I own a 2001 ML320 that has been trouble free . . . until now. I presently own two other Mercedes that are and have been excellent vehicles over a period of 19 years.
The 4 year warranty of the ML320 is about to expire and the dealership's service technicians do not have a clue as to what is causing the malfunction(s) of the remote locking system. The dealership has made 4 unsuccessful attempts at fixing the problem(s).
The malfunction is intermittent and can be described as follows:
1) Inability to lock the doors after the car is parked, the lights are off, seat belts off and the ignition key has been removed.2) The interior chime (ignition and or seat belts warning signal) sounds off after opening the driver's door, the car is parked, the lights are off, seat belts off and the ignition key has been removed. The vehicle cannot be locked with the remotes.
3) After driving the car back home from the dealership, the doors were locked with the remote. Moments later we tried to unlock the doors and the remotes (2) would not unlock the doors. The dealership advisor told us over the phone to unlock the doors using the key (not the remote). When this was done, the door unlocked but the theft alarm was set off by itself and turned silent only when it timed out.The dealer has replaced the driver door jam switch, the ignition switch, driver's door latch assembly and the ignition key tumbler.
My next move is to setup a meeting with the Dealership's Service Director, the Service Advisor and a Mercedes Benz Representative.
If anybody has any good suggestions as to the cause and solution of the problems, please let me know. Please post your replies to these newsgroups and to my e-mail address.