Digital Dash Reset
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Digital Dash Reset
Hi all, I'm hoping someone here maybe able to share some knowledge on a head scratcher fault I have.
I have a 2019 c43 estate. Completely at random when you get in the car the digital speedo cluster will have reset itself from where it was from supersport to classic and the mph units will change from kmh.
This doesn’t happen every time. But at least a few times a week. It’s hugely annoying having to put it all back. I have charged the battery from 12.05v to 14.06v. I have had it plugged in and no faults are listed. Today I’ve had the started battery changed as this kept saying critically low and that’s not sorted it. Nothing has fixed it. Any ideas you good MB folk.
I have a 2019 c43 estate. Completely at random when you get in the car the digital speedo cluster will have reset itself from where it was from supersport to classic and the mph units will change from kmh.
This doesn’t happen every time. But at least a few times a week. It’s hugely annoying having to put it all back. I have charged the battery from 12.05v to 14.06v. I have had it plugged in and no faults are listed. Today I’ve had the started battery changed as this kept saying critically low and that’s not sorted it. Nothing has fixed it. Any ideas you good MB folk.
Last edited by C43EstateGuy; Dec 20, 2024 at 03:55 PM.
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2019 C63CS
Wow, first other member I come across with the same issue. Thought it was just me. I've been having the same exact issue with my 2019 C63S Coupe. Started about a year ago, coincidentally shortly after the annual scheduled maintenance. Dealership reloaded the COMAND software, but didn't fix it. They were unwilling to reload the instrument cluster, because apparently it takes like 8 hours to do so. I contacted RJAutomotive about reloading it. He said the flash memory might be on the way out. I also contacted BenzNinja and he can reload it. It's free for lifetime members of his service. Haven't signed up yet, because I have a strong feeling that it might be the battery. At 4-5 years, AGM batteries become suspect. My older battery charger has been indicating a battery fault. I purchased a new one that has a repair mode and it charges the battery without errors, but it still didn't fix this. So I think the battery needs to be replaced. It's definitely about time for a new battery. I plan to have it replaced next month. If that doesn't fix it, then I'm gonna sign up with BenzNinja and reload the instrument cluster. I've been living with it so far, because I don't drive very much, so it hasn't been too annoying. Now that I'm not the only one, at least it no longer is a unique issue.
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Ah what a pain. I was hoping when I started reading your response you’d have been able to tell me what fixed the issue. Alas we’re in the same boat together. You’re the only person I know that’s had this fault too. I’ve asked on Reddit before and have zero luck.
I did think battery, but having charged it and not sorting it I’m reluctant to pay to swap it. I’ve emailed benzninja to see if they have come across it so be interesting to see what they come back with.
I did think battery, but having charged it and not sorting it I’m reluctant to pay to swap it. I’ve emailed benzninja to see if they have come across it so be interesting to see what they come back with.
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2019 C63CS
Let me know what they come back with. They hadn't seen this before, last time I had an exchange. As for the battery. Being charged doesn't necessarily mean it delivers the power consistently. While I haven't had issues starting the engine, it's still possible that the battery could have intermittent voltage drops while the car sits and various systems start shutting down. It's also possible that it is the aux battery, although our cars don't actually have an aux battery per se, but a voltage regulator and it's recommended to replace it at the same time as the main battery.
The reason I increasingly get the impression it is the battery is that for me at least the car has to sit for a while before this happens. Then it's fine until the car sits again for a while, unless the battery is still somewhat low after driving the car. Then it happens again even while the car is parked only for a short while. I've had mine on the trickle charger since last weekend. I haven't checked yet if it reset the settings, but in the past I have noticed that it doesn't happen while it's connected to the trickle charger. Several signs are pointing at the battery as being the culprit or as said potentially the voltage regulator.
