When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Has anyone had an issue with the top getting stuck in the open position? The top will go down fine, I'll drive the car and then when I'm ready to put the top up it will start the process but the top seems to be stuck and the close process will stop; if i jiggle the top a little bit to lossen it, it will then close. Wonder if its something that just needs to be adjusted?
This will likely a micro switch that needs a minor adjustment. So definitely bring it in to service it.
Nothing worst than getting caught in the rain and get the interior soaked. At least it maybe embarrassing when the car fails to do its job.
ideally record it so you can show the position this is happening in.
I've had the issue a few times while vehicle is in Park and stationary, but the top would always close when I started moving slowly. Until yesterday - it would not close at all with the hard button or the electronic slider. I did not try to manually manipulate it. The car is in the shop today.
I had it in the shop two weeks ago for the same issue, along with the infamous battery drain issue. They attributed the soft top not closing to the low battery and I don't think they even checked out the top not closing and focused on the battery. And of course they found no problem with the battery even after talking it over with the MB engineers. I'll update everyone with what they come up with on this top closing issue, and I advised them of the software update that at least one owner posted about.
Interestingly, my neighbor has a new SL55 and he had it in the same shop at the same time for the battery drain issue. They supposedly did a software update on his, but they did not do it on mine. I made sure the service director is aware of all the problems owners are having with this and shared posts from this forum. At this point, I'm not sure MB knows what is causing the battery drain, other than the key fob constantly communicating with the vehicle. Their fix was the same one I told them owners are using - double clicking the key fob and keeping it out of range of the vehicle.
This just happened to me in the rain yesterday after they supposedly fixed it months ago. Trying to close it while moving usually works, but not this time so I was soaked along with the interior. The other fix of using the fob and "helping" the top move after the wings opened didn't work either. Gave up and started driving home in the rain and it all of a sudden started working. Not a really big deal since it's just water, but still very annoying. My detailer is going to refresh the leather seats on Thursday to address the water spots. I dried myself off without any water spots at all.
Just picked up my SL from the shop. My fear was that the top would close perfectly for them as it has been an intermittent issue until Sunday. There is nothing worse than "no problem found," when you know there is an issue. Fortunately the top showed its true colors and wouldn't close for them with either the tactile button or the slider switch. The header bows opened with either switch but that's as far as it would go. They performed the "rear control module software update" and so far it's working great. Hopefully no more issues. I'd recommend everyone get the update whether you've had problems with the top or not. I've attached a photo of the invoice where the rear control unit software code is listed.
Not great to have issues, but nothing beats a software update. We had a similar issue with our last R231 SL caused by an A-pillar sensor but ended up with the tech breaking the windshield...
Took delivery in Oct 22. After a few days, top would not close, until after multiple attempts. Took to dealer. They "adjusted" it, and released it two weeks later.
Needed to keep car on charger in garage due to low-battery alarms. I noted charging current was around 1.6 - 2.1 amps once battery was fully charged.
In May, I started using car again. Battery discharged to "critical" level in less than 24 hours, while car was parked (unlocked) outside home.
I started car and "critical" message cleared.
Two days later, I drove car about 65 miles, with the top down. I attempted to close top, to prepare to wash car. Top failed to close. I tried repeatedly, with engine running and off; powering down the vehicle, and powering it back up; etc. Mechanism would stop with two triangular trim flaps lifted, and error message on screen ordering me to continue the operation. (I had not stopped the operation, and was very careful to hold my finger steadily on the computer screen slide switch.) I released the slide switch, and slid the opposite direction, and the mechanism lowered the two trim flaps. Over and over again. On one occasion, I commanded an open, the mechanism stopped, and I exited the vehicle...and carefully wiggled the top support arms on both sides. I returned to vehicle, and attempted to close. No joy. I was careful not to attempt too many operations as that might overheat the little motors. And, hot motors produce less torque. After some more tries, the top went back up. I washed the car, put it in garage, and called the online MB service. Very polite person advised me that the top problem must be dealt with by dealer.
I took car to dealer (75 miles away), two weeks ago tomorrow.
Yesterday, I visited the dealer, and met with the GM, Sales Manager, and Shop Foreman. Everyone at dealer is professional, polite, caring, and concerned. Couldn't ask or expect anything better from folks.
Foreman said he installed a "software fix that is directly associated with the soft top." I asked him specifically what the fix does differently, that is, what was wrong with the software, that prevented the top from closing. He did not know exactly, but offered that the fix had to do with the computer display slide switch sensitivity. His info seems to imply that the factory believes everything is ok but some users must be clumsy in operating the slide switch.
