GreazyDeigo

The first thing I noticed is the doors wouldn't lock, and now this is an electrical nightmare. The doors won't lock or unlock (either via the keypad or the button on the dash or the auto lock while driving, but when I hit the unlock or lock on the keypad the lights all flash, so I know the electrical part of the system is working), the trunk won't open (either via the keypad or the button on the door, and if I open it with the valet key the soft close won't kick in), and the top won't go down (keeps telling me to close the trunk separator).

Prior to this (and continuing now) everytime I start the car the dashboard reads "Electric Consumers Offline" but that really only means the heated seats and after about 10 minutes of driving I can turn them on anyway.

It's been about 10 degrees (Fahrenheit) out this past week, so possibly something froze? Or maybe these are all tied together through the same electric circuit and a fuse blew or the relay toasted? Anybody have any input on this?

2003 SL 500

rune solem

You probably need a new trunk battery. If you not drive the car almost every day, you need a charger for the rear battery. If you don't drive for a few weeks, the battery (even if it's new), will be empty.
If you don't get a charger, you will need to disconnect the trunk battery to save it from going dead.
I do that here in norway, because the winter are 5 months long. :-(

The roof, trunkswitch, etc. don't work if the rear battery is low.

So keep the battery alive and well and the car is healthy aswell.

Good driving!!!

GreazyDeigo

Made headway today! As a reminder to myself, and a note to everyone else out there -- 1 single fuse (20amp) in the rear "seat" compartment controls the door locks and trunk locks and seems to be involved in the roll bar and top working properly.

Rune - I hooked up a solar charger ($15 USD) at 1.5 amps (only size I could find that physically fit in the rear window) to the back battery. It's an experiment. We'll see if it keeps the battery charged! From what I understand, for up to an hour after the car is turned off, all the electronics keep running which is what drains the battery.

rune solem

Nice that you found out what caused the problem.
But as i stated earlier, if you go to a trip for a couple of weeks, remember to disconnect the rear battery just in case.

Using a solar charger is very smart indeed.

Hope the fuse does the trick.