This message has been popping up much more often lately. I have seen it off and on for a couple months, but seems it is happening much more frequently. I notice it often either when I am in park, or going into park.

• My wife has seen the message before, but the message displayed and WAS NOT accompanied by blinking or beeps
• The 2nd time, she was pulling into a car wash, and when they asked her to put it in neutral, she did and that is when it began displaying, blinking, and beeping..through the entire car wash experience. When it said go into drive, she was able to, but was unable to put the ML350 in park
• I was at a parking lot, and went to put the car into reverse when it happened to me. I don't recall but I don't believe I was able to get it into park at that time either.
• Tonight, I pulled into a gas station. Pulled forward so I could go into reverse and back into the spot. I believe I hit the park button (or may have shifted into neutral, but again got the message, blinking, and beeping. This time, however, I could only go into neutral or reverse. Drive and Park would not work.

The solution to all these, is to place the car in neutral, turn the key off, remove the key, re-insert the key, and start the vehicle. Every time, the vehicle drove and behave fine.

On the last issue, at the gas station...I had just left my local shop who ran a 4-6 hour scope on the ML350 trying to determine if a problem existed. It came back clean. The error showed up for me, literally 5 minutes after I left the shop. The shop was closed by the time it happened though, as they had mentioned if it happened again, they wanted to connect their device to it.

I would prefer to not get bent over at the dealer $$$, but if that is what this has come down to...so be it. That being said, they checked the grounds, they checked the battery, and ran that scope (standard and thorough) and nothing seemed wrong.

Any advice, thoughts, etc..? Attached is a photo of the message, along with all the crazy lights that also come on.

 

I am reading this thread as well, as I didn't realize there was a 2nd battery (backup) under the passenger seat and I guess when it is failing, it can cause these issues to appear. Though I have never seen a white battery message on my console. http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...message-2.html

 

Had similiar issues with my '06. Problem turned out to be shifter lever, but with all the blinkings and beepings and stuff - your problem might turn out to be the SAM unit

 

I had the same message since one week. I can not turn the gear to reverse or P. But if i turn off the vehicle and turn it on again the gear working normally.

Any suggest or solution for this message.

 

Get the codes read and figure out what the problem is.


There are very few issues that get better by ignoring them.


Eventually it will leave you stranded . . . . OR . . . You will end up needing a new transmission due to a secondary problem from ignoring the first.

 

I have a Mercedes ML 350 model 2006.
After parking for two hours, I could start my car but not change the gear. The display message on the board was " Drive to workshop without changing the gear"
I called our expert and technician, he did some arrangement with the computer and could then change the gear and not start this time. With the direct start, I managed to drive to the workshop and the message " Drive to workshop without changing the gear" is no more displayed.
The computer displayed the message that the ISM was damaged.
After successful replacement of the ISM or control unit by a new one, the problem is still the same.
I can change the gear but cannot start the mercedes.
What do you think this problem is?

 

I have now run into this issue as well but there is another symptom.

When I turn the vehicle off I get a gear whine coming from the tranny area. It also does this when I hit the lock button.

Is this any indication of the culprit? I get a red error "Drive to Workshop without changing gears". This error message used to be white and happen about once a month. I could shut the vehicle off and start it back up to clear the issue. Now it will not shift out of park. I have no problem replacing parts but I need to be right the first time. I do not have access to the Star computer so I can't check for codes. I have one of those wireless code scanners that connects to the phone but it's not generating a code either. I'm hoping this whine is an indicator of what it is/isn't.

 

Why would you keep driving when it was telling you there was a problem?

 

What purpose does asking me that right now serve?

 

A warning to others?

 

That's mighty kind of you.

Moving on, does this added symptom help indicate to anyone what component is damaged on my vehicle so that myself and others might be able to repair it?

 

With almost any transmission problem the first step is is the ATF full and is the ATF burnt or contaminated.
If the fluid is low, change it and get the level right.
If burnt but clean, change it 2 or three times and keep your fingers crossed.
If it is contaminated with metal or friction material, you are probably sol.
If contaminated with water or coolant, fix the problem, then flush several times, and cross fingers twice.
For all issues check all connectors.

 

From everything I've read it doesn't sound like a transmission issue but I'm by no means a transmission specialist. It sounds like a shifting issue most likely related to the AIS(?) on the side of the transmission as discussed in this thread. My question is weather this unit would make the noise I described above. Could low ATF cause these symptoms with that component? Does ATF even come into contact with it or is there something in the system that would communicate low fluid level to this component telling it to act the way it is? Is this component capable of producing a whine and, if so, why is it whining when I hit the lock button on the key and when I turn the vehicle off?

 

 

When the problem occurs and eng. running, please take a photo of the instrument cluster.