I asked him if he was 100% sure that this software fix would eliminate the problem with closing the top, and he said, no, because it's software.
The sales manager added that they had tested it maybe 20 times and it works every time. I advised that is not the same as getting to the root of the problem, and being able to explain to the customer what the problem is.
I added that last fall when I picked up the car I figured there was a 50% chance of the problem reoccurring. (Of course it did as soon as I used the car again in the spring.)
And, that even though I'm advised the software fix was directly associated with the soft top, I'm only 75% convinced they actually solved the problem for once and for all. After all, they are not sure either.
Regarding the battery, about a week ago, I talked with the service advisor. She said they had parked the car, locked, and were waiting to see what the battery did. I told her my experience was that the battery would discharge rather quickly even when locked, but it would discharge rapidly if the car was left unlocked. Within 24 hours, I received a critical battery alarm on my phone ap. Evidently they unlocked the vehicle shortly after I called her.
I don't believe they touched the car again until early yesterday morning. The foreman opened the hood, and connected his charger around 8:15am. When I was there, around 3pm, I checked the ap and it still shows critical.
I looked at the charger display, and it showed battery about 95% charged.
Foreman is going to install an ammeter in the battery circuit, to see what the instantaneous current draw is; and he is going to also check the voltage periodically. Foreman asked me to let him know battery status from ap. This morning, I noted the battery still reports Critical, and sent them a photo.
I asked the foreman what state are they in in solving the battery problem. He advised they're "still in the testing stage." He wants to see at what voltage the battery triggers the critical alarm...and asked me to watch my phone ap for him and advise. So far, the critical alarm has not cleared, so if the battery is indeed charged, then the monitoring system is behind the times, still in the alarm state...and therefore unable to alarm again. Hmmm...
I had advised the foreman that our other four MB vehicles don't have this battery problem. He told me that's because they have computer systems called Star 2; but the SL63 has a computer system called Star 3...and Star 3 "wakes up more often." By waking up frequently, it draws the battery down fast.
I advised the GM that this car was nowhere ready for dealers and customers, and asked what info he was getting from MBUSA. He said that MBUSA they have solved both the top problem and the battery problem.
They assert that the top problem is solved by the software upgrade (but cannot offer "root cause.")
They assert that the battery problem is solved by their verbal advice to lock the car when you exit it.
I asked if that was in the instruction manual, or in delivery instructions, or in subsequent written communications, and the answers were no, no, no.
When I get the car back (when is indefinite), I will cycle the top frequently, measure the voltage and current myself continuously, and provide more data.
I would appreciate continuing to see more information about both these problems and other problems experienced by SL63 owners, and hope this helps others get to root cause and enjoy their new cars.
The dealer called and said they'd replaced the battery (just in case) and advised me to keep the car locked and the key at least 6-7 meters away from the car.
There's no mention to lock the car and keep the key 6-7 m away in the instruction manual, nor in any recall/service bulletin info that I know.
The dealer also advised that the communications between the car and the app have problems...and those problems lead to the app sending out messages that the battery is critically low, when the battery is in fact not.
The dealer advised that MB was working on a solution. I asked if the problem was with the car or with the app. Dealer advised it's a software defect in the car.
All this is verbal, so I may have missed or misunderstood something...and I'm a little hard of hearing!
Dealer also advised that when I use the app, I "wake up" the car (I didn't know cars slept). And that the car wakes up every hour when the key is nearby. And, when the car wakes up, it draws about 8 amperes of current from the battery.
I asked for how long the car draws 8 amps after waking up and the dealer said they don't know.
I asked if they were ready to release the car to me, and they said yes.
My wife dropped me off at the dealer. They had the car up front and ready for me. They tested the top and said it worked fine.
I left with the top down.
On the way, I wanted to call my wife, to update her, I pushed the voice instruction button and no joy. I pushed the phone off-hook button and no joy.
I could however make a call from the main display.
When I reached my destination 50 miles away, I put the top up successfully.
I powered down the car, opened the door, closed the door, and lit it up again...in the hope that a "ctrl-alt-delete" sort of action might reset the system enough to allow the phone buttons on the right side of the steering wheel to work again.
No joy.
I wrote the dealer, and haven't heard back yet.
The car IS a joy to drive, and the dealer is fantastic.
Bottom lines:
1. More experience and more user reports will reveal whether the manufacturer has fixed the top problem.
2. I'm still confused by the battery messages and state of charge of the battery. I will do my own monitoring of battery current and share results under various conditions, including locked, unlocked, key near, key far.
3. I'm curious if anyone else has experienced the phone buttons on the right hand side of the steering wheel not working. (The audio slide that mutes and controls volume is working, by the way.)
