Our 2003 E500, with 48,000 miles, just started showing the following malfunction message : "MALFUNCTION ELECTRICAL CONSUMERS SWITCHED OFF". Can anyone tell me what this malfunction message means, and how serious the problem likely is? Thanks.
We had the same problem with a 2003 SL500 earlier this year with about 43000 miles. The message was intermittent, but eventually all lights lit up on dash and the car went into limp home mode--would not shift out of first gear, when it would even start. Luckily I was only about a mile from home on a Friday night. MB Roadside Assistance arranged for the car to be transported, under warranty, to the dealer on Saturday. The dealer replaced the battery and the OVP relay under warranty and all has been fine since then.
I just had the same malfunction on the same year/model car with 43k miles. Malfunction disappeared in a short time after a recycling (turn off/on) of the computer. This happened after the car sat for five days when I was out of town. I beleive it is a minimal battery and that was the suggestion also from my dealer. I'm bringing the car in on Thursday to check it out. A curious side story to this dealer visit is the fact that my factory warranty expires on the 30th of this month, one more week. My maintenamnce system on the car tells me I have 2800 miles to my next service which MB tells me can get quite expensive, possibly over $1K or more. I asked if they'd do it at this mileage and was told not until mileage due shows 2k miles or less. Guess who's going on an 800 mile drive this week? Silly games, isn't it? Howard
This message could appear without any issue in the car itself, e.g. if electrical consumers are used extensively and car is idling or not running and the alternator does not produce enough power to run the consumers (head lights, seat heating, rear window heating etc.). This way the car protects itself the battery running flat.
If however the indication appears like "in the middle of something" without an obvious reason or generally if it goes off by cycling the car off/on, it is likely a recall issue. Alternator regulators have been changed, don't remember if other parts were involved but the control unit software update should be the main fix.
I'm quite surprised if the car is in the US (specifically in the US but even if it was not) and the recall stuff has not been done. You could check from your dealer.
The car has two batteries which have been a bit of an issue too (one for the SBC brakes, one normal battery at the back. Not sure if the batteries are bad or if the charging system issues have made the batteries fail).
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.