The reason I increasingly get the impression it is the battery is that for me at least the car has to sit for a while before this happens. Then it's fine until the car sits again for a while, unless the battery is still somewhat low after driving the car. Then it happens again even while the car is parked only for a short while. I've had mine on the trickle charger since last weekend. I haven't checked yet if it reset the settings, but in the past I have noticed that it doesn't happen while it's connected to the trickle charger. Several signs are pointing at the battery as being the culprit or as said potentially the voltage regulator.
Last edited by superswiss; Dec 20, 2024 at 06:51 PM.
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2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
Let me know what they come back with. They hadn't seen this before, last time I had an exchange. As for the battery. Being charged doesn't necessarily mean it delivers the power consistently. While I haven't had issues starting the engine, it's still possible that the battery could have intermittent voltage drops while the car sits and various systems start shutting down. It's also possible that it is the aux battery, although our cars don't actually have an aux battery per se, but a voltage regulator and it's recommended to replace it at the same time as the main battery.
I have heard that if you let a battery go dead and try to recharge it with the alternator, you can burn up or damage the alternator. But I have not seen that you should replace the regulator as a routine when replacing the main battery.
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Let me know what they come back with. They hadn't seen this before, last time I had an exchange. As for the battery. Being charged doesn't necessarily mean it delivers the power consistently. While I haven't had issues starting the engine, it's still possible that the battery could have intermittent voltage drops while the car sits and various systems start shutting down. It's also possible that it is the aux battery, although our cars don't actually have an aux battery per se, but a voltage regulator and it's recommended to replace it at the same time as the main battery.
The reason I increasingly get the impression it is the battery is that for me at least the car has to sit for a while before this happens. Then it's fine until the car sits again for a while, unless the battery is still somewhat low after driving the car. Then it happens again even while the car is parked only for a short while. I've had mine on the trickle charger since last weekend. I haven't checked yet if it reset the settings, but in the past I have noticed that it doesn't happen while it's connected to the trickle charger. Several signs are pointing at the battery as being the culprit or as said potentially the voltage regulator.
The reason I increasingly get the impression it is the battery is that for me at least the car has to sit for a while before this happens. Then it's fine until the car sits again for a while, unless the battery is still somewhat low after driving the car. Then it happens again even while the car is parked only for a short while. I've had mine on the trickle charger since last weekend. I haven't checked yet if it reset the settings, but in the past I have noticed that it doesn't happen while it's connected to the trickle charger. Several signs are pointing at the battery as being the culprit or as said potentially the voltage regulator.
“Yes, some of them we fixed them by flashing, others need to get replacement processor we could grab from ebay, then unlock lock to the car and code for you”
I also asked on the MB & the AMG pages on Reddit and one chap came back and said I need a software update on the cluster and it’s a known issue. I’m gonna call the Indy merc garage that just plugged the car in and changed the starter battery yesterday on Monday and see if they can do this.
Last edited by C43EstateGuy; Dec 21, 2024 at 08:27 AM. Reason: Typo
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Solution with exchanged processor was available many years before. Now your cluster can be unlocked very easy even remote.
My opinion is that is a matter of Firmware, (the Software) and for doing a software update there is no need to unlock or change anything. Any dealer can do this update, but this will be a very time consuming process.
Anyhow, this happened again after you change the main battery?
My opinion is that is a matter of Firmware, (the Software) and for doing a software update there is no need to unlock or change anything. Any dealer can do this update, but this will be a very time consuming process.
Anyhow, this happened again after you change the main battery?
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Yeah I think the cluster softerware update is the next step. When you say time consuming. Do you mean plugging into a computer and leaving for a few hours?
I haven’t actually changed the main battery. I did give it a good charge though and got the voltage up.
I had the starter battery done yesterday as I kept getting notifications to say it was critical.
I haven’t actually changed the main battery. I did give it a good charge though and got the voltage up.
I had the starter battery done yesterday as I kept getting notifications to say it was critical.
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Indeed, the flashing will need several hours and this could be an argument for dealer to refuse but not necessarily. Here in EU usually they so it for free under goodwill warranty.
