Purchased a used ‘07 S65 AMG in Spring 2019. Excellent condition inside and out. Engine had even been pulled at 100K miles to replace the turbo seals which start to fail at that point. Car ran great for the all of 200 miles that I personally drove it.

Last weekend, my daughter took it to a restaurant to meet friends. On coming back to the car, the key fob did not automatically open the driver’s door as designed. Manual spare metal key totally ineffective in door or trunk locks. Replaced battery in fob with no change and no effect when pushing fob buttons. Called locksmith who wouldn’t even come out because indicated “no way” could car be entered in this lockdown state. Had to have car towed home. No flat bed because car cannot be put in neutral without access to interior. Had to have all 4 tires off ground on dollies ( expensive). Called MB dealership Monday morning and talked to Service Manager. Wanted me to have car re-towed to dealership but could not guarantee that even they could access car in this state. Described a condition called “total lockdown “ in which car reacts as if being stolen and locks all doors and trunk and negates access via metal emergency key.
Car will now remain in garage until car’s 2 internal batteries discharge (4-6 months) and finally releases door locks for manual opening.
Even though I suspect a fault in the chassis control module, will not know for sure for quite some time. What I do know now is that MB designed this car to put a premium on vehicle security rather than on occupant safety. Imagine this scenario in a bitter snowstorm, unable to even enter car for shelter.
Will never drive or allow my family to drive car after it is opened. Truly having a debate with myself as to whether I can conscientiously sell a car designed like this for fear that future owner could be harmed. Will most likely part it out (except for door locks and CCM) and junk the rest.

Sad but true.

 

huh?

What if you live in south where no snow; is a safety issue then?
this is not safety issue.

it is a huge annoyance though.

 

Sooo batteries in the key die and nOOb owner freaks out. Dumps the car for pennies on the dollar!

Deep breaths OP. All is not yet lost.

 

John

Not sure if you read the entire post. Both key fob batteries were replaced with new after the occurrence. Car simply does not recognize the key fob transmissions and remains in lockdown mode.

 

I have not seen or heard of a 'lockdown mode' where the blade key will not manually open the trunk or open the driver's door before reading your post.

The blade key mechanically unlocks things. No magic involved as we get to deal with via 'Keyless Go.'

Any dealer techs on the board able to shed some light on this?

 

Try turning the metal key (blade) both left and right. If it is the correct key, it should turn in both directions. One of these directions will open either trunk or door. No such thing as lockdown mode which completely disables mechanical key from opening the car. Metal blade always works.

 

Epilogue:

Car never taken to MB dealership, because, while conversing, service manager indicated that the only thing that they would try is the small inflatable bag used by locksmiths to pry open door seam and then trip the latch. Since a locksmith had tried this and failed, I saw no reason to tow it to MB. To all who care to know, MB does not have magic method to unlock doors in this situation.

Car sat in garage, with attempts every week or so to use key fob and mechanical key with no luck. At approximately 3 1/2 months, mechanical key opened trunk. Trunk battery accessed and positive cable removed. Driver’s door then able to be opened with mechanical key. Hood opened and both batteries charged up. With both batteries at full charge and reconnected, car recognized key fob and fired up immediately.

In retrospect, do not know exactly what happened. Could S Class AMGs have an electro-mechanical cylinder lock which will not allow mechanical key function?

 

Something is amiss. The mechanical key will always work unless lock is internally damaged or disconnected. Worst case scenario bust out the taillight and reach inside and unbolt trunk latch to get into trunk. I've done that a few times over the years on cars that have no trunk lock cylinder feature, are totally dead with no keys, etc...

The service manager had no idea what he was talking about

 

I have never heard of a "Lockdown Mode" and think the individual that told you this was not being candid. I have never seen any internal Daimler bulletins regarding it, or anything in WIS.

Can the OP describe the difference in behavior when attempting to open the driver door with the blade key when he was unsuccessful, vs the time he was successful? Since the mechanical locks get very little usage, it is common for the lubricant to dry up and make them appear inoperable.

Another common mistake is that unfamiliar owners expect the W221 to open like the W211, however as you likely know (at least now if you didn't) that is not the case.

An embarrassing admission on my part - I was allowing my S600 to warm up before I was prepping to leave on a 300 mile journey, and started the vehicle and thought I removed the blade from the key. I opened the driver door and manually locked the front and rear passenger side doors and from the outside closed the driver front door and left the rear driver door open. Through the rear door, I locked the driver door front door and the rear door as I expected to be away from the vehicle for a few minutes with it not in my sight and did not feel safe with it running. This is something I have done on many occasions, but not without a spare key with me and no blade key. I looked inside the car and the blade was still in the SmartKey laying on he center console as it was started with Keyless-Go. So there I was with my car running and the only key I had locked in it and no way to turn it off. I even went online and quickly subscribed to mbrace in hopes that they could remotely unlock it but that is apparently ineffective if the ignition is on. I called Roadside Assistance and they sent a locksmith out who also used the inflatable devices in the extreme corners of the door that is most flexible, and was able to unlock it without much problem in a matter of minutes and since it was Mercedes-Benz Roadside Assistance that dispatched the locksmith, it didn't cost me a dime, other than my pride!

 

Thanks for the laughs op

 

If your locksmith couldn't use the inflatable bag to get into the car, find a better locksmith...