UncleSnakeE63

Hi All,
I am the proud new owner of a 2011 e63 AMG. The car is great except I am experiencing a weird electrical gremlin type situation. I was hoping you fine people could possibly help me figure out what the issue is.
From time to time the car will say that its not in PARK, and I will not be able to move the shifter at all. Sometimes it fine, sometimes its bad. I discovered that if you disconnect the ground wire from the aux battery, it will work like a champ. I took it into a shop and had them look at it, and he said that it could be the ISM is going out. However there are no other symptoms of a bad ISM. No codes, no warnings, no message telling me to not change gears and go to a mechanic. The only issue is the "Car is not in PARK" warning. Had anybody else had any experiences like this? Also, am I risking any damage by driving with the ground cable of the aux battery disconnected? Please let me know if any more info is needed.

Thanks!

PeterUbers

https://mbworld.org/forums/w212-amg/...park-help.html

UncleSnakeE63

So you're saying its the shifter issue mentioned in the thread you linked?
Is there any danger to leaving the ground wire off the aux battery until I can get this fixed?

PeterUbers

No danger in aux batt concept - just will lose some creature comforts (brake hold) etc

I think it's your shifter, yes.

UncleSnakeE63

Ok cool. Thank you very much

UncleSnakeE63

Hi, so I talked to the guy I bought the car from, and he said he recently installed a new shifter himself, but that it may still need to be programmed to the car? Is this really a thing? What would happen if the new shifter were not correctly programmed to the car? Could it be causing the issues I mentioned above? Also, Im kinda pissed because seeing how he recently replaced the shifter himself, he obviously knew the car had some kind of problem - I have not asked him yet WHY he changed the old one though. And now Im just learning about this problem after I have paid for the car. Very frustrating.

PeterUbers

i do not know programming to be a thing; I understood it to be plug and play. Doesn't make sense for it to work intermittently if it needs to be programmed. He may have installed a used/defective one .. who knows unless he's willing to share this info.

also have you scanned the car for codes, with icarsoft or another appropriate scanner?

the previous owner changed the shifter - yeah - if you can, ask him why? Did he spill something on it versus did it just start failing ... there may be another issue here than the shifter

brake light switch... modules in the car (as your mechanic suggested)

UncleSnakeE63

Scanned for codes both with an at home scanner, and then at the shop by a scanner that can detect the MB codes and absolutely nothing came up, which is why I think its probably not the ISM or some other sensor.

UncleSnakeE63

HELP!!
Hello again - bumping this thread because I am in dire need of assistance.

So, as stated above I have the 2011 e63. If you read above it had been having some off and on electrical issues. They have been coming and going with no rhyme or reason. I have been having to roll around with the aux battery ground wire unplugged, and everything was working fine for a few months. Well, the other day the proverbial s hit the fan. My wife was at the car wash and the car got stuck there. It started fine, but would not shift into gear out of Park. And I got the Red message saying "Service Required Do Not Shift Gears - Visit Dealer". Mind you, this was with the aux battery unplugged. I then plugged it back in, and the message went away, but the car would still not go into gear. I tried absolutely everything I have read on here to get it to move out of the car wash but nothing worked. So, I had to end up getting it towed to a shop, which is were it is now. I just talked to them and they said its probably something electrical, possibly the ISM (which I mentioned in my original post). Also, I forgot to mention that occasionally when getting into the car, a Red message would pop up saying "Vehicle not in P" as I was sitting down in the drivers seat. Also, 2 times it would not go into gear, but I shut it down and restarted and it went in gear fine.

Does anyone here have any idea what could be going on? I know all this stuff that has been happening is all tied to one issues. I just want to be 100% sure that the ISM is the culprit, before they come back telling me it needs to be replaced or something like that.
Thanks!

UncleSnakeE63

Welp - just got off the phone with the shop - they confirmed that the ISM needs to be replaced, and of course since they’re not the MB dealer I’m going to have to get it towed to the dealer then pay for them to diagnose the problem again and then pay for a new ISM. Sigh….anybody know roughly how much all this costs to get fixed at the dealer? This anti theft stuff they do is B.S.

UncleSnakeE63

OK, so I’ve got an update on my ISM drama. It’s been quite frustrating…still don’t have my car back yet, 2 weeks later.

I was able to successfully obtain the new replacement ISM directly from my local San Antonio Merc Dealership. So far, so good. I took the part to the shop that had my car and they installed it the next day. This is where the fun begins. They realized that they could not successfully code the new ISM to my car. The shop happens to have a partner who does programming that they can’t handle, as the shop my car is at has an AutoLogic system, which apparently cannot code ISMs.

