Sulfur burning smell coming from trunk/battery.
 

Has this happen to anyone? Battery is fairly new, car has been sitting for 5 days because i was on vacation, came back and the smell from the cabin was awful, traced it to the battery area, coming from the battery. Did something get shorted? There was some water inside the trunk but not much. Car still started and drove fine, just got the red battery sign and visit workshop on the dash.

It's likely the electronic module in the trunk area
 

There have been many SL230 Trunk Fires! This is a serious fire hazard that MB is yet to address!

This fire hazard is an issue for ALL 230 SL Class Vehicles from 2003-2012 and may also be an issue with the new 2013 through current year 231 Series of SL Class vehicles.

It's likely not the battery like you think...Click on the thread below and be sure go to YouTube to view the video referenced there so you can see the exact location of the culprit (an electronics module) that tends to short out and is causing all these SL trunk fires. Again, this is a very serious fire hazard...Get your 230 SL to a MB Dealer so it can be checked out ASAP!

https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...runk-fire.html

Man the smell has been going on for a couple days, i thought it was just a bad battery. I'll have to go home later and open up the part and see if it's fried like that.

Below is a link to a video showing one of these SL Trunk Fires in Hawaii. This particular incident occurred with a new 2012 SL550 and again, the car had not been driven and was parked in the garage. Luckily, this guy found it before it erupted into flames and burned down his house. In the last minute of the video you can see the electronics module, (the culprit responsible for these fires), because the right side trunk lining is burned and removed. Still smoldering however. My own 2003 incident was actually much worse than what occurred in this video but you can plainly see it happening nevertheless. This ruins all the car's electronics, the car will not start and the trunk will be locked. You will have to use the flat key from the key fob to open it. Once you get the toxic black smoke inside your SL, you will never get the smell out. If there are flames present, and the Fire Department sess there is smoke iside the car, they are likely to spray water and/or chemicals inside the passenger area as well as the trunk. Due to this damage, your SL will most likely be considered 'totaled' by your insurance company, but don't expect the check you receive to be nearly enough to replace it.

Click below to view the video and note the location of the electronic module in the very last minute of this video.

I have a total of 19K or so into my Car, i doubt Geico will give me anywhere near that if it's indeed totaled. But strong hazard smell coming into the cabin, it was nauseating to drive, i parked it and took another car to work thinking it was a battery. I need to open up everything and look at it.

The car has sat for 5 days prior to smelling this, i checked the vent tube and it's pointed to the floor outside of the vehicle. Other than the strong toxic smell, car still drove and behaves fine, i can lower and raise the roof and all functions work, except i get the red battery sign on now when i start.

Well, if the module is the source of the smell with your SL, I can tell you this: The first hint of this problem is a very strong electrical (burning) smell as the electronic module overheats. Eventually it becomes hot enough to smolder and destroy the module, which only increases the electrical current, (heat). Soon the smolder burns its way through the trunk lining allowing more oxygen into the trunk, it can then erupt into flames which easily melts away the aluminum body just beneath the fuel filler cap. That's precisely how my incident happened. (Yes, there is real danger of an explosion anytime your gasoline filler tube is in such close proximity to fire and flames).

Most every trunk fire report I have seen shows that the module is overheatied and ignited while the car was PARKED, (often in a home garage). Mine had not been driven for 3 days when the fire occurred. If you don't notice the burning smell first, you may not notice the smoke either becauset the toxic black smoke initially just fills the inside of your CAR, assuming you left the top and windows up. (It's really quite amazing just how air tight these cars are). Only after the module has burned completely through the trunk's lining are you likely to see a lot of smoke inside the garage itself. (You may have noted that from the video).

Do not leave your SL parked in your home garage! It is one thing to lose the car to this hazard, quite another to lose your home and risk your life and the lives of your family. You may have smoke detectors in your home already, but consider one for your garage if you haven't already. I also recommend a carbon monoxide detector for the garage as well.

The part that catches fire is the Battery Control Module. I'm not sure what happens, but some suspect that the trunk lid seal around the rear glass deteriorates and lets water in, which damages it. If you smell this "burning", I'd get it fixed quickly. I'd probably even disconnect both batteries to make sure it can't start an electrical fire.

Yeah, the Dealer mentioned that to me too, but I do not think that was the cause for me. Mine certainly hadn't been driven recently in the rain, and in fact, had been parked inside a very dry garage for 3-days, and not driven at all over that time period. There was not any water present when it occurred, and I can't remember a time when I noticed any water seeping from the rear glass into the trunk area before. If indeed moisture played any role in my particular incident, it was more likely the humidity in the that affected it somehow.