The charging level of a modern MB battery is not important. The internal resistance of the battery is essential as the car will always choose not to charge an old battery with more fuel consumption valued compared with a new battery..You as well will prefer a new battery if the needed fuel for charging is more expensive....
The charging level of a modern MB battery is not important. The internal resistance of the battery is essential as the car will always choose not to charge an old battery with more fuel consumption valued compared with a new battery..You as well will prefer a new battery if the needed fuel for charging is more expensive....
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Indeed, the flashing will need several hours and this could be an argument for dealer to refuse but not necessarily. Here in EU usually they so it for free under goodwill warranty.
The charging level of a modern MB battery is not important. The internal resistance of the battery is essential as the car will always choose not to charge an old battery with more fuel consumption valued compared with a new battery..You as well will prefer a new battery if the needed fuel for charging is more expensive....
The charging level of a modern MB battery is not important. The internal resistance of the battery is essential as the car will always choose not to charge an old battery with more fuel consumption valued compared with a new battery..You as well will prefer a new battery if the needed fuel for charging is more expensive....
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2019 C63CS
Where is it recommended to replace the voltage regulator when changing the main battery?
I have heard that if you let a battery go dead and try to recharge it with the alternator, you can burn up or damage the alternator. But I have not seen that you should replace the regulator as a routine when replacing the main battery.
I have heard that if you let a battery go dead and try to recharge it with the alternator, you can burn up or damage the alternator. But I have not seen that you should replace the regulator as a routine when replacing the main battery.
They replied and said this:
“Yes, some of them we fixed them by flashing, others need to get replacement processor we could grab from ebay, then unlock lock to the car and code for you”
I also asked on the MB & the AMG pages on Reddit and one chap came back and said I need a software update on the cluster and it’s a known issue. I’m gonna call the Indy merc garage that just plugged the car in and changed the starter battery yesterday on Monday and see if they can do this.
“Yes, some of them we fixed them by flashing, others need to get replacement processor we could grab from ebay, then unlock lock to the car and code for you”
I also asked on the MB & the AMG pages on Reddit and one chap came back and said I need a software update on the cluster and it’s a known issue. I’m gonna call the Indy merc garage that just plugged the car in and changed the starter battery yesterday on Monday and see if they can do this.
Thanks for the update on BenzNinja's response and further information on updating the cluster. Sounds like it is gonna take an update. Please post back if you have any luck with your Indy updating the cluster and if it fixes it. I partly haven't pulled the trigger on getting this fixed, because I'm not kin on having to buy an old Lenovo laptop on eBay etc. to get started with BenzNinja. Between the membership and having to buy a laptop I'm not gonna use for anything else it's like $1000 just to get started w/o any guarantee that it will actually be fixed. But now that I've decided I'm gonna keep the car after driving the GT63 and new C63SE in September, I wanna get it fixed. Gotta have a project in the new year
.
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Regarding the voltage regulator, that's something I heard from a mechanic.
Thanks for the update on BenzNinja's response and further information on updating the cluster. Sounds like it is gonna take an update. Please post back if you have any luck with your Indy updating the cluster and if it fixes it. I partly haven't pulled the trigger on getting this fixed, because I'm not kin on having to buy an old Lenovo laptop on eBay etc. to get started with BenzNinja. Between the membership and having to buy a laptop I'm not gonna use for anything else it's like $1000 just to get started w/o any guarantee that it will actually be fixed. But now that I've decided I'm gonna keep the car after driving the GT63 and new C63SE in September, I wanna get it fixed. Gotta have a project in the new year.
Thanks for the update on BenzNinja's response and further information on updating the cluster. Sounds like it is gonna take an update. Please post back if you have any luck with your Indy updating the cluster and if it fixes it. I partly haven't pulled the trigger on getting this fixed, because I'm not kin on having to buy an old Lenovo laptop on eBay etc. to get started with BenzNinja. Between the membership and having to buy a laptop I'm not gonna use for anything else it's like $1000 just to get started w/o any guarantee that it will actually be fixed. But now that I've decided I'm gonna keep the car after driving the GT63 and new C63SE in September, I wanna get it fixed. Gotta have a project in the new year
.I’d 100% be tempted by the gt63. But the new c63 does not interest me in the slightest.