I get my car towed to this new shop and they begin the process to code the new ISM to the car. “Houston - we have a problem” - apparently whatever system they use does not have the correct data file for my car to code it, so they have to download the correct file from a remote server (does anybody know what kinda system this could be?). This was on Friday. Well today they tell me they got the file, but they’re saying Mercedes gave me the wrong ISM. They’re saying it should have been a 722.7 model and not the 722.9 that they gave me. This is not correct as 722.9 IS in fact the correct part. It’s been such a ridiculous back and forth. I should have just got it all done at the dealership to begin with instead of trying to save a few hundred bucks. Does anybody here have any insight into what I should do next? Possibly what system these guys are using? How to get the ISM to pair with my car? I’m at my wits end here. I just want my AMG back

PeterUbers

How much cash are you out right now?

my vote is take it to dealer if this Indy cannot guarantee the new ISM would be appropriate for the car and able to be programmed

get that in writing

UncleSnakeE63

with the part, towing, diagnostic and everything I’m 1400 in right now. They keep telling me it’ll get fixed “tomorrow”. The ISM is on the car, and with the shop who’s coding it. They have till EOD tomorrow before I’m getting it towed to the dealership and getting it handled. I should have done it to begin with honestly. I’ve learned an important lesson.

PeterUbers

$1400 in a month or two will be forgotten; get it fixed at the dealer and enjoy your awesome ride

UncleSnakeE63

I know. Sunk cost fallacy. I need to just cut my losses and get the dealer to do it. Like I said they have till end of day tomorrow to fix it or to the dealer it goes. SMH.

fallen

👆👆 That precisely!
Let's hope the issue gets resolved soon.

UncleSnakeE63

Car is currently at the local MB dealership with an active work order. I should have it back in a day or 2. Should have not been a dumb *** and took it to them to begin with. Lesson learned! Neve again!

UncleSnakeE63

OMG this nightmare will never end. Going on over 3 weeks now. So, for anyone who is interested, I had the ISM on my car replaced and coded at the dealership here in town. They told me yesterday that it was ready to go. So…today the shop that I originally had it at went to pick it up and get it ready for delivery. The dealership tested it out, drove it, it was fine. The third party shop drove it back to their shop, everything was fine….until he went to put it back in park and it would not go into Park. It’s not throwing any codes currently. Previously they could not communicate with the ISM to put it in P that way, but now they can talk to the ISM and override it to put it in P. So it’s back at the original shop and they have no idea what’s happening. They’re thinking it’s some kind of short in a wire somewhere or something like that.

God, I hope it does not have to go back into the dealer again.

PeterUbers

here to support you man, this sucks for sure

UncleSnakeE63

Thanks man, I really appreciate it. This is utter insanity. I’m starting to think it wasn’t the ISM after all and I just wasted a lot of money replacing it for no reason. What I don’t understand is the dealer fixed it, gave it a clean bill of health and released it. It’s throwing no codes. Does that, to you, indicate what it could be? The shop is saying some sort of short in a wire somewhere maybe? That sounds possible but IDK at this point.

Would a dead/low voltage aux battery cause something like this? Because I had to roll with the aux battery unhooked for a while. Perhaps it needs to be replaced?

PeterUbers

At this point you may need benz ninja ... there's possibly something deep in the vehicle that just won't throw a code .. bad ground point etc. something just enough to fuss with the resistance and offset the signals. You did have the shifter plate changed right? The original owner said he replaced it also but you replaced it again right?

not shifting into park is a well known issue with bad shifter plate as you and I have discussed before

UncleSnakeE63

I have a new shifter plate, new shifter completely actually, new ISM, both recently coded to the vehicle. There are no codes, no nothing. I just don’t know what to do. The shop it’s at now is doing a complete electrical diagnostic as we speak. After that I have no clue. I’m just defeated at this point. Never in my life have I had to experience something like this with a vehicle.

PeterUbers

Is it worth letting the dealer bring this to resolution?

hang in - they may find a bad ground or wire etc

UncleSnakeE63

Thats what gets me now. The dealer had it for a week, did their thing, and gave it a good bill of health. The dealer fixed it and test drove it and released it. Unfortunately if it’s not fixed tomorrow it’s going back.

PeterUbers

what am I missing - does the dealer not warranty their work?