Unfortunately, I believe these fires are actually an example of 'spontaneous combustion' where this module can simply 'short out' all by itself without ANY obvious cause to trigger the event! I don't think it's prior water damage or even the 'aging' of this module and/or all of it's wired connections. In fact, if you look at the posted video which was from 2013, it was a virtually 'new' late model 2012 SL550, one of the last 230 series made..

(Note: The 2013-to-current SL 231 Series vehicles also have this module).

I did not realize that the R231s had a dual-battery system. I thought they only used that with SBC-equipped cars. And SBC was discontinued as of MY2007 for all but the R230 SL (since it's chassis could not easily be retrofitted to handle a vacuum operated brake booster).

My understanding from the Dealer is that the fire culpirt is actually a Multi-Function Electronics Module, and therefore controls multiple electronic devices on SL series vehicles.

The box shown in the last few seconds of the above video is the dual-battery control module. Maybe other models with single batteries mounted in the trunk have some sort of control module there that could still fail?

Will have to bring the car in to MB and have them look at it, i opened up the rear trunk area and didn't see anything on fire, just smelled so bad, as soon as you open my trunk your eyes will water. It's toxic, i don't even feel safe driving with the top opened.

MB didn't have any availability for service, I took matters into my own hands and traced the smell to the BCM. As suspected, the module must've shorted inside and is emitting a very strong odor through its casing. No other wires outside look like it shorted, and my sniff test confirmed the strongest smell is coming from the BCM.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/857/42...b39f2387_h.jpg

The hard part was getting to it, to replace it looks like cakewalk. I will order one used on ebay and see if it'll stop the burning smell and make the Battery light visit workshop light go away.

Electronics Module Shorting Out
 

Glad you found the source before something catastrophic happened! You dodged a bullet here! Best to disconnect the batteries for now until this module is replaced! These modules can short out for no apparent reason.

I removed the trunk battery thinking that was the one feeding the BCM, however the smelled still persisted in the morning, so the starting battery in the front also supply power to the BCM? it was still hot this morning, so i removed that.

Yes, it's best to disconnect both batteries until the problem is resolved!

Yes, in fact, when the consumer (rear) battery is disconnected, the BCM will switch the starting battery into the circuit. to power the basic consumers. You do need both disconnected. And always disconnect the consumer battery first and reconnect it last.

I ordered a new BCM and it's on the way, any bad thing that'll happen to the car for having both batteries disconnected for a week?

No, but you may lose a few settings that you'll need to redo. The side windows will need to be normalized - lower them, then raise them with the button held in the second detent for about 10 extra seconds. If you get an "ESP Not Available" message, you'll need to reset the steering angle sensor - start the engine, and in park, turn the steering wheel fully lock to lock a few times until it clears. You may also lose the sound settings on the radio (though not station presets).

Rodney, interestingly enough, when i disconnected both batteries for a couple days, nothing was lost. I didn't have to do anything afterwards, my memories are still there and didn't have to do any ESP calibration. Got lucky i guess.


Anyways, here's the damage to the BCM. A couple of the capacitors burned and damaged the PCB board. Here's something interesting that happened after i put a new one in, my car used to get heat soaked like crazy, it's only stupid fast within the first 20 minutes of driving, after that, it's only fast. Now it's stupid fast all time, i'm not sure if this new BCM is turning on the intercooler pump or it's strictly placebo, but something definitely happened. Also, the car had some shaking, like mini misfires at idle, that's gone too.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/861/42...a7e317f7_k.jpg

https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1792/4...98c80fcf_b.jpg

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/932/43...e65eb040_b.jpg

Let this be a warning, if you've got a burning smell in your trunk, open up the lining and sniff the BCM, you don't want a fire, i think mine is on the verge of engulfing in flames. It's real easy to open the cover panel, just 4 T15 torx to see inside the board, and it's 4x 10mm to completely remove the BCM from the bracket.

Wow! it looks like you got that fixed just in time.

Dam good question..... I have friends with these.... thinking i will go check them just for piece of mind...

Yeah, I find myself taking a big whiff every time I open the trunk now.

She's back and running better than ever, drove over 4 hours today up to a mile high elevation, in 105 degree weather, only thing that stunk was me because we had taco bell for lunch.

The BCM was faulted long ago, after i replaced it, it fixed a bunch of other problems i had before.

https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1832/4...3e1d0a57_h.jpg

That's great news! And a beautiful car!