 

 

2006 ML500 140,000 miles. Mine had similar problem (drive to workshop without changing gear) recently turned out to be the Intelligent Servo Module. Got so bad that car would need to warm up for about 10-15 minutes before it would engage in gear which obviously makes it highly concerning for being stranded.

 

I have had this message quite regularly. Check engine light has stayed on a few times then has recycled off. Like you have mentioned sometimes the vehicle needs to warm a little to shift to drive or reverse, not always. I have never had a problem starting or shifting to park or neutral after driving and vehicle warmed up as of yet. In fact I have had zero issues once vehicle is warm & has been drivien. I’ll have to do some research on the ISM. I was pretty sure it was a sensor or part wearing out as the vehicle drives fine. Thank you for your reply & to all others. Great forum. Good day. Dan

 

Great!

 

Did they tell you what was wrong in your ISM?? How much was the repair? Dealer or Indy?
Mine is doing the same thing for over 2 years. Yes I know!!! I 've just been living with it. Never fails to eventually engage
At 1st startup of the day
When it is hot outside takes 4 to 8 minutes to engage
When it's cold outside takes 19 to 23 minutes to engage
Until it stops beeping and the "Drive to Workshop without changing gear." message is gone.
There is No communication with the ISM until this stops
Sounds like a cold solder joint in ISM
Trying to decide if I will attempt repair. I have MB star

 

Did they tell you what was wrong in your ISM?? How much was the repair? Dealer or Indy?
Mine is doing the same thing for over 2 years. Yes I know!!! I 've just been living with it
At 1st startup of the day
When it is hot outside takes 4 to 8 minutes to engage
When it's cold outside takes 19 to 23 minutes to engage
Until it stops beeping and the "Drive to Workshop without changing gear." message is gone.
There is No communication with the ISM until this stops
Sounds like a cold solder joint in ISM
Trying to decide if I will attempt repair. I have MB star

 

Honestly, it's been so long I don't remember. That ML 350 was haunted, IMHO. There were so many electrical gremlins wrong with it I am so glad I finally got rid of it. When we traded it in for our 450 from an import place local, I think they gave us $3000 for it and I wasn't even going to argue. It had that famous issue where the timing chain I think had been stretched and the test for this was removing a sensor near the front of the engine and there are 2 holes...and you have to crank it to like 330 degrees or something until the symbols align inside the holes perfectly centered and if they are off, your timing chain is messed up (little teeth slowly being grinded off) and you are SOL at that point which requires a rebuilt transmission. I said **** it lol.

 

​​​​​​S

 

Eventually turning the car off isn’t gonna work forever, eventually it’s gonna get to the point where it’s stuck in park but it’ll tell you that it’s not in park and then you won’t be able to switch gears it will start beeping like crazy and tell you to drive straight to the workshop but you can’t shift into drive because it won’t allow you to the car basically locks up and then you find yourself having to get the car towed.

Besides the possibility of a gas leak, it’s currently leaking steering wheel fluid, I’m not sure what’s up with the coolant, but I’m having trouble keeping the battery charged, this is my fifth battery as it is. Since I bought the car it’s been having battery issues as far as losing battery power.

So recently I decided to do some thorough investigating around the battery, I found that the positive terminal was somewhat loose and that the shorter red cord/wire was slightly melted at the tip where the metal piece connects and some of it looked slightly burnt, had brown spots on it like it was sparking or something at some point.

From another thread that I read somebody else had the same issue and he was getting the same warning signs and it was due to a bad cables another guy had a blown amp fuse that was causing the battery to not get a proper charge, because it wasn’t getting enough juice. Ultimately this then led to going in some sort of limp mode, which was causing that message to appear.

Now I don’t know if that’s what’s wrong with your suvs, but I want you to know this error message is probably related to multiple issues, so don’t think that just because you’ve got this message it boils down to one fix.

However, I do believe that the issue is completely electrical, whether it’s the transmission plate that needs to be replaced, or something more to do with the computer system, or if it’s a shortage in power to your battery, or your battery cables are bad, whatever the issue, is it’s electric. My problem was so ridiculous that when I get done driving and pushed the lock button on my key fob, my mirrors would close, or my stereo would turn on or something else that made the car seem haunted.

I get that there’s something that is also draining my battery, but nothing should be draining it that fast. At first when I got it, it was the drivers side buttons in the door were getting stuck. So I popped them out, and voila, all of a sudden it stopped draining the battery. But that’s not the case currently, now it’s completely dead every time I go to start it, and it has something to do with it not getting a full charge when I drive it.

I would also like to say that the SOS Tele aid in the car is something that continues running when the vehicle is off, and is most likely
contributing to the battery drainage, but I am almost positive I need new battery cables and I might have a blown amp fuse.

I have an appointment next Wednesday to get it all checked out. We will see what happens.

 

this message appear when I open my car door before I connect the key and car does start desconecte battery and car starts normally issues apear when car is cold