4. The dealer has been accessible, responsible, and engaged. I'm grateful for that.
I measured current consumption using a Fluke 87 multimeter and a Fluke i30 Hall Effect clamp transducer.
I clipped the jaw of the current transducer around the negative lead of the battery (in the trunk) and carefully closed the trunk lid on the transducer cable.
I plugged the cable into the multimeter, and set the meter to measure Max Min and Avg current.
I locked the car by pushing the lock button twice on the electronic key, and placed the key about 10 meters from the car.
After 4.5 hours, I read the meter:
Max: 32 amps
Min: 0 amps
Avg: 0.28 amps
The 96 amp-hour battery would be fully discharged at 0.28 amps after 14 days.
A fully discharged battery is unlikely to start the car.
I measured current consumption using a Fluke 87 multimeter and a Fluke i30 Hall Effect clamp transducer.
I clipped the jaw of the current transducer around the negative lead of the battery (in the trunk) and carefully closed the trunk lid on the transducer cable.
I plugged the cable into the multimeter, and set the meter to measure Max Min and Avg current.
I locked the car by pushing the lock button twice on the electronic key, and placed the key about 10 meters from the car.
After 4.5 hours, I read the meter:
Max: 32 amps
Min: 0 amps
Avg: 0.28 amps
The 96 amp-hour battery would be fully discharged at 0.28 amps after 14 days.
A fully discharged battery is unlikely to start the car.
It should be interesting to note that when I went to India last December, the battery was fully charged on my SL63. I locked the car and moved the key to an area perhaps 10 or 15 meters away. When I returned a month later the car started easily with no problems, and no dire battery warnings. I have documented elsewhere on this site my dealings with battery problems and my car beginning from last September. For me, locking the car and keeping a distance away has been fine for a long term. For day to day driving I merely lock the car in the garage and put the key in the kitchen 10 feet away.
'22 AMG SL55;'23 Porsche Cayenne S Coupe;'13 Porsche Boxster S
I have left my car in the garage Unlocked for a week or more without any issues starting the car. The only time I have received the critical battery messages on the app were when the car was in the accessory position and I was working on the car for an extended period of time (e.g., cleaning it with the radio on). I do not receive the critical battery message when I am away from home and the car is unlocked. I do receive notifications on my phone that the car is unlocked.
Thank you both for sharing your experiences. I believe they're in line with the current-draw measurements of a locked car.
Your car starting after a month implies an average current draw of around 0.1 amp or less.
I'm still going to keep the car on a trickle charger when it's not going to be used for more than a week, to keep the battery in tiptop condition.
Some tests indicated periods of time where the car was drawing essentially nil current.
It appears that keeping it locked and keeping the key far away are important for low current consumption, as you, others, and the dealer explain.
The dealer also explained that the car has "Star 3" and the older ones we own have "Star 2" systems...and "Star 3" systems do use more current in the background.
And, the dealer explained that the phone app system generates false messages due to a software problem in the vehicle that affects the data the app is expecting. I've never had a problem starting the car after receiving a message, and I don't believe I ever measured terminal voltage less than 12.0.
I'm going to guess that the reason the car display issued a warning after the car sat (unlocked) for about 20 hours is related to the reason the app gets bad data on occasion.
The dealer said a fix is underway, and will be transmitted out to cars in a month or so.
I'd love to be measuring the current when a software update is sent out!!
Finally, the top remedies seem to be working! No more issues with the top closing!!!
I believe that the top-not-closing software updates made by the dealer last week are successful.
I haven't had a problem starting the SL63 after I started using the doubleclick locking approach, which I understand tells the car to go to sleep and stop communicating with the outside world, plus keeping the fob 30 feet away. Detailing hand wash each week still causes low battery warnings during the cleaning process, but the car has always started even with the dire repeated warnings. Absolutely love the car while putting up with the occasional top-won't-close issue. Happened in the rain last week so the interior and I got soaked. Just water though so all was well.
Good!
Has your dealer installed the software update for the top-not-closing problem yet?
(I'm asking because I'm sure hoping that that update fixes the problem, and would be interested to know if you had the update and still had the top not close.)
Thank you!!
Regarding battery draw, I measured a 2023 Ford Bronco, and the current averaged around 0.07 amperes...quite a bit less than the SL63, which is averaging about 4x that. Must be a lot more computers!!!
I’ve had the same issue with the top getting stuck in the open position. It’s a software issue. They can install an update to resolve the issue. Sometimes they will replace a set of butterfly hinges as part of the fix, but it seems to be just a software error.
06-04-2023, 09:15 PM