A toasted R230 SL350 for sale in The Netherlands today.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...9720eee77e.jpg
toasted SL350

Boy you are sure right about that, It's been 2 months of airing it out, dousing the entire trunk in febreeze, shampooed the carpeted liner. It still smells awful in the trunk, i think i have to replace all the trunk lining to get rid of the smell, the cabin isn't as bad now but the trunk area still smells very bad. Lingering plastic burning smell.

Ouch! Is that yours?

Oh, good! I think other than the reports of never getting rid of the smell, it might be a nice project car. There is a TV show here called "Junkyard Empire" about some guys that own an automotive junkyard. They also have a used car dealership where they sell rebuilt cars. There was an episode where they had an R230 with the BCM burned out. They bought it cheap, fixed it, and sold it at a decent profit. It had some other issues that had to be repaired, but they did buy new parts and I think they still came in under $1K for the BCM repairs.

I just got back from a 3-day weekend leaving the car to sit. Got in this morning and got the same ozone/burning electrical smell that I could trace to the trunk area.

I'll take the right cover off and take a look at the BCM. Will be taking the car to my local Indie tomorrow for him to check out.

Uh oh, what did you find out? It's easy to check on your own, pull the trunk liner out and the BCM is that aluminum box right there, a couple torx bit to remove the cover and see if it has burned up or anything.

Fx - what part did you end up ordering? Did you do the replacement yourself? How difficult is it to do this repair?

Thx

Yep it's super easy, but if you've never taken off the trunk liner before it's going to be difficult for you. The hardest part is removing the liner due to the convertible mechanism in the way, do you know how to put your trunk into service mode? Youtube that and you should be able to remove the liner pretty easily. Once you do that, the BCM is right there, unplug 2 connections and 4 10mm bolts and remove it. That square box is it

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/857/42...b39f2387_h.jpg

I bought a used one on eBay, check your part number and find one that matches it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/B606-R230-M...~GOH:rk:3:pf:0

It's been doing great so far, paid $300 for mine.

Well, it definitely looks bad. And now my starting battery is dead. Time to get this thing replaced.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...db1f250634.jpg

Cheapest I could find on eBay was $400. Looks like prices are going up on these. My local guy quoted me $800 for a factory re-manufactured one.

I think I used the same vendor as you - Labur Parts.

It still blows me away this hasn't caused a lawsuit against MB or at the very least a massive recall to replace the problematic parts. Talk about a safety hazard from hell.

Got them to extend the SBC to 25 years, this is a major safety hazard, imagine this just catching on fire inside a garage (which happened btw) and the people inside burned while they were sleeping. Is that what it's gonna take before MB realize it's an issue? If you google Mercedes BCM you'll see tons of results from people with the problem we had. I think if all the people got their cases together and the faulty BCM as evidence, we can get MB to do something.

Replaced the battery controller yesterday. No real issues and after a battery jump I am up and running. The Battery warning light came on about an hour after the jump start but after 2 or 3 restarts since then no light has come back. There does seem to still be a strong smell in the cabin and trunk. Nervous that I could be frying another.

In the course of putting the trunk trim back together I managed to break the wires leading into the boot cover sensor. That looks like it will be a pain to repair as the break is very close to the connector. At least the top was up when that happened.

SO TRUE!.....I WAS A VICTIM OF A 230 TRUNK FIRE WHICH OCCURRED INSIDE MY GARAGE AND WOULD HAVE BURNED MY HOUSE DOWN HAD I NOT CAUGHT IT WHEN I DID. IT TOTALED MY SL 500, BUT FORTUNATELY I WAS ABLE TO SAVE MY HOUSE AND MY OTHER (2) MB CARS WHICH WERE ALSO IN THAT GARAGE. MY WIFE AND I COULD HAVE EASILY BECOME VICTIMS OF CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING AS THE SMOKE AND FLAMES GOT INTO THE ATTIC AND SPREAD THROUGH THE

THIS WAS A VERY CLOSE CALL FOR ME AND MY WIFE AS WE WERE ABOUT TO TURN IN FOR THE NIGHT WHEN I WENT TO PUT SOMETHING I THE RECYCLE BIN, (WHICH WAS IN THE GARAGE). AS I OPENED THE DOOR LEADING TO THE GARAGE IT WAS FILLED WITH TOXIC BLACK SMOKE. I IMMEDIATELY POPPED THE GARAGE DOORS OPEN AND THEN SAW 5-FOOT HIGH FLAMES COMING FROM THE REAR PASSENGER SIDE OF MY SL 500 , HUST BELOW THE GAS FILLER CAP, THE REAR TIRE ON THAT SIDE WAS ALSO ON FIRE. BECAUSE OF THE LOCATION, OF THE FIRE., (VERY NEAR THE FUEL TANK), I WAS CONCERNED IT MIGHT EXPLODE AT ANY SECOND.

