racingpro100

I don't think it has anything to do with the dealer - mine was actually custom ordered and didn't come from their inventory. I just wanted to know in case we both went to the same service dept. I called Silverstar after the first "stall" happened last month (when I had 1k miles on it) and the service mngr said he never heard of such a thing happening on the 2012 ML (or any other ML). The 2nd "stall" happened 2 weeks ago when I had 2k miles on it, but ever since then it's been fine. I had planned to take it to the dealer if I had a 3rd stall, but I decided to switch keys with my wife (who never drives it) and to switch gas stations. This way I could rule out their "bad gas" theory and any issues with the key. So far so good.

Good luck with everything. Please tell them that you have read about other 2012 ML owners having the same problem. Let us know if they find something (and I have to believe many other people have had the same issue so they must be aware of it!).

ML12NYC

Agreed. It has nothing to with the dealers. Unfortunately I don't think the service center will be able to find the problem. I'm hoping the service center opens a case with MB corporate to investigate since I am obviously not the only person.

I have also experienced inconsistent acceleration. Sometimes I get immediate response and slight smooth boost and other times I get delays and a jolt. Both scenarios using the same amount of depression on the pedal. I wonder if these 2 issues are related.

jweezy

I have gas and it has never done this to me.

The more I think about it the more I have to think its not the engine itself. I believe their are other threads with diesels having issues also, hesitation, bucking and such, so it is most def. something electrical.

300DTurbo

RofLOL! Could you imagine some engineer sitting behind a desk looking out the gloomy window to the shabby city of Stuttgart asking himself if Americans will appreciate the vehicle to turn off if it has been idling for more than what is considered "economical?"

Mental picture.

katiesdad7

My Prius shuts off but you don't notice it since all the stuff is run on electric. The A/C and stuff. But it takes a certain kind of engine to do this. I know you have to have the water pump and oil pump still pump after the engine is shut down.

ML12NYC

Picked up my truck last night. Service center could not find or replicate the problem.

Just so everyone is on the same page. Is there different types of stalling? In my situation the engine cut of but all electronics stayed on. No alarms, beeps, nothing. Just the vibration of the engine cutting off. I then turned the truck off and back on using the Keyless push button. Has anyone experienced anything different?

Thanks

DMan

Does everyone that has had their ML stall have keyless go? If not, maybe we can eliminate that as a potential cause.

jweezy

I thought I had stalled once, however the second time it happened I realized it hit the key with my knee which turned it to off, at a stop light.

racingpro100

My "stalling" happened 2x - the first with the key and the 2nd time when I used the button for the "keyless go". Everything but the electronics stayed on. Both times I actually couldn't tell I "stalled" since the car is so quiet to begin with and you can hardly feel any vibration when you stop. The radio stayed on, etc.

When I called the dealer after the first "stall" he said perhaps I accidentally moved the key and that would cause the engine to stop and that's why I then went keyless. Now I know that wasn't the case. But I've put another 1500+ miles on the car and there have been no problems. I did switch gas stations and I use the other key (but who knows what the original issue was). Once I put on another few thousand miles I'll probably switch back to my usual gas station. If all is well after another few thousand miles, then I'll switch keys. I want to try to figure out the cause (or hopefully it'll never happen again).

KA8

I highly doubt a batch of bad gas will do this.

300DTurbo

Were you moving when the engine died? Did the car shift itself into PARK?

This is worrisome. The "safest" SUV on the road with a flaw like that would negate any of the safety features!

Let me put this out there! -----> What if there is a glich with the AIRBAG system where 1 out of every 3000 doesn't deploy due to need of a software upgrade. (Benz, you are better than this!)

racingpro100

After the last time I had the "stall" (1 month ago or 2k miles ago) I had switched to using my other key and went to a different gas station. The other day my wife came down with that key and the car wouldn't start - the battery was dead. We only got the car with the keys 2 months ago so my assumption is the battery was very low when we picked up the car and that was responsible for the car "stalling". I don't have firm evidence of this but it sounds plausible. I'm hoping that there's no issue with this key that causes the battery to die prematurely, but I'll test the key periodically.

In any case I thought I'd follow up with this post to let everyone know of my suspicions.

GregW / Oregon

I 'm not an expert, but I believe the key only needs to be able to initiate starting. Once the car is running, a low key battery should have no effect.

racingpro100

I have keyless ignition. According to Mercedes, the key periodically sends a signal to the car.

GregW / Oregon

True, but it should not cut off the ignition if it doesn't sense the key in the car, only send a warning. Try it in your driveway - remove the key from the car while it is idling and tell me what happens.

metidogeno

Okay fellow members,

I have keyless go in both my 2012 ML gas as well as for my 2012 Audi A4. I strongly believe the "keyless" feature has nothing to do with the stalling.

