Is there a common consensus on what can cause this message/error? The car does this whenever I start it, then after driving/idling for about 20 minutes I get the "Electric Consumers Back Online" message and the top can finally go down, heated seats finally work etc.

I have replaced the battery and keep the car on a maintainer....yet even doing this the car has to run for a while before it allows all electric consumers to operate.

 

Same here. On a Cteck when not in use. I drive it every other weekend or so.

 

Just to clarify, you replaced the rear consumer battery, and that is the one you keep on a trickle charger? If so, then you may have a problem with the battery control module that needs a diagnosis with SDS.

 

When you insert the ignition key or press the start/stop button on a Keyless Go car the battery control module measures the voltage on the trunk battery. It the value is less than c. 10.8 volts DC, then you get the message.

If you think you are getting the message in error, then I would measure the voltage on the battery cables at the battery posts immediately after you insert the key. If your measurement is well above 10.8 volts, then the battery control module is suspect. The next step would be to see what the control module is reading via Star Diagnosis (or iCarsoft, if you got faked out into buying one).

 

Mister BT99, your attitude towards Icarsoft had been roughing up noticeably. The scanner has helped me finding some errors and do some preventive maintenance. It’s lack of advanced trickery is made up for by it’s simplicity and ease of quick use. I took it with me on a holiday trip, for instance (didn’t use it), tucked away neatly. So, do contain your good self I bid you, Sir.

 

Yes, my attitude towards iCarsoft has changed.

You can find some threads in the not-distant past where I suggested it as an alternative to Star Diagnosis. But back in April I connected my iCarsoft to my '03 500, and it could not communicate with the ABC controller. Perhaps it never could.

I don't believe anyone would purchase an iCarsoft product if they knew the capabilities of a $300 Chinese-cloned SDS and also knew how easy it was to acquire said SDS and get it working. Hence, if someone has purchased an iCarsoft product, then perhaps they were "faked out".

 

There is an active thread on the "other" English-speaking R230 forum which speaks to the contrast between SDS and iCarsoft. I read a post this morning which reminded me of this MBWorld thread.

An iCarsoft user just posted that he has ordered Star Diagnosis from aliexpress.com. He wrote that he has been "leery" about getting one because he had "heard too many horror stories about getting crap SDS from eBay or Aliexpress."

I've not heard these stories. On that other website there is an active thread which discusses Star Diagnosis. Somewhere in that 44-page-long thread there might be a story or two describing a major problem, but I'm not aware of any. A friend of mine did once get a faulty multiplexer, however.

Fred mentioned the "simplicity" of iCarsoft. So, if the SRS fault indicator illuminates in the instrument cluster, one can simply get iCarsoft out of the glove box and read the code.

But if the code is "B1863" like the aforementioned iCarsoft user retrieved, now what? The i980 gives a description something like "resistance too high in circuit R12/1", but one has no idea where that circuit is located, what precisely is "too high", or how to fix the problem. In contrast, Star Diagnosis gives details along with a step-by-step procedure for troubleshooting, and its "Starfinder" program has photos of R12/1 and associated components which show how to find them in the vehicle.

Then there is an aspect of code retrieval which isn't at all simple with my iCarsoft i980.

Star Diagnosis can execute a "Quick Test" which polls the CANs for controllers and automatically reads fault codes and events from each and every one. (It can also erase all codes with a few mouse clicks). My i980 lacks that feature. So if I want to check all controllers, then I have to interrogate each one individually. That may be simple, but with three dozen controller in an R230 it seems extraordinarily tedious to me. And if someone is new to the R230, it can get worse.

Suppose the air conditioning in your R230 isn't working properly. The problem is a faulty refrigerant sensor, though you haven't determined that just yet. You plug-in an i980, and intuitively, you select the climate control module and check for codes. You find none. Now what? In contrast, with Star Diagnosis you might have run a Quick Test and discovered a fault code registered in the driver-side SAM for the refrigerant sensor.

Maybe there are pitfalls to an SDS purchase that I am unaware of. Maybe other iCarsoft products replicate the SDS "Quick Test" and/or provide direction on fixing problems associated with fault codes. But based upon what I know from owning and using both SDS and iCarsoft i980, my advice is to avoid iCarsoft. And since there are old posts of mine which suggest purchasing iCarsoft which I have no ability to update, I won't miss an opportunity to give my current opinion of iCarsoft in my future posts.

 

The issue is that these are Chinese clone parts that come from various "factories" with dubious quality control. Some systems are excellent, some are garbage. Even those that work out of the box may fail months, later. I have two SDS multiplexers where the "pre-2005" functionality died. The work find on MY2005+ facelift cars, but won;t talk to any systems on the MY2004- cars. THe one I have thaworks for all sometimes fails to communicate, so I have to reboot SDS and reconnect the MUX.

Being an old time tech guy, I am very forgiving of things that don't always work just right. But for people who are less technically inclined (i.e. Mac users), this sort of thing might cause a total meltdown.

 

Back on topic; when I had the car in the dealership for the SBC warranty work and even more recently for the replacement of the TPMS control module, STAR found no faults with the BCM. Yes, I was experiencing the consumer offline issue both times the car was worked on. Typically the message goes out within 3-5 minutes and all function a normal. The only difference is maybe the length of time the car sits in my garage as comparison to the dealership.

 

Generally, the vehicle power supply module stores no fault or event codes for the "Consumers Offline" scenario. But Star Diagnosis can be useful for comparing what voltage the module is reading from the trunk bettery ("Terminal 30") and comparing this to the voltage at the battery cables and battery. This was mentioned in my first post to this thread.

 

I Am in no mood for a pro-con discussion with Bobterry (especially ‘cause I hope to get more excellent advice from you in the future). However - when my R230 showed all the signs of a failing EIS, a German MB dealer diagnosed and replaced the 6 months old rear battery at no avail. Nothing improved. During a second visit they diagnosed and replaced my left front SAM. Nothing improved. At a third visit they diagnosed and replaced the wiper motor and mechanism. Nothing improved. That was when my seller said sorry, my covering of your cost ends here (it was his dealer). So I told a Dutch dealer to replace my EIS, without diagnosing the car first. They made me sign a document agreeing they would do so at my own risk. All the gremlins are gone ever since (no wipers, belts tightening up, rollbar rattle, Comand interrupt and perhaps things I have happily forgotten about since). Can’t imagine that my problem was too unique to know about or to diagnose. Star Diagnosis - the best system there is, wasn’t nearly good enough for my problem.

 

Nothing you or anyone might write could ever jeopardize my willingness to lend them assistance.

I've read accounts where technicians who were equipped with Star Diagnosis have made egregiously-bad misdiagnoses. Certainly replacement of your battery was not the fault of Star Diagnosis, since it is incapable of diagnosing a faulty rear battery!

 

It could be that either your charger is bad, or parasitic current draw is too much for it to deal with. Here what I would do:

1. Measure trunk battery voltage - if normal, stop and investigate what's wrong with your car systems, if low, go to step 2.
2. Disconnect negative cable from the battery and connect it through the amp-meter. See if current is more or less than your charger max rated current. If current is less, your charger is defective, if it is more, go to step 3.
3. Start looking for the circuit(s), which creates the current draw. Keep pulling fuses out one by one, until current draw drops. Then trace the circuit all the way down to a component at fault.

 

Tried your procedure , battery voltage 11.4V DC after inserting key