i WAS ABLE TOi DOUSE THE FLAMES WITH A GARDEN HOSE LOCATED JUST OUTSIDE THE GARAGE, BUT THE CAR WAS STILL BURNING INSIDE THE TRUNK WHICH WOULD NOT OPEN AS NORMAL.. hOWEVER, WHEN THE FIRE DEPARTMENT ARRIVED, i WAS ABLE TO OPEN THE TRUNK USING THE 'MANUAL FLAT KEY' WHICH I REMOVED FROM THE MB SMART KEY. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT PUT OUT THE SMOLDERING FIRE INSIDE THE TRUNK, BUT THE BATTERY MODULE KEPT SPARKING UNTIL BOTH BATTERIES WERE DISCONNECTED..

MY EXPERIENCE WAS A NEAR DISASTER FOR SURE!

IF YOU ARE THE OWNER OF AN SL 230 SERIES YOU NEED TO BE AWARE THAT THE BATTERY CONTROL MODULE IN THESE CARS IS A VERY FIRE HAZARD THAT CAN IGNITE WITHOUT WARNING. iN FACT, iN MY CASE, THE CAR HAD NOT EVEN BEEN DRIVEN FOR 3-DAYS WHEN THE TRUNK/GARAGE FIRE OCCURRED. .

THERE HAVE BEEN QUITE A FEW OF THESE 230 TRUNK FIRES, (2003-2012 SL MODELS) ,SO i AM QUITE SURPRISED THERE IS STILL NO CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT OVER THIS PROBLEM HOWEVER, IT HAS STILL NOT OCCURRED!

IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT MY WIFE AND I COULD HAVE EASILY DIED FROM CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING IN OUR SLEEP BECAUSE THE TOXIC WAS ALREADY ENTERING THE ATTIC AND ONCE THERE IT COULD HAVE EASILY TRAVELED TO OUR BEDROOM VIA THE A/C VENTS. WE MIGHT NEVER HAVE HEARD ANY OF THE (8) SMOKE ALARMS ILOCATED INSIDE OUR HOUSE.

That toxic smell is embedded into the carpet and headliners now, the smell will be there for awhile. It should be fine, i cut an access hole to my BCM so that i can check it, just put your hands on it every now and then before you drive, if it's stay cold then you're good, if it's hot/warm then something is shorting out again. Don't check it after a drive, check it before you drive. After a drive it'll get hot.

That is insane bob, and i'm glad you and your family are okay. Did you take any pics or video of the incident?

No, FxFormat, but I did post the video of a very similar incident that occurred to a 2012 model in Hawaii back in 2013. . Same experience, although that Hawaii Owner caught it much earlier than I did.

By the way, I was told by my MB Service Advisor that even when someone is able to salvage their car, it is virtually imposible to get rid of that that toxic smoke smell if it got into the interior leather, the carpet and the headliner.

Oh i just cut a big square right into the trunk lining, that way when i want to i just lift it out of the way and inspect the BCM, the resale value is so bad on these cars that i don't think i'd sell it anyways. I love it, just have to deal with the headaches.

I am new to MB World and this is my first post to this thread and I, like many of you, finally bought the "car of my dreams" two years ago (2003 SL500, one owner, Florida car, 36k miles, $17,000). In spite of all my extensive research I was not prepared for the litany of potential problems this "engineering masterpiece" could potentially cause. Over the past two years I've had my share of problems (most of them minor which I was able to repair myself thanks to MB World) but I must admit this one "scares the hell out of me". It's tough going to bed at night with this "TIME BOMB" ticking in the garage!

My wife and I make multiple trips to CT (5-6 times a year, 2-6 weeks duration) and I leave the SL home in the garage. Am I to understand I should be disconnecting the batteries each time we go away? Of course my fear is we will return home one day to find the house has burned down!!
I'm unclear whether to believe this condition is the result of a defect, faulty design, old age, spontaneous combustion, water leak, non OEM batteries, or just the luck of the draw. I'm also unclear whether one should just wait until there are symptoms present before addressing the problem
or bite the bullet and do something about it now. A brand new OEM BCM can be purchased for less than $700....a small price to pay for saving your home!!