In fact, a few times, my wife would jump into the driver's seat when she drops me off to my destination(car pooling situation) and I would forget to give her the key(in my pocket). The LCD display would display something of the sort: "No Key detected" but the ignition would not turn off on its own. My wife would then honk at me like a mad woman to get my attention so I could give her the key/transponder.

I've done this with both vehicles and my clumsiness has caused an embarrassing moment with valet(done this 2x!). With all of my instances, neither car would shut off automatically. Of course, once the vehicle is turned off manually, it would need the key to be inside the vehicle in order to start. I could imagine that this would be a safety issue if the car shut off due to a weak signal from the key/transponder. Just imagine a weak battery on the freeway; the car shuts off automatically! I can't imagine what could happen with the new technology of the electronics, i.e. electronic steering, etc. That would be disastrous!

I once was testing my previous 09 ML with keyless or my Audi by purposely trying to shut of the vehicle while driving in gear, just to see what would happen if I accidentally hit the start/stop button. While in gear and in motion, my Audi or ML WOULD NOT TURN OFF the ignition. However, if I manually put the tranny in Neutral while in motion, the vehicle will turn off. Again, I cannot remember which car I was in but I'm sure this safety feature may be consistent among manufacturers.

Also, some of you may already know this; but if the ML is stationary in gear, and you manually shut of the vehicle, it will automatically put the tranny in park. I've done this accidentally and it's probably not a good idea to do this on a regular basis in a purposeful manner.

I hope this helps.

batuceper

1. Car shifts into "park"
If the car is stationary and you open the door, the car shifts into "park". To shift it back into drive, you have to depress the brake pedal firmly.

2. Keyless Go
Keyless go is a pain in the neck for all the reasons described above and more. On my Lexus, I have gad situations where the start button is very sensitive to the length of time one presses the button. Opening the door by touching the handle takes forever when one is in hurry. This is why I opted out of keyless go on my ML BTC.

Hope this helps.

TundraRoads

I think this is exactly what we've experienced. We've also had several instances of keys (keyless) not working, loss of seat/mirror/reargate memory, and drivers seatbelt suddenly tensioning very tight while driving for no reason and, similar to the stalls, without any warning sounds.

My wife commented the other day that she thinks MB have outsourced design, mfring, and mbrace to Yugo.

TundraRoads

Happened again last night. Pulled off of freeway, down a couple of blocks on the frontage road to a red light. Stalled. All electronics still working, had shifted itself to park or neutral. Took a couple of presses of the start button to get going again. Fourth time it's happened, but first in several weeks. I'm angry at myself that I didn't take time to note the indicator lights (cars lined up behind me, late to a dinner, ...).

The thought of this happening while driving really concerns me.

BTW, I'm fairly certain this is NOT related to keyless. I have dropped my wife off and driven 30 miles without the key (fortunately to home where I had another key).

racingpro100

I actually have not had any random stalling anymore (I had 2 within a month of owning the car with 2k miles on it and now I have the car 3.5 months with 7k miles). But I did have a little erratic idling the other day, but no stall.

BUT I have had a few weird electrical issues in the last week. One time the center screen just froze after I hung up on a call using the car's bluetooth. I couldn't switch back to the nav screen, I couldn't turn on the radio, and I couldn't make any more calls! I turned the car on and off several times AND also shut the unit off - but it would come on again in the frozen state. 30 minutes later (while driving) it fixed itself and has been working fine. Today the multifunctional display (between the speedometer and tachometer behind the steering wheel that has the time, the gear, and other menus) just wouldn't come on when I turned the car on. I turned the car on and off a few times and nothing. I left the car and returned a few hours later and it was fine. Both incidents made me extremely frustrated but now that I know the problem will "fix itself", I won't be as frustrated if it happens again.

I never had any such problems in any Japanese car I owned (and I had a lot). I had heard stories about ML's having electrical issues but I had faith in this 2012 model.

trident9440

Mine has same issue. Got off the freeway, stalled at the red traffic light. Engine stalled. I just got this car for 2 days. I do not have keyless feature in this ML350.

Sent to dealer for fix today.

AcesUp

This is def a deal breaker for me as I have a kid on the way.. Rather drive my little bros 2002 Aztec....may wait for 2013 model....I've also seen similar complaints on consumersaffairs.com . Only way for this issue to get serious attention is to get media involved...

trident9440

I got another engine stall today. Same situation, drove off freeway, stopped at the traffic light. All indicators on the driving panel were suddenly turned on. This is the 2nd time in about a month. I will need to bring this car back to dealer again next week.

ML12NYC

Stalled on me over the weekend. My last stall was several months ago. This time I took a picture of the console lights. See below.

ML12NYC

I just realized that the transmission stayed in D. Thanks trident9440 for posting your experience because we now know that this is not isolated to Keyless drivers.

I will add:
The stall occurred after driving for almost an hour from highway driving to slight aggressive NYC driving (taxi style driving...switching lanes, etc). As soon as I a made a complete stop at a light the truck stalled.