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2019 C63CS
Yeah, I did like the GT63 very much. Got to drive it at the Mercedes-Benz testing center in Immendingen, Germany. However, coming from the C63S Coupe it's largely a lateral move for essentially double the money of what my car cost new. It's got more power, but is also heavier and has AWD that I don't care for, otherwise same fundamental architecture, engine and transmission. It lost the RWD hooligan character that the C63 has in everyday driving. Drift mode is fun, but only useful on a track and the one I was drifting threw a rear steering error halfway through and disabled drift mode. Even more tech in these newer cars that can break. Also just not a fan of the giant screen interiors and the gimmicky instrument cluster. I kept running into the rev limiter in manual mode, because the important information is barely noticeable among all the useless gimmicks. Love the Supersport design of the digital cluster in our cars. It focuses on the important information.
Last edited by superswiss; Dec 21, 2024 at 02:25 PM.
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One more data point pointing at the battery. As I mentioned, I had my car on the trickle charger all week. Just had to get something from it and the cluster had not lost the settings. Usually after sitting this long w/o driving, it's pretty much guaranteed for it to happen. So I might just first replace the battery and see what happens, and if that doesn't fix it I'll get the cluster updated.
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One more data point pointing at the battery. As I mentioned, I had my car on the trickle charger all week. Just had to get something from it and the cluster had not lost the settings. Usually after sitting this long w/o driving, it's pretty much guaranteed for it to happen. So I might just first replace the battery and see what happens, and if that doesn't fix it I'll get the cluster updated.
Last edited by superswiss; Jan 9, 2025 at 10:30 PM.
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Quick follow up on this and further evidence that this is most likely caused by my failing battery. I had the car continuously connected to the trickle charger since this post until today. I was away in Japan for two weeks and got back on Sunday, but didn't drive the car till just now. Lo and behold, the cluster had not reset in the entire time it was on the trickle charger, so nearly 4 weeks. I usually put it in standby mode when I go away, but this time decided to just leave it on the trickle charger. So definitely looks like an issue with the battery. Got the annual service coming up in a couple of weeks and have an appointment at my Indy the week after, so I'll have them put in a new battery.
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Quick follow up on this and further evidence that this is most likely caused by my failing battery. I had the car continuously connected to the trickle charger since this post until today. I was away in Japan for two weeks and got back on Sunday, but didn't drive the car till just now. Lo and behold, the cluster had not reset in the entire time it was on the trickle charger, so nearly 4 weeks. I usually put it in standby mode when I go away, but this time decided to just leave it on the trickle charger. So definitely looks like an issue with the battery. Got the annual service coming up in a couple of weeks and have an appointment at my Indy the week after, so I'll have them put in a new battery.
-- You've confirmed trickle charger does prevent issues with your cluster.
That means IC is indeed sensitive to low voltage.
New batteries are always best but the chassis is what's draining both batteries, new or old.
-- The battery tender is the easiest shortcut to ignore unstable chassis. Locking doors also helps improve sleep voltage a bit.
-- The issue is CAN-B status polling is forced to use more energy on slower solderless modules.
-- The fix is to simply solder few electronic pins easily identified.
-- Doing the same on ECU/TCU CAN-bus make seemless SHIFTS and LAG free engine performance... beyond battery only.
Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; Jan 10, 2025 at 03:34 PM.
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2019 C63CS
KON-BAN-WAH!
-- You've confirmed trickle charger does prevent issues with your cluster.
That means IC is indeed sensitive to low voltage.
New batteries are always best but the chassis is what's draining both batteries, new or old.
-- The battery tender is the easiest shortcut to ignore unstable chassis. Locking doors also helps improve sleep voltage a bit.
-- The issue is CAN-B status polling is forced to use more energy on slower solderless modules.
-- The fix is to simply solder few electronic pins easily identified.
-- Doing the same on ECU/TCU CAN-bus make seemless SHIFTS and LAG free engine performance... beyond battery only.
-- You've confirmed trickle charger does prevent issues with your cluster.
That means IC is indeed sensitive to low voltage.
New batteries are always best but the chassis is what's draining both batteries, new or old.
-- The battery tender is the easiest shortcut to ignore unstable chassis. Locking doors also helps improve sleep voltage a bit.
-- The issue is CAN-B status polling is forced to use more energy on slower solderless modules.
-- The fix is to simply solder few electronic pins easily identified.
-- Doing the same on ECU/TCU CAN-bus make seemless SHIFTS and LAG free engine performance... beyond battery only.
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What's draining my battery is the fact that I don't drive it very much and these cars constantly draw energy while parked to maintain the cellular connection and telematics. Combined with the battery being 6 years old, none of this is really surprising. I should probably keep it on the trickle charger more often.
Last edited by CaliBenzDriver; Jan 10, 2025 at 07:28 PM.
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2019 C63CS
Resurrecting this thread. I thought I had this finally resolved after reflashing the cluster, but unfortunately it didn't resolve it. It looked promising initially, but just got into the car today and it was reset again. Same as before. We did find after reflashing that a coding value was different on my cluster before flashing and after flashing. @C43EstateGuy , I never saw an update from you. Did you get yours resolved? Anymore details you can share? I've got a new main battery, new auxiliary battery and as said reflashed the cluster. Interestingly there was no update for the software, at least not an official update. None of it appears to have resolved it and I'm kinda out of ideas short of replacing the cluster.
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Resurrecting this thread. I thought I had this finally resolved after reflashing the cluster, but unfortunately it didn't resolve it. It looked promising initially, but just got into the car today and it was reset again. Same as before. We did find after reflashing that a coding value was different on my cluster before flashing and after flashing. @C43EstateGuy , I never saw an update from you. Did you get yours resolved? Anymore details you can share? I've got a new main battery, new auxiliary battery and as said reflashed the cluster. Interestingly there was no update for the software, at least not an official update. None of it appears to have resolved it and I'm kinda out of ideas short of replacing the cluster.
I’ve sort of given up on it for a while to be honest after throwing a fair few hundred on trying to sort it out.
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2019 C63CS
Hi, no luck here either. I did the main battery, aux battery, and had the cluster software updated like you. All to no avail. I spoke with a Mercedes tech on Reddit. He hadn’t see it before.
I’ve sort of given up on it for a while to be honest after throwing a fair few hundred on trying to sort it out.
I’ve sort of given up on it for a while to be honest after throwing a fair few hundred on trying to sort it out.
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Appreciate the response. I had talked to RJAutomotive early on and his suspicion was that the flash memory is failing in the cluster. I'm starting to think he was probably right. Would explain the somewhat intermittent occurrence of it. Sometimes it succeeds persisting the settings and sometimes it fails. Not sure what I'm gonna do about it, but I suspect replacing the cluster is the only option left, or just live with it until it fails completely and then replace it.
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I looked into that as well considering that I'm planning to keep the car for a while longer, but I've been told that extended warranties don't cover software issues. The cluster hardware would have to clearly fail before the warranty would cover the replacement.
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Also, I'm not entirely sure it's actually the cluster. The profile/personalization/settings is in the head unit, complete with the ability to sync the profile to Mercedes me. Both the layout and the units are part of the profile. It is strange that it's not losing any of the other settings, but it's not clear if the cluster is resetting them or the head unit. I did have the head unit reflashed before the cluster, but I may do it again and see if there's an update. For now I reset all the profiles and configured it fresh, just in case there was a corrupt setting in there from before.
