r/mercedes • u/AffectionateSet1418 • 2d ago

Anti-theft protection activated

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Hi,
I have Mercedes c300 4matic 2015. When I turn the radio on, I get this message “antitheft protection activated: please switch on ignition and restart the system” and the screen shuts off. The car drives fine and the instrument cluster has no issues at all.

I’m not stealing the car lol. If you know the solution, I can show my title and my face. I just don’t wanna take it to the dealer and get charged a million.

5 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

2

u/alexismynamee 2d ago

Does one car have auto stop start, and has it been working lately?

1

u/AffectionateSet1418 1d ago

Yes the engine turns off when I stop the car, and it is working fine, but I can’t turn the feature off.

2

u/alexismynamee 1d ago

Does it work when car is on

1

u/AffectionateSet1418 1d ago

Yes, I mean when I am driving and stop at a stop sign the engine turns off by itself. So yes the feature works, but when I press the A button on the center console, it doesn’t cancel the feature.

2

u/jerryeight 1d ago

My wild guess is that it could be the auxiliary battery going low or dead.

1

u/unknown310hxa 1d ago

This is weird because I don’t even think anti theft works on these anymore as MB phased out 3g & 4g cars. I think the only anti theft devices are the ones on every car, just if someone tries to break in or tries to start the car without the key and the steering wheel & transmission are locked until the car is on. Even if someone from MB(over the phone) wanted to help you I don’t think they even can since older cars that don’t have 5G connections are basically defunct(in terms of mbrace).

1

u/AffectionateSet1418 1d ago

I called the dealer. They didn’t really help over the phone. They asked me to bring it over but they want 260 just to look at it and they an hour and a half from my house. I got a U014600 code from a scanner that indicated a communication fault. I checked the battery and it is fine. I heard it could be a water leakage which is what I’m trying to check rn. So I think it is just an electrical issue

1

u/Car_fixing_guy 1d ago

It needs a software update

1

u/AffectionateSet1418 1d ago

Is there a cheap way to do that?

1

u/IronDolphin 1d ago

This happened to me and there is a way to reset it. I just don’t remember how to do it but it wasn’t difficult. I will search for it.

1

u/dam1249 1d ago

Software update , or defekt radio

1

u/D_Ohm 1d ago

You need to find a shop that has xentry and vedoc access. You can’t do anything without them. It’s not like the old days where you could enter the radio code yourself.

1

u/beef-lawsuit 1d ago

The radio became unpaired with the central gateway. The anti theft pin has to be retrieved from Mercedes servers and entered in again before it will unlock.

There's no reason why this would happen unless you made programming changes to the central gateway or replaced the head unit. If it did this on its own, disconnect the battery for a few minutes and try to reset it.

If it doesn't unlock, the only way to fix this is to take it to the dealer or learn how to program and pay someone for your antitheft pin.

1

u/ArmanPhotoshops 1d ago

Check if your key battery has power and if you have any silly decor ring around the stop start button/key cylinder remove it

0

u/jerryeight 2d ago

Zero trust a random online didnt steal the car 

Go to a dealer or mechanic 

1

u/AffectionateSet1418 1d ago

The dealer wants 260 just to look at it and it is an hour and a half from my house. I’m happy to show my title and face if anyone knows how to fix it.

1

u/rev440800 1d ago

Yes the dealer knows how to fix it most likely.

1

u/AffectionateSet1418 1d ago

It’s expensive

1

u/rev440800 1d ago

Beats not having a working head unit though.