Streamliner

Thats a great name. I can’t forget the name of the salesman who sold me my first new MB, a Signal Red, 1979 450SL with “Bamboo” interior. The price was $32,200.00 and his name was Henry Heil at W.I. Simonson in Santa Monica. What a name for a seller of German cars!

MBS63AMG

My first MB was a 1996 S420. Fantastic car. Mr. Vincent Musso was his name. Had a long time buying relationship with him and the dealership. Crown Automobile in Birmingham, AL.

Baltistyle

The inherent danger in a door that does not open must be fixed. Since the 1990s most German vehicles had the double pull feature of the handle from the interior that would open the door even when there was no power to anything. This was in case of accident that rendered all electronics useless such as in a submerged vehicle. How on earth does this car not have a physical connection between the interior handle and the latching mechanism. Id report that issue to NHTSA imo. I would never want to be in that situation and would think its such a major design flaw that I would no longer feel safe and would sell the car. I dont have this model, but an s212 and am happy to still have the old tech. Good luck all

rw594

Nothing was ever done to the door handles though - these were 100% factory fitted. And when I took my car to the dealer's this morning, the service manager reported seeing this exact issue with quite a few other client cars (all W223s), which hadn't been tempered with. So definitely a design / quality flaw on MB here.

Streamliner

I had actually started the process of reporting the door handles to NHTSA, but before I could get it going, so many other issues started popping up, the door handles were relegated to the back burner and I forgot about it. Never thought about being submerged, not a pleasant thought. Does anyone know if the doors can be opened from the inside with zero electricity?

rw594

Umm, ok, sir. So by extension, functions like soft close and assisted steering must also be 'gay'. Or, as you put it, 'not even gay' ?

I guess that makes the S class a very gay car indeed. And RR Phantom the king of homosexuality. I mean, how un-masculine do you have to be, to use push buttons for door closing？

rw594

And yes, I used to blame the retrofitting surgery for every problem I encountered with this car... But extensive conversation with my dealer revealed that, no, most of the issues I encountered are also *commonly* found in 100% factory untempered cars.

Of course there are lucky owners out there who have never had issues with their W223.But unfortunately I am not one of them...

Streamliner

I understand that in an attempt to win back their customers, Bud Lite cans will be fitted with tabs that automatically pop-out as the owner approaches it. However, the attempt seems to have backfired, as many of the tabs don’t seem to work as promised. Stay tuned for more on this developing story…….

crabman

As a fellow owner; I'd have to call that... disturbing.

MBS63AMG

I guess it is safe to assume that no one on the W222 forum will be asking how to DYI retrofit pop out handles for their cars! LOL

Baltistyle

I remember thinking it was a very neat feature in my 98 1.8t Audi and I couldn't understand why all cars didn't have this. Technology is supposed to move forwards, perhaps these new engineers better start studying the process of evolution. Imagine if we as humans stood upright and then some decided to walk backwards, and the really stubborn ones would insist its better even though every part of the body was designed to walk forwards. Pretty sure the engineers at mercedes are still trying to figure out how to track prey since their eyes are facing forward and they are walking the wrong direction.

Were the door handles in craplas subject to not opening before mercedes licensed this tech from them?

Streamliner

Did you mean Teslas? I don’t think the door handles were licensed from anyone. If they had been, I believe they would have worked much better. My bet is that MB decided that their Uber Engineers could design a better mousetrap and that’s when the trouble began. Like so many things, this door handle/latching mechanism SYSTEM is just simply an engineering failure. I’ll beat my own dead horse here, but they had “perfect” so they decided to “fix” it.

Baltistyle

The licensing was a guess. That’s why I asked. I’d think they’d run up against patent issues but Musk apparently does really believe in patents, too much, he has said.

Mem30306

Wanted to close the loop on this issue. Here is the report from the dealer:

Duplicated customer's concern: left front soft close is inoperative. Connect battery charger and perform a quick test. The left front door control
unit has a new software update available. * Perform software update successfully * Technician also found a software update available for the
Electronic Ignition Central Gateway. * Software update completed successfully* . The left front door soft close still INOP. As per guided test inspect
wires and connectors from the left front door lock actuator to left front door control module. Disconnect & negative battery cable end. R&R left front
door panel ( AR72.10-P-6575S ). R&R left front door control module ( AR72.10-P-0900S ). Inspection results- > No loose connections found. As per
guided test replace door lock actuator. Fault code current & stored- > B25BF01 The door lock has a malfunction. There is a general electrical fault. -
> R&R left front door lock actuator. - > Replaced actuator ( part # A 099 720 99 01 ). Put everything back in reverse order. Connect SDS and clear
all stored fault codes. The left front door soft close is working intermittently. The left front door power closing actuator has an intermittent
malfunction, component: M14/21. -> R&R door panel. R&R door control module. - > Replaced power closing actuator. Part # A 223 760 13 00. Put
everything back in reverse order. * Perform SCN coding after repairs. * Normalize the left front window successfully * Clear all stored fault codes.
The left front door soft close is working as factory designed. Verified repairs.

