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New poster and owner of 2022 SL55 with 5,000 miles. Had battery issues early on that appear to be resolved. However I just experienced a malfunction where the top will not close? The two closure pieces swing out of the way in preparation for top to come up but it doesn’t. I have nothing in the trunk that might interfere and I am getting no information on an error. I have tried both the button on the bottom of screen and the digital slide. Fortunately I have been able to get the closure pieces to go back into place so top is fully down. I have a service appointment in 3 weeks to take care of the fuel pump recall but prefer not to wait that long to close the top. Anyone have a similar issue that they were able to resolve without a service tech?
Make sure your car has had the update for the top closure. Mine starting having issues and an update was available and it has been fine since; mine was done last year.
Welcome to the forum, bobtigerfan72.
Are you using the key fob to control the convertible top?
The center display seems less reliable to complete a whole open or close cycle because of the touchscreen.
Is the touchscreen clean?
How do I determine if my SL55 has received the software update on the top opening closing? On the app I only see three two updates received and one for multi media system pending. None appear to address the soft top operation.
I have a 2023 SL43 and have had several issues where the top didn't open or close properly. Usually I can get it to work by using a different method (i.e. if the touchscreen isn't working I'll use the key fob or vice versa) and a couple times I've just turned the car off and when I restarted it a few minutes later it was working. Annoying issue but I've never had it be a long-term problem.
2025 BMW Z4 M40i (Manual); 2025 Lexus NXH Luxury; 2021 Porsche Macan S; 2023 Audi Q5
Originally Posted by bobtigerfan72
How do I determine if my SL55 has received the software update on the top opening closing? On the app I only see three two updates received and one for multi media system pending. None appear to address the soft top operation.
Pretty sure that update would be a dealer installed one, not an over-the-air update.
Touch slide on screen, button on bottom of screen, nor key fob would close the top on my 22 SL55. Took to dealer for top problem and two recalls. Got car back on day 3. Dealer wrote on repair paperwork that an improperly installed pigtail connected directly to battery caused arching that drained battery to where there was insufficient amperes to close the top. They had to re-learn the soft top software. Upon quizzing the service tech about connection to battery he said one of the eyelets must have been able to move enough to create arching that slowly (over 5 months) drained down the battery. One problem with tech analysis. I kept the MB trickle connected 24/7 and it was showing green fully charged each time I drove the car and tried unsuccessfully to close top. The arching, however slight as there was no burnt marks on cover laying on battery, could have erased the software but I don’t buy the battery was low since trickle charger always went green after replugging to car after 6-12 hours.
I have read on this forum where many have connected trickle charger directly to battery so hood did not have to be raised. I have yet to hear about any soft top issues that resulted. For now I’m back to charging using jump connections under hood which is wholly unacceptable if maintainer must be connected each time after use to ensure no critical low battery issues.
Touch slide on screen, button on bottom of screen, nor key fob would close the top on my 22 SL55. Took to dealer for top problem and two recalls. Got car back on day 3. Dealer wrote on repair paperwork that an improperly installed pigtail connected directly to battery caused arching that drained battery to where there was insufficient amperes to close the top. They had to re-learn the soft top software. Upon quizzing the service tech about connection to battery he said one of the eyelets must have been able to move enough to create arching that slowly (over 5 months) drained down the battery. One problem with tech analysis. I kept the MB trickle connected 24/7 and it was showing green fully charged each time I drove the car and tried unsuccessfully to close top. The arching, however slight as there was no burnt marks on cover laying on battery, could have erased the software but I don’t buy the battery was low since trickle charger always went green after replugging to car after 6-12 hours.
I have read on this forum where many have connected trickle charger directly to battery so hood did not have to be raised. I have yet to hear about any soft top issues that resulted. For now I’m back to charging using jump connections under hood which is wholly unacceptable if maintainer must be connected each time after use to ensure no critical low battery issues.
Thank you for the thorough report. Please keep us all informed.
‘24 Maserati GranTurismo Trofeo;'22 AMG SL55;'23 Porsche Cayenne S Coupe;'13 Porsche Boxster S
Originally Posted by bobtigerfan72
Touch slide on screen, button on bottom of screen, nor key fob would close the top on my 22 SL55. Took to dealer for top problem and two recalls. Got car back on day 3. Dealer wrote on repair paperwork that an improperly installed pigtail connected directly to battery caused arching that drained battery to where there was insufficient amperes to close the top. They had to re-learn the soft top software. Upon quizzing the service tech about connection to battery he said one of the eyelets must have been able to move enough to create arching that slowly (over 5 months) drained down the battery. One problem with tech analysis. I kept the MB trickle connected 24/7 and it was showing green fully charged each time I drove the car and tried unsuccessfully to close top. The arching, however slight as there was no burnt marks on cover laying on battery, could have erased the software but I don’t buy the battery was low since trickle charger always went green after replugging to car after 6-12 hours.
I have read on this forum where many have connected trickle charger directly to battery so hood did not have to be raised. I have yet to hear about any soft top issues that resulted. For now I’m back to charging using jump connections under hood which is wholly unacceptable if maintainer must be connected each time after use to ensure no critical low battery issues.
I have my trickle charger connected to the battery in the trunk. During one of my visits to MB for my low battery issue, in addition to all the software updates the tech moved the negative wire for the trickle charger from the negative battery post to a grounding point on the car. The trickle charger seamed to work better afterwards.
Could you post a photo of the negative ground connection? My dealer is reticent to install directly to battery so I will have to do it myself. I also could not completely remove the nut from the positive post to allow the eyelet to slip on post and be tightened against the nut. I had to settle for just pinching the eyelet between the loosened nut and post collar. It felt snug however dealer said it was this connection that was arching leading to soft top failure.
Does anyone know if removing collar from positive post of battery to facilitate connecting trickle charger will cause programming to be lost?
‘24 Maserati GranTurismo Trofeo;'22 AMG SL55;'23 Porsche Cayenne S Coupe;'13 Porsche Boxster S
Here are pictures of my current installation for the MB trickle charger. If I recall I had a similar issue with the negative terminal bracket bolt (I could not get it to fully back out.) What I did was cut the eyelet that I used on my trickle charger pigtail from about 11pm to 1pm so that the remaining part of the eyelet got around the bolt and then I was about to retighten the nut on the bracket for the negative battery terminal. As you can see from the closeup, my positive terminal eyelet is intact (the bolt backed out completely - I was able to install the eyelet and tighten the terminal bracket bolt). The dealer moved the negative connection to a body panel under the top right corner of the photo.
Thanks for the photos. Very helpful. Do you know if dealer used a self tapping screw to attach negative eyelet to chassis or was there a bolt available to attach the eyelet?
I noticed the eyelet pigtail that you used had a connector that mated with the connector on the MB trickle charger. The one that I was given on the recall had only an alligator clips pigtail and one with a male plug for a 12v receptacle. The eyelet pigtail connector that came with the CTEK branded charger did not mate with MB connector. I had to buy the eyelet pigtail with a 12v receptacle on Amazon so it would mate with male plug pigtail with MB.
‘24 Maserati GranTurismo Trofeo;'22 AMG SL55;'23 Porsche Cayenne S Coupe;'13 Porsche Boxster S
The service advisor told me to cut off the connector for the 12V receptacle (my SL does not have a 12V outlet in the trunk). You can use the alligator clips but you won't be able to close the black cover over the battery. I doubt that the dealer put a new hole in the chassis to secure the negative wire for the trickle charger. I took apart some of the trim pieces in the trunk but I couldn't see the attachment point without removing more trim pieces (which I didn't want to do).
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