SL/R230: Time is up to make the ABC decision
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Member
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 168
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From: Mississauga, CA
Sl500
@FL SL500
I wouldn’t worry about slightly higher current draw at the moment. That is not the source of your problem. Have the car scanned with a professional scanner. Module could be off due to earlier problems. Not necessarily displayed on the cluster.
I wouldn’t worry about slightly higher current draw at the moment. That is not the source of your problem. Have the car scanned with a professional scanner. Module could be off due to earlier problems. Not necessarily displayed on the cluster.
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Former R230, W220 and W221 owner
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Joined: Jul 2010
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SL55, S500
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Joined: Oct 2021
Posts: 493
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From: Benton, Louisiana, USA
SL 500 2004, Ford F-150-2014
My friend Das, sometimes when you buy a car for $15K knowing that your resale value will be under that, you may not start throwing $$$$ in repairs and upgrades. So, ABC, BCM, and Vario are basically the major headaches on that car, so replacing these systems with durable alternatives at lower cost may be the way to go, but you the owner who values certain systems on the car, just do as you please regardless of the loss of time and $$$. I replaced the ABC, the BCM and really like the ability to go topless and it is a system cheap to maintain...so I will keep that!
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Joined: Dec 2019
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From: Houston, TX
2005 SL600
I've tried that many times and nothing is changing. I've been fiddling with the Convenience Features Not Available messages and the inaccessible Menu settings for well over a week now. That was what lead me to take a close look at the system battery and to eventually to replace it and to look at the current flow through it. But that all seems to be fine so now I'm wondering if the BCM is flagging the battery as low even when it's not. (I'm assuming that the BCM is what monitors the battery and alerts the other systems but I'm not sure.) Also it's worth pointing out that I haven't had any kind of battery warnings or alerts.
Bobterry said: "The factory specification is for the current to be less <= 50 mA after 20 minutes, and for no reason apparent to me a measurement should be taken with the vehicle locked."
I know and the current in mine didn't go that low but at that point of was just looking any excessive current draw that might be affecting the battery and I thought that 79Ma was low enough. When I get some of the other problems out of the way I will go back and look at that and see if it does eventually drop to less than 50ma and if not, why. I may just need to wait longer for the current to drop. I did have the key in my pocket so possibly it was waking the system up. Do these cars really detect the presence of the keys even when no button was pushed?
Bobterry said: "The factory specification is for the current to be less <= 50 mA after 20 minutes, and for no reason apparent to me a measurement should be taken with the vehicle locked."
I know and the current in mine didn't go that low but at that point of was just looking any excessive current draw that might be affecting the battery and I thought that 79Ma was low enough. When I get some of the other problems out of the way I will go back and look at that and see if it does eventually drop to less than 50ma and if not, why. I may just need to wait longer for the current to drop. I did have the key in my pocket so possibly it was waking the system up. Do these cars really detect the presence of the keys even when no button was pushed?
If you're going to DIY, you really need some kind of diagnostic code reader to be able to work on these cars. You're completely in the dark without it, you'll be wasting $$$ and time just throwing parts at it blindly. Foxwell NT510 (reviews at the top of this forum) or the Launch CReader Elite are decent budget choices, or you can get a full blown Mercedes Xentry system for more $$$, but still pretty reasonable. Xentry gives you full MB diagnostics, plus the full MB workshop manuals and the parts catalog. For the full Xentry system, I recommend to contact BenzNinja (search for him on this forum), well worth the few extra $$ he charges to provide a reliable system and ongoing support with troubleshooting issues.
Last edited by brucewane; Aug 27, 2024 at 12:42 PM.
