From what I've read, the best indicator of if your car is going into sleep mode is the orange light next to P on the shifter bracket. I believe that light should go off 16 minutes after turning off the engine. I had some electronics plugged in to cigarette lighter adapters which I figured were preventing my car from going into sleep mode so I just removed all of them to see if my car was functioning properly and would go into sleep mode. My car had been off for 2 hours. I unplugged the accessories. Then came back 16 minutes later and the light was still on. I had not turned the engine back on and off since the first time. Did I need to do so for the sleep mode to engage properly?

I also have a radar detector that I hardwired. This could be preventing sleep mode as well. It's an '06 550. For this model, should that light definitely go off if the car is in sleep mode?

 

From my experience, there is no need to unplug anything from the lighter adapter or even with V1 hardwired in order to get to sleep mode. You might have some other issues. Plus, sometime, mine takes longer to sleep. GL

 

So that orange light next to "P" goes off in your car even with an accessory plugged into a lighter adapter? I thought that a plugged-in accessory prevents sleep mode because it is still drawing over a certain level of electricity.

 

Yes, that orange light goes off.

I have a plug in underneath the glove compartment, the light on the plug goes off when I shut off the car. So, that tells me there is no power being drawn. Also, my iPod is plug-in with iPod kit. It also goes off after a minute or 2.

 

Interesting...my car is actually at the dealer now, but I am going to have to do some more investigating when I get it back.