Furthermore, I fail to see the logic in purchasing a used BCM on E-bay as a replacement when that part is probably just as defective as the one you removed. Does anyone know if the new unit available today has been redesigned to eliminate this potential fire hazard?? It's evident to me
that replacing the unit is a simple procedure and I'm having a hard time weighing these options against the very hard decision of just getting rid of the car. However (like most of you) I love the car, it's a joy to drive and it's the best car I've ever owned....

Finally, it's obvious I'm looking for guidance and advice from people that are more knowledgeable and experienced than I regarding this matter and all comments and advice would be greatly appreciated.

You cannot get a new BCM - the $700 - $800 ones from MB are refurbished. I went with the eBay one as it was from the same supplier as where FxFormat got his.

I do like the idea of cutting an access hole in the carpet. Taking the trunk trim apart is a PITA, even in service mode.

Given my understanding of how these things work, they are like smart voltage regulators in that they direct charging energy to the battery that needs it. So any time the car alternator is running or when on a trickle charge the BCM will be functioning and therefore could get warm. I would think that as long as you don't have that burnt electrics smell you are ok. It is very noticeable once it happens and then you get the pleasure of living with it for weeks afterwards. I have the old unit inside my house now and even the house has that smell.

I am horrified to find out yet another flaw in this beautiful car. I have been through the replacement of the ABC system (2 new pumps, and 4 new struts), I have fixed the faulty loose headliner (gorilla glue), and I have fixed the faulty flap thing on the deck lid. I feel lucky to get through just one month without seeing some damn fault code come up on the dash and live in fear every time I put up or put down the top because I know that faulty design issue will be next. This battery starting on fire with the car just sitting there issue is too much. I am putting this thing up for sale and getting rid of the worry. I think I will start looking for a Viper to replace it. Thank God for this forum!

As someone said earlier, the BCM in the 230 Series is 'a ticking time bomb' that can start 'sparking' and catch fire at any time. The hazard remains as long as the (2) batteries are connected.

When my trunk fire incident happened, the car had been sitting in my garage, (un-driven), for 3 full days!.

It is essential that all 230 owners be made aware of this risk! There really should have been a Class Action Lawsuit over this!

That was precisely my point, Bob. When my wife and I make our routine trips up north (we're actually leaving tomorrow for three weeks) am I expected to disconnect my batteries while we're gone ???

I believe this is caused by failing electrolytic capacitors. Back in the early 2000's, there was a rash of capacitor failures due to defective parts being made in Taiwanese factories. I doubt those capacitors made their way into these BCMs, but capacitors can still fail. Usually it's because of excessive heat, which can be caused by the environment, but also if the wrong capacitor size it used for the application. One thing I noticed about the ones in Frederick's photo above is that they don't have "stress-crimps" on the top. Most e-caps have that so if they fail, the pressure pops open the top and the internal gases are vented. In this case, maybe the gases are causing the bottom of the e-cap to blow out, then short out, and then cause the fires. Of course then why are they failing? I would assume that the maker of the circuit board used properly sized capacitors, and that they aren't getting beyond their operating temperature in the trunk. but pulling too much current due to, say, a weak battery, or water intrusion causing a short could be the cause. These are just some armchair theories, of course. In the mean time, I recommend inspecting the unit and regularly smelling your trunk for any possible signs of electrical burning.

Yeah i would if i were you, disconnect both batteries, i had mine disconnected for 2 weeks while waiting for the BCM and time to put it back in, fired right up and didn't lose any settings or had to do anything special. 2005 SL600

Regarding RUDENEY quote:<br /><br />That is the most thought provoking, common sense, knowledgeable explanation I've read thus far on this thread regarding this issue. I am beginning to formulate an additional armchair theory that perhaps included in the "root" of all these fire/disasters is not replacing the batteries with OEM Mercedes batteries. I'd be curious to know how many after market batteries in coordination with BCM were involved in these fires.???

I doubt it has anything to do with aftermarket batteries. The chemistry of a lead acid battery is fairly simple. They put out 12.6v and charge best with about 14v. Now, a failing battery where the plates warp and short out internally can act like a giant resistor. This could cause the BCM to try to put out more power, which the battery then converts to heat. Of course this can happen to any lead acid batter y- MBZ brand, Varta, Interstate, etc.

