Ok so, I apologize if this is in another thread, I promise I looked and searched but didn’t find the answer I was looking for with my situation. Be gentle, I’m no where close to an expert with vehicles but I know my way around them for the most part. But let’s be real, this Mercedes and my sons BMW are no where close to the vehicles my dad worked on while I held the flashlight as a teen girl.

Anyway, I paid cash and bought a used 2009 ML350 4Matic back in April. This is some of the info requested in other threads by members trying to help the OP’s there. Not sure if it’s relevant here or not but here it is anyway. It’s a W164, M272 E35 engine and has 722.9 7-speed transmission.

a few weeks ago I got the dreaded “drive to the workshop” message on my instrument panel. Thankfully, I was at home attempting to leave at the time. It was telling me that the vehicle was NOT in park when I started it or opened the drivers door. And that’s where my situation different than most or for that matter any that I’ve come across. It’s all been vehicles stuck in park or won’t start.
After a long process of elimination and finally getting the scanner for Mercedes only in, it was determined that the ISM or Intelligent Servo Module was faulty. After researching I see that I can order the ISM “virginized” but it will need to be “married” back to my car for it to work. Where can I have this done? Does anyone know if I can order an ISM from somewhere already programmed with my info? I really don’t want to go to the local dealership because I know they will want my soul or the equivalent in money….and we aren’t really “friends” at the dealership due to previous run ins with a different vehicle. I’ve called a few local Indy shops who have told me that they can do it and to take it to the dealership even though they claim to specialize in European vehicles. 😒🙄 I’m in Alabama in the US so any help with someone close or local would be great. Detailed “recap” below:

- started car
- got the “drive to workshop” message as well as “vehicle is not in park” and something of the like when I opened the drivers door
- says “not in park”. It the wheels were locked.🤷🏻‍♀️
- googled and searched every possible or probable issue and checked all of that and ruled them out. From battery voltage to fuses, etc.
- got a Mercedes specific scanner (not great but not the autozone one)
- scanner said it was the ISM
- Lifted the car and removed the old ISM
-Manually shifted the car into park.
-Got crafty and my husband cracked that bad boy (ISM) open and sure enough, broke teeth on the white plastic wheel/gear thing is in there.

thats everything up to now.
so. Programming this ISM. Anyone in Alabama that can do it??? Somewhere online??? Help me! I’m at my wits end. Thank you all graciously.

 

Only a dealership can program the ISM, as it's a theft relevant part (aka VIN locked to the vehicle) I also think the dealership will not sell you the part over the counter for the same reason. The programming process involves connecting to the server in Germany and coding the new, blank ISM to your specific vehicle. Check on parts availability as some ISM's were backordered earlier in the year due to chip shortages with no ETA.

 

Is there any chance of swapping the board (or broken tooth) between another ISM - never been inside one but changed a few trannys - first time learnt the ISM was coded - would have thought this a cheap item from wreckers

 

Did you read post #2? Each and every ISM is vin locked, meaning you cannot convert your vin# into a used one.

 

I wish the little gear thing could be replaced but it looked to my husband like the parts around the gear thing were welded on. I did speak to our local Mercedes dealership and they can do it for $1500 but can’t get to me til Dec 14 so I reached out to an Indy shop about 90 miles away and he can do it for $1100 and can get it back to me after the short holiday week next week so it looks like that’s the route we are going with.

 

Make sure you get a written guaranty.

 

Yes! That was one of the first thing I asked him after the price. He said all of their services come with a warranty. He came highly recommended by 3 other Indy shops that I called in Birmingham. Right after I got off the phone with him my husband called and said that one of the supervisors he knows at the Mercedes manufacturing plant in Vance, Alabama said for me to take it to the “Mercedes Doctor” in Trussville. It was comical bc that’s who the other shops I had called recommended. So apparently he’s highly favored which is good since I’ll be traveling over a hour and a half pulling my ML on a trailer to get it there lol.
I’m so grateful for everyone’s help on this site. My son has a BMW X5 and I had to join forums on other sites for some issues we had with his SUV, too. 🤣

 

The ISM going bad might be the most pain in the neck a Mercedes owner can face. My ISM went bad while reverse parking into a mall parking. I got the red message "drive to workshop without changing gears" but the transmission was stuck in N. I turned off the car to wait for a tow truck (took 2 hrs) and the damn thing switched to P when I opened the door. So we had to flat-bed the car with AWD locked in P.
The failure was mechanical as SDS was not able to force-shift into N.
I saw once a wheel adapter that dealers use for these cases where one wheel is removed and the adapter is installed over the hub. This allows the 4 wheels to rotate freely even if its in P. I am really thinking of getting me one.

 

ive heard of those as well. I wonder if they are Mercedes specific or if they will work
with other cars as well. My son has a BMW X5 that’s all wheel drive also. I’ve learned that if it’s something that could save me money on either SUV, buy it. I can always resell them if I don’t have the cars anymore or if I sell them, throw the “tools” in with the sale lol. My sons bmw has a 4 zone climate control heat/ac system so the ac compressor has its own belt. It has to be removed if the drive belt ever has to be replaced. Dealership charges up to $200 to put the belt on and of course they have to provide the belt. There’s a bmw specific tool to guide the ac belt on after the drive belt is put on and it’s like $160 on Amazon so we just bought one. If I understood computers and software better, I swear I’d buy the diagnostic setup for programming lol.

 

I pretty sure you can swap the boards. All the info is on it. everything else in the ISM is mechanical.

 

how did things work out?

 

I also want to know. Sounds like what I’m dealing with.