I went to get into my car. MCS, last night after tennis. I was walking up to in from behind, and hit the boot unlock button. Nothing happened. Tried again, nothing. I tried to unlock the entire car by hitting the unlock button twice. The driver’s door unlocked, but not the boot. At this point I’m concerned about the car starting, so I try starting the car. The car starts fine. But I notice that the backlighting on the radio, A/C, and toggle panel quickly dim and go out. Strange! Everything works, just no backlighting. And then suddenly, the boot unlocks!! I get out and close it, and drive home. No issues, just no backlighting. Try everything again after getting home. Same behavior. I hooked up my battery charger, and it said fully charged. Still acting the same this morning.

Battery issues? Other known electrical issues?

 

This sounds like it could be a grounding issue. There have been isolated cases of this happening, it usually shows up in a cluster of features not working properly when other things work fine. There are multiple ground points around the car that 'collect' wiring from a number of circuits nearby, and some might not make full contact, causing a group of them (rahter than a single one) to act strange. Also, there is our famous body control module that is responsible for running most of the systems in the car. If it gets a glitch in it, strange things can happen (or not happen at all for that matter).

Sounds to me like it could be a warranty issue.

 

I installed the DICE Ipod kit a week ago. I wonder if the radio HU ground could be causing all of this.

 

Here's an update.

The locking behavior is back to normal. However, the backlighting on the tower is still out.

Could this be a fuse? If so, any idea which one?

 

Uninstall the kit then see if the problem goes away. Otherwise take it into the dealer.

retroom

 

does the MCS have a illumination fuse? if so, try that one.

i dont remember what the fuse box chart had...its been a while since i
was working on hardwiring the radar detector.

 

if it does, it looks like if would be for the radio, ac panel, switch panel, and heated seat buttons. That is everything that is out. Everything else is backlite just fine.