(Long but please read) hey guys i have a 2011 ml350 bluetec and today i drove it to work and when i was 2 mins away from work the car said that downhill asisst inoperative i shrugged it off. and then i turned the car off but turned it back on after 2 mins and 13 electronics in the car went inoperative! the computer was showing 13 messages and the shifter wasnt showing anything in the dash as to what position it was in! the car wont start. but sometimes when the shifter magically shows park it starts and stays on but most of the time shifter shows nothing. Towed it to the mechanic and he said something in the shifter column where the shifter is connected behind the steering.Needs to be replaced and cost 800$ and he says when the car starts he connects the scan tool and the codes go away. Does this seem legit?

 

Get the name of the "something".

 

Yeah maybe. But the first thing I would do is drive the car over to Advance Auto Parts and have them check your battery for free with the Midtronics tester, which Mercedes correctly says is the only one that will tell you for sure whether an AGM battery (which you have) is good. If it won't drive, then I would find a way to get a Midtronics tester onto it. There is a good chance that this is a battery issue.

Short of that, PERHAPS have the mechanic (or you) throw an automatic charger (not one of those jump-starter high amperage chargers) on the battery connections under the hood (see your manual re jump starting) at no more than 6 amps for a few hours on the AGM setting and see if it will even take a charge and if so whether it takes more than 4-5 hours to give a green light. Any more than 6 amps and the car will start to complain with buzzers, noises, etc.

On the W164, the battery will be fine until it isn't. And when it isn't, it doesn't just exhibit symptoms like failing to start the car. Instead, the "car goes crazy", with flashing lights, buzzers and other aural warnings you've never heard, a zillion warning messages, transmission issues, etc.

I just had this happen on our 2008 W164 a month ago. I eead about battery issues here, said to myself, "It can't be that simple!" Went to Advance Auto Parts and just bought a new H8 Platinum AGM Battery, which was on sale at the time, put it in myself (they will do it for free or a nominal charge, which I didn't know).

Problem solved.

Really. Just like that.

Putting a new battery in this car is a significant PITA. It's under the passenger seat, and there's a great Autohaus video on Youtube about how to change it, which is dead on and has several helpful tips which let me do it in about an hour. (I could do it way faster now having done it once, but I was careful the first time.) I have a detailed post on it in another thread here. https://mbworld.org/forums/m-class-w...50-4matic.html

This might not be your problem, but your symptoms, especially the "car is going crazy" comment, seems to fit.

Let us know how it goes.

 

Agreed, seems like the battery is the issue. Although I haven't experienced it my self...........yet but from what I have read it mostly points to battery failure. (Touch wood)