Malfunction go to workshop

[jjo]

fact, that for most people this message is a doom of death

Again, this is your perception, not a fact. You don't have data to back it up, which is why I call it fear mongering.
I'm all for educating people, but again, the yellow error message can be harmless (and in many cases it is). And yes, I waited 2 years until I've found an expert Mercedes specialist who cleared to codes for £50. I could not justify spending £144 at the local dealer who have incompetent staff anyway. Plus, the car was charging and driving ok, all I had to do was pressing the OK button every time after turning ignition on.
It's just silly assuming that every yellow error message refers to the motor being on its way out, without knowing what error codes are causing it.
Having said that, I get that you had bad experience and honestly really sorry about the issues with your motor or about everyone else's who had to go through this.

 

[lensovet]

Again, this is your perception, not a fact. You don't have data to back it up, which is why I call it fear mongering.

This goes both ways. I have the data of posts on this forum and my personal experience. You have your own anecdote. That’s it.

But if you want to talk about facts, the fact is that this message can mean any number of things. You can play the lottery and get one of two prizes

- wait two years to save £100 and discover that it was nothing
- wait two years to save £100 and then be on the hook for paying £14k

Let’s say the probability of the latter is 1%? You still end up losing money overall. Those are pretty abysmal odds.

 

[jjo]

This goes both ways. I have the data of posts on this forum and my personal experience. You have your own anecdote. That’s it.

But if you want to talk about facts, the fact is that this message can mean any number of things. You can play the lottery and get one of two prizes

- wait two years to save £100 and discover that it was nothing
- wait two years to save £100 and then be on the hook for paying £14k

Let’s say the probability of the latter is 1%? You still end up losing money overall. Those are pretty abysmal odds.

You forget one thing: I kept checking the speed sensor every few months and the car was driving just fine.
Also, if I went to the dealership on day one, they would have given me a false diagnosis instead of just clear the error codes.
Most likely they would have told me I had to get my onboard charger replaced at £5-6k (as it was a charger related issue, with the charging light beside the connection flashing red while charging). So no, going to the dealership is no help whatsoever. It wasn't about saving money, it was about not wasting money on a useless service. And even ICE Mercedes cars have yellow error messages all the time.

Plus, there's also no evidence that the yellow error message (while preceding the motor error) was actually related to the motor error for every person. When there is any motor related issue (such as stator isolation), it's a red error message to my knowledge which might go away initially until it isn't

I'm strictly talking about the yellow error message: telling people it's a sure sign of motor failure is wrong.

 

[lensovet]

You forget one thing: I kept checking the speed sensor every few months and the car was driving just fine.
Also, if I went to the dealership on day one, they would have given me a false diagnosis instead of just clear the error codes.

So maybe you should always give this caveat.

I watched QCC’s video on how to check the sensor. It’s not trivial to do and if you do this weekly over 2 years, that’s a good chunk of time spent. Probably worth more than £100 unless you value your time at zero.

As I said, I went to the dealership with this exact error. They reset the warning (error was actually kept in memory as I discovered when I went to clear the motor errors) and told me to return if it came back. No cost since it was under warranty, but out of warranty, I would have just paid the diagnostic fee and been done.

 

[KimHJ]

It is not a software update, if you will go to dealer they will charge you 195 for dignostic and majority of cases they will say your motor become bad ,you have to install a new motor costing 12000 to 15000 ,they don't repair the motor.
However if you want to get rid of this message ,start the car and push the aero button , like U turn icon one time ,it is under the left side of steering and message will go off.every time when you start repeat the same procedure and keep driving.
This function will reset the computer every time.
If you have car manual ,go to page 174 and read .

I was charge 285 for diagnostic here in Tampa Florida. Then I was told that two of the four ABS sensors need to be change and the cost would be $4,900. I declined and change all four my self for $150.00

 

[KimHJ]

That’s exactly what my error message meant. Then a few days later the car wouldn’t start.

I get that you don’t want people to put out thousands of dollars for what could be an unrelated issue. But to claim that every single go to workshop warning is ignorable just because you had one experience where it was cleared is nuts.

You can buy an OBD reader and clear the codes yourself without even visiting a shop. But with the coolant leak and speed sensor error, that warning will come right back, and one day will turn into a red error that says “without starting engine again, consult workshop” (gotta love the ICE-centric terminology in this car that MB couldn’t be bothered to update). Shortly after that, your car may not start again.

I have tried serval OBD readers and I haven't found one that works, do you know of one?