd have to be very aware of an obstruction as you tried to close it.

Keyless go on the Corvette, for example, is setup to never need your key. Touch the door handle, it opens if the key is close. Push button start. Get out and walk away, car locks itself after a few seconds. That's my idea of keyless go, and they've been like that since 2005.

FedM

I have the almost the same issue on my GLE 63
From the first day everything worked out great, but after a few months I cant open or close the drivers door using the door handle.
Sometimes it works, but I cant get an idea what it depends on. The only one thing Ive noticed is that the drivers door doesn't open when I try to do it on the morning, or after the car was parked for 2-3 hours. If I opened or closed the car with the other door handle first, than the drivers lock works (but not always again)
And all other door handles work great!! Except the drivers door
I changed the batteries in both keys. I tried the second key. Nothing changed

cadman_ks

I did play with this a little bit more last night, and this is what I noticed:

When you're LOCKING, do NOT put your hand inside of the door handle. In fact, all I have to do is wave my hand by the sensor on the outside of the handle and it locks.

When UNLOCKING, simply put your hand inside of the handle, like you're going to open it, and the doors unlock.

It's worked flawlessly, and repeatedly once I did these two actions...

YMMV...

FedM

I did all the same lol
but it still doesn't work, from time to time

cadman_ks

Well, that blows!!

When we picked up our Coupe, we didn't do the salesman "how-to" stuff, because I thought that I knew it all!

Me thinks that we need to go back and take a lesson or two, to see what else we don't know!!!

Crispin

I've read and re-read the manual:

> To unlock the vehicle: touch the inner surface
of the door handle.
> To lock the vehicle: touch sensor surface 1
or 2.
Make sure that you do not touch the inner
surface of the door handle.
> Convenience closing feature: touch
recessed sensor surface 2 for an extended
period.

I don't understand the difference between the last two?

cadman_ks

LOL!

We have had several things that we've read in the manual as well, that seem to contradict themselves...

RA112623

if the windows/sunroof are open, touch/holding the sensor will close the windows. i think there is a windows open feature via holding the fob unlock button for extended time.

ron

GLE43_Sube

And the sunroof too. Continue pressing the "lock" button and the shade will close after the sunroof closes.


Yes, the windows will open, along with the sunroof shade and then the sunroof itself.


Other SmartKey Features -

Press and hold down the "lock" and "unlock" button simultaneously for approx. 6 seconds until the light on the remote flashes twice. This will change the locking system so only the driver's door and fuel filler flap unlock.

Press the "lock" button on the SmartKey twice in rapid succession. The battery check lamp of the SmartKey flashes twice briefly and lights up once. You've now deactivated KEYLESS-GO for that remote. This essentially puts that remote into hibernation, conserving battery power when not in use for long periods of time.

RA112623

what buttons to activate the ejector seat and rocket launcher?

ah, never mind, that's Aston

GLE43_Sube

Yeah, these are features buried deep in the the owner's manual, so most people know nothing about them. In fact, I think I stumbled across them while looking for something else.

cadman_ks

That seems to be the way that I find MOST things in the OM...

GLE43_Sube

I use this primarily. It's a lot easier to search for topics.

https://mbworld.org/forums/gle-class...our-phone.html

Nor Cal SL55

First time I washed my 2016 GLE with the key fob in my pocket, the doors would lock and unlock when the stream of water from the hose I was using to rinse off the car, hit anywhere near the door handle. I haven't tried this again, but I'm sure the same thing would happen.

Sometimes, locking the doors, the key fob doesn't work and I resort to manually pressing the button on the key fob to lock.

I never had any issue with other MB cars (older) and this lock/unlock function.