Does it seem these failures seem to happen after the car has sat for a few days without a tender? My SL is a daily driver and does get driven almost daily since I bought it. Mine failed after I went away for a long weekend and the car was sitting without being on a tender.

Just curious if the combination of age of the car and not having a charge applied can cause an issue over an extended period.

Most SL's sit 1-3 weeks at a time without tender. I'd think it would be more widespread.

My rear battery has been getting weaker(battery offline message after 1 week every startup)..I hooked it up to a solar charger for precautions.

But def paranoid now, I heard about this before but after reading BOB's story that's insane.

How is a mass NHSTA thing not active..sorry to hear 57

Keeping mine outdoors now..

If it's been happening to new cars 5-10 years ago that might eliminate the age issue, otherwise huge defect if every car was affected by it..

https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...ml#post7043294

FYI this PDF has alot of details

Good info in that PDF! I still think it's a capacitor that fails, now the question is why.

There is more info on the BCM Fire Hazard in the linked thread shown below....Just click on it to see other incidents of trunk fires related to the Battery Control Module in the 230 Series.

https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...unk-fire.html?

Thank you @FxFormat for starting this thread and replying to my PM. My resolution, I had to replace a blown fuse (100 amp) passenger side under the floorboard and the BCM old part # 2305400945 was replaced with a newer version 2305401045 from a 04 SL500 the local dismantler wanted $300. My Visit Workshop went away after I cleared the codes with my MBll.

The preceding quote and link will lead you to an important, but still unfixed, problem/thread on R230 trunk fires and some good information on the likely causes of these fires.

My question is: Does having (and using) a battery cutoff switch on the rear-mounted consumer battery (AKA systems battery) reduce the chances of a failing battery control module (BCM) causing a serious electrical fire as the BCM components age? The BCM receives 12 volt input power from both the front and rear-mounted batteries, but it is not clear to me if using a rear-mounted battery cutoff switch would improve the situation at all. My SL600 initially had a pretty serious parked battery drain problem on the consumer battery, but that situation seems to have corrected itself with more frequent use of the car and my long-term battery drain now measures 25-30 milliamps (normal for a modern car with various computer circuits shutting down) after removing the key. When I measured the parked current drain a number of weeks ago, it was too high, at around 120 milliamps; that change, while a good thing, also scares me a little bit, because it might point to a failing BCM. I can think of no other reason for the change in current measurements on this car.

I believe it to be a malfunction within the BCM itself. There really should be a fuse link that cuts off power coming into the BCM once the internal short occurs.

Yes, most fire theories over the years from owners point to age-related failures in the BCM (like shorted electrolyic capacitors), I would think there need to be two large amperage fusible links, one for the incoming starter battery power and another one for the incoming systems/consumer battery power. Since both links would have to supply sufficient amperage to the biggest current draws (most likely the starter motor), they would need to be pretty beefy.

Given the human life liabilities possible and the number of reported BCM burnouts, It's pretty surprising that MB has been rolling the dice for so many years on R230-caused garage/house fires.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...18be83e6d.jpeg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...868d0ea09.jpeg

Just a reminder to stay aware of the BCM problem and have a MB Dealer check it from time-to-time. You may not notice the smell in time to avoid a fire which sadly, often happens inside a home garage which brings into play catastrophic implications. My fire occurred at around 11PM at night with the 230 parked in my home garage.

There are just so many 230's still out there with this 'prone-to-failure' Battery Control Module and fact is, there may not even be any tell-tale smell to indicate a BCM electrical shorting issue.

In my case, there was no indication whatsoever of a problem until an actual 'spontaneous combustion' occurred inside my 230's trunk and spread to the garage. My 230 was completely destroyed by the fire. Had I not discovered the fire in my garage just before going to bed that night, it might very well have burned down my entire house with me an my Family sleeping inside. I should add that I had not even driven the car for 3-days prior to this fire's occurrence.

I urge everyone with a 230 to take this BCM fire hazard very seriously and monitor the condition of the BCM inside your 230.

(Note that this BCM was installed in 230's for the entire model year run of 9-years - 2003 to 2012).


:zoom:

OK.....took your advice and decided it was time to take the BCM fire hazard seriously and actually devised a "trap door" to access the BCM routinely. (Fortunately my BCM was pristine). Here's my problem; I ruined the four tamper proof screws on the plate cover when removing them and I can't find the replacements anywhere. People have looked at me dumbfounded and have no idea "what they are" let alone where to find them. HELP !! Does anyone have any suggestions or is there any advise on where to find them? I am certain there are others out there who made the same mistake!