E Class Coupe - Parking sensors intermittent fault

[mathoo19]

Hi Guys,

I have been having a little intermittent issue with my sensors on my E class coupe.
Long story short.. parking sensors work but now and then (at least once a day) they dont come on at all. No amber or red light on. no sound.
I then need to either put it back into Neutral and back to Reverse/Drive and sometimes turn the car off and back on and then they work again.

I took the car to MB twice now but they cant replicate the fault and made me feel like I was making it up. They also suggested I bring it to them when they aren't working but i don't think that would work as it usually happens when I want to reverse out of my drive etc (and I don't fancy driving in reverse down the motorway )

Does anyone know what it could be?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated

 

[Ray1888]

Had a similar problem with my A5,after lots of rain water had got into the main reverse sensor unit? It was located behind rear inner wheel arch?

 

[mapleleaf]

Had same on my 13 plate E350. Mb dealer tried to fix but failed. As it was intermittant and a lease car, when it went back I didnt say anything . Got a shiney new E63 To replace it

 

[jayla]

I have the same issue.

The parking system will either work normally or have zero lights on at all, depending on what it chooses to do after starting the car with the key. Changing gear (automatic), neutral - whatever - makes no difference. Only switching the car off and on again *may* get it working, but rarely does. It seems entirely random.

Has anybody fixed this? Is there a service bulletin TSB?

 

[mathoo19]

yeh its a pain. It only happens like 10% of the time but still.

Ray1888.. I checked the car out. No water. its very random and works most of the time. This morning they worked, at lunch time not a beep no orange lights..so I had to put it in Park and then back to Reverse and it fixed it, and on my way home everything was all good again.

thanks mapleleaf...that made me feel so much better I wish I could afford an e63. maybe one day..only have 34 payments left on my PCP aha

Either way, I love my car. Just want these sensors fixed somehow.

Anybody?

 

[richard]

There's a know fault where just the ready lights light up but nothing else works. It happens when the battery voltage drops too low when starting (below 7V for 85ms), which can happen if battery voltage below 11.2v
- no fault codes logged in this case. Applies with 207/212 from MY2014 and the 117. Needs the firmware updating in the Park Assist controller.

Its only likely to be early cars affected .. TIPS: GI54.65-P-056620

Richard

 

[jayla]

With mine, there are either zero parking-assistance lights on the units or they work as normal, no in-between. Suspect an ECU/controller issue, rather than a failed sensor, but hopefully a STAR hookup tomorrow will detail the reason.

 

[mathoo19]

With mine, there are either zero parking-assistance lights on the units or they work as normal, no in-between. Suspect an ECU/controller issue, rather than a failed sensor, but hopefully a STAR hookup tomorrow will detail the reason.

same as mine. either working properly or no lights at all - as it would be when in park or with car being off.

but I guess no fault codes get logged as MB in chester didnt find anything

 

[bh13coupe]

My R-class has the double red issue. I understand the system will fail if one sensor isnt playing ball. the diagnostic at my indie is pointing to the controller but I am not convinced. I have learned to rely on old fashioned spacial awareness and choose my spaces carefully and I dont miss them. My E-Coupe has the occasional random beep which doesnt help but on the whole they have behaved so far.

 

[mathoo19]

and its happened again... apologies for my photography skills :fail

 

[jayla]

and its happened again... apologies for my photography skills :fail

That's exactly the problem I have. Do you have the distance warning issue too, in which on the motorway the sound will alarm almost always when driving past anything which may be on the left lane to your car, with nothing in front of you? It's irritating and requires disabling to allow a motorway drive, sadly.

 

[jayla]

The software updates performed on the ECU and parking-sensor module, as well as the distance warning module, appear to have entirely fixed the parking sensor parking issue.

The distance warning still sounds at times but whereas it is every 5 minutes or so now, depending on the busy-ness of the road ahead - previously it was sounding at almost any object on the motorway.

Would suggest you get your car in if you have a similar problem to mine.

 

[Diesel Benz]

Obviously a useful SW update but the distance warning should not come every 5 minutes unless you really drive too close to other cars.

There are scenarios like a bend before a sign at the centre of the road where the car does not expect a late steering action being normal but assumes you would be driving straight. Unexplained warnings should not come more often than a couple of times per year, most often from some external RF interference.

Bumper radars tend to fail from moisture/corrosion on the W212, perhaps the same issue here.

 

[mathoo19]

i dont have any issues while driving (motorways etc) its just the parking part gives me some problems now and then. Very frustrating especially when MB tell me that there is nothing they can do about it. meh

 

[Diesel Benz]

i dont have any issues while driving (motorways etc) its just the parking part gives me some problems now and then. Very frustrating especially when MB tell me that there is nothing they can do about it. meh

I was not sure from the previous discussion if your control unit SW had been updated (as Richard explained)? Or did you just assume the SW being fine if the dealer did not find anything?

Quite often you should print the TIPS document and bring it to the workshop, then they pay attention to the issue.

If the SW is current, I'm sure the control unit has stored fault codes. The dealer might not care about stored codes if no current fault exists. Perhaps time to visit another workshop, preferably one where you can see the diagnosis results yourself or at least get a complete print.

Do you have the basic Parktronic with ultrasound sensors or do you have some lane assist, collision warning or other options that work with radar sensors?

 

[mathoo19]

I have the collision warning and park assist but no lane assist. All seem to work ok.
No idea if anything got updated..Im not smart enough to ask stuff like that aha

I asked them if there were any old codes and he said no but all I got to see was a little safety check sheet afterwards telling me that my tyres are getting low...

Maybe I need to go back and try it all again with the info you gave me or call some other dealer and see if they are willing to help more.
I got the feeling that inchape MB in chester didnt care much as I got the car from Lincoln (Inchape asked me if I spoke to Lincoln about fixing it but I dont see why I should drive back to Lincoln now)

I shall call them tomorrow morning..

 

[Frostytel]

There's a know fault where just the ready lights light up but nothing else works. It happens when the battery voltage drops too low when starting (below 7V for 85ms), which can happen if battery voltage below 11.2v
- no fault codes logged in this case. Applies with 207/212 from MY2014 and the 117. Needs the firmware updating in the Park Assist controller.

Its only likely to be early cars affected .. TIPS: GI54.65-P-056620

Richard

Where can ì find a copy of the TIPS Document