kemzo

As I was driving, I believe I stopped at a traffic light and all of a sudden, all of the lights in the dash came on and the gauges dropped to zero and then back to normal as if nothing happened. This also happened three months ago when I got the car, but I based it on the car being parked for almost a year and half, almost abandoned by my boss😀. I bought it for so cheap that the state is requesting more proof of purchase, which I’m putting together. I’m currently looking for a reputable Indy mechanic around Central NJ if anyone knows of one.

sean65

My first thought would be the consumer battery in the trunk. Have it tested.

Rudeney

A bad EIS (ignition switch) can also cause strange "burps" and "reboots". Mine does this about once every other week. If I'm at idle, the engine will often shut off. If driving, it just acts like there was a power failure. Sometimes it only does something like give me a brief SRS warning, or a "replace key" message.

Ghostty

Kemzo,

See below a thread of what happened to me. What was my case is what Rudeney pointed at. The problem was fixed with a trip to the dealer and a total of $921 for EIS and labor. If i remember correctly i had a video linked there of what was happening to my dashboard. Hopefully that will solve your problem.
Dealer was pointing to a defective dashboard, which costs at least 2k (new).... Check the thread and see if you can get someone to read the codes while your car will act up.

https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...t-nowhere.html


P.S.

Question: did the engine stop when it happened or continued running?

kemzo

I replaced both batteries about three months ago when I got the car, so they are both brand new.

kemzo

It usually happens when I’m driving slow or at a full stop. Maybe there is a connection with my push button start not working.

kemzo

Thanks for the info... I’ll read that tread, by the way, the engine did not stop, no slow down, it just happened for a second and then back to normal again. There’s no CEL, my KeylessGO isn’t working, including push button start, currently not working. It happens randomly, like once a month or twice a week or none at all.

kemzo

I just contacted someone from NYC that sells and program ignition switches, he said if it’s the Ignition switch, the key fob will not start the car.

kemzo

Video:

Rudeney

That's almost exactly what mine does, but no batter warning or washer fluid warning. Like I said, it's usually a "Replace Key" message. Sometimes I get a brief SRS fault. The EIS is the "hub" for the vehicles various CAN buses and when it resets, they lose communication, thus the strange errors.

Ghostty

Yup, i had similar symptoms. I can add to that radio non operational, no headlights, no windshield washers, no power to 12v outlet. All would disappear for a minute or so, but with time it would happen more and more often. When i was driving to the dealer it came on and did not go away. From what Rudeney previously explained the EIS is programmed with DAS / STAR system. The Indy has to be very knowledgeable of the system to work on it. Plus you will need to reprogram the keys, thus you'll need the blue (or green) key from the dealer.

kemzo

Then Dealer it is...

kemzo

I decided to drive the car to work this morning and also decided this time to use my spare key fob, BOOM!💥 KeylessGO is working again, after a month of non functioning, push button start is working again. I drove for 45 miles without it exhibiting those issues.

Ghostty

Since the symptoms are not showing up constantly, I'd wait until it will get to happen more often. When it just started on my car - it didn't disturb me at all. You will figure out when it's time to pay a visit to the dealer, because, unfortunately, once it started acting up - it will go down from there 😌

P.S.
In case nobody mentioned, there is a MB club of America that I joined. It gives you 10% discount on parts and 15% discount on labor with the dealer. Another gentleman told me about it while I was waiting for my car for service 😁 I think the membership is about $50 a year or so. Considering i paid for the EIS and labor $921, the discount would already exceed at least 1-2 years of membership for sure

alk247

Just after I bought my SL, I was having similar problem from time to time, usually, when car was idling (like when I would pick up mail from he mail box). I can not say for sure if it was happening only with one key or with both, but after a while it stopped. Hope you'll see the same outcome.

Sl600kd

Yeah before my first key went out, my car will turn off, on its own 2 days before it wouldn't crank the car up anymore.

Replaced the key that gone out, but i do have a srs light always on and not too sure if those are related though.

My dealer recommends me changing out the ignition switch (600$), but for now i keep it.

kemzo

Thanks for the info... Do you know the name of the club? I’ll definitely join it and get some discount. I still don’t know the cost yet, I called but they won’t tell me, and they are telling me that it’ll cost $246 just for diagnosing the issue.

Frederick NL

A German dealer made three wrong diagnoses and charged my seller (he guaranteed) for expensive parts that cured nothing. I took over and ordered a new EIS, told them to forget their diagnosing (that took some pursuasion). Problem solved.
if I’m correct a new EIS is coded to your VIN and it can not be re-coded after a certain number of starts. Hence sourcing a used EIS would be no option. Looks like you’re going to have to bite the bullet, like I had to.

kemzo

At this point , I’ve accepted that I have to pay up , but I’ll wait till it gets worse. Does anyone know what’s the going rate, so that I’ll be prepared?

kemzo

is it this one?

Frederick NL

With me the faults were consistent. Since I had no wipers and the seatbelts would tension up, among others, I couldn’t live with it. From my experience I guess your symptoms may remain as they are, but others reported things culminated into real trouble.

kemzo

😳 hopefully not...

Rudeney

The EIS must be coded to the car, and once done, it can't (easily) be transferred to another car. The good news is that it does not require SCN coding, so the job can be done with a Chinese clone SDS. If you buy a bran new EIS from MBZ, you can also buy that special green (or orange?) key that will download your car's key codes to it. But even that may not be necessary. As long as the current EIS can be read, coding can be transferred without the "green" key. The purpose of the "green" key is when the EIS is totally dead and cannot be read by SDS. In this case, the EIS is just flaky, so it may be able to read it and transfer to a new one. ANd of course there is always a way to get around buying a new EIS. To install a used EIS, you'd just need to have the odometer value stored in it zeroed and then SDS will re-code it. There are various ways to do that, the best being to send it to an electronics specialist who know what they are doing.

Ghostty

Yes, that's the one. They will send you in the mail a membership card and a nice sticker that you get to put it on your windshield))


Frederick NL,

I had to do the same thing when I pulled into the dealership. I told them to skip the diagnose and replace the EIS. The rest if the story in the thread linked at the beginning.