Z_de_Suisse

I just experienced a new problem that I didn't find listed in any other topic.

Last weekend I was in the mountains where we had pretty cold temperatures. It did snow all night and in the morning my E63 was covered in snow. Temperature was around -5°C (23° F).
Motor started like usual, but when I wanted to move the stock from P to D, it staid stuck in P, and the ESP light went on with the warning of ESP inoperative, as well as runflat indicator.
I tried several combination like braking (got the message "Hold function disable"), handbrake on, off, motor on, off, ESP off, on, etc ... each time trying to move the stick during 5 minutes until the it suddently moved to D. ESP light stayed on.
I drove 10 to 20 miles with the light on, arrived where I was going, switched off the engine, waited 5 minutes and restarted the engine ... no more problem, ESP light gone and stick moving normally.

Took the car back in the evening, temperature around 3 to 5°C (37 to 42°F), no problem.

Next morning, same temperature (-5°C / 23°F), same problem again, few minutes playing around with different combination and suddenly the stick moves but the ESP light stay on.

In the evening, same scenario, temperature around 3 to 5°C (37 to 42°F), no problem again.


What the hell is going on ? Is the stick and the ESP the same problem or just a coincidence that these 2 happened at the same time for the 1st time ?

I did spot several topics talking about the Steering Angle Sensor, one about cold temperature and battery potentially causing problems. There is also a lot of documentation on gearbox blocked in P. But nothing about those 2 at the same time.

Anybody having an idea ?

SheriffDep

Never heard of this issue and on my second 63 myself. However not really experienced that cod of temps either. It might might might possibly be a low battery, the small one that could be causing this. Just a thought, anytime ESP and other things start rearing their ugly head it almost always seems to be the small battery.

Now in SC the temps this week have been colder. What I had happen was after driving the vehicle quite a ways, I stopped at a store and when I came out I started the vehicle: It started like you would think a elec motor would, immediate start, no cranking, no turning over, just immediately running at 600rpm. It was weird enough to surprise me. Then third stop it did it again, and then coughed and stopped. Then re-cranked , coughed and stopped. Third time started up like cold start, then fell into a smooth idle. Ran totally fine ever since. But that was my weird cold issue so far. Also noticed the left front starting to squeak a little getting in and out. Likely I am gaining weight and its groaning LOL

Z_de_Suisse

Could the battery cause the problem with the shifter ?

I did not know I had 2 batteries on my E63 ... It was clear on the SL55, but on the E !? Where is small one ?

Z_de_Suisse

There's only 1 battery on a '07 E63, I checked under the hood and there is nothing there.

And the battery in the trunk only had 12.1v after a night and a day without moving, tonight only 11.9v left, so probably a dead battery. Maybe this is influencing the brake sensort and creates the problem with the shifter ?

Critter

Yes Z, battery is toast, this must be the orig?
Another point you may wish to check is see if the brake lights go on when you go to change gears, the switch cold be cold enough that it sticks and the signal to allow the shifter out of park is not made, just sayin.
Yes only one battery, the dealership also said I had two
Running an Interstate AGM for a couple years, never have any codes on these cars.
Sleeping now on smart chargers!

Z_de_Suisse

Battery was changed, let's see if problem comes back. It didn't on a 300 miles trip yesterday... crossing fingers !

Z_de_Suisse

Just came back from a long trip to France and experienced again the same problem.

On Friday, after 400 miles driving without any problem, the ESP light went on as well as the run flat inoperative message. As I was almost arrived I did continue to drive for 10 miles. Restarted the engine right after the arrival, no more problems.
Saturday morning, ESP light and gearbox blocked in P. After a few attempt, it worked again. No more problem for the whole day.
Sunday, no problem.
Monday, Started fine, after a few miles, ESP light is on again. A few hours later, I restrat the car, gearbox is stucked again in P. Restarted the engine several time until it was fine again. No more problem for the rest of the 400 miles I did on the way back.

So, now I know it's not the battery (I changed it a month ago and the problem occured after 400 miles driving), it's not the temperature which was mild when the problem occured (15°C) ... What can it be ! Brake pedal sensor ? Wheel position sensor ?

Z_de_Suisse

I continue on my monologue !

The potential source of the problem:
- Speed sensor: Could be as it interact with the ESP, but if it was faulty I should get the ABS light as well which is not the case.
- Brake pedal sensor: Maybe, but I did not get the "visit workshop" message for the barkes
- Steering wheel position: Most likely option

Any other ideas ? I will try to pull the codes out of it, but that's not easy as I need to have the equipement with me when the problems occurs, otherwise it gets erased.

Z_de_Suisse

For the sake of any other person getting the same problem I will conclude this thread.

Problem occured again a few days ago, after almost a year without any problem, as I was on my way to my Merc dealer to replace a cracked windshild. They were able to witness the problem as my stick was stucked on the dealer's parking.

Conclusion : brake sensor A001 545 67 09 in default. Easy to replace (0.3 of an hour) and cheap (15.8€ excl VAT here in France).

Dublinoh

Good on you for posting the solution. See to many threads that ops don't bother to conclude.

4themasses

Had the same issue with an E63 I only had for 2 weeks. Locked up shifter occasionally and ESP lights going off. Oddly enough seemed temperature sensitive also. Brake switch was root cause. Easy to replace (you tube video) and cheap part. Common MB issue.