Streamliner

Glad you got that resolved, but this brings up a thought: In the years to come, when these cars are out of warranty, obviously someone can live without the soft close feature, but what about the door latch & locks? If one of these “actuators,” or “control modules” goes bad, or the software hiccups, just imagine the repair bill to get the thing fixed. They just HAD to give us these ridiculous, overly complicated door mechanisms, when the previous ones—which are STILL standard equipment on the W223’s in Germany—were SO much simpler, less costly & almost never in need of repairs. Talk about fixing something that wasn’t broken!

Joseph_Elery

So, I was supposed to take my car in today to get the soft close fixed on my driver side door but 2 nights ago, its start working again after a week of malfunctioning. First the soft close on the driver side went out, then I get message couple days later in Mercedes Me app that the door is open and the ignition is on. Neither the door was open or the ignition was on. After, driving from Switzerland to Germany, the door error message went away and then a week later, the soft close is working again. I cancelled the appointment as they will more likely say, they can't fix if there's nothing broke. I checked if there was an update, but didn't have any. I question the reliability of this car as long-term ownership

wildta

My local dealer replaced a climate control actuator that fixed itself before I brought it in. You may want to try anyway and have them note the same steps that fixed the OPs issue.

Frenetic

I would still take it in if it isn’t a major inconvenience, just so it’s documented. The reason being is that eventually it may fail and you will then have some documentation that you attempted to fix it even though they initially couldn’t. This helps builds a larger case should you continue to have issues. I’m a stickler for documenting everything.

Mem30306

When they were diagnosing my issue, they replaced one part, performed a needed software update, then found that the soft-close would work intermittently. They then replaced the Power Closing Actuator which fixed the issue. So you may be having the intermittent issue noted in the case from dealer: "The left front door soft close is working intermittently. The left front door power closing actuator has an intermittent
malfunction, component: M14/21. -> R&R door panel. R&R door control module. - > Replaced power closing actuator. Part # A 223 760 13 00."

wildta

100%. The more we report, the more we help others with the same issues, and hopefully it helps MB engineers create better solutions/products. Also, for anything that is remotely safety-related, I also report it to the NHTSA (for those in the US). Takes less than a few minutes to complete their online form.

W205C43PFL

Glad it is working now, what does the SCN coding do?

Mem30306

I didn’t know either, so I looked it up:

https://www.obd2tool.com/blog/whats-...ry-scn-coding/

W205C43PFL

Thank you so basically to enable the new modules to properly talk with the car and the ECU (or ME module, Motor Electronics)

Sleeper Benz

Add us to the list W223 S-Class driver door soft-close not functioning.

Stopped at a farmer's stand, shut engine off, left key fob in console drink holder. Came back to vehicle, pulled on driver door handle and it would not open the door; Oh-snap moment. Note: there was alot more resistance to pulling the handle at this point. Pulled hard on the handle a few more times and the driver door finally opened. Observed that the door soft-close did not work after that so I'm assuming it's related. Maybe the door latch becomes stuck in some manner and when the handle is pulled on, something (plastic) in the soft-close actuator breaks. Obviously a warranty issue, but I'm considering ordering a couple of these soft-close door actuators to keep around if they're going to be failing with under 12K miles. I'll try to ask for the bad part to see what failed but I doubt they let me have it.

MB # 223 760 13 00 shows as the "left" side power actuator, "Motor, Electrical Closing Assist" but I'm not sure if there is a right side or front/ back difference? Thanks

Streamliner

Well, it’s about time for another rant!

The handles on my 2022 S580 continue to frustrate. It’s almost as if they KNOW that the car has been approved for a buy-back and they are taking it out on me. Do they work as they should most of the time? Yes, but to me, not working 100% of the time is an absolute failure. Something as basic as a door handle, latching & locking mechanisms should work flawlessly, 100% of the time. I mean, it’s absolutely fundamental.

The world did not need electronic door handles. They do absolutely nothing to improve the vehicles they are installed in and the fuel savings worldwide, based on the aerodynamics of the flush fitting design, will probably be outstripped by tow truck responses for inoperable handles and repairs as the vehicles age. These handles are a total and complete failure—compared to the previous design—and I hope the auto industry wakes up to the fact before anymore new systems are introduced. Units as used in the W222 were absolutely PERFECT and MB